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It seems I have successfully communicated with a most unlikely being--a lizard. This is unlikely not only because I don't particularly like lizards, but because in all normal situations I wouldn't necessarily choose to engage one in conversation. But this lizard was...

(The photo that appears with this piece was chosen precisely because it has absolutely nothing to do with the subject under investigation.) The subject was saliva. Ick. Mary Roach, who was being interviewed on today's Fresh Air program on NPR, admits that...

It seemed so simple. All I had to do was sign 35 pieces of paper, have five of them notarized, overnight them via Fed Ex, using the label that had been sent in an email.  Papers signed and notarized, I set sail for Fed Ex. First mistake: I followed the vague...

"Nothing is at it appears."  I heard this quote on NPR recently--it was credited to Terry Tempest Williams. In doing a Google search to more precisely pinpoint it, I find that many others are also credited with it, or with a very close paraphrase of it--enough to...

The Lincoln Town Car is making a comeback, or so it seems according to what I've heard on the news over the past few days. Who would have thought?  The resurrection of a gas guzzling dinosaur, now, when American gas prices are at their all-time highs?  But,...

It seems I've been on a wild goose chase (those who know me also know that I'm famous for those). This time the chase was for Thanksgiving decorations--specifically pilgrim hats to outfit the barnyard crew (Mr. Big and friends) for their Thanksgiving photo shoot....

Why should an indiscrete romp of the-bedroom-sort count as grounds for dismissal of an accomplished, respected, highly qualified man whose job performance now can hardly be negatively impacted by this caving to hormones two years ago? Had he been caught at the...

One day after The Election and the tension of yesterday has morphed into elated relief or doomed despair.  Same event, different views. The way it seems...my point exactly.

Just when you think you know who your friends are, there's a presidential election and suddenly some of your friends seem to have become your worst enemies--without any specific provocation from you. I know--it's just  happened to me--again--as it does every four...