Dioramas Return, With Teensy Inhabitants

When the old mammal hall closed at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, it was the end of an era at the museum. The museum’s mammal dioramas were of the old school, displaying the stuffed mammals in their environments. They were in a dark, low-ceilinged part of the museum, and I almost always walked […]

Can You Hear Me Now Question Mark

The words you are reading have been typed by my own fingers, pressing little keys that make letters on my screen. If you really want to get into it, my keyboard is a little bit dirty. I don’t clean it often enough, and my kids use it a lot (I tell them to wash their […]

Where Should Research Chimps Grow Old?

This post originally ran November 22, 2016. In 2015, the National Institutes of Health announced the end of invasive chimpanzee research in the US. The agency had dramatically scaled back the program in 2013, and NIH director Francis Collins reported that due to lack of demand, he had decided to allow the remaining animals to retire as well. “It is clear […]

I Don’t Like Parenting

This post was originally published on September 3, 2018 I have a confession to make. I’m worried that I don’t like parenting. Don’t get me wrong, I like being a parent. And I definitely love my kid. I like hanging with my family, grilling dinner, listening to my son babble incoherently as my wife giggles […]

Designed with today’s fast-paced world in mind

A poem composed entirely of excerpts from press releases for CBD products More than 20 years of experience at the pulse of the global health and wellness industry– My two passions: spreading the word about CBD and caring for my beloved dogs. We put our products into service by integrating bodywork, esthetics, yoga and other […]

The Iniquity of Candied Orange Peel

I’ve been making candied orange peel regularly for some time now and I say this fearlessly: I have nailed it. The second secret (the first is, never trust sugar chemistry), which I sensed only dimly when I first wrote this, back on May 15, 2014, is that the orange peels have to be thick and […]

Don’t Eat This

Here’s what I remember eating as a kid: Oscar Mayer bologna and American cheese (the individually wrapped slices) on white bread. Peanut butter and jelly on white bread. Honey and butter (yup!) on white bread. Grilled American cheese on white toast. Hot dogs on white buns. Deli ham on big puffy white Kaiser rolls. Why […]