amhall's profile

Today is October 6, which is German-American Day! What a perfect time to celebrate Oktoberfest, one of Germany's most festive holidays. The original Oktoberfest occurred in Munich on October 18, 1810 to commemorate the marriage of Crown Prince Ludwig and Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen with a horse race. Nowadays, however, the festival is celebrated in early October and anywhere ther... read more »

If you are at least somewhat cool, good-looking, and fun, chances are that you have more commitments and invitations than you can ever hope to fulfill. In a given week-end, you might need to attend the christening of the your second cousin, twice-removed, attend your Tangolates class, get drinks with visiting friends, and attend a coworker's house-warming party. This sounds impossible. You m... read more »

"There are three things a man thinks about: I want a sandwich. I want a woman. I want a woman who can make me a sandwich," declares the character, Brock, in perhaps one of the intense and moving moments of the WB sitcom, Reba. In this single line, Brock, Reba's scallywag, dentist ex-husband, sums up the societal importance of sandwiches. Making a sandwich is a powerful expression o... read more »

Unless you manage a hedge fund and somehow it has not collapsed in the last nine months, it is unlikely that you can pay the meteoric prices that contemporary art has set in the past few years. Where are you going to display a diamond-encrusted skull anyhow? Photography offers a great alternative to investing in more traditional art. Because of its relatively easy availability (early photograp... read more »

Let's face it: We all care most about ourselves, what we are doing, what we want to do, what happened to us the other day as we were taking our miniature pinscher, Mr. Cuddles, to the groomer... and yet unfortunately, our narcissism also depends on the goodwill of others, that they genuinely like us. Being a good listener is an essential part of gaining the affection and trust of others. Whi... read more »

Perhaps no dish is as versatile and delicious as a roast chicken. Frequently, they cost no more than a few dollars, easily feeding a family. Even if you live alone, a roast chicken offers an incomparable value. You can roast a chicken on Sunday and eat the leftovers throughout the following week. The best part is that roasting a chicken is quick and easy, requiring little more than an oven, a bak... read more »

We all know that we should be eating more fruits and vegetables, preferably organic and local. However, unless you're content to subsist on apples, oranges, kale and whatever the weird, patchouli-scented hippy at the bulk food store turns up with (Has anyone ever really wanted to eat a Jerusalem artichoke?), this can be an extremely expensive and boring proposition. One great way to vary you... read more »

That you have somehow managed to use a computer and the internet to access this page and yet cannot manage to handwash your own dishes is truly extraordinary. Maybe you're a spoiled brat, accustomed to all of the modern conveniences, like dishwashers, but you've fallen on hard times and are now reduced to washing dishes in the kitchen of a mediocre Tex-Mex restaurant in exchange for you... read more »

If you are a graduate student and do not descend from a nineteenth-century robber-baron, chances are that you are poor. However, that does not mean that you must also be stupid, take out loans, and spend your pitiful academic salary long before you even begin to collect it. Your largest expense is probably housing. You might choose to live in university housing or split rent with a bunch of roomm... read more »

In the sixteenth century, the Dominican friar, Albertus Magnus, prescribed a mixture of elephant bones and wild mountain mint blessed by a leper for the treatment of headaches. Even back then, people knew how miserable headaches were and they were willing to kill elephants and force lepers to bless herbs to cure them. They are no less troublesome nowadays. They ruin your day, make thinking imposs... read more »