Life Archive

• 16February 18, 2010

  All for a photo – risks some people take

  What is it about a camera lens that makes otherwise sensible people behave completely irrationally when they stare at it? Take...
• 14January 20, 2010

  A welcome bill in the mail

  I was a little surprised to find a bill from the dentist in my mail.  Surely I had paid the...
• 20December 24, 2009

  This used to be my driveway

  It’s now, apparently, a (cross-country) ski run Somewhere under all that cake icing, you will also find a front...
• 19December 15, 2009

  Kidnapped by a parent in India

  Can you kidnap your own child?  What if you are a divorced parent in a custody battle?  The answer in...
• 0October 26, 2009

  To do: Return child to shelf

  “Several times a month we’re seeing kids being left by parents who say they can’t afford them anymore..” More here. I’ve heard...
• 18October 15, 2009

  An afternoon of hot air

  First, there was a flying balloon with a boy in it.  Then the balloon landed, but there was no boy. ...
• 31October 3, 2009

  Audio lessons for fetuses

  Soon babies will bawl in French. Or perhaps they will bawl in Raag Malhar. The Washington Post had this recent article...
• 9October 1, 2009

  Why it's better not to type

  I have a letter beside me that I need to finish writing. A letter that I am laboriously writing by...
• 5September 28, 2009

  William Safire and the English language

  Years ago,  I used to read William Safire’s columns on the English language in Frontline.   His columns made English grammar and...
• 11August 5, 2009

  Indians and murder-suicides

  Two murder suicides in two continents, separated by just a few days and eight thousand miles.  And yet they are...