Go to Manhattan if you have the chance, and wander around. Not the tourist or business centers … go to the neighborhoods where New Yorkers visit and live. You’ll see: Hindus and Hassidic Jews negotiating. African-Americans and Pakistanis arguing about baseball. Hispanics and European Americans ordering gyros from Greek restaurateurs. Sidewalks, that is, full of…
In ten days we can all celebrate having survived 2020. Except for those of us who didn’t survive it. A friend made the point that while most of us are quite concerned about COVID-19, we don’t think twice about the risk of driving to the supermarket and dying from injuries sustained in a collision. As…
What I’ve learned, and sometimes remember: You can say anything you want to anyone you want, but you can’t say it any way you want. No matter how hard the message is, there’s a way to say it that makes it possible for the listener to hear it. No matter how many times I remind…
Have an exceptional holiday. See you in 2014!…
Holiday greetings by the numbers.…
Have a Merry Sir Isaac Newton's Birthday and enjoy the perihelion. If you're more traditional and less nerdy, have a Happy Chanukwansamas instead. No matter what you celebrate, enjoy the holidays. I'm taking a week off -- see you in 2013!…
Recently, scientists at CERN split mercury nuclei for the first time. They expected two zirconium nuclei. What they got was ruthenium and krypton. For some of us, it’s remarkable enough that they could tell. Knowing enough about fission that this result is surprising is even more remarkable. For the particle physics community, the gift was…
Enjoy everything about the season. And don't listen to the grouches -- there's plenty that's worth enjoying this time of year.…
What are your core values? I found myself explaining my core values to a man who will have more of an opportunity to raise my children than I will myself — my ex-wife’s new husband, who lives in another city, with whom my children will live. He had the grace to ask how I want…
I’ve always been jealous of people who regularly experience vivid, colorful dreams. I dream rarely (or rarely remember, which amounts to the same thing). When I do, it’s usually when I’m managing a project on a tight schedule. Then I dream, in artistic black-and-white, that I’ve accidentally killed someone and I’m desperately trying to hide…
