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
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
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
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
Wait For It My buddy Sharfman could run 20 miles the way most people open their refrigerators, effortlessly and without talking about it a whole bunch. Scharfman and I ran an ultra marathon together in Connecticut. Thirty miles in, he asked me how I was doing. “I could use a
I admit it: I do not know one end of a horse from another. I am a city boy. Maybe that’s why I like camping so much. Horseless camping, mind you. Recently, I got up on a horse for the first time. Here are my observations: 1) While I suppose
Once upon a time there lived a vain parent whose only worry in life was to convince her neighbors how clever her son was. Every hour she would regale anyone who would listen regarding her son’s accomplishments in the classroom and on the athletic field. Word of this parent’s vanity
That there are drugs of all kinds at schools of every kind is not news. By the measure of “opportunities to do drugs” there are no more “good schools” in 2017. None. Two generations ago, it may have been possible to avoid the drug culture in some communities by sending
The Sami People of Northern Norway have hundreds of distinct words for reindeer. These words can refer to a reindeer’s fitness, personality, or the shape of its antlers according to David Robson. (Click here for the original article.) People who live where reindeer are important have lots of words for
Mom: Have you graded the home works yet? Teacher at School Whose Name you Would Likely Recognize: The homework that was turned in today? Mom: Yes. The homework on two-digit subtraction. Problem number seven was 83-29. Have you graded it yet? Teacher at School Whose Name you Would Likely Recognize:
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