Pursuing Happiness

If it’s July 4th, we must be in Healdsburg at my sister-in-law Katie’s house for her annual get-together and fireworks show. Well, technically I suppose the fireworks are courtesy of the City of Healdsburg, but I always think of it as her fireworks show! While walking around the town I

From our recent trip to London and Edinburgh… The English often strike foreigners as being odd. Not in a bad way, mind you. Just different. Like being unfailingly polite as they elbow their way past you onto the Tube. The juxtaposition of seemingly incongruous behaviors can be both confusing and

Churchill famously observed that the UK and the USA are two nations separated by a common language. I found that particularly true in Edinburgh, where if I didn’t concentrate and focus when a native was speaking to me I often couldn’t understand what was being said. The experience made me

From our recent trip to London and Edinburgh… An odd gentleman’s pastime developed in England in the 18th century: the curiosity room. This was a room, or library, that you strove to fill with interesting and odd artifacts from around the world. No organizing principle was required, and in fact

Here’s an interesting statue I saw in Edinburgh along the Royal Mile. Obviously a famous personage — you sort of have to be one such in order to earn a statue — but he sure looks unhappy: The answer is simple. He’s Adam Smith, the founder of modern capitalism. Basing

Reflections on our just-completed trip to London and Edinburgh… Walking around London I had the subliminal impression that something was off. And I’m not talking about the subconscious fear that one is about to step off a curb and get plastered by a car because you were looking the wrong