A nation weary of trying to talk any sense into GOP Candidate Michele Bachmann has sent instead an eight year old boy to carry the message. It is hoped that dealing with her on terms and at a level she can understand will be more successful. Previous attempts to reason with Mrs. Bachmann have met with what appears to be a solid wall of ignorance and intolerance when it comes to issues involving gay people other than her husband. Continue reading
Hi kids! Know where I am today? If you said “sitting at your desk at home like you are every other day,” you are incorrect! I am currently on vacation, and on tap for today is a visit to what’s supposed to be one of the best restaurants* in the country. I’ve had a bunch of great culinary experiences in 2011, mainly because my husband discovered that he loves to cook and bake, but I expect this one to top them all. And so, the Question of the Day: Be it cooking, eating, dining, or watching the Food Network, what was your best culinary experience of 2011? Continue reading
Beijing’s air quality is usually a taboo subject. The state-run media there usually refers to the capital’s smog as “mist,” “fog” or “bad weather.” But even the government-owned China Daily couldn’t ignore the situation earlier this week.
The picture in the bottom left corner was taken on Monday. Continue reading
Hello, hi. So, yawr, are you bored by football, basketball, hockey, and whatever else sweaty people do while snapping towels at each other and comparing bicep size? Is this what happens in locker rooms? Okay. So how about we examine a few sports that are just on the cusp of greatness. Like seriously in the year 2050 everyone will be like, “What? Soccer? Huh. Let’s go play Crap Canoe!” Yeah, you probably don’t want to know what Crap Canoe is. Anyway, get ready to be simply amazed at what we humans have created to pass the time. Possibly they should have just downloaded a book on a Kindle, but whatever. We’re not here to judge.
Yes, we are. Continue reading
During winters when I was a kid, my Dad insisted we wear real, proper shoes to school. I have no memory what type of shoes these were. Desert boots? Penny loafers, complete with shiny penny? Wee, child-sized Oxfords? No clue. I do vividly remember, however, the footwear I was desperate to wear to school instead. The footwear my father thought too flimsy to keep our feet warm through a New Jersey winter. The footwear I put in my bag and a few blocks from home, changed into, so desperate was I to have them on my feet, always. Sneakers. Continue reading
If I think back hard enough, I can still feel the stinging in my hands, hear the ringing in my ears.
Growing up in northwestern Pennsylvania, those attacks on your senses were something you became accustomed to if you played baseball at a competitive level. I graduated high school in 1997, on the very fringe of the movement to turn youth sports into a year-round, practice-til-you-drop affair. Continue reading
What’s not to love about an athlete’s body? It’s the tool he needs to do his job so he takes great care of his tool. Yes, I said it. At the very least, we can admire and appreciate athletes’ bodies for the living machines they are. Let’s get real though: we’re not just appreciating the functionality of a well toned physique; we’re lusting after hot pieces of man meat. Soccer may have some great legs; swimming may have some amazing torsos; football may… well let’s face it, they wear so much padding you can’t see their bodies anyway (ditto for hockey). If you want to see some great asses though, you’re going to have to turn on baseball. Continue reading
Last month Runner’s World magazine did its “reader’s issue.” A lot of the stories were about the readers of the magazine instead of the running superstars that are normally featured in the magazine. One reader pointed out that it’s very rare to see a black runner on the cover of the magazine.
The editor talked about this in his monthly address at the beginning of the magazine. Lo and behold, there are mostly white runners featured on the magazine because that’s who is reading the magazine. Nearly 90% of readers are Caucasian, 5.2% are Hispanic and a very low 1.2% are African-American. With 13% of the United State population being African-American, one might hope that might be reflected in running demographics, but it is not. Continue reading