Dear American Muslims and others feeling unsettled by the possibility of no longer being safe in your own country: There is no delicate way to say what I am about to say, so I am just going to say two things that have been running through my mind since Tuesday night. I am so sorry … Continue reading An open letter to American Muslims and Anyone Else Unsettled by the US Election: a Dispatch from the Land of Trumpelstiltskin
Category: education
" On my morning Facebook rounds, I caught this post by one of my offspring: In the way of Facebook, I could see beneath her post that a few other friends had posted articles about it, too. At this point, shocking and seemingly inappropriate behavior is kind of the norm for this year's GOP Presidential Candidate. (His cheerleaders … Continue reading The straight line connecting Donald Trump’s new tallit to “Christians for Islam,” and a best practices suggestion
While Sweetheart and I were somewhere loud and happy Saturday night (a wedding), loud and not-so-happy things were happening close to us. In the morning, my friend Walter, a Baptist minister, posted this selfie on his way to his church. He invoked Nehmiah 1. By then, we’d heard the news. Riots had broken out hours after a police … Continue reading Police shootings, mob violence and the comfort of strangers: A Dispatch from Milwaukee
So, it’s been a few months. I could make up a whole raft of reasons for the radio silence, but the truth is job-related. Last July, I was laid off from the job I loved, and not long after my last post in February, there were signs of a happy ending/soft landing. In a fit of … Continue reading Love, loss, hope and backup plans: Making now count
Donald J. Trump is a man his supporters would avoid like gay pride parades if he were saying the things he says while unshaven and pushing all his worldly possessions in a shopping cart. But he wears bespoke suits and lives and works in buildings with his name on them. So instead of being called … Continue reading Up from the grave to denounce a naked emperor
Welcome to the first of several postings about the most amazing reunion in the history of reunions. Given that it involved the event itself (a two-parter that included an afternoon and evening/dinner segment), a 1,500 mile sister road trip in which no eyeballs were scratched out, and many stops along the way (about which more … Continue reading Exporting the ‘Revolution’ reunion (1): Remarkable cluelessness and how to be in two places at once
So, yesterday was Valentine’s Day. You know. Roses, chocolate, celebrating romance with your honey – assuming you have a honey. Sweetheart and I don’t really do much for Valentine’s Day. We talked it over early on in our relationship and agreed that being nice to each other on a regular basis was enough of a … Continue reading Forget the birds: This Valentine’s day it was “all about those bees”
Today is all about taste - good and bad. First, the bad. That would be Brian Williams. It wasn't enough for Brian to be a tall, handsome, white, rich and hugely successful anchorman at NBC News. He had to lie about being in a helicopter that was shot down in Iraq so he could also appear to … Continue reading I’d rather eat homework than words: a shoutout to the culinary arts and a little Brian Williams rant
Four Februarys ago, I attended two funerals in the same week. It was the first time that had happened. A month later I was in New York hanging out with my niece and nephew. My sister had decided to fly down from Edmonton during their spring break, and New York is always a great place … Continue reading Ruth Goldbas & Ernie Banks, who died old, and Baki, who died young
We were standing in the living room of my sister’s house when my 16-year-old niece (who will never be smarter again in her life than she is now) said, “C’mon, tell me you wouldn’t want to be 16 again.” What I wanted to say was “*#^K NO!!!! ARE YOU CRAZY????” What I said, instead, was … Continue reading A high school high point and why now is better
the sentence factory 