Searching for Direction & Purpose in Life's Sea of Opportunities
This past weekend, Ms. M and I attended preview performances of two very good, very different productions. Camp David at the Old Globe is about the 1978 Camp David Accords. The characters take us through the roller coaster ride that was the negotiations. The writing is spectacular. Somehow the playwright managed to give some much-needed, incredibly funny… Continue reading Play-Full Weekend
My interactive foreign zoo experiences continued when I spent a week in Berlin. With that much time to sight-see, a zoo stop had to be on the itinerary. The Berlin zoo was larger than the Paris zoo, and a little more modern. The animals had more space, and there was an attempt to give them… Continue reading German Elephant
Yesterday was a big day for me: I had friends over to taste my first batch of cheeses. I was so excited being able to share my new passion with these people from all different aspects of my life. We started with the first pressed cheese I ever made (top left in the picture), the… Continue reading All About the Cheese
A single encounter in elementary school led me to miss out on a valuable resource for many years. When I was in elementary school, I had a bad experience with a librarian. I know that must sound strange coming from a self-professed teacher’s pet. It was neither of our finest moments, but she was the grown… Continue reading Wasted Resource
For years I have been enjoying oatmeal flavored by peanut butter and bananas. I’ve always done it the same way: Heat half a banana and the milk in a microwave for 30 seconds. Take the banana out and heat the milk another minute. Meanwhile put the peanut butter on the oats and slice the banana… Continue reading Watch out for the Banana
Growing up in Southern California, we wore flip flops for a good portion of the year. This fact lead to one of my favorite Ma stories, actually a compilation of memories that we still laugh about today. My sister (the mother of my fabulous nephews), Ma, and I would often walk around stores together.… Continue reading Flip Flops
Years ago, when I first moved into my condo, Carmen did not readily transition to the new place. She was a bit anxious. Occasionally at night she would sing the song of her people. After having been suckered out of my bed by my previous cat, I learned not to give in. The last thing… Continue reading 29 Times
Over the weekend I was involved in a fascinating discussion about how our minds process what we read. For years I've been obsessed with the concept of how splotches of ink on the page can transform me into a different world. It turns out that journey is not perceived the same way by everyone. One of… Continue reading How Do You Read?
In one of my web surfing journeys, I discovered an article about a controversial school assignment that I wish I had been assigned back in the day. A school in Guernsey (a British island off the coast of France) asked its 12- and 13-year-old students to pretend that they had decided to convert to Islam… Continue reading Controversional Conversion Story
I have professed my love of BookRiot on this blog more than once. Imagine my joy when I saw that they were accepting applications for contributors: It was a Tigger-level of bouncing! The best part was that the process of throwing my hat into the ring was remarkably simple - two blog post submissions and… Continue reading The Verdict
Grown Up, Now What? 