So, the Tension Season is here. The emotional surges of holidays create lovely bursts of good will and well-being, but they can also lift some ordinary distresses into orbit. We have barely dug out the wrapping paper and already several people have presented Difficult Situations...
Voting is a happy event all by itself, but voting in the post-hurricane environment of New York this year was an exceptionally exhilarating experience. Many of our usual voting locations (schools) have been serving other functions (homeless shelters), so a lot of voters were compressed into...
Halloween approaches and scary things appear, not the least of which is scary holiday language. By scary I mean language that intends to frighten. Altho The Language Grinch is not opposed to holiday customs, and, in fact, goes forth in fine witch regalia on a faux...
The phrase “October’s bright blue weather” is used in one my favorite children’s books, The Hundred Dresses, by Eleanor Estes. This is a book about a poor little girl named Wanda who tries to fit in with her cruel and bullying classmates by telling them...
“What were you thinking?! You knew we needed this report to be filed! I told you a million times how important this is. Don’t you listen to anything I say! Now look at the mess you’ve caused- again!” This speech was delivered to Arminta by her...
Basil and Rose have just met and are having coffee together, presumably to get to know one another. Perhaps they are coworkers who have recently been put on the same team. Maybe this is a social outing. I am listening. Basil is speaking. And speaking. He...