Hubris
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When “No” Actually Means “Yes”
“My family’s three-year sojourn in London was a great adventure and a linguistic one as well. On one particular occasion, after a long series of management meetings punctuated by British colloquialisms, I threw…
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An Improbable Fiction: In the Language of Shakespeare
“Marry, young Russet. Now, don thy hooded cape incarnadine and hie thee to the forest o’er yon high eastward hill. Keep to the path no matter how the harebells beckon, and, I beseech…
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Body-Speak
“This non-verbal lingo exists in every culture. One cannot be completely fluent in a language until and unless one learns the intricacies of jargon conveyed through the nuance of gestures, posture, and facial…
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At a Loss: Last Words
“Floating through space on the wings of Pioneer 10 and 11 spacecrafts were, are, the so-called Pioneer plaques, humankind’s early-1970s ‘messages in a bottle’ to the universe. If and when they are ‘received,’…
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Times To Keep Silent
“For the next 36 hours, until my son arrives with the restored ear trumpet, we will be Trappists; two anchorites without a devotional vocation, one locked in silence yet able to speak, the…
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My Life with Bob Dylan
“And here I am in 2016, sitting next to Sally in this neighborhood arena in Forest Hills, surrounded by people of mostly my generation, all in various states of raw awe, all with…
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The Home Court Advantage (Basketball, Family & Aikido)
“It’s difficult to be ‘away.’ Being away is being not at home, not where your heart is, not where your peace and power reside. Being home is being who you are and who…
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Journey to Myself
“Achileas’ yearly celebration of a country he would never see again was so deeply felt, as young as I was, it made an imprint. Did he know he’d never see his beloved Aegean,…
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Transitional Object
“Those 28 moves have taken me from a suburban Californian home surrounded by poppies and bird-of-paradise plants to an apartment in Kolonaki with a Corinthian maid and a view of the Parthenon. Then,…
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April Fool’s Day at the Amtrak Station
“Children are going through contortions on the benches. Two young men talk in Spanish across an aisle. A man and woman speak German over by the water fountain. The young ticket agent makes…