“We Need To Talk About Kevin”
“We Need to Talk About Kevin” opens in movie theaters nationwide but there isn’t a movie theater within 50 miles of Hartford, Connecticut showing the film, and it’s not because the film is ‘bad.” In fact, the movie review site, Rotten Tomatoes gave the film an 81% and the nearly 10,000 reviewers that have already seen it (as there was a limited release on Jan 13, 2012) gave the movie an even higher rating – 86%. So, why isn’t the movie opening up in every movie theater across America? Read more 
You Know You’re In Madrid, Spain When….
Four of the best years of my life were spent in Madrid, Spain and there isn’t a week that goes by that I don’t think about the capital city, especially the climate, culture, and the food. The weather is incredible: there are four sunny dry seasons which means every day is a good hair day. Writing about hair attributes can sound shallow and frivolous but a city with a “hair ease of maintenance” grade of A+ is worthy of page space. Read more
Blueberry Buckle Streusel Cake
Up until a few years ago, blueberries were only available in late summer. To take advantage of the bountiful supply, August menus were filled with blueberry laced recipes: muffins, pancakes, cake, pie, cobbler, and buckle. No one ever got tired of blueberries but just as quickly as the blueberries arrived and just as we were able to fully appreciate how incredible these special berries taste, they would disappear and we would have to wait a year to see them again. Read more
“In The Garden of Beasts”
Berlin has always captivated me because it was the first European city where I could see and feel the remnants from World War II and the Cold War. The capital city isn’t known for its climate, especially in the winter when the weather can be harsh, the sky grey, and the days short but the weather is all but forgotten when walking through the streets because Berlin is really a dichotomy thanks to a series of events: World War II and the 28-year existence of the Berlin Wall which was torn down to the cheers of crowds in 1989. Read more
Exploring Masada, Israel
On a family vacation to Israel, we decided to take a day trip from Jerusalem to Masada, an archeological ruin in the Judean Desert overlooking the southwest coast of the Dead Sea. The concierge at the hotel made arrangements with a local tour company and we were picked up very early the next morning. The driver had a large van and after picking up several other small groups of tourists at local hotels in Jerusalem, we set off for Masada – a roughly 60 mile trip southeast of Jerusalem on the southern coast of the Dead Sea. Read more
Tomato Sauce – Homemade
Remembering Marjorie Williams
Seven years ago, the world lost a great writer named Marjorie Williams who died at age 47 from liver cancer leaving behind a husband and two young children, ages 11 and 8. At the time of her death, Williams was an op-ed columnist with the Washington Post and a frequent contributor to Vanity Fair where she primarily wrote political profiles – not your typical rose smelling or hatchet job profiles but portraits that zeroed in on the character beyond what the image machine created. Somehow Williams managed to figure out what was at the core of a being – what drove him or her – and deftly tied in all the minutiae in their universe to show the reader who the person really was in an entertaining but truthful way. Read more
You Know You’re in Switzerland When…
My great-grandmother was born in Soulalex, a village located in the French-speaking canton (similar to a US state) of Valais (section 23 in the map below) in Switzerland. Located literally on the side of a mountain, Soulalex was a small farming village a hundred years ago when she left and immigrated to Illinois in search of a better life. She was 16 years old. Read more
Nordic Walking
While living in Switzerland, I noticed that many people used nordic poles to walk vigorously. Their posture was excellent and yet their movements seemed so fluid, fast and effortless. More popular in Europe than the US, nordic walking is a sport that has yet to be recognized or “gone viral” as my daughter would say. She calls nordic walking an “old ladies sport” but there couldn’t be anything further from the truth. Read more
Playing Fair With Interest Rates
Paddock Post 