Holiday Cheer — It’s three weeks ‘til Christmas and already I’m stressed. There’s so much to do. Shopping, decorating, a tree to buy, gifts to pack and ship to the US, thank you notes/gifts/money for teachers, charities, trash collectors, our postman. The school raffle and fair. Christmas memories to plan, maybe a Panto…

Coping with loss during the holidays — My brother Mitch lost his husband in October. A blood clot; gone in an instant. “God needed Joe for other things,” explained Mitch, not one usually given to spirituality. I’ve been thinking about grief lately. How you cope with great loss, and particularly how you cope during the holiday season. …

Armchair Pundits — Friends are over for dinner. We talk about pollution and the future of food, and is it morally right to eat meat (we’re having steak). Ice cream is served and it’s onto politics, Ukraine and possible corruption in Ukraine. Things get a little heated — everyone has such strong opinions…

Domestic Serfdom — We’re driving to Italy tomorrow from the UK. There are so many little things to do. I wonder what I’ve forgotten. …

Independence from Stereotyping Day. Please. — I’m a big fan of Financial Times columnist Gillian Tett. I read her all the time. So imagine my irritation when a favorite British writer takes a gratuitous swipe at Americans. In a story about cell phones and the confusing near-coup in Russia, she writes: “If a revolution can be…

Community Spirit — I walk out my front door and run into my friend Tina. She’s rushing off for the first day of a new job: Wimbledon Driver. Like other people I know, Tina will be carting around the world’s greatest tennis players for the tournament, which starts on July 3. Locals are…

Distracted Parenting — A friend’s son is bringing home a girlfriend. Like any good parent, the dad (an early Internet pioneer), consults ChatGPT for advice. “My 20-year-old son is bringing home his girlfriend to meet us for the first time,” he tells the chatbot, before adding a joke. …

AI and reporting — An old adage went that newsrooms were quiet because reporters were out interviewing people. Then they were quiet because reporters, instead of interviewing people, were silently scanning the Internet for news. With ChatGPT, the chatbot developed by OpenAI, newsrooms will be quiet because there won’t be any reporters. Media companies…

Sentimental car journey — I washed the car and put in premium gas before driving 80 miles to sell her for £250. Note the “her”. Our car isn’t an “it”. Not to us. We’ve had her for 25 years. Her name is Gretel. Our car still looks great (see photo), has under 93,000 miles…