This happened in the past few days. Two women I know, mother and daughter, were discussing a lizard who had gotten into a washing machine and showed no interest in getting out. Throughout the description of the problem — which included the reptile hanging on through a spin cycle and also survived the water draining […]

[Read more →]

Who among us has not been surprised, a time or 30, by the sudden arrival of the month of March? Which can cause consternation and embarrassment for those of us who had been planning on getting around to something “next month” — and it arrives tomorrow. The problem, of course, is that February suddenly ends, […]

[Read more →]

I nominate this as a parlor game of my own inventing. Pick a year … and see if you can accurately place one historical event in that year, and then see how many years you can go, from there, into the past before you are stumped. Whoever goes back the farthest wins the game. How […]

[Read more →]

The National’s correspondent in Iran, Michael Theodoulou, filed a story today describing how a woman who was being chided/shamed by a Shia cleric in Iran … beat up the cleric, sending him to the hospital. The problem, according to the cleric, was that the woman’s head was not completely covered. Can’t have that. A confrontation […]

[Read more →]

I was once one of those people who was convinced no “real” Mexican food could be found in large swaths of the U.S. “Too far from the border” was our (let’s be honest) smug explanation, and for a long time it was pretty much true. No more.

[Read more →]

  It’s a fine story. But it may be nothing more than that. A story. A colorful story. And here is how it goes: My siblings and I … all direct descendants of Charles Carroll, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. A Founding Father. A fun “fact”. The story has been repeated since I […]

[Read more →]

Five years ago I might have watched consecutive baseball games on television. Or consecutive basketball games.Today and yesterday … I watched consecutive soccer games, on TV. Involving UAE teams. Teams I didn’t know existed three years ago. It’s my job. More or less. I wasn’t covering any of these games. But even if I’m not […]

[Read more →]

To walk in Abu Dhabi is to risk your life. And not just because it is dangerously hot half the year. And not just because sidewalks are often broken and uneven, inviting sprained ankles. Or worse. This is not a city built for pedestrians, and even when extra exertions have been made to get pedestrians […]

[Read more →]

Today is the 48th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas. I don’t recall how we got on to this, but a former colleague, who is about my age, and I were discussing the most memorable historical events from our childhoods. It always is interesting, and a snapshot into the minds […]

[Read more →]

While killing out spam that clogs my email, I came across one that bothers me more than the usual appeals to the Seven Deadly Sins. Fake diplomas. And I quote:

[Read more →]