Articles

Column - Computers are a lifeline

Computer withdrawal is almost as bad as quitting smoking. Most of us, I think, are kidding ourselves when we crow about how we are not addicted to computers.

Column - Movies dreams answered

When I read the “Thumbs Up” editorial in the March 3 Echo Press, I found myself nodding faster than a movie-crazed bobble-head. The Thumbs Up was suggested by Annette Carolyn Ely, a writer who retired part-time in the Alexandria area.

Column - Delightful critters 'star' in 'Keeping Watch'

Like snowflakes, no two dogs or cats or any other animals are alike. Each has its own unique personality.

Column - A way to beat winter blahs

Every winter, for years, I have vowed to spend those shut-in, cabin-fever days in mastering the art of bread baking.

Column - We need one-payer solution

Next time somebody talks to you about being for or against current health-care reform plans, be sure to ask a lot of questions – the main one being “Why?”

Column - Hunting tiny 'big game'

They looked like a couple of near-sighted safari hunters, but their “big game” was not very big at all; it was, in fact, tiny.

Column - Sidewalk people unsettling

A sure sign of spring, more certain than that first robin, is the appearance of the cartoon people.

Column - The nose can become a time machine

Certain smells can transport a person to the past quicker than any science-fiction time machine.

Column - What can we do? Contribute

The Haitian earthquake is like seeing a preview of the end of the world. Like the 2004 Asian tsunami, this Haitian catastrophe has the awful power to leave us utterly speechless. There are no words to describe it.

Column - 'Blood' is a riveting movie

These days, I don’t recommend many current movies. That’s because, for my money, they’re too expensive to go to at the theater, and a lot of heralded films turn out to be big disappointments.

Columns

Column - Don't write off Palin, yet

Just about all the political pundits claim Alaska Governor Sarah Palin has just committed political suicide.

Column - We should learn from Jackson's sad story

Childhood cannot be “skipped.” When it is, complications gather like hungry wolves. Poor Michael Jackson. It’s no wonder he founded “Neverland,” an amusement park, an artificial paradise, where he could act out with other children what he never had, what was denied to him with such cruelty.

Column - Same old myths muddy debate over healthcare

Does anybody remember “Harry and Louise?” Let me refresh your minds. Harry, the old man, and Louise, his middle-aged daughter (actors both), were the ones who creased their worried brows in oft-repeated commercials in 1993-94.

Column - Learning - a lifelong lesson

Years ago – too many years ago! – I used to sit in college classrooms and think to myself, “Gee, this lecture is so interesting. What a shame we have to be tested on it.”

Column - When we begin to act, sound like our parents

Our parents warned us, but we didn’t listen. “Someday,” they’d say, wagging a finger, “You’re going to be just like us.” We’d laugh at such a preposterous notion.

Column - Harmless actions can have deadly results

Inattention is killing us. The major cause of roadway deaths and injuries is now various forms of inattention.

Column - List of characters should be required in novels

There ought to be a law – well, at least a “literary” law – that all novels must be published with a “List of Characters” at the very front of the book.

Column - Flu warnings worth it

Ever hear about the boy who cried, “Wolf!”? Well, what about the boy who cried, “Virus!”? Is the kid a fool? Will we listen? Should we care? We won’t know.

Column – Interrogation or torture?

How would you feel if, while being forcibly drowned, the people doing it kept telling you they are using only “enhanced interrogation techniques?” That phrase is the innocuous “substitute” for torture, as used by members of the Bush Administration.

Column – Singing into our hearts

It took a Scottish woman to teach the world never to judge a book – or a singer – by its cover.