Toilets around the world The champion toilet name is “The Great Niagara,” the name of my toilet in Athens, Greece in the 1960s.
The writer and the laundry We all have to choose where to lay our sacrifices, and I have lain mine at the feet of my children. The greatest sacrifice was going to work every day, thus missing important events in their lives
A SAD GOOD-BYE TO PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN The words “addict” and “greatest actor” don’t go together comfortably in our minds. Addicts are down and out, they’re criminals, you don’t want to be around them. They’re dirty and dangerous. But then, there’s Philip Seymour Hoffman. Years ago, I saw a film about programs in The Netherlands and Switzerland under which addicts are treatedContinue reading “A SAD GOOD-BYE TO PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN”
Life Without My Husband (Day Three) Today was Thanksgiving. My daughter and I feasted at the assisted living home where my aunt Jean lives — a mild, merely warm repast. Jean gets more frail every day. There were several people there who had no visitors. Dorothy (a pleasant, tidy woman who spends her day doing Sudoku in the sun room) wasContinue reading “Life Without My Husband (Day Three)”
Life Without My Husband – Day Two I had trouble getting to sleep on my first night alone, but once there, I slept longer than usual. I forget — were queen-sized beds meant for two people or only one? My childhood friend Suzy’s parents had two queen-sized beds. All the parents I knew had twin beds separated by a little table, justContinue reading “Life Without My Husband – Day Two”
Abortion in Austria In the 1920s there was a severe housing shortage in Vienna, and when my friend Mariella’s parents got married, they could find no place to live. So they moved in with the husband’s mother, who specified that while they could live with her, but there could be no children. The new wife got pregnant, andContinue reading “Abortion in Austria”
Teenagers Dating in Austria The sexual landscape in Austria is interesting. It seems quite typical of several European countries, but I have recently had the opportunity to hear about that particular country on an extended visit there. Birth control supplies are discounted for young people up to the age of 21, then they become more expensive. Yes, teenagers getContinue reading “Teenagers Dating in Austria”
Report from Austria: Cruising the Danube Our always generous Viennese friend rented a boat to cruise the Danube for a day. A former colleague of his, an ex-bank president now in retirement who is licensed “to go around the world if I wanted,” piloted it. There were six adults and five children, and each of the children except the 2-year-old gotContinue reading “Report from Austria: Cruising the Danube”