There’s the James Beard Award for chefs. Celebrity chefs like Rachel Ray and Guy Fieri show off their talents on TV. Famous cooking competitions are refereed by Gordon Ramsey and other culinary stars. But as far as I know, there are no celebrity dishwashers, no dishwashing TV shows, no dishwashing competitions that […]
Research has shown that subjective age — how old we feel — and not our actual age is a better predictor of our overall health, memory, physical strength and longevity. So instead of asking someone how old they are, you should ask: How old do you feel? Cues about age […]
I recently read a couple of articles about the best places to retire. For example, U. S. News rates the best cities for retirement. (Hint: most of the top ones are in Florida or, believe it or not, Pennsylvania). Wallethub focuses on the best states for retirement. (Virginia is Number 1, Florida 2, Pennsylvania 14.) […]
Possibly you’ve seen reports about a Wall Street Journal/University of Chicago poll that recently took the pulse of American sentiment. To me the amusing — and somehow sad — thing about it is that the conservative press (like the New York Post) screeches that the poll is proof Americans have fallen […]
It seems that most of the retirement advice we get these days is either about money — when to start taking Social Security, how to invest your 401K — or else about how to find meaning in life — you have to volunteer somewhere or maybe find a job. Well, that […]
Remember that old line from President Ford? Actually, I think it was subject to a lot of ridicule, because it seemed so ineffective at the time. And of course it is ineffective as a national policy. But there are some practical ideas — as well as a particular frame of mind — that […]
The Academy Awards are bring held on Sunday night, a time when we find out the best actress, best actor and best picture of 2022. I know you’re supposed to be breathlessly amazed at how wonderful these movies are. But, at least for the moment, I take a more jaundiced view. […]
We just got home from our Snowbird trip to Florida and South Carolina. Our last weekend in Charleston — or at the beach outside of Charleston — the town held its annual Sand and Sea Festival, which includes a street fair, live music, a sidewalk sale, lots of eating and drinking . […]
Have you heard about ChatGPT, a user friendly application of Artificial Intelligence? You’re supposed to be able to ask any question, and it will write an essay that gives you a cogent answer that is accurate and reasonably comprehensive. Or as the website says, it “is trained to follow an instruction in a […]
How long we live, and how healthy we are, depends partly on the lottery of birth — how healthy our parents were and how long they lived. We’re winners if we drew the longevity card from our parents, not so lucky if we drew the fat card, the alcoholism card, the cancer […]