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Because the islands that compose it are spread widely apart, the South Pacific nation of Kiribati is the only country on Earth that resides in all four hemispheres simultaneously.   1,607 more words

On my way to class, I take the Q train to Manhattan and sit down next to an old white man who recoils a noticeable bit. 2,428 more words

Self-portraits of medieval book artisans are as exciting as they are rare. In the age before the modern camera there were limited means to show others what you looked like. 1,211 more words

The people who make up these things drive me bananas.

NPR launched a new series on “millennials” yesterday, called “New Boom,” with this dramatic declaration: “There are more millennials in America right now than baby boomers — more than 80 million of us.” 803 more words

You are what you remember. It’s difficult to imagine being ‘you’ without some access to your remembered life story. But the new science of memory tells us that remembering is just that: a story. 449 more words

In the winter of 2013, I attended the funeral of an aunt at an Alpine lake where she had spent much of her life and her final years. 558 more words

I haven’t got a television. Not for any high and mighty ‘I’m so much better than you and will further my mind without the aid of popular culture’ reasons, but because our television broke a few years ago when we moved house and we never got around to fixing it. 1,193 more words

A shy Bedouin boy was stabbed to death in the Negev desert of Israel/Palestine. At night, in front of the fire he built, by the stranger he invited to share his food and tea. 990 more words

As the Ebola virus ravages western and central Africa, one of its virulent cousins has turned up in the opposite corner of the continent. Ugandan authorities report that a healthcare worker in Kampala, the country’s capital, … 482 more words

Photo by Attila Acs

My first girlfriend was someone I met through a MUD, and I had to fly 7,000 miles to see her in person. 1,220 more words

A couple of months ago my son, who is six years old, performed a solo routine at his school talent competition. I couldn’t attend but my wife filmed it on her mobile phone so I could watch it later. 1,323 more words

On the limits of my business, of its consequence,
you know nothing.

Though you see me walking down the street,
and watch the way my hips sway, you… 113 more words

As a veterinarian I have seen death aplenty. I have been responsible for the ending of thousands of little lives, inflicted the pain of loss 1,019 more words

I don’t seem to be able to get enough

Of our late evening honey glow!

It pours like warm syrup

Over water and jetty.

It bathes Oscar… 33 more words

What crosses your mind when you see a fire hydrant? Some folks don’t even give these a second thought. Others are bothered by it when the only parking spot available is, of course, a foot too close to it. 1,660 more words

Dear October,

I just thought you should know that our relationship is fraying.

If not for Major League Baseball’s postseason, I worry you’d leave me with nothing to look forward to but a cough I can’t shake, deer to dodge on the commute and, worst of all, stink bugs. 473 more words

There are some films you just can’t watch without craving for specific  food or drink:

1. To start with, I can’t watch ‘ Sideways’ without a glass of pinot noir…Simply cannot be done! 1,010 more words

This post is a revised version of blog comments I made several weeks ago on Damion Schubert’s blog: ZenofDesign.com. I have cleaned up the wording and spacing to better reflect a blog and not a quickly written comment. 936 more words

Last year, I wrote the post “How Common Core is Slowly Changing My Child.”  It struck a nerve with parents and teachers across the country as we all were adjusting to the new Common Core State Standards. 1,253 more words

Carrie spoke through narrow lips that looked like they were sewn on too tightly. She had the gravelly voice of a lifetime smoker, but her trembly tone and hesitant nature made her barely audible. 1,717 more words

We thought we’d go to the beach. We thought we’d go the park. We thought we’d stay in and watch a movie. I wasn’t there. I was there to watch. 679 more words

Marcy Phipps, BSN, RN, CCRN, ATCN, TNCC, an ICU nurse who recently took up flight nursing, is an occasional contributor to this blog.

I recently experienced a series of events that seemed interconnected and orchestrated. 655 more words

This article first appeared in Haaretz on the 30th of September 2014

The summer of 2014 was a horrendous experience. The kidnappings, riots, murders and war that gripped Israelis and Palestinians has left a bleeding wound that is still  878 more words

It’s not a secret that I love Lionel Messi. When he first stepped on the Camp Nou pitch in his first ever Barcelona match, I loved the flair and speed that he had, and that hunger to just keep the ball. 1,028 more words

By Tom Koch

“It was about the Beginning of September, 1664, that I, amongst the Rest of my Neighbours, heard in ordinary Discourse, that the Plague was returned in Holland, for it had been very violent there, and particularly at Amsterdam and Roterdam, in the year of 1663.” 3,489 more words

Sometime between when we were children and when we had children of our own, parenthood became a religion in America. As with many religions, complete unthinking devotion is required from its practitioners. 1,021 more words

Neither. I call this the pre-party to Hell freezing over: winter in Illinois.

In polite company, though, I generally use fall; I find it’s more descriptive. 370 more words