A catalog of the stuff in my apartment
Since March, I’ve taken three regional trips—to Martha’s Vineyard; Rockport, Mass.; and Provincetown—and two trips to farther-afield destinations: El Salvador and Valdez, Alaska. Needless to say, this flitting around has left me concerned about my finances, my disrupted sleep schedule, and my chances of contracting the fungal skin infection evidently poised to ruin my “Hot […]
Not long ago, I was working on the Boston Globe’s Sunday crossword puzzle while riding the T. A young woman seated next to me kept looking over my shoulder. Eventually, a spot opened up next to her friend on the other side of the car, and the looky-loo took her prying eyes over there. I’m […]
I’ve devised a new three-part daily wellness program to stay reasonably active and reasonably fit. I’ve named the three parts as follows: the Morning Louie, the Midday Meander, and the Evening Constitutional. The last two are just walks. I take a 20-minute stroll around lunchtime and a 40-minute amble in the evening, for a daily […]
A supposedly good book that I do not especially like is My Dog Tulip, J.R. Ackerley’s well-regarded 1956 memoir about his beloved German shepherd. If you ask me, way too many pages have to do with trying to get the dog laid. I did, however, find this part moving: … what strained and anxious lives […]
Over the last decade, a bunch of states, including three of the four where I have been a resident—my home state of Arkansas as well as Illinois and Massachusetts—have enacted laws requiring public schools to teach students cursive. (The fourth Zac-affiliated state is New York, which has no such requirement.) In the case of Arkansas, […]
I received a fair amount of Dolly Parton merch for Christmas. I got to interview the country legend in the fall for a travel story I did on Dollywood, so I guess my loved ones were still associating me with her in their minds. I am not complaining. One of the Dolly-related items I got […]
Are there any fitness or wellness apps with workout videos featuring trainers who aren’t relentlessly encouraging? The trainers on the app I use, Apple Fitness+, act like I’m a national hero on the order of Harvey Milk just for doing burpees. I find such positivity inauthentic and off-putting. Just once I’d like for a fitness […]
I used to have a CD that had a whole bunch of old TV commercial jingles on it. I assume this compilation was put on the market in an attempt to capitalize on the nostalgia of baby boomers. Somebody gave me the CD as a gift when I was age 12 or so. I had […]
My husband, Frank, has a bulky blue cooler he keeps around in case we go on any outings that require cold beverages. Beach days, picnics, that sort of thing. When we lived in New York City I was a strong advocate for getting rid of the cooler because it took up precious closet space that […]
During the summers of my childhood when my parents signed me up for baseball (contrary to my wishes, talents, and fragile sense of self-worth), my triumphs on the field and in the batter’s box were small in number. I was scared of the ball, couldn’t throw, couldn’t hit, and, frankly, didn’t have the firmest grasp […]
Indirect Objects 