To The Manner Born

Remember Myspace? The drawing in this photo could be considered a very early prototype, an original put a face to a name. The details have ...

John Julius Norwich's 2011 Christmas Cracker has arrived. Lord Norwich refers to it as a commonplace selection, commonplace being Brit...

I have been a long time believer in the Rumpelstiltskin effect in medicine. Ailing people want their symptoms to have a name, if it has a n...

I was castigated by a dear friend for never having discussed poacher pockets. I had been reading Danny, the Champion of the World by Roald...

Saturnalia by Ernesto Biondi December, the tenth month. Known by the Celts as The Winter Monat (month) the Danes as Yule or Christ Month. De...

Don't you wonder why schools are not closed today? In my misspent youth Roman parishes frequently closed to celebrate saints feast days...

America is an incredibly great country. Almost all things are possible even in these troubling times. Opportunities abound to make a dollar...

I'm trying to keep an open mind. My shoulder hurts. Last year it was the other side so I know how this goes. If I go to the shoulder ...

It's fun having an in house fashionista, I get to quiz her on fashion history. Today's question, "When was the first fashion ma...

While away it was reinforced for me how much our individual world view is tied up with where we live. The US isn't one place, just as E...

Move Over . I'm not going into detail about how I come to be such an authority on this but I learned something while away. I learned abo...

In the US, today is Thanksgiving Day, a day set aside to give thanks the native Americans were willing to share and weren't better armed...

Advised some time back that Fiona Dreesmann, the founder of My Slippers , a London based purveyor of luxury, bespoke slippers for women and ...

Dateline: Far from home, at according to Calvin Trillin " the single best restaurant in the world" You may be anticipating Thanksg...

The 6th,7th and 8th grade thespians of French Middle School, Topeka, Kansas, presented Annie Jr., an abridged version of the Broadway musica...

From last Sunday's NYT Magazine In a field with an endless river of new talent emerging and an average career of about 4 years, the NBA ...

On the road for the next few days, gotta catch the Annie finale tonight, then Friday find a hospital with liberal visiting hours near Denver...

One of the great marketing coups in the world was continued this morning when at 12:01 Paris time as the 2011 vintage Beaujolais Nouveau, t...

One of the earliest classes in military basic training is "Rumors and Propaganda". Based on the premise that whoever knows what i...

I do not read enough poetry. I blame misspent youth, unfocused education, uncritical reading skill. I do love words however, and wordplay. ...