Is The Plague the greatest novel of the second half of the twentieth century? I'm not sure, but the 1947 existentialist classic by Albert Camus is entertaining and powerfully written. And these days, it's got special appeal, which is why sales of the book have skyrocketed since the pandemic hit. Camus Knew What Environmentalists Ignore Environmentalists have claimed … [Read more...]
100 days of real food
I can't help but be impressed and inspired by the family behind the 100 Days of Real Food blog. After considering the extent to which our country (and to a lesser but still appreciable extent the rest of the world) is dependent on highly processed food, Lisa and Jason Leake, along with their then 3 and 5-year old daughters, vowed to go 100 days without those processed foods, … [Read more...]
Going on the Amish diet
In light of studies showing that members of Old Order Amish communities have significantly fewer cases of obesity, diabetes and related health problems, some have suggested that an “Amish diet” might work even better than, say, an Atkins diet. There's nothing hifalutin' or fancy about it. In short, it would mean eating hearty meals every day but being as physically active as … [Read more...]
Screen-Free Week
Last week I took a staycation retreat with my husband. We wanted an environment that was not our own to focus on our business goals for the coming six months. So we got a room at the lovely Stonewall Jackson Hotel just a few blocks from our house. While we did get a lot of work done, in some ways I'm amazed that we did. The biggest obstacle? That shiny box of electronic … [Read more...]
The road to nowhere
When I wrote about the topic of global climate change in this space a mere two months ago, the situation was dire. Each of a series of assessments indicated an increasingly disturbing outcome for global average temperature. The latest of those assessments, based on more data and more sophisticated models than prior efforts, suggest we have passed tipping points that may lead … [Read more...]