This feature originally appeared October 5, 2012, in issue 2038. The condensation glistens on the pint-sized glass of mahogany beer. A caption on the picture lists the type of beer, and above it, announces the day: National Beer Appreciation Day. It looks like one of those perfect autumn brews. I wish I was at that… Read more »
This feature originally appeared November 16, 2012, in issue 2044. My family’s been skipping back and forth across the Canadian-American border for generations, and many of us, including yours truly, hold dual citizenship. The events of September 11 persuaded the government to demand for the first time that we get passports to move between our… Read more »
This feature originally appeared April 13, 2012, in issue 2014. The Jeep had been stolen, Reno finally admitted. Natalie and I were halfway across America by that point. We had been thumbing our way across the continent, our last hurrah as reckless teenagers. Reno and Penny had picked us up in Fox Creek, Arizona?a modern-day… Read more »
Merry Christmas. Happy Holidays. The debate still plays out bitterly, with people in both camps grumbling Grinchily about the supposed ill intentions of the other. But they’re missing the point. Increasingly I’ve realized that what we should be paying attention to instead is something different: the other word in the greeting, the feeling we’re urging… Read more »
I’m offended by holiday music. I hate crooning singers making love to the microphone. I despise tear-jerking tunes and emotionally manipulative lyrics (I’m looking at you, ?Christmas Shoes?). Worst of all, most of the holiday songs I hear are celebrating something I don’t believe in. Winter. Nothing gets me more than all this winter love…. Read more »
After Kansas Chief linebacker Jovan Belcher killed his girlfriend on December 1, committing suicide shortly afterward, commentators reacted with a mixture of grief and outrage. A couple days later, television sportscaster Bob Costas used the entire 90-second halftime segment of Monday’s Cowboys vs. Eagles game to argue in favor of stricter gun control laws. Costas… Read more »
I have had my license for almost two decades. I have driven in wind and rain and snow and ice and, quite by accident, a thunderstorm that produced tornadoes. I spent two winters in Alaska, where roads don’t get salted because we all want to protect the moose. I should know a thing or two… Read more »
It’s the most wonderful time of the year. It’s the busiest time of the year. For retailers, it may be the most profitable time of the year. But for me? I just look at the pile of sale flyers heaped up on my kitchen counter and I cringe. Then I make a trip to the… Read more »
My family’s been skipping back and forth across the Canadian-American border for generations, and many of us, including yours truly, hold dual citizenship. The events of September 11 persuaded the government to demand for the first time that we get passports to move between our two native lands, for which inconvenience we felt mildly insulted…. Read more »
Growing up, our schedule was pretty relaxed. There was school, of course, and other activities, but nothing like the litany of sports and social commitments and volunteer work that seems par for the course among modern families. The one big exception, however, was December. Eleven months out of the year, we didn’t need a calendar… Read more »