Dad test-driving my tricycle, late 1940s Yesterday would have been my dad’s birthday. Actually it was his birthday — not “would have been.” Unfortunately, he is no longer with us to have enjoyed it, not that he would likely have enjoyed being as creaky as one might be at 1.11 centuries of age. I recall […]
Kitty Yannone. (All photos of Kitty are “borrowed” from her Facebook page. Photos from the Hall of Honor induction (below) and the link to the video (also below) are provided courtesy of PRSA Hawaii.) Today I’m sharing some memories of a friend, colleague and former boss — Kitty Yannone — who passed away two months […]
Afghan refugee family crossing U.S. southern border Following America’s shameful, chaotic flight from Kabul in August 2021, I wrote to my senators and congressman in Washington and, in two blog posts (https://pen4rent.com/chaos-in-kabul and https://pen4rent.com/shameful-unforgiveable), to my friends and family. I said, in part, It is … reprehensible for the U.S. to be so callous in […]
Teixeira under arrest A few years ago, I blogged about the time my then-seven-year-old son quick-wittedly did his best to keep a secret (about a surprise birthday party) from his grandpa. If you’ve been following the news this past week, you’re probably aware that the Pentagon has been learning that secrets can’t always be entrusted […]
Shwedagon Pagoda, Rangoon, from my 1971 visit to Burma As anyone who has followed this blog is surely aware, I did a fair amount in international traveling in decades gone by. In this episode I’m presenting a few recollections from some of those travels. Today, an odd pairing of destinations: Italy and Myanmar (formerly known […]
A few days ago I joined a recently formed LinkedIn group of alumni of and current students at the REECA (Russia, East Europe and Central Asia) master’s degree program at Harvard’s Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies. When I was there, 1966–1968, it was known more simply as the Russian Research Center (RRC), […]
Hovercraft crossing the English Channel, the White Cliffs of Dover in the background A cold nearly tripped up our trip to Michigan for our daughter Naomi’s wedding last month. The day before we were to leave (on Thursday before the Sunday wedding), Sandra felt the classic symptoms coming on and was hoping it was just […]
The gently arched Hermitage Bridge carrying the Neva River Embankment roadway across the mouth of the Zimnaya Kanavka. In the background, the pedestrian bridge linking the Hermitage Museum (right) to the Hermitage Theater. A few days ago something — I’ve already forgotten what — reminded me of one of the small pleasures of life I […]
February 24 will long be remembered as the day when Russia began its invasion of Ukraine. Awful as I feel about this appalling act of aggression in a part of the world of great interest to me, February 24, 2022, will for me also be the date of a more personal loss. It’s the day […]
Melissa, Adam and Naomi a few years after the event in this post. Dull moments were a rare luxury when Sandra and I were still living with our three teenagers — Naomi, Adam and Melissa — back around 1990, give or take a few years. However, one particular anything-but-dull moment stands out. It happened early […]
