ENGLISH AND FRENCH 1902—WITH ATTITUDE!
AMONG MY TRAVEL GUIDES IS THIS HANDY LITTLE (4 3/4” X 5 1/4”) VOLUME titled Manual of Conversation With Models of Letters for the Use of Travellers and Students, English … Continue reading
RAFFLES—A SINGAPORE HOTEL, A HOLMES INVERSION PART 1
THIS CONNECT-THE-DOTS TALE IN PARTS 1 AND 2 today and tomorrow begins with yet another Raffles: Stamford Raffles is described by Wikipedia as “a British colonial official who served as … Continue reading
THE JAPANESE HAVE A WORD FOR IT PART 2
YESTERDAY, REBEKAH BRANDES’ NICE NEWS article got us started with Japanese words and phrases enriching our lives. Perhaps still in need of intellectual and emotion reparation, we continue today in … Continue reading
THE JAPANESE HAVE A WORD FOR IT PART 1
I ENJOY READING NICE NEWS—a website that, as its name describes, celebrates the world’s joys. For example, Nice News’ Rebekah Brandes offers “From Ikigai to Wabi-Sabi: 8 Japanese Philosophies for … Continue reading
A FINE PRADERA BRUNCH
THE SPANISH “PRADERA” IS A MEADOW, A PRARIE, A GRASSLAND. The English/American “brunch” is a portmanteau word of breakfast/lunch. And, specifically, SoCal’s Pradera restaurants (there are two, the original in … Continue reading
A QUITE PROPER MEDITERRANEAN CRUISE—1923 PART 2
YESTERDAY, WE EMBARKED ON A CRUISE around the Mediterranean Sea with Rolland Jenkins’ 1923 guidebook. Today, we continue in Part 2, first with the “sparkling city of Algiers.” Algiers. “The … Continue reading
A QUITE PROPER MEDITERRANEAN CRUISE—1923 PART 1
THEY CERTAINLY KNEW HOW TO TRAVEL BACK THEN. And to write about it as well: Rolland Jenkins noted cogently, “In looking over the material available in the form of what … Continue reading
STROLLING THE STRAND—MIND THE PRIMEVAL HIPPOPOTAMI PART 2
YESTERDAY, WE BEGAN GLEANING TIDBITS from Ysenda Maxtone Graham’s LRB review of Geoff Browell and Eileen Chanin’s The Strand: A Biography. Today in Part 2, we continue the fun. Nationalizing … Continue reading
STROLLING THE STRAND—MIND THE PRIMEVAL HIPPOPOTAMI PART 1
IN READING “BUSIEST THOROUGHFARE OF THE METROPOLIS OF THE WORLD,” by Ysenda Maxtone Graham in London Review of Books, December 4, 2025, I am reminded of my sole phrase of … Continue reading
QUAINT LITTLE PUBS
AND WHEN I SAY “LITTLE”…. IN PARTICULAR, KAREN BONES IS A SCOTTISH ARTIST EXTRAORDINAIRE who “started making miniature buildings as a natural progression.” Karen Bones and her artful miniatures. This … Continue reading
