NBA playoffs 2012
Dwayne Wade and his mother Jolinda have traded roles a few times lately. He will sit proudly at the front of the congregation in her church. She has had her proud moments watching her son play basketball. Dwayne plays for the Miami Heat, now in a battle with the Boston Celtics for the eastern crown […]
Skin deep
Beauty. What is beauty, anyway? Since I was a little kid, beauty has mostly been defined by cosmetics companies, fashion designers, advertisers and marketing specialists—defined to sell products. My mother, who loved to read magazines and watch movies, had her own definition of beauty and mostly it was focused on slim women who looked good […]
The fossilized list
I was recently given a gift certificate to buy a book, and I chose The Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums of all Time Special Collectors Issue. I’d like to say that this was because some earnest treatise on the collapse of the global economy was out of stock, but I can’t, because it wasn’t. I […]
Fruit of the desert
By happenstance, I recently came across a news article on vineyards in the Gobi desert. My only previous knowledge of the area was its historic significance as a barrier between the Mongols and the Chinese Empire. I more recently read of the Gobi’s fierce sandstorms (one of which deposited over 300,000 tons of sand on […]
Snakes and Ladders
Many of you readers may remember the board game called “Snakes and Ladders.” You rolled the dice, and counted spaces to try to win the game. If it so happened that you might land on a ladder, you saved time and space by climbing to another level; however, if you landed on a snake, you […]
Battle of the beige
In spite of what I’ve said about growing old, some things just don’t improve with age. Thank goodness we live in wine country and I’ve got a huge wine rack in my kitchen. The wine is aging nicely, but the kitchen. Oh, my. The kitchen. Oh, sure, our kitchen is mostly intact for a room […]
The mass ‘oops’
Like me, you probably clip articles out of the newspaper and, as you tidy your desk, reread them with bafflement. Here’s one that got to me. Under the heading “insurance,” the headline read “Aviva unit fires all its staff by mistake.” It turns out the investment arm of the U.K.’s second biggest insurance company had […]
Bull’s Blood
Some wines, like Hungarian “Bull’s Blood,” have a wonderful story behind their name and origin. Bull’s Blood is a robust red wine, blended from up to 13 different varieties, that is commonly found on wine shop and supermarket shelves in the British Isles. The common availability of this wine, however, does not diminish its quality. […]
Rob Bagg – Saskatchewan Roughrider
Last Saturday, Robb Bagg dropped by Mary Ann Sills Park in Belleville to watch a little football. His cousin, Matthew Mead, is the quarterback for the Bancroft entry in the Belleville Minor Football League. As he was leaving the grounds at the end of the third quarter, Bagg quietly suggested to Mead’s father that he […]
Close to my heart
LOML’s aunt used to say there weren’t too many reasons for old folks to get together unless it was to attend a funeral or a grandchild’s wedding. Every time she said something to that effect, I thought it must be H E double uppers and lowers to get old. She might have been about my […]