Author Archives: fustianist

I discovered a new benefit of the Christmas season: happier driving.  Never mind that this is a hazardous time of year, particularly as all the new students learn to drive in winter conditions right now, in Ithaca, during a snowstorm.  … Continue reading →

We got a beautiful snowfall this morning . . . which meant I almost didn’t get back up the hill after my morning errand-run.  Thankfully, Sydney came when I beeped the horn and we nudged the car the last ten … Continue reading →

to that question, “Okay, so you’re going to school forever.  What good is it going to do?” A New York Times article on cognitive decline in the elderly: “Several studies of normal aging have found that higher levels of educational … Continue reading →

As I was walking out of the campus bookstore this afternoon the display of diplomas caught my eye.  Of course, it wasn’t the piece of paper inside that caught my eye (however expensive the education it represents), but the matting.  … Continue reading →

I always say that I am built more like a furniture-mover than a marathoner, and the idea of running without someone chasing you and trying to hurt you has always been inconceivable to me.  But recently, my walks at the … Continue reading →

“You hate when you come home from a trip with a lot of luggage and have to drag it up the stairs, or you’re in a huge hurry to leave and you have to run back up to the third … Continue reading →

A classmate of mine is getting married this summer and has gone back and forth between taking her fiance’s last name and keeping her own (and, of course, all the possible combinations of the two).  Watching her go through this, … Continue reading →

In Pride and Prejudice, the heroine’s young and very foolish sister elopes with a devious military officer at the age of sixteen.  When the family learns that she has been tracked to London, they begin to despair.  London, it seems, … Continue reading →

I went to a lecture this evening at Ithaca College by Peter Singer, the Princeton professor who may well have the distinction of being the most adored and reviled living philosopher. Interestingly enough, he manages to get attacked about equally … Continue reading →

Apparently diamonds are the push present of choice, frequently in the form of earrings.  I’m just thinking about all of those times I cared for  infants, and each time I removed my earrings before taking them on.  You hold them … Continue reading →