Buying A Car Used To Be An

In An Interesting Inversion Of Status, The Reigning Breed In The Dog Park These Days Is The Really-oddball-unidentifiable-mixed-breed-mutt-found-wandering-the-street Or Its Equivalent. The Stranger The Mutt The Better; The More Peculiar The Circumstance Of It Coming Into Your Life, The Better.

Human Relationships Used To Be Easy: You Had Friends, Boy- Or Girlfriends, Parents, Children, And Landlords. Now, Thanks To Social Media, It's All Gone Sideways.

Here's A Habit I Never Thought I'd Develop: I Gravitate To Anything Online That's Marked 'most Popular' Or 'most E-mailed.' And I Hate Myself A Little Bit Every Time I Do.

I Have Long Been One Of Those Tedious People Who Rails Against The Coronation Of 'student-athletes.' I Have Heard The Argument That Big-time Athletics Bring In Loads Of Money To Universities. I Don't Believe The Money Goes Anywhere Other Than Back Into The Sports Teams, But That's Another Story.

The Old Orchid Hunter Lay Back On His Pillow, His Body Limp... 'you'll Curse The Insects,' He Said At Least, 'and You'll Curse The Natives... The Sun Will Burn You By Day And The Cold Will Shrivel You By Night. You'll Be Racked By Fever And Tormented By A Hundred Discomforts, But You'll Go On. For When A Man Falls In Love With Orchids, He'll Do Anything To Possess The One He Wants. It's Like Chasing A Green-eyed Woman Or Taking Cocaine... It's A Sort Of Madness.