And Tso It Goesby Hudson Cooper When I was growing up our family went out for dinner almost every Sunday night. We often went to a restaurant named China Moon. Like most Americans we never heard of Hunan, Sichuan or Cantonese. Back then we had simpler tastes and just called it Chinese food. Our choice
Read MoreMAKING THE BEST OF BEING SLEEPLESS IN THE SUBURBS Ken Taub I am a creative sleeper. I do not go to bed at 11:30 and wake up at 7 in the morning. Too predictable, too rote. I go to bed at 11 or 12 or 1, fall asleep fairly quickly, only to get up at
Read MoreScott Wilson My wife Michelle loves Mary Chapin Carpenter. Last year, we put one of her albums in my car’s CD player and listened to some of it. It didn’t speak to me, I said as much, and Michelle never asked to listen to it again. There the CD stayed, untouched, in my car’s player.
Read MoreEVERY LIFE HAS A MEMOIR WORTH TELLING Curtis Seltzer I discovered late in life that everyone has a story that’s worth telling–because every story has something worth knowing. Every life has moments when something is done or not done: a decision to bail or stick; an act of kindness or ugliness; even an off-hand remark
Read MoreUNCOVERING A DEEP-SEATED AMBITION WHILE DIGGING A TRENCH.WELL, SORT OF. Curtis Seltzer When my mother gave 14-year-old me my daily dose of advice that would help me in the future, she said: “I don’t care if you end up as a ditch-digger, just be a good one.” Clearly, she was trying to keep my career
Read MoreWILL POWER, PAIN AND SECOND CHANCES Lenny Mintz Why am I standing here on a cold rainy day watching young athletes run? I gave this up long ago, but here I am now with Silas. Silas is six feet-two, perhaps 150 pounds. He is long and lean, all sinew and muscle. He is a senior
Read MoreHOW SMALL TASKS BECOME BIG DOINGS Curtis Seltzer You do a lot of tending on a farm. “Tend” in both English and other European languages is rooted in words that mean “to set on fire” or “to kindle.” I thought about this at 3:30 a.m. one 25-below morning earlier this year, when Nellie, our Yellow
Read MoreWHAT DO YOU DO IF YOU CAN’T DO WHAT YOU’VE ALWAYS DONE? Curtis Seltzer Getting old requires adapting to changed circumstances. I dislike this as much as anyone, both the getting and the adapting. Parts that were once just fine now hurt. Some need to be repaired or replaced. Of course, some things can’t be
Read MoreIMMORTALITY, SHAKESPEARE AND YOUR GRANDMOTHER Ken Taub WHEN THE DOORBELL RANG, I was surprised. I wasn’t expecting anyone — surely not the Jehovah’s Witnesses. We chatted very briefly, exchanging pleasantries, when they suddenly hit me with, “How would you like to live forever?” “That would be positively vampiric,” I replied. The conversation went quickly downhill
Read MoreFROM CRICKET SONG TO NATIVE HYMNS Judy Light Ayyildiz FROM MY ROOM IN ISTANBUL, I LONGED FOR MY BALCONY IN THE BLUE RIDGE MOUNTAINS OF VIRGINIA. It was then, through the Internet that connects the world, I received an email with a link that informed me how a man, an experimental director and playwright, had
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