My favorite place in Jerusalem was the Western Wall, sometimes incorrectly called the “Wailing Wall.” In Hebrew, it’s Kotel — it rhymes with motel. I used to go to the Kotel to pray and leave messages for God. I loved the… Read More ›
history
PLUTOCRACY OR OLIGARCHY? THE UGLY CHOICE OF THIS UPCOMING ELECTION
We live in a country full of shallow, if not outrightly stupid people. They watch “the news” and believe it’s all lies because an orange-skinned bloke says so. As a woman whose husband was a television news reporter for more… Read More ›
ALL TOYS PLEASE REMAIN IN THE ATTIC – GARRY ARMSTRONG
The phone rang. The caller ID flashed, showing one of Boston’s two major newspapers. I figured it was the sales department. I handed the phone to Marilyn. I heard Marilyn respond “yes” several times and was puzzled. We didn’t need… Read More ›
THE LITTLE WELSH CASTLE OF A GREAT WELSH PRINCE – ALLI TEMPLETON
Last week I realised that it was exactly a year ago that I completed my Welsh Castle Quest, and I’ve been looking back through that epic journey and all the adventure and discovery it entailed. After the Quest, we stayed… Read More ›
THE END OF THE REPUBLIC
Imperium, by Robert Harris Random House Sep 7, 2010 Fiction – 496 pages It’s déjà vu all over again as we travel back with author Robert Harris to Republican Rome just before it became Imperial Rome. In America, we complain of corruption. Lying… Read More ›
DOOMSDAY BOOK BY CONNIE WILLIS
I read this for the first time when it was first published in 2008. It wasn’t available as an audible book yet, though it would be soon. So my first reading was words on paper. It’s the story of the… Read More ›
INTRODUCING THE POTATO – BY ELLIN CURLEY
When we celebrate the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus on Columbus Day, we should also be celebrating Columbus’s discovery of the potato. More accurately, Columbus’s introduction of the potato from the New World to the Old World. This introduction… Read More ›
ENDINGS – Marilyn Armstrong
Garry had a get-together with a bunch of retired media guys. They meet every few weeks, but for obvious reasons, it hasn’t happened recently. So a while ago, someone came up with the idea of doing a Zoom meeting. Despite… Read More ›
WORLD OF STRANGE – Marilyn Armstrong
On some level or other, I’ve been waiting for my world to come crashing down since I was a kid. Call it one of the many fragmented outcomes of a dysfunctional childhood. And reading too many complicated books when I… Read More ›
2020 WON’T BE ANYONE’S FAVORITE YEAR – Marilyn Armstrong
I had a favorite year and it was 51 years ago. Hard to believe because it doesn’t feel like it was that long ago. Neil Armstrong walked on the moon in July 1969. I was a new mommy. Home with… Read More ›
A MAJOR SEA CHANGE: WHY COVID 19 IS A TURNING POINT IN HISTORY – SEAN MUNGER
A major sea change: why COVID-19 is a turning point in history. So, it is the end of March 2020, and many of us are sequestered in our homes, trying not to get the virus that’s now sweeping the globe… Read More ›
IN THE GARDEN OF BEASTS BY ERIC LARSON – Marilyn Armstrong
IN THE GARDEN OF BEASTS: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler’s Berlin by Eric Larson It’s not a new book, but it is nonetheless a relevant book. I have rarely been more conflicted about a book than I… Read More ›
