May 2005

What am I Doing Here? An American Civilian in Vietnam

May 20, 2005

May 20, 2005 shot Mar 10, 2005, 4:55 mins, 5.3 MB Zadi posted “A Soldier’s Story,” which made me cry. I’m very sensitive to Vietnam stories. Here’s why.

Read the full article →

The Hundred Years’ War

May 15, 2005

The Strange Religious History of the Straughans shot Mar 6, 2005, 7:29 mins Some of my recent articles have caused some readers to wonder why I have it in for Catholicism. Actually, I am even-handed in my dislike of religion: I don’t like any of them. But, due to family history, I have un dente [...]

Read the full article →

The Great Turtle Escape

May 11, 2005

shot Apr 16, 2005, 2:25 mins music: The Animals Now that the weather’s finally getting warmer, we figured the turtles could spend time outside, so we bought some low fencing (intended to demarcate flowerbeds or something) and planted it in the garden. The enclosure didn’t need to be very high – turtles don’t jump, after [...]

Read the full article →

Commuting – Daily Train Travel in Italy

May 11, 2005

A few people wrote to commiserate over my long commute from Lecco to Milan and back. Most of the time, I actually don’t mind it. In the mornings I’m able to get some thinking done, and can work on my new office laptop. The evening commute is a good time to decompress between the stresses [...]

Read the full article →

In Loco Parentis: Supervising School Trips in Italy

May 11, 2005

I wrote earlier about the traditional gita scolastica (school trip) which Italian kids take every year throughout their school careers. This year Ross’ class, along with another class, took a three-day trip to Arezzo (the town in Tuscany where Life is Beautiful was filmed), accompanied by their three favorite teachers. During the day they visited [...]

Read the full article →