by admin | Feb 13, 2014 | News
I’m listening to a piece of modern music as I write this: Symphony No. 1 “Hiroshima,” by the Japanese composer Mamoru Samuragochi. I suppose the word to describe it is “workmanlike.” The opening is impressive, a powerful attack by percussion and horns presaged...
by admin | Feb 6, 2014 | News
My novel Marshlands, the product of nearly five years of writing and revision, hits bookstores this week. I’m incredibly proud of the book and optimistic that it’s going to be well received, but the truth is that a modern book launch is something of an...
by admin | Jan 30, 2014 | News
Early this winter, our daughter brought home something she picked up in school that went on to infect the entire household. Symptoms included lingering for hours at the dining room table; bursts of mean-spirited laughter; random acts of mercy and revenge; and the...
by admin | Jan 23, 2014 | News
Our house in Baltimore, which was built when the Great Fire of 1904 was a recent memory, has walls like a bunker: a heavy layer of concrete stucco slathered on courses of thick ceramic block. This makes for quiet nights in winter, when the windows are shut tight...
by admin | Jan 16, 2014 | News
When I was a boy, sometimes I’d retreat to the privacy of my bedroom, carefully close the door, and engage in long sessions of quiet, but intense, philately. In retrospect, it’s hard to understand my youthful devotion to the world of postage stamps. What...
by admin | Jan 9, 2014 | News
Sometimes a column will take a radical turn, thanks to an accident of research. For example, this week’s piece on drones. Inspired by Amazon.com’s recent public relations coup, a video of a package being delivered from warehouse to homeowner’s patio by a GPS-guided...
