Monday, July 30 The Washington Post's penetrating expose of Hillary Clinton's "surreptitious" show of cleavage on the Senate floor last week ("To display cleavage in a setting that does not involve cocktails and hors d'oeuvres is a provocation") sent me trawling on the Internet, digging through sites like eBay and Hijabs-R-Us, desperate to buy a burqa.   Full Story

Monday, July 30 Jesse Moran was the stage carpenter at the Empire Theater when plays entertained capacity audiences several times a week. On the eve of the Empire's demolition in October 1966, Jesse recalled his 33 years of employment there, and much of what he had to say is included in this story.   Full Story

Saturday, July 28 The subject of the way our children's spouses address us came up when my friends Ruth and Bea visited me recently. "My daughter-in-law calls me Mom," Ruth said, "and my son-in-law calls me Ruth." Bea's son-in-law had not seemed comfortable addressing her by her first name, Bea said, and once her grandchildren dubbed her Nina, he followed their example.   Full Story

Friday, July 27 Note: The only spoiler in this column is about the old second Harry Potter book. If you haven't read it during the past 10 years it's been available, you have nobody to blame but yourself. Harry Potter found himself in NORTH ADAMS, a magical land where many a SHAMAN TROD over DORMANT ASH.   Full Story

Thursday, July 26 It seems as though everyone in North Adams knew the Dailey sisters, Mary and Catherine. They gained wide-spread notoriety when they stood steadfast before the urban renewal's Redevelopment Authority to save their family homestead, even when their neighborhood on Lincoln Street had been torn down around them.   Full Story

Wednesday, July 25 The news from the Pew Research Center this month — that 60 percent of working mothers say they'd prefer to work part time — was barely out before it was sucked up into the fetid air of the mommy wars, with all the usual talk on "opting out" and guilting out and the usual suspects lining up to slug it out on morning talk TV.   Full Story

Wednesday, July 25 I'm a fan of country music, and I learned to play the guitar at an early age. I took a few lessons when I was 16, learned a few basic chords, and over the years picked up what little skill I have from just fooling around with the implement on my own. To say that I play the guitar may be using the phrase loosely, as I will never be confused with Chet Atkins, Les Paul   Full Story

Friday, July 20 In today's job market, it's important to know what you're doing if you want to find employment. And some of you (especially those who know me) might be asking, "Seth, it took you forever to find a job, specifically because you are terrible at job hunting. What possible advice are you qualified to offer?   Full Story

Friday, July 20 Social mores and practices are constantly and forever recasting themselves, but one huge change I have noticed over the years is the absence of intoxicated people on the streets. During the 1930s, '40s and even into the '50s, alcohol was the drug of choice for those who wished to partake of mind-altering substances.   Full Story