“So, this goes…under the bra?” I stare dubiously at the hard plastic bowls. “Yup,” says the 27-year-old Black Irish firefighter who somehow strikes me as unlikely to know, even though it is he who handed them to me in a sealed package upon which he has printed my name. The trouble is I already have […]
Miscellaneous
When I was young, my brother and sister and I caught salamanders in my grandparents’ garage and chased cats through the barn. The family farm was a big private playground, where we could poke at tadpoles in Nelson Lake (more like a large pond) and occasionally ride around on a giant lawnmower. More often than […]
23 – 27 September Have you ever wondered what it’s like to attend a wild horse and burro auction? This week, Mary Caperton Morton reports. Christie tried her hardest not to eulogize newsprint. Helen ate whale. Verdict? Underwhelming. “A lot of us hoped that once we had the Internet we might have more information about the […]
I died a little inside when I heard about the recent Today Show interview in which Jeff Bezos said, “I think printed newspapers on actual paper may be a luxury item. It’s sort of like, you know, people still have horses, but it’s not their primary way of commuting to the office.” As founder of Amazon.com […]
Malaria causes more deaths in sub-Saharan Africa than car accidents, cancer, AIDS or war, even though the disease can be easily cured with an inexpensive pill. I find that fact incredibly disturbing, so I’ve traveled to Africa multiple times to write about this problem. But honestly, I mainly go to Africa because I like it. […]
The first time I heard Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody,” there were a lot of things I was on the verge of understanding. My first contact with the song was in the movie Wayne’s World, which also highlighted some of this dawning awareness. I knew it was funny when the main characters, Wayne and Garth, said “Schwing!” but […]
Canada’s oil sands region has been gaining international recognition as a monstrous environmental liability, its vast tailings ponds made beautifully ghastly by Ed Burtynsky’s aerial photography. By some measures, though, Canada’s most polluted site is located less than three miles from where I put my son to bed, with a cup of tap water, every […]
9 to 13 September This week began and ended with bugs: guest poster and insect illustrator Mayaan Harel dissected cultural notions of disgust, which she had to overcome in order to pursue her chosen field. I revealed my abiding desire and thwarted quest to eat them. Roberta watched avian tornadoes. Helen found a museum that […]
