Diary: Talking ‘bout my generation (subtitle: OK Boomer)
Recently a post by Chris Arnade (ar-NAHD-i) at X caught my eye.
I’ve written for the last decade about the educational divide in the US,...
Diary: Is it the end? A new beginning? Anyone? Bueller?
During the next few days, I’ll be concluding the online publication of Food & Dining Magazine’s “lost” Spring 2026 print edition (Vol. 89).
The Spring...
Diary: What’s next? Beats me, but I’ll think of something
Beginning today, I’ll be posting piecemeal, online, the contents of Food & Dining Magazine’s Spring 2026 (Vol. 89) print issue.
In the aftermath of John...
40 Years in Beer (Book III), Part 86: Beer, writing, and my life in...
Previously: 40 Years in Beer (Book III), Part 85: Belgian beercycling concludes with the Delirium Tremens escapade, and more (2).
When Joe Strummer, leader of...
Herring salad — a simple, savory and effective recipe
Believe it or not, this tasty and simple recipe for herring salad originated with Betty Crocker’s International Cookbook, which was published in 1980 and...
Diary: Magic and loss (adios, John Carlos White)
Paraphrasing the late, great Rodney Dangerfield: “I’m okay now but you shoulda seen me the past three weeks.”
Once I assumed the late Ron Mikulak’s...
A war, a novel, a walk through the cemetery
Yesterday I finished reading The King of the Two Sicilies, a novel from 1980 by the acclaimed Polish author Andrzej Kuśniewicz (1904 – 1993).
In...
Claude Lanzmann’s essential documentary film Shoah
Auschwitz, 1987.
Whenever I’m asked to reveal my “favorite” film ― and be aware this happens rarely, because everyone who knows me understands that I’ve...
Barack Obama’s speech at the funeral of Jesse Jackson
Earlier this afternoon I happened to scroll past the live feed just as Barack Obama was beginning his speech. I listened to all of...
Green beer for St. Paddy’s? No, but let’s reward the principled, and ignore the...
beer
The following isn’t anything you have not heard me say before, and often, but the time draws near, and once again this year I’ll...