CONFESSIONS OF A BOOK-WRAPTER
I DIDN’T HAVE a word for it, but I now believe I’m a book-wrapter. I learned this from Julie Lasky’s article in The New York Times, December 24, 2021, “How … Continue reading
“S. A. E. RETURNS TO PEACE PURSUITS” PART 2
YESTERDAY WE WATCHED postWWI engineers, their spouses, and guests having fun and games at the summer 1919 meeting of the Society of Automotive Engineers. Today in Part 2, the engineers … Continue reading
“S. A. E. RETURNS TO PEACE PURSUITS” PART 1
IT WAS A LITTLE MORE than a century ago that a newly named Society of Automotive Engineers emerged from supporting U.S. efforts in World War I. Founded in 1905 as … Continue reading
A NEW YEAR—TWO BOOKS AND AN OLD MOVIE
TWO BOOKS, NEW to my shelves, offer tidbits about a classic movie, oft (and recently) enjoyed. One of the books is a collection of movie reviews; the other, a newly … Continue reading
HIGH HOLIDAYS
THE CESTA DE NAVIDAD, Christmas Basket, is a traditional Spanish gift consisting of wine, liquor, sweets, other treats, and cured ham. The Guardian, December 21, 2021, offers a variation of … Continue reading
TRAVELS WITH ZENOBIA PART 2
TWO AMERICAN WOMEN, foot-loose after World War I adventures, decide to buy a Ford Model T in Paris and drive it to Albania. Their journal was transformed into the book … Continue reading
TRAVELS WITH ZENOBIA PART 1
WHENEVER I CONSIDER giving a book away, I leaf through it to recall why I bought it in the first place. And then I wonder if I really want to … Continue reading
夫を連れて行って, ください
A JAPANESE COMEDIENNE might use the line above, Google Translate’s rendering of “Take my husband, please.” But until relatively recently she wouldn’t be performing rakugo, the classical form of Japanese … Continue reading
MOUNT RUSHMORE TIDBITS
DAUGHTER SUZ AND I recently enjoyed Alfred Hitchcock’s famed North by Northwest, everything from this director’s cameo missing a bus in its opening moments, to the oft-cited line “We laugh … Continue reading
LA MARQUISE MOTORS ON
THE 1884 DE DION, BOUTON ET TRÉPARDOUX is “the oldest running car in the world,” as described by Gooding & Company at its Pebble Beach Auction, August 19, 2007. The … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 