Dirk informs us by email that our lavender picture represents the lavandula stoechas, which blossoms March - June. Sadly, he continues, it ...

Mark Twain died (or was born) today, a thousand years ago (OK, yesterday). This is the home where he was born, with the fence that opens T...

When I was young we would spend the evenings at the central table of the living room and listen to the radio. Then TV came. It arrived in...

Saturday night. The wind howls around the house, the timber creaks, the rain beats on the windows, the sea roars below. The doorbell ring...

Saturday night. The wind howls around the house, the timber creaks, the rain beats on the windows, the sea roars below. The doorbell ring...

Our entry in the New York Times feature A moment in time . The idea is "to create an international mosaic of images...

-"Why do you post this letter?" -"For one, it was not written by the washed-up scriptwriter." -"How do you kno...

A Wiener Schnitzel? A Holsteiner Schnitzel---because of the egg on top. -"Honey, have you seen the Cholesterol pills?"

The Darty man arrives. Yet another guy, two meters long, pouchy, funny haircut. He re-installs the induction hob, and then provides a length...

The Samsung hob had been re-installed on Friday. On Saturday morning, some desperate noises from the kitchen. "Michael." A pause...

The captain announces 'Ladies and gentlemen, we've reached cruising altitude and will be turning down the cabin lights. This is for ...

Sirrr: Please cancel my subscription to the International Herald Tribune , as David Brook's column on health care , published today in ...

You may recall the days of The Wall , when West Berlin was still officially the capital of Germany ("Hauptstadt Berlin"), but th...

Rand Richards Cooper has a piece in the NYT in which he laments the decline of RSVP . He sends an e-mail invitation to 45 friends with th...

A friend adds helpfully: "I'm not sure what they have won but who gives a shit." Leave comments!

Repairman has arrived (see previous post). Postwoman (Muriel) has arrived, delayed, with the International Herald Tribune . Maureen Dowd, t...

Recall the last episode. π is an irrational number? Irrational number are infinitely long? How do you know? How do we get to the end of th...

-"Donald Duck is the nephew of Dagobert Duck,” you may ask? Yes, we were pondering whether this sentence, when found in the decimal exp...