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Something to Read – Christmas Favorites From Washington Irving to David Sedaris

The Four Gift Rule for kids this season has hit social media and these are my picks for the fourth gift, Something to Read. Four Gift Rule For Children Something they want Something they need Something...

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A Gift for Readers – Christmas Day in the Morning by Pearl Buck

Last night my twelve year old was tired from homework and nervous about two quizzes and a test today. She changed into her pajamas and came downstairs, her plush toy seal tightly in her arms, her brow...

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Blooms in Winter – Faith Amid the Darkness

My mother’s plant has not bloomed for a long time, years she thinks. She gave it to us when she moved and it sits in the front window which faces south. The sun is lower in the southern sky during the...

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A Christmas Memory – Truman Capote –“It’s Fruitcake Weather!”

Here is a gift, a thoughtful and powerful tale about the true spirit of the day.  Regardless of your beliefs, there is something here for everyone.  It’s the best story I’ve read this season and I’m...

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The Year 2016, Monkey Stamps, & Volleyball

  Paddle boarding on Rodney Bay, St. Lucia As we return from warmer climes, wintry adventures, distant family, geographical and emotional rambling, we find ourselves back in our homes and at our desks....

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“Does your cup runneth over?”– Tao Te Ching – Verse 9

The bible mentions this cup, but how very different are its meanings in Psalm 23 and the Tao Verse 9. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil;...

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Thinking Inside of the Box – A Merry Birthday

  My mother was worried my gift would not arrive on time. I checked later that day. The mailman put the well taped package with nine priority mail labels and tracking sticker in my mailbox. Just...

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Why Read The Martian?

  Here’s something to consider: girls reading science fiction, and more interesting, girls liking science fiction. The ladies in my book group met last night to discuss The Martian by Andy Weir. Yes,...

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When Business Becomes History – Why Industry is Leaving Connecticut

“Abe Lincoln may have freed all men, but Sam Colt made them equal.” It’s an interesting idea to ponder. President Lincoln is praised universally today, across the aisle, and around the world, but what...

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Papa Lao Yei & the Dumplings – A Lunar New Year Filled With Treasure

Happy Lunar New Year! 2016 is the year of the monkey. Those born in the year of the monkey are said to be funny, witty, perhaps a bit mischievous. There are twelve signs of the zodiac and the monkey is...

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David Foster Wallace on Kafka’s “A Little Fable”

  David Foster Wallace is my latest literary obsession: a state of consumption and immersion in his essays, conversations, speeches, and thoughts. DFW was an influential writer and professor, who had...

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Alan Rickman & Kate Winslet on Women & Beauty

  Today is International Women’s Day. If you’re like me, you saw it on Google’s search page, and by holding your mouse cursor over the Google logo, you can watch the video and proceed to the link to...

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WORDPRESS FATAL ERROR – When Your Site Crashes

You know the game of 20 questions. Check out these three and see if you know the answer. What is your mother’s maiden name? What is the name of your big dog? Who is your favorite uncle? If you’re not...

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Zest for Life: Five Types of Eaters and The Conquest of Happiness – Bertrand...

  Five Types of Eaters British logician and philosopher Bertrand Russell asks readers to consider five different ways a man may receive his meal. For some it is entirely a bore, no matter how good the...

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Poetry Month – Today – Billy Collins Welcomes Spring

Spring came late this year to Connecticut with mornings still in the 40s. We hosted an exchange student from Spain and she experienced her first snow in April, not once but twice.  It was just the...

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Cophetua and the Beggar Maid – Inspires Shakespeare, Tennyson, & Munro

There once lived an African King named Cophetua. He was wealthy and just, but he had no interest in women. Palace life and the women of the court, their dress and manner, drew out the opposite feelings...

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The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up – Marie Kondo – a Gift for Mom and for You

  There are three approaches we can take towards our possessions: face them now, face them sometime, or avoid them until the day we die.  ( p. 184) The third approach is a grim reality which readers...

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What is a Good Life? – Meditations by Marcus Aurelius

Stop philosophizing about what a good man is and be one. The Roman emperor (161 – 180 AD) Marcus Aurelius wrote this in his personal notes. Considered the last of the Five Great Emperors and regarded...

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Life is short, art eternal – Beethoven – The Man & the Artist as Revealed in...

Life is short, art eternal. Beethoven in his Own Words Love of Nature How happy I am to be able to wander among bushes and herbs, under trees and over rocks; no man can love the country as I love it....

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Dulce et Decorum Est – Is it sweet and noble to die for one’s country? or...

  A tribute to Roman soldier poet Horace and British soldier poet Wilfred Owen Horace’s Latin inscription, Dulce et Decorum Est Pro Patria Mori, on the west pediment of amphitheater in Arlington...

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