Mary and I returned to the Palestine Center for lunch (delicious falafels and refreshing lemonade) and a talk, titled “Hamas, its Neighbors, and the Quartet.” The speaker was Nadia Hijab, senior fellow and co-director of the Institute for Palestine Studies (Washington office). She has written several books, including Womanpower: The Arab debate on women at […]

Wednesday, July 19, was my tourist day. I grabbed my camera, my sketchbook, and my “fat lil notebook,” and I was on my way. After a ride on the green line of the famous five-color Metro system, I headed to the National Archives. Each line gets a different color: red, yellow, blue, green, and orange.

Last week, I left toasty Western New York to head to even hotter Washington, D.C. I had an appointment with a magistrate judge in the U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Virginia, that I had to keep on Friday. I’d like to say that I was looking forward to the “Trial of the Century” or, at

On Sunday, I put my music in a backpack and headed off to church. I gave myself almost an hour and a half to get there because… well… walking tourists are easily distracted!As I walked down Linden Avenue, I noticed a large, hand-painted sign stuck in a lawn in front of a house. “Stop the

On Monday morning, I went to my friend Jinni’s house for a “working visit.” Jinni is a professional artist and art teacher. Her specialty is watercolor paints. She makes large painting with lots of bright, cheerful colors. It is a delight to watch her paint. As a teacher, Jinni is enthusiastic and always encouraging. She

Today, the first of June, is the start of torture awareness month.Torture is still practiced by governments around the world. It is brutal and horrifying. Torture leaves more scars than the ones that can be seen. People who survive torture always carry that experience with them. Some torture survivors are able to talk about their

Wow. What can I say? The Sabres are awesome. They and their opponent, the Carolina Hurricanes, are making this NHL Eastern Conference finals a great series. The 2-1 win for the Sabres in sudden-death overtime was thrilling.The two teams will be back in Raleigh, North Carolina, tomorrow. Game seven… the last game of the series…

As Memorial Day is coming, I thought that this would be a good time to remember those who have gone before us. My friend Ellen’s father recently passed away. I had known him as a cheerful man who loved music and his large family. He and his wife Regina were blessed with eleven children. I

Two days ago, I walked through Buckhorn Island State Park, at the northern tip of Grand Island, N.Y. The park is now full of sound and color. The flowering bushes are covered in pinks, yellows, and a variety of other colors. The bird songs come from high in the sky, from the ground, and from