"The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter." —Mark Twain
What time is it? Time to write the annual holiday letter to friends and relatives. It’s the hap, happiest time of the year! Here’s one good reason to keep a blog or diary: when you can’t remember all the things you’ve done over the past year, you can go back month by month and look […]
When I grew up merchants and advertisers respected non-Christian customers by using Xmas instead of Christmas. Today, Xmas has been replaced by “the holidays.” That’s the spirit in which I use the word, to acknowledge the fact that, in the words of President Obama, “We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus […]
If you looked at an online news site today, read a newspaper, or watched the six o’clock news, you’re aware of this story: Safety Board Urges Car Cellphone Ban The National Transportation Safety Board has recommended a nationwide ban on the use of cellphones and other electronic devices while driving, even hands-free devices. The recommendation […]
I’m sure other bloggers get pitches like this all the time: I’m __________, owner of ___________.org. Since noticing you’ve accepted guest posts on pwoodford.net in the past, I wondered if you’d extend me the opportunity to also write a guest post for your website. If so I will research and compose an original article specifically […]
It’s been overcast, rainy, and gloomy outside since I rolled out of bed this morning. The payoff came a few minutes ago with this, the first sunlight of the day … and just in time for sunset! I’m told there’s snow higher up on the Santa Catalinas, but from where we live it’s still hidden […]
You Can’t Read That! is a periodic post featuring news about banned and challenged books. Zen Buddhism: Selected Writings was challenged in Canton, Michigan in 1987 on the grounds that the book “details the teachings of the religion of Buddhism in such a way that the reader could very likely embrace its teachings and choose […]
“Mr. Durukan, if God is dead then everything is conspiracy.” — Ian McDonald, The Dervish House We Meant Well: How I Helped Lose the Battle for the Hearts and Minds of the Iraqi People by Peter Van Buren A tell-all expose of American mismanagement of the reconstruction of Iraq. The author is a career foreign […]
When I started conducting walking tours at the Pima Air & Space Museum a few months ago, I quickly realized I’d talk myself hoarse if I didn’t overcome a certain egotistical reluctance to use a portable voice amplifier and speaker. The museum had two but they were big heavy things, each one powered by eight […]