A Toast to the Oscars

It’s still February, and with nary a major holiday in sight for weeks, utterly depressing world news, and darkness still winning the battle against daylight for a while, I think there is at least of glimmer of mind-numbing respite underway this weekend.  Yes, this is the night of something BIG:  the 81st Academy Awards airs Sunday at [...]

The Calm Before the Fleet

Mid-February.  Yawn.  Here in coastal Southeast it is that quintessential mean low plateau that nestles quietly between the winter holidays and herring season.  Sitka in February: a time and place where the word zen falls between holidays and herring….  It’s the calm before the fleet.
For many of us, funds are low, business is slow, and significant others [...]

Bring Back Lupercalia!

A holiday celebrating the commercialism of Love? Meh.  Color me cynical.  I do not heart this Hallmark holiday.  It gives me hives.  You know what else?  I am not alone.  According to Allison Linn, Senior writer at msnbc.com,
“Valentine’s Day is still about chocolates, hearts, teddy bears and romantic sentiments. But a growing number of [...]

They Really Do Taste Like Kittens

About a month ago, I stumbled upon the following tidbit, compliments of NPR, that simultaneously shocked and amused me in ways that I had formerly likened exclusively to dating much younger men.
“Most parents would never dream of spending a weekend torturing kittens for fun with their families, but hooking a sea kitten through the mouth [...]