50th Birthday
As of July 24, 2016 I am 50 years old and I feel like I've finally reached my prime. (Cake was yellow layers with buttercream frosting on the outside and mango mousse on the inside. It was from Swedish Bakery in Chicago.)
Trump, Immigrants and the RNC
Now that I'm building a new blog for my business, Welcome Dialogue, I choose between my two blogs, depending on the content. Today's post is here: http://wp.me/p76ImY-6h. UPDATE on 22 Jan 2019: Sadly, I took down the Welcome Dialogue website and accepted that...
I Love Turning 50!
As I get closer to my 50th birthday on July 24th, I'm getting tired of people trying to tell me I'm not old. They obstinately don't understand that for me old is good. I have always been happy to get a year older because I experienced no great benefit to being young,...
Order Your Black Lives Matter Buttons
Decided it was finally time to get some of these. I ordered them here: Peace Buttons.
NPRs This American Life: “Tell Me I’m Fat”
Previous post on weight & health: Slow as weight loss National Public Radio's This American Life program recently broadcast a show called "Tell Me I'm Fat." On their website, it's described like this: The way people talk about being fat is shifting. With...
American Currency Is Changing
I missed the announcement a few months ago that not only will the American twenty dollar bill be updated, but the $10 and $5 bills will be, too. Harriet Tubman will be on the $20 (even if it's not for 14 more years), and although Hamilton will stay on the face of the...
Against No-Kill Animal Shelters
Sabine Heinlein's essay, The Cruelty of Kindness, poses the question of whether no-kill animal shelters have gone too far in saving every life. It comes down to the question of whether any kind of life, no matter how painful, is better than death. Maybe I'm all alone...
Hammacher Schlemmer Lifetime Guarantee
I bought Hammacher Schlemmer's Plantar Fasciitis Orthotic Sandals three years ago, but one of the soles started to detach. I went on their website to replace them and noticed that they have a lifetime guarantee on their products. I decided to try it. I called and got...
The Purge Movies
So I finally watched The Purge (2013) and The Purge: Anarchy (2014), which have to be called "social science fiction action horror" because there's so much going on in them. The first movie seems to be another home invasion story that pits a family against assailants...
Can We Get Rid of All the Mexicans?
I call this my "House Bill 56 Bedtime Story." It's the story of how Alabama tried to get rid of their immigrants back in 2011 and how it all went horribly wrong. Ha! It's a textbook example of the law of unintended consequences. Please read it HERE. It reminds me of...
This Just In: Be Healthy!
I hardly know why news providers like the L.A. Times do stories like Americans could prevent roughly half of all cancer deaths by doing these four things. We know we should stop smoking, drink less alcohol, exercise regularly and achieve and maintain a "healthful...
My New YouTube Channel
Part of my new business for non-native English speakers is helping with pronunciation. To this end, Welcome Dialogue is now present on YouTube. Visit my channel for short videos that help you practice American English. So far I have videos that practice the vowel...