Crafty knitters supply art from the heart
Some years ago, after having foot surgery and teaching herself to knit, Lois Moore spent time knitting, recuperating and volunteering in the library at what was then MCV hospital. She soon found herself teaching knitting to a group of patients who were bused in for chemotherapy and other treatments and needed something to do while they waited for their return ride home. Eventually,... READ MORE
Sad when a long-time marriage dissolves
It had been years since I’d seen my former co-worker Jim, so I didn’t want to start with “How’s your wife?” Maybe she was ill. Maybe she had died. So I trotted out the old standard: “What’s new?” “Oh, not much,” said Jim. His smile was wide. But his eyes gave him away. They flitted — was it with guilt? With discomfort? And then he said: “What’s new is that ... READ MORE
Books to help usher in a healthy new year
The Bibliophile The start of the year is a great time to lose weight, improve our health, expand our minds, and take on a new hobby. Informative books by expert authors can help us keep our New Year’s resolutions. Gordon Ramsay’s Healthy, Lean & Fit: Mouthwatering Recipes to Fuel You for Life, by Gordon Ramsay, 288 pages, Grand Central Life & Style hardcover, 2018 A... READ MORE
“Miss Saigon” seen through first-timer’s eyes
There’s lots of sturm und drang being played out at the Kennedy Center in the new production of the musical Miss Saigon, which melodically blasts, electronically blazes, and dramatically tugs at audience emotions for almost three hours on the Opera House stage. It’s an ode to the odiousness of the Vietnam War, to the broad and brash Broadway musical, and to Madame Butterfly (on which ... READ MORE
With age comes Wizdom, hip-hop
In her early 20s, back in 1977, she took to the basketball court at half-time as part of the first cheerleading-dance team for the Washington Bullets. For the next four years, she was a Bullette, wearing high-cut red hot pants and red wedge shoes to shimmy across the court. Some years later, the Bullets rebranded as the Wizards, and the Bullettes became the Wizard Girls. When that dance... READ MORE
Street-corner astronomer says goodnight
Star light, star bright...just a little dimmer now. Herman Heyn — teacher, soldier, matchmaker, writer, featured character in Jon Jefferson’s novel Wave of Terror, and astronomer — is hanging up his telescope for the last time. At 88, Heyn has been Baltimore’s “Street-Corner Astronomer” for the past 31 years. The avuncular Waverly resident is a self-taught astronomer who... READ MORE
Having a Wilde time at Everyman Theatre
At first glance, The Importance of Being Earnest, a play by the acclaimed Irish poet and playwright Oscar Wilde, would appear to simply be a comical farce, an amusing romp where Victorian sensibilities and social conventions are satirized. It’s a clever work, which initially seems a mix of a Shakespearean comedy (replete with star-crossed couples and mistaken identities) and the Marx... READ MORE
Life’s a dance for ex-Rockette
Howard County resident Anne Berk, who happens to be the world’s oldest Rockette, figuratively kicked up her heels the other day in Columbia while moving and grooving with the help of a walker for a special celebration: her 100th birthday. “Don’t complain, and keep a good sense of humor,” was the advice Berk offered to those in attendance. The party was held at Winter Growth... READ MORE
Deck home and garden with festive hollies
Bearing green leaves during the dead of winter, evergreen holly is the subject of pagan beliefs and European folklore as well as traditional English carols. Think of “deck the halls with boughs of holly” and “The Holly and the Ivy.” English Holly (Ilex aquifolium) is the plant these songs celebrate. When the new world settlers saw American holly (Ilex opaca), they embraced its... READ MORE
Virginia Rep presents hits on two stages
It’s an old adage that God laughs when man (or woman) plans. That is certainly the experience of Sister Act’s Mother Superior, played with depth and gravitas by veteran Virginia Rep actress Andrea Rivette. Keenly aware of her church’s dire financial situation and impending sale to a couple of antique salesmen, Mother Superior prays for a solution. Little does she know the solution... READ MORE
Arts 2024
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