\u2022 Refrigerators that start to make noise never get quieter.<\/p>\n
\u2022 This article<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n \u2022 It is not simple nostalgia to think back to the days when children used to go out and play.\u00a0 In some parallel universe, they still do, and those kids are no doubt in better social and physical condition than ours.\u00a0 Even if six or seven million of them are named Bleen<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u2022 The Occupy Movement decries income disparity but I question its tactics and targets.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 These are the actions that put our money in the hands of the superstars and behemoths.\u00a0 We made the monster, and it will take a sweeping change in our own values to bring it down.<\/p>\n \u2022 I make homeopathic martinis, adding just two or three drops of a fruit-flavored vodka where other bartenders would use vermouth.\u00a0 Plenty of flavor.\u00a0 Remember who told you.<\/p>\n \u2022 Irony is what Americans use to avoid making strong, direct statements.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 Happy Christmas, Guy and Catharine.<\/p>\n \u2022 Artists do and say and create things, boldly, without embarrassment.\u00a0 Rarely do I.\u00a0 Merry Christmas, Lester.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u2022 Refrigerators that start to make noise never get quieter. \u2022 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. \u2022 … Continue reading