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Pandemic Chronicles #20: Witnessing “The Troubles” 40 years ago
Belfast, Northern Ireland, 1981 (photo: DY) With vaccinations on the increase and safer travel becoming a realistic possibility during the months to come, memories of past sojourns have become...
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Pandemic Chronicles #21: Migrating
Have you ever moved to another part of your city, state/province, or country? Have you ever relocated to another nation? Why did you do it, and how did you get there? NPR’s TED Radio Hour had me...
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Pandemic Chronicles #22: There’s a lot of middle-aged self-reflection going...
Inside the Pantheon, Rome (2019) (photo: DY) The pandemic appears to have prompted a lot of self-reflection among middle-aged folks during the past year or so, and the results of these inner dialogues...
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Nostalgia trigger: Tower Records is back (sort of)
I’m taking a short break from my Pandemic Chronicles entries to indulge in some deep nostalgia, prompted by a Facebook ad touting the online revival of Tower Records, the one-time brick & mortar...
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Pandemic Chronicles #23: Americans are traveling again, and I’m among them
Logan Airport, Boston (photo: DY) Although I’m not altogether confident that we’ve whipped this pandemic here in the U.S., it has become eminently clear that Americans are traveling again. Witness the...
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Pandemic Chronicles #24: Not so fast
(image courtesy Clipart Panda) In my last entry (link here), I wrote — somewhat breathlessly — that “Americans are traveling again, and I’m among them.” Although I wasn’t claiming victory over the...
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Yeah, I loved TV dinners
Processed, chemically enhanced goodness My childhood years overlapped with an era that a twisted nutritionist might call the Golden Age of Processed Foods. Convenience was the touchstone, and frozen,...
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Pandemic Chronicles #25: Monet, London fog, and memory at the Museum of Fine...
Monet and Boston exhibit, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (photo: DY) A greater appreciation for the cultural amenities of my home town of Boston and its surroundings has been an unintended but welcomed...
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Pandemic Chronicles #26: Old postcards as time travel experiences
The pandemic has prompted me to revive a boyhood hobby of stamp collecting, as I’ve shared in my new blog on lifelong learning and adult education (here and here). It has been an enjoyable and...
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Pandemic Chronicles #27: The holiday season having gone viral, I’m traveling...
The experience of a second holiday season in pandemic mode, punctuated by the arrival of the latest coronavirus variant, serves as a stark reminder of how a state of abnormality has become our new...
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Pandemic Chronicles #28: And now, war in Europe
She’s now preparing to use her new AK-47 against Russian aggressors. This evening, I watched Lesia Vasylenko, a Ukrainian Member of Parliament and self-described “working mom of 3 lovely humans, lover...
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Pandemic Chronicles #29: Recalling the calm before the COVID storm, March 2020
Part of my initial food stash, which fortunately improved mightily during the months to come I recall vividly what it felt like two years ago, as we awaited the arrival of the coronavirus here in...
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Pandemic Chronicles #30: Summer reading
Summer reading. The phrase continues to enchant me, even if summers at late middle age fly by faster than ever before. And in this third summer of the pandemic, when life has morphed into a weird...
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Forty summers ago, a first-ever trip to NYC
Forty summers ago around this time, I was packing a small suitcase in preparation for a first-ever trip to New York City. This was to be a reconnaissance mission of sorts, an initial exploration of...
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You’re invited: “The Dignity of an Intellectual Life for All,” Oct. 21, 1-3...
The Dignity of an Intellectual Life for All Friday, October 21, 2022, 1:00-3:00 p.m., Eastern Time, Online Format Hosted by Suffolk University Law School (https://www.suffolk.edu/law/) and...
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Pandemic Chronicles #31: And so, what about 2023?
On this last day of 2022, I visited Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts, to see a special exhibit devoted to the rich history of Life magazine and how photojournalism shapes our perceptions of world events...
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Pandemic Chronicles #32: Is it over yet?
Enjoying cannolis in Boston’s North End with dear friends Liana and Joanne during their recent Boston visit. Here in the U.S., various pronouncements have told us that the pandemic is, in essence,...
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Thirty years in Boston: A contemplation
Old South Meeting House, Boston Thirty summers ago, I packed my bags (and many dozen boxes — mostly books!) for a big move from New York City to Boston. The reason for my move was job-related. I had...
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Barcelona Dispatch
Hotel room view, Barcelona I’m writing from a café in Barcelona, Spain, having spent the last week at the University of Barcelona Faculty of Law, attending and participating in the International...
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