Completely inadvertently, I ended up watching two episodes of I’ll Have What Phil’s Having last night. I had never even heard of the show before, but it instantly hooked me when I saw the shot of the piazza in Panicale, a small hilltown (half… Read More ›
Travel
Wilkes-Barre
Wilkes-Barre, PA, the garden spot of the universe! Well … no. But at least it’s Joe Biden’s home town, so I guess that’s something. Not that it has anything to do with why we were there. After I was finished with… Read More ›
Rails across Canada?
For the second time, Barbara and I are planning to take the train from Boston to Chicago this April to visit the in-laws…and to enjoy the journey, of course. But that’s less than half the distance across the continent. At… Read More ›
Oliver Sacks redux
I’m gradually working my way through most of the oeuvre of the late Oliver Sacks. Two months ago I wrote about Uncle Tungsten, On the Move, and Hallucinations. Now it’s time for The Island of the Colorblind, Cycad Island, and Awakenings. Once again, all three are fascinating and worth… Read More ›
The Berkshires: Mostly museums
Barbara and I have just returned from a mini-vacation, which we were able to squeeze in between the end of Crimson Summer Academy and the beginning of workshops for Weston High School. We decided we would spend three days in… Read More ›
Worcester
“Worcester????” That was the reaction of almost everybody when they heard that Barbara and I were going to Worcester for a micro-vacation a few weeks ago. Not anyone’s idea of a vacation spot, after all. But we had a great… Read More ›
Connecticut
October is always a good month for traveling within New England, and this past weekend (a long weekend!) was no exception. Barbara agreed to a mini-vacation that focused on railroad museums in Connecticut, so off we went, intending to visit four… Read More ›
A Double Thread: Growing up English and Jewish in London
In his fascinating memoir, A Double Thread: Growing Up English and Jewish in London, John Gross does exactly what the title promises: he shows how the English and Jewish cultures can intertwine and yet remain distinct. It’s important to note that… Read More ›
Transit maps TED talk!
I suppose it’s possible that you don’t share my passion for transit maps. That might be hard to believe, but I admit that it’s possible. Whether you love transit maps or not, you still need to watch Aris Ventikidis’s first-rate (and… Read More ›
Baltimore
For April vacation we decided to visit Baltimore — partly because we wanted to see the city, partly because we knew a couple of people there, and partly because it was an excuse to ride on the high-speed Acela Express…. Read More ›
