Last December my family found ourselves on the Seychelles for the first and probably only time ever on our way back from a six month stint in Rwanda. The islands were entirely amazing and completely out of our price range; it was a once-in-a-lifetime splurge and so totally worth it. But somehow, the news that…
Category: Random Rants
The first picture I ever had published was of a wonderfully crazy street performer working in Copenhagen the summer of… oh, many years ago. Technically it was a bit of a dodgy affair: significant lens flare, slightly out of focus, awkward composition, taken on too-fast-for-sunshine black-and-white film (Ilford’s otherwise wonderful XP2, a “fake” 400 ISO…
As a parent I’m watching the government shutdown debacle with dismay. Not because it directly affects me or my kids (not yet), but because the antics of Ted Cruz and the Orange Oompa Loompa of Abject Insincerity, John Boehner, bring back painful memories of managing toddlers. Picture a heated argument with your obstinate 5-year-old over…
A cool school in California has added yoga to the physical education curriculum. Some basic stretching, relaxing, stress-releasing poses. Yoga works great for kids — just as it does for millions of adults. Yes, sure, some yoga practitioners take it one step further and add a spiritual component, but that’s entirely up to the individual,…
Lovely. Just lovely. I had the pleasure this afternoon of chatting with ‘Ariel Jay Wade’, an AT&T Representative, about the dismal AT&T coverage in Norwich. Ariel Jay Wade: Hi! Thank you for chatting in to AT&T. We’ll be more than happy to assist you with your inquiry. Ariel Jay Wade: What questions do you have regarding your…
I think I’m done trying to be friends with Rwanda. We’re clearly not meant for each other — every time I ask her out, she kicks me in the balls and laughs at me as a I collapse in a heap, then she steals my wallet and runs off to get high with the few friends she’s got left. I’m just too old…
“C’est interdit,” declares the clearly bored and substantially overweight guard as she slithers up to me in front of Simba Plaza. This architectural equivalent of a cold sore is the latest skyscraper to afflict downtown Kigali. It stands, pointless and grotesque, overlooking a mess of parking spaces and wasted opportunities. I assume the Uniformed One…
Grump grump grump. A few years back when our regular gas-powered mower died, I went and did the eco-granola thing and got an electric mower. It’s been a mixed blessing here in tropical Vermont, where green things grow with a righteous fury under the right conditions, and where turning your back on your lawn even…
The Pope is at it again; preaching to the faithful leadership of Boys ‘R Us USA he declares that gays are icky, the earth is flat, and yada yada yada. The usual greatest hits of sanctimony and hypocrisy. His speechifying is so full of teh sad & teh fail it’s hard to know where to…
It’s a sad and pitiful sight when weak-kneed but stubborn bureaucrats and power hoarders come up against resourceful individuals with the courage and conviction to circumvent or ignore their oh, so sacred rules. I’m thinking Rosa Parks on the bus, or the kids at at the lunch counter in Greensboro; George Carlin and the Seven Words…
