CENTURY-OLD SLANG
LADY MARY CRAWLEY of Downton Abbey uttered “Golly!” and that got me thinking. What were the slang terms of a hundred years ago? I dug into this with A Dictionary … Continue reading
BERKS AND CLERKS
“BERK! BERK!” says the Old English Sheepdog, about which I am delighted to share an insight from Kristine B. Loland’s analysis of the breed: “If they think you are unclear, … Continue reading
SOME OF THE THINGS I KNEW FOR SURE WERE NOT
LIFE IS full of continuing ed. Or at least it can be. Among the many facts I’ve accumulated over the years, more than a few of them are downright incorrect. … Continue reading
VIRTUAL REALITY—30 YEARS ON
CYBERSPACE HAS attracted me since I first heard of it in William Gibson’s 1984 novel Neuromancer. The concept gained academic cred in another book, Cyberspace: First Steps, a 1991 collection … Continue reading
BROTHER, CAN YOU SPARE A CURLICUE? I’M A LITTLE SHORTHANDED HERE
AT A recent book exchange, I swapped six bags of my literary has-beens for one bag of treasures. (The affair was enlivened when I mistakenly put a copy of the … Continue reading
ANDREW DEWAR’S FLYING ORIGAMI
TO CALL Andrew Dewar’s designs merely paper airplanes is a disservice to the planes and to this Canadian-born librarian residing in Japan. The airplanes are flying examples of origami art. … Continue reading
ON LEARNING LITHUANIAN
ALAS, DESPITE my heritage, I speak no Lithuanian. This, despite the best attempts of others. The book’s subtitle promises “This System Teaches You the Essentials of a Language (for Travel … Continue reading
FIASCOES, SHAMBLES, HAVOC AND HUBBUBS
I WAS reading recently about Chianti Classicos, Italian red wines. This evoked memories of romantic restaurants, red-and-white checkered tablecloths and candle wax dripping down onto straw-wrapped wine bottles. Well, it … Continue reading
TOYS—1927
NOT TO sound like an old guy—which, of course, I am—but today’s play for kids seems a bit artificial, if not downright electronically weird. By contrast, one of the books … Continue reading
IN PRAISE OF OLD-TIME RADIO
A RECENT article in The New York Times, July 28, 2014, is titled “Sure, You Loved Lucy, but Vintage Has Limits.” In presenting his “Case of Retro TV Overload,” columnist … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 