Social-emotional learning: the latest public school gimmick

As I have said before, I do not devote much attention to whatever fresh new hell has captured the imaginations of public educators. The quality of public education in this country - which was never impressive to begin with - has collapsed so spectacularly that it is safe to say educators will obsess over absolutely … Continue reading Social-emotional learning: the latest public school gimmick →

America’s doom fatigue in numbers

For many years, our family has gone out to eat frequently. Because we work from home and homeschool our daughter, it's nice to unplug at the end of the day and go out on the town. All through the scamdemic, we made it our personal mission to keep some of our favorite joints in business. … Continue reading America’s doom fatigue in numbers →

Postcards from La-La Land

The truth is rarely pure and never simple. Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest A few weeks ago, I saw a post on Facebook from Jamie Erickson's page "The Unlikely Homeschooler." It starts off with how she tried to read J.D. Salinger's classic novel The Catcher in the Rye, but quit after a single … Continue reading Postcards from La-La Land →

The “girlboss” hits middle age, doesn’t like what she sees (plus a fantastic new podcast)

Photo by Viridiana Ortiz Love is that condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own.Robert Heinlein, Stranger in a Strange Land There are, broadly speaking, two kinds of unhappy people in the world: (1) people who fully understand what aspect of their life is making them unhappy, they genuinely want to … Continue reading The “girlboss” hits middle age, doesn’t like what she sees (plus a fantastic new podcast) →

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s obsession with homeschooling

Were all instructors like him, the world would soon be wise.Julian Hawthorne, son of Nathaniel Hawthorne, in his biography of his parents I suppose it is a strange fascination, but I have long been interested in what sort of education the great minds in western civilization received growing up. One thing folks with genius intellects … Continue reading Nathaniel Hawthorne’s obsession with homeschooling →

Let me tell you about the birds and the bees, and the flowers and the trees

I tried to capture the parrots using the extreme zoom on my Samsung Galaxy phone. This is as good as I could get, given how they are about 40 feet up in the trees. When we moved into this house in South Florida, we inherited a dead royal palm tree (along with many beautiful and … Continue reading Let me tell you about the birds and the bees, and the flowers and the trees →

How the Russian oil ban charade is contributing to inflation

Much ado has been made about the European Union enacting a partial (90%) ban on Russian oil. I have written in the past about how sanctions have quite failed to cripple the Russian economy, but have contributed significantly to debilitating inflation and supply chain issues in the west. (I am certainly not opposed to sanctions, … Continue reading How the Russian oil ban charade is contributing to inflation →

The mystery of the anti-Semitic flyers

Yesterday, my husband sent me a horrifying local news article about how cars at two high-end shopping centers in Estero, Florida, were plastered with anti-Semitic flyers. The city of Estero is a short drive from our house, and we frequently visit one of the shopping centers mentioned in the article. In fact, we went to … Continue reading The mystery of the anti-Semitic flyers →

Making lychee-infused vodka

It is harvest time for the lychee tree in our backyard. This is Elise's favorite climbing tree, and she has been known to spend hours up there with a good book. I am thinking about putting some kind of sitting area underneath it, because the tree provides superb shade in the summer months and you … Continue reading Making lychee-infused vodka →

Electric utilities will be an even bigger mess than usual out west this summer

I realize my blog posts are getting rather... dark... lately. I wish I could talk myself into a contrarian worldview on the economy, because I love bargain-hunting during financial pukes. I just don't see the path there right now. And I am not sure how many investors are willing to get into the business of … Continue reading Electric utilities will be an even bigger mess than usual out west this summer →