Everyone Should Know Tom Lehrer’s Work
Tom Lehrer It is only because of my wonderful, well-informed husband that I ever even heard of Tom Lehrer – which is a shame, as Lehrer should be a “household name.” Even though Lehrer is an American, and one of those bona-fide genius types (he graduated from Harvard at 18 with a degree in math – and then finished his Master’s degree a year later)  and even though he is a prolific and hysterical lyricist and pianist who gained quite a degree of fame and success in the 1960’s an

The Joy of Independent Movies
I have been a theater, music, and film lover as long as I can remember.  However, lately, I’ve become mostly a very unapologetic film buff, and I’ve watched all or part of movies that many people wouldn’t touch with a barge pole:  up to and including, say, films like “Weasels Rip My Flesh” and “Ankle Biters.”  It’s important to know, though that movies don’t at all have to be big mega-budget Hollywood numbers to be deeply and seriously enjoyable. If you restrain yourself to only watching things that come out of Mainstream Hollywood, you’ll be missing a great deal.  Mainstream Hollywood is, by natur

Memories of Paris
When I was around 11 (which seems like a lifetime ago in some ways and just yesterday in others) I experienced my very first trip abroad. Back then there were not the modern options of travel from the UK to France such as the channel tunnel and unless you were rich flying was out of the question for a family and so we went by car. I have always loved traveling by car – even back then – so for me it was quite an adventure. Having driven to Dover (well, my father did anyway lol) we went on a car ferry to Calais and then the adventure started in earnest. We were on the opposite side of the road of course (the UK drives on the left) so that was very different. Every

Icelandic Proverb: Anyone else know more?
I’ve heard a bit about Iceland and what it’s like to live there. It’s my understanding that the landscape there has a stark beauty, that the people there are very kind, friendly, and in many ways extremely open-minded. I’ve also been told that they have the most incredible fireworks of perhaps anywhere else in the world, on New Year’s Day. Families spend hundreds of dollars on fireworks for the occasion! and I’m offering the following proverb from Iceland which I just ran across: It is difficult to steal when the boss is a thief. Funny thing is, it’s really applicable to business in the USA