I had never heard of sky lanterns until last weekend, when we met our friends Todd and Suzanne for our families’ traditional late summer rendezvous. They had seen these breath-taking inventions at their children’s school in England, and ordered some to send skyward at their cabin in upstate New York. People had to pair up to launch [...]
They weave. They race. They tailgate. They thread the needle. I have a name for young guys who drive like bats out of hell on the highway. Video game drivers. These young dudes grew up playing video games, and you can tell that’s where they got their driving technique. Certainly not from driver’s ed, which – [...]
Chris was aghast over this “Donate Your Car” ad in the Philadelphia Inquirer a few days ago. ”First of all, children shouldn’t be driving. But blind children? What the BLEEP?!” And how stagey is that photo, anyway? *************************************************************** In other news, burkhinis have been banned in France, probably for showing too little skin and for being tres un-chic. [...]
Cicadas drone. Humidity rises. Gardens crisp. The dog days have arrived. That means one thing: we are starting to crack the whip around here concerning required reading for Hugh and Malcolm. Before school starts on September 8, Malcolm has to read HOOT by Carl Hiasson, and Hugh has to read EAST OF EDEN by John Steinbeck. Hugh [...]
Being self-employed has its benefits, like sneaking out to see a movie during the morning. This is the kind of impulsive, madcap adventure Chris and I thought we would frequently do when we started our own agency, and yet I think we’ve seen exactly two movies during a workday in the last 26 years. Friday was one of [...]
See the headline? That’s August in Philadelphia. It’s the way you’ll hear weather described on the radio and by people in the grocery store. Around here, folks pronounce “humid” not with an aspirated H at the beginning, but as if there’s no H at all. This is also true of the way my middle son’s name is pronounced. [...]
On Sunday, while Emily was doing her death-defying Tri, I was delivering Malcolm to his favorite place on earth, Camp Woodward in central Pennsylvania – mecca for skateboarders, BMX bikers, roller bladers, and gymnasts. Question: What’s wrong with these pictures? Answer: You don’t see anybody skating! Even Malcolm is WALKING to his cabin, CARRYING his board. [...]
Sadly, we needed expensive studies and elected officials to tell us that texting while driving = bad. This report comes straight from the Ministry of the Bleeding Obvious (hey, have I just quoted a Monty Python reference?). The conclusion is painfully self-evident. Do we really have to be told not to take our eyes off the road and look [...]
Finding this beloved book from my childhood remains a holy grail. I know it has been reprinted in paperback form, but what I really covet is the mid-century hardcover version, exactly like the one my mom checked out of the Gardner, Kansas public library over and over, to read over and over to my brothers and [...]
Despite the fervent arguments made by nurture-over-naturists in the 1970s, I think it’s clear to everyone now that yes, Virgil and Virginia, gender differences definitely do exist, and to deny this basic fact is to invite mockery from even the most liberal of your friends. Having been a girl in guy-land all my life, here is a [...]
