Blog

New York Times editorialist Gail Collins on the demise of the Mitt Romney campaign : “All I know is somewhere in doggie heaven, an Irish setter is laughing.” A bit of explanation for non -political or non-dog junkies: Romney’s wife Ann, I think it was, told what she must have believed would come across as…

From The Reader’s Digest , a useful summary of 20 very pragmatic actions – such as laughing more, walking more, focusing on your close relationships – that really will help you become happier. I do love that Tip #1 is “practice mindfulness.” I guess mindful living is no longer just for wild-eyed hippie types.

A nice mention of The Lifelong Activist in an article entitled Creating a Balanced and Sustainable Activist Life on ThinkGirl.net . Excerpts: “You’ve taped flyers to phone poles, raised your voice at a rally, organized a fundraising event, and challenged your uncle at a holiday dinner or two. You consider yourself an activist, and show…

When fearful individuals are attacked, they often lash out, not caring who or what is sacrificed in their desperate struggle to feel safe again. The same dynamic, we have learned to our eternal shame, also occurs in “fearful societies”:http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/05/world/asia/05gitmo.html?th&emc=th : “Abdul Razzaq Hekmati was regarded here as a war hero, famous for his resistance to…

…this time in a New York Times article on how innovation happens: “WE’VE all heard the tales of the apple falling on Newton’s head and Archimedes leaping naked from his bath shrieking “Eureka!” Many of us have even heard that eBay was created by a guy who realized that he could help his fiancée sell…

How do dogs do it? So I’m sitting around, late this afternoon, finishing a piece of writing. In the back of my mind I’m pondering the question of when I will take the dogs out next. I’m weighing several variables, including: 1) amount of time since last walk (which gave me a 3 hour window,…

“Success is a consequence and must not be a goal.” Taught a class on overcoming writer’s block at Grub Street Writers , yesterday, and as usual advised students to focus on the process of writing and not the result they hope to obtain. “But what about artistic merit?” the students asked. “What about getting published?…

Nicholas Kristof has a lovely and inspiring editorial in today’s NYT about the young social entrepreneurs who are working to create systems that increase equality and opportunity. It begins: “In the ’60s, perhaps the most remarkable Americans were the civil rights workers and antiwar protesters who started movements that transformed the country. In the 1980s,…

Organized for your convenience: About Dogs From The New York Times, The Healing Power of Dogs The heartwarming picture alone is worth the click over. Other Heartwarming Someone unearthed a cache of 1970s-era studio photos from Sears and Olan Mills photo stores. The pictures are comical but also moving, and some of the captions are…

CalTech physics professor Kenneth Libbrecht takes exquisitely beautiful photographs of snowflakes using a custom-built camera. Check out his website , which also includes some “cool” science.