Posts about holidays and holiday seasons around the calendar
How do we recover from feeling poorly? How does a nation recover from a pandemic? Where do we even start recovering our good nature, never mind happiness? Last time I wrote, I was grumpily, if resignedly, under the weather from my second Moderna jab. I foresaw no particular joy in …
Steady readers know I usually post on Thursday nights, unless something quite significant prevents either actual typing or useful inspiration. Not last night. I was not about to give 2020 any more dignity than it deserved. New Year’s Eve usually affords a writer copious opportunities for mildly nostalgic, rosy-tinted year-end …
One of the best Christmas presents my Dad ever gave me was my very own subscription to Gourmet Magazine. Dad was a talented self-taught chef himself, storing stacks of Gourmets on the shelves that held his cookbooks. He was proud that I had shown a knack with a knife as …
I’ve already applied for my refund on a faulty 2020, and written a scathing review (“poor quality, noisy, inadequate safety measures”). Frankly, it’s not been the sort of year I expect I’ll be fondly reminiscing about with old friends. There’s the day-job work simmering on the new desk that consumes …
For a kid growing up in the 1960s, Peanuts, inked by Charles Schultz, was a daily ritual in the funny papers. (My Mama still laughs at the Classic Peanuts in every weekday newspaper.) My addiction to All Things Peanuts was complete: Emulating Lucy van Pelt, I even produced a 5-cent …
Ah, for the years of my life when the day after Christmas — that source of rich gravy, rich desserts, and perhaps rich gifts — could be ignored, thanks to the blessing of Boxing Day. I loved Boxing Day. The entire British universe (well, the post office, probably the local …
The other day, while cleaning up some Inquisitive Mind Books listings on Amazon (and making sure An Abecedarium of Ornaments was in good order), I decided to give myself 10 minutes to browse the bajillions of music listings on the site. This wasn’t entirely random browsing. I keep a notepad …
