• Refrigerators that start to make noise never get quieter.

• This article by Gene Collier of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, about athletes who visit sick or disadvantaged children, reminds me what I liked about Pittsburgh, what I now miss.

• It is not simple nostalgia to think back to the days when children used to go out and play.  In some parallel universe, they still do, and those kids are no doubt in better social and physical condition than ours.  Even if six or seven million of them are named Bleen.

• The Occupy Movement decries income disparity but I question its tactics and targets.  Income disparity exists because we feed into it, not just when we buy or sell stock, but every time we go see a blockbuster movie or sporting event, every time we buy designer clothes and, yes, every time we pay our outrageous cable or satellite bill.  These are the actions that put our money in the hands of the superstars and behemoths.  We made the monster, and it will take a sweeping change in our own values to bring it down.

• I make homeopathic martinis, adding just two or three drops of a fruit-flavored vodka where other bartenders would use vermouth.  Plenty of flavor.  Remember who told you.

• Irony is what Americans use to avoid making strong, direct statements.  I am fortunate to have known a British couple who do not use irony — interacting with them was like being plunged into a sea of black coffee with colorful swirls, disorienting in a positive way for a stubbornly ironic American.  Happy Christmas, Guy and Catharine.

• Artists do and say and create things, boldly, without embarrassment.  Rarely do I.  Merry Christmas, Lester.