Ahm-ma-dina-jad. Ahm-ma-dine-ijad. I used to say this over and over again, walking through Cindy’s house. Ahm-ma-dina-jad, I wanted to learn how to say it. I better get it right, because I just got invited to visit Iran later this month. I have always wanted to see Persia, see the famous […]
We’re up at 6:45 am this morning, after a night of hearing about how enthusiastic these Brits are to see Obama win the prize. In the Independent, a headline dramatically intoned “Is this troubled nation ready for change?” Troubled? huh? I thought I’d reserve this moniker for Congo or Mozambique. […]
We tried hard to see a musician I’ve enjoyed who is from Manchester, but we did not succeed. We saw a poster for Mr. Scruff, who plays underground house style music. We followed the advice on his website and made our way to his cafe, called “The Cup,” a few […]
Chef Nick Martin shows Sam how it’s done during our class at Lucy Cooks, a school where every day students can learn how to cook, bake and generally find their way around a kitchen. Martin’s cooked with the best, I asked him about some of the famous chefs like Gordon […]
Last night we watched an evening of British telly. One program was called ‘Eggheads’ and pitted a panel of gameshow winners against a weekly collection of challengers. Each week another 1000 pounds are added to the prize money….there was already 14,000 in the kitty, showing that challengers have had a […]
I’m off. Not ready, nervous about what I’m forgetting, but I’m off. I head to Boston to pick up my traveling companion, Samuel Abbott Hartshorne, who will join me this week for a trip to the North of England. As much as I have traveled, I was embarrassed to say […]
One thing I never get tired of is free publicity. When Cindy sent me the notice in the Republican looking for people who have had experience with home heating oil contracts, of course I jumped in and sent the reporter, Stan Freeman, a link to this blog. I had ragged […]
Seaweed is cultivated and sold as a major cash crop in Indonesia, I learned tonight. That’s because certain types of seaweed are dried, ground up, and gives up a substance called carageenan, a common ingredient used to thicken many food products. There has been tumult in the seaweed market recently, […]
We spent Sunday afternoon in Van Dog land…the industrial area of the lower part of the city of Holyoke. We recently joined a group called Holyoke CRUSH, which seeks to restore, revitalize and appreciate this historic mill city, and the group organized a tour of one of the waterpowered industrial […]
Walter is an unenthusiastic professor at Connecticut College. He uses the same syllabus year after year, isn’t friendly with his students, and barely emotes with colleagues. We met him last night in a wonderful movie recommended to us by Nat and Val called “The Visitor.” Visitors in this film come […]
We have a new favorite customer at the cafe. She arrived yesterday morning, by shiny, black Cadillac Escalade. She came in wearing an expensive coat that contrasted with her long blond hair, and was followed by her driver/bodyguard, a big burly Indian wearing a bluetooth earpiece and a suit. We […]
I often think of what the world will be like when all of the veterans and war heroes die. Our society and the little town I live in are full of these guys, many of whom are still married to the woman they met three or four or even five […]