For more than three years, I wrote a blog about being an American expat living in Britain. Despite all my time abroad, I never became an expert in “expat stuff.” You wouldn’t want me giving you advice on filing your taxes, absentee voting, or getting an international driving license. So I kept my blog focussed… Read More New York doesn’t love you back
People have been getting worked up lately about those “Make America Great Again” hats worn by supporters of Donald Trump. You see them everywhere at right-wing rallies in America, worn by a motley collection of conspiracy theorists, racists and low-information voters, chanting things like “Lock her up”, “CNN sucks” and “Build the wall!” The MAGA… Read More A pithy post about horrid hats
I grew up in a very small town in upstate New York. No, not a town. Smaller. A village – 4,000 people at the most. It’s called Catskill, and it was founded by Dutch settlers, who bought a plot of land next to the Hudson River from some Mohican Indians in exchange for a few… Read More The country mouse dilemma
Uncle Jack A few years back, I had the good fortune to get to know my wife’s great-uncle, Jack. We would see him whenever we went to visit her family in California. Jack was well into his 80s and he lived in a little studio apartment that stood over the garage of the family’s beach house.… Read More Lola Jacuzzi and life’s whirlpool of regret
It’s a Wonderful Life. Elf. Miracle on 34th Street. Die Hard. They’re all classic Christmas flicks, but that last one seems to give some people trouble. Not everyone recognises Die Hard as an actual Christmas film. If you Google the phrase “Christmas movies” you’ll see Die Hard on pretty much any list that comes up.… Read More Yes, Die Hard *IS* a Christmas movie. Here’s proof:
I have just finished watching Netflix’s new horror series The Haunting of Hill House. I found it intensely captivating and not just because it is smartly written and well produced. No, there is something else that deeply resonates with me about Hill House – an unexpected sense of familiarity. Believe it or not, this TV… Read More The haunting of Spring Street House – a real life ghost story
When I was a kid, I remember thinking about my father: “Were you ever young?” I love my dad, but he is and has always been a bit of an old fogey, and I used to wonder at what point he became that way. I understood, of course, that he had to have once actually… Read More A cantankerous hullabaloo about some fatherly malarkey
There’s a mostly-forgotten little comedy from 1977 called “Oh God,” about a supermarket manager, played by John Denver, who gets regular visits from God. It’s not a particularly famous or memorable movie, but one scene has really stayed with me. It’s not a big moment, but I think about it from time to time, even… Read More I know this much is true, but I wouldn’t mind asking God for his take on it
We’re looking around for a secondary school for our daughter and it’s very stressful. There are so many admissions requirements to meet, exams to prepare for, tutors to hire and finally, applications to submit. But you do it all because you’re terrified of what might happen otherwise. If you miss one little deadline or make… Read More How to raise a happy, unsuccessful child
There’s an old joke that I always thought did a good job of capturing the frustration we feel when we want to be known for one thing, but wind up being remembered for something else. A man walks into a bar and sits next to a talkative old drunk, who introduces himself as Fergus. The… Read More You might remember me as that splat the rat chap. Also, I killed Jesus.
