Category Archives: Uncategorized

Big Box Ethics

Posted on 10/15/2018 by

Caveat Emptor: Buyer Beware. Responsible consumers are supposed to always make sure they got the true deal. That’s why I watch Star Market cashiers with a keen eye: markdown prices taped to the peanut butter or dry bean shelf rarely … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Statutes of Limitations

Posted on 10/07/2018 by

Does criminal behavior carry an expiration date? I recently wrote, in regards to Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination hearings, “I have reservations about how we apply 2018 standards to 1980’s adolescent behavior.” A reader who objected to that statement (“…young … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

A Chink in the Wall of Deny, Deny, Deny

Posted on 09/29/2018 by

Democracy creates strange bedfellows. This morning our precarious system of justice got a one-week reprieve thanks to Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, a soft-spoken, earnest professional woman; two strident protestors who blocked a US Senator in an elevator; and a lame … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 6 Comments

Hanging Pictures, Hanging Out

Posted on 05/08/2018 by

When was the last time you went to a barn raising? How about a threshing party? Or even a quilting circle? Coming together for shared work is an idyllic vision of our agrarian past, as alien to contemporary life as … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

The Primacy of Horizontal Space

Posted on 04/30/2018 by

How far will you walk over rather than down? How much farther will you walk over rather climb up?   As an architect who designed large, multi-story buildings, I learned early on to locate physical spaces that have important connections … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Update from Mildred, Fresh Pond Owl

Posted on 04/24/2018 by

Location. Location. Location. The real estate attribute so dear to humans applies to us owls as well. Less than a month ago I hooted the advantages, and annoyances, of nesting at Fresh Pond. Now I find myself indebted to that … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Individual Responsibility / Societal Responsibility

Posted on 04/18/2018 by

There’s a passing quote in Rachel Aviv’s recent article “The Edge of Identity” (The New Yorker April 2, 2018) that stopped me short. In 2008, Hannah Upp, a vivacious, engaging woman, experienced a dissociative fugue. Fugue is the medical/psychological term … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment