Monthly Archives: August 2012

To Nora, with love

I never got to meet Nora Ephron.  She was not a mentor, a friend, a distant acquaintance or even someone I once saw walking down the street.   I cannot in all honesty say that she influenced my writing in … Continue reading

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What would Bono do?

I love this story. Someone once asked Bono (who has raised millions of dollars to fight AIDS & other diseases in Africa) how he can work with so many super conservative U.S. Senators?  How does he get them to donate … Continue reading

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Social life, high school & college

One of the pervasive myths in our society is that high school is the pinnacle of social fun, surpassed only, of course, by college.    I hate it when people talk about the “good old days” when they were 17 … Continue reading

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Shots of the day

One of the things I’ve wanted to do all summer is walk the entire perimeter of Central Park.    We haven’t done it yet, but today Maya and I walked up about 20 blocks of its’ west side, then crossed … Continue reading

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Supporting a creative path

Picked up a great book yesterday, titled, “Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative”, by Austin Kleon.   Fostering creativity is something I’ve come to value more and more and for which I will cast … Continue reading

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Lincoln & me

In a previous life I think I must have known Abraham Lincoln. I’m only half-kidding. There is no other explanation for why, when I read about him, hear his speeches read aloud or see even the driest of documentaries having … Continue reading

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Read All About It!

As you approach the entrance to the Newseum in Washington D.C., you walk by a long row of glass cases.  Each of them contains the current front page of a newspaper from every state in the Union and several countries. … Continue reading

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Living history

Museums are a big part of trips to D.C., but our favorite turned out not to be part of the Smithsonian, whose 19 buildings dominate the landscape around the National Mall.    Instead, the place that captivated us, made us … Continue reading

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Impressions of D.C.

I’ll say this for Washington D.C.  It is possibly the cleanest city I’ve ever been in, bar none. Maybe that’s because Congress is currently on vacation. Our almost three days there were filled with sightseeing – the museums, the monuments, … Continue reading

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Riding the rails

Before this summer the only time I’d ever taken Amtrak was the year after I graduated from college.   I rode a train from Chicago to Indianapolis, and not 30 seconds after pulling out of the Chicago station, we stopped. … Continue reading

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