Inaugural Address of Mayor Bill de Blasio: “Progress for New York” January 1, 2014 Editorial notes: 1. Finally, out of the politics of despair and retrenchment, a new leader has emerged from the Democratic party unafraid to express the values in which I believe. In this, Bill de Blasio’s inaugural address, he states: “Fiorello […]
Sarah Schmerler
How do I feel?
I do not feel real. There is a disconnect between my body, which does not feel good, and my mind, which does not feel good. It is six in the morning. I am listening to Chopin’s Nocturnes; I am beginning to be not unhappy, but capable of realizing happiness will come. My body feels as if […]
The danger of “living wills”–a post surgical analysis
Of all my many preparations for surgery–including signing up for Premium Spotify [worth it]–creating a valid Living Will exercised far too much time. I can and may list the valid rationale for having a Living Will, which here in Pennsylvania is called officially a Durable Power of Attorney. Durable means (as lovers of the English […]
How a 10 cent increase in the minimum wage put me on page one of the Centre Daily Times
Note: Sunday, September 9, 2012, State College, PA 5:57 PM, EDT. My friend Philip Moery is fond of quoting William Faulkner’s observation, “The past is never dead. It’s not even the past.” This observation became trenchant yesterday when I received a post from Scott W., who, like me, is a member of a lively discussion group […]
Countdown over: Amelia’s graduation ceremony was very wet; may end with my joining the Smyth County Moose Lodge
Asheville CITIZEN-TIMES previews the graduation ceremonies that have now taken place: “ASHEVILLE — Former White House Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles will speak at UNC Asheville’s graduation ceremony in May. “Bowles served as President Clinton’s top assistant and was tapped by President Barack Obama to tackle the nation’s budget woes. He also spent five years as […]
My sister
[Note: I am in the process of creating a carbon dating system attached to my scanner. Until perfection, this photograph assumes that the date is 1965 because: Sarah was born in 1963. I am not wearing a beard which I began growing in the fall of 1965 thus throwing me off […]