My cell phone buzzed Saturday evening as I left the “wine and spirits” store with a selection of fine vino. It was my cousin Drew. I hastened to answer because when I miss a call from Drew, it’s hard to…
Few things in the cultural landscape are instantly recognizable as quintessentially American: Elvis, apple pie, and the diner. In fact, it’s not unusual to find all three housed together in a chrome-trimmed roadside package. Although these mainstay eating establishments that…
In 1953, my parents commissioned a famous D.C.-area architect named Mr. Palms to design the perfect fifties Modern house on Harvey Road in Silver Spring. Harvey Road was — and is — just off Dale Drive between Colesville Road and…
Indiana, Pennsylvania — This magazine in the past few weeks has paid homage to Frank Capra’s Christmas classic, It’s a Wonderful Life, starring the great Jimmy Stewart. I’ve seen the movie plenty of times. So why did it leave me…
Color Capital of the World: Growing Up With the Legacy of a Crayon Company By John W. Kropf (The University of Akron Press, 146 pages, $25 ) An innovative company led by visionary leaders can transform an industry, create a…
The first episode of the final season of HBO’s Game of Thrones airs this Sunday night, and fans are getting excited. But, when the show ends, there will be one less piece of common culture. Popular TV shows are becoming…
One thing that took me a few years to learn, as I transitioned from primarily limit Texas Hold’em to primarily no-limit Texas Hold’em a decade ago, was that playing a big hand fast on the flop tended to yield a…
In the suburb of Houston I call home, the gig economy has made all the difference. Getting to the airport used to be a two-day logistical planning pain in the butt. Uber changed that. We didn’t have taxis. Now, neighbors…
We are a nation of meddlesome Americans. It was not always thus. There was a time when Americans did not nark on their neighbors. They didn’t inform on their coworkers. They have not, historically, been the comrades in a communist…
