DavidAltshuler,M.S. Statistically improbable as it may seem, a Miami driver actually did come to a complete stop at a crosswalk this past Saturday. A dozen of my running buddies and I waved cheerfully as we took a step on to 57th Ave. We then froze in our proverbial tracks as another car whipped around the stopped…Read the full article
It seems that one of my running buddies may have missed the point of these past 300-something columns almost entirely. I was describing what a pleasant time my younger son and I had had on a recent car trip. We took turns finding trivia questions online: which MLB team had the most wins in…Read the full article
“I would trade all my tomorrows for a single yesterday,” Janice Joplin suggested shortly before her death from a heroin overdose severely limited any and all of her tomorrows. “I will gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today,” intoned Whimpy, amusing generations who knew the truth: charming guy; but Tuesday would never come. “What…Read the full article
My colleague, the head clinician, needs to hire a new therapist. The criteria for the position are extensive. The 14 to 17-year-olds at this program are clinically complex. An appropriate applicant must be able to handle kids who have not previously met with success. These kids have done poorly in the classroom, on the athletic…Read the full article
Thirty Year Old True Fact: The more milk an infant drinks, the less likely she is to be a heroin addict as an adult. Similarly, the less milk an infant drinks, the more likely she is to be addicted to heroin as an adult. Admittedly, correlation does not imply causality. Just because two things go…Read the full article
Everyone in our running group is infinitely supportive. Of running. “When is your next event?” “How can I help you train?” But beyond athletics, we tend to be snarky by nature and brutal in practice. The phrase “junior high” springs to mind. Also, “mean girls” and “off our meds.” One of my running buddies is…Read the full article
What do the following books have in common? The Red Badge of Courage, 1984, “Julius Caesar,” The Grapes of Wrath, Lord of the Flies, The Diary of Anne Frank, Call of the Wild, and Flowers for Algernon? If you said, “some of the most depressing books ever written,” I would agree. Or as my sarcastic older daughter pointed out after I…Read the full article
It starts with a glance followed by a whisper in a supermarket. Why is that child so fussy? Why doesn’t his mother just tell him ‘no’? “No, you cannot push over that stack of canned peaches.” “No, you cannot keep poking that stranger on the arm.” “No, you cannot climb into that bin and hide…Read the full article
Being temporarily out of seven-year-olds, my wife and I borrowed one for a few weeks this summer. “A snail!” Larry would exclaim frequently during our dog walks with the enthusiasm an adult typically reserves for winning lottery tickets and unicorn sightings. Pretty great. In addition to snails, Larry was also entranced by creepy-crawlies of every…Read the full article
Do some of these Tuesday columns impress you as pretentious moralizing? You can tell me. Don’t be shy. Do you, gentle readers, feel judged or–even worse–talked down to? Does this author present as if he has all the answers, like his kids pee perfume, like he did everything right? Does he imply that nobody else…Read the full article