Have a Favorite Season?

I Wonder What Our Favorites in Life Say About Us

Pick a Season

I had the pleasure last week of attending a concert built around Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. A fine choice for a concert, of course (those Italians are pretty good at this stuff). As I listened to the music, I thought, as I often do when hearing this collection, about my favorite season, and that of others.

For me, it’s Fall – no contest. No other season even comes close. The crispness, the color, that dynamic bridge that takes us away from the heat of Summer and pleasures us before the cold of Winter.

Ah, the Sweet Siren Song of Travel

We Have Answered the Call. We Will Let You Know How It Went

Travel as One of Life’s Pleasures

For most people, I would think, travel is a great thing. At least in theory. Sometimes the actual execution can be less desirable. Flying in particular seems to have a whole new range of challenges and risks these days.

And yet, we all show up, more than ever. Part of that is post=pandemic outbreaks – we felt cooped up and want to get out of here – wherever “here” is. The allure of something different,

Laughter Really Is the Best Medicine

There is Value in Laughing WITH – and Even Value in Laughing AT

Laughter is a Good and Necessary Thing

Those of a certain age will recall when they likely saw the words in the title of this posting. Laughter is the Best Medicine has been a section of Readers Digest (remember that thing?) for many decades. And they were exactly right. Science, medicine, sociology all have ample evidence that laughter is important to us, individually and socially. There are even laughter coaches and laughter yogis out there.

It certainly is important to me,

Humor, Humility, and Hubris in High Places

A  Demonstration This Past Weekend of Important Qualities

A Long-Delayed Event

The White House Correspondents Dinner happened last weekend, the first time in several years, and the first time in 6 years one has been held with a sitting president in attendance. It is very much an insider’s gathering, but this one had some useful observations for us all.

A confession: I have a soft spot for this event. I was a guest for it one year and thoroughly enjoyed it. It is the Washington version of the Oscars and the Met, rolled into one,

Too Much Choice!

“Too Much Choice” is Not a Phrase I Use Often. But Three Examples Drive Me Nuts. You?

I Like Choice, A Lot 

 Choice is a great thing. It increases the odds that you will get the product or outcome you seek. Choosing empowers you as a consumer. Choice exercises your mental powers of discretion and of choosing wisely.

Most of us who might read this posting live in a world of abundant choices in most areas of our lives. That is a delightful thing, something to appreciate and celebrate. I love having options and making choices.

It’s Thanksgiving Week – How About a Little Fun for the Holiday?

Sharing Two of My Favorite Holiday Laughs

Art Buchwald Explains Thanksgiving to the French

This is something of a tradition on this blog – a posting I repeat every Thanksgiving. If you read it before, feel free to read it again. I must have read it 50 times by now and I still love it. The Washington Post and others also reprint it during the season, year after year.

Many, many years ago the great humorist, satirist, and all-around human being Art Buchwald was a young reporter living in Paris, writing for the Herald Tribune.

Have You Ever Noticed…?

It’s Friday. Let’s Have a Lighter Discussion to Usher in Your Weekend

I have Noticed a Few Things of Late

Any of these ring a bell for you as they have for me? Some have been with us awhile, others a bit new. All are, at the least, a bit irritating. There are, actually, a gazillion such things in life, but in the interest of Potential Reader Fatigue (PRF – Stand by for announcements of a telethon to help crush this devastating condition. 😉)

 Health Warnings on Drug Ads

Every time I listen to one of those drug ads on TV,

If I Were King for a Day

A Short List of Things to Make the World a Better Place- In My Humble Opinion

Ever Play “King for a Day?”

We all did this as kids. Let’s do a grown-up version. If I were granted the power to do anything, including some fanciful things, this is my short To-Do list of a dozen items as it stands today. Enjoy!

Physiology

  1. An Engine Check Light for People– We are far enough along in science and medicine now that we should have one of those all-purpose trouble lights just like in our cars.

Taking Some Time to Think About Time

Time Shapes So Much of Our Lives. Yet We Understand It Hardly at All

 

What is Time, Anyway?

Seems a simple question, but there is little agreement out there among people who cogitate on such musings. For most of us, time is a given. It is what provides the benchmarks and guideposts of life. When we think of life’s events, we often think of when they happened, and in what sequence. Time and events, life as a whole, seem intertwined inexorably.

But there is a serious coterie of scientists who think time is not a real thing but is just something we incorrectly perceive.

Hey! Did You See This?

A Small But Varied Collection of Fun/Interesting Things Found Online

 

Smorgasbord Time

Every so often we take a break from focusing on one thing to share some assorted tidbits that seem worth sharing. Today is such a day. Hope you enjoy these as much as I have. Most are short descriptions of and reflections on interesting articles, along with links to those articles. The last two are simply me thinking out loud. One never knows what will bubble to the top of my (or your) brain; here are a couple for today.

10 Books About Geopolitics

One of my disappointments in high school (boy,