One easily forgets how innocent those pretty young things really are… They are so good at having us believe they are experienced. Most men manage to resist the temptation of going after a ingénue, of course, but others, like the decadent and indecent Humbert Humbert and Roman Polanski, simply can’t. An Education,  Lynn Barber’s memoir about growing up in 1960s London, … [Read More]

Viva Mexico! Never mind the H1N1 or La Familia Michoacana. There’s more to Mexico than swine flu and drug trafficking, though I never realized it until I traveled to Mexico City for my cousin’s wedding last weekend. Obviously it is hard to ignore the poverty and corruption, especially when cops jack your wallet on the way down to Baja.  On the … [Read More]

Apparently “f&ck” has replaced “God” as the most popular word in the English language. Just the other morning, I was getting my latte at the World’s End Starbucks when I overheard two grown men having a row. The men were standing with their respective bicycles on two sides of a lamppost. The man whose bicycle had been scratched by a maladroit … [Read More]

Nowadays, “art” is a rather broad concept, whereby almost anything is considered art so long as someone considers it art. While some of the more famous living artists are certainly talented, their work often seems more inspired by the puerile desire to shock, and earn a quick buck, than the higher creative impulses. And for those who have apprehensions when it … [Read More]

A man I know wrote to tell me he finds my “intelligence” frightening.  My penultimate column on the subjects of marriage and parenthood provoked mostly positive responses from both sexes. This man was the notable exception. He seems to think women with opinions are threatening to men, and that my opinions in particular, are the likely cause of my unwedded status. … [Read More]

Matkot is the name of the game. Matkot is named after the matka, or racquet. Many Israeli’s claim it is their country’s national sport. Outside Israel, people call it beach tennis. It is popular in places where there is a strong beach culture, like Brazil. Italians are especially fond of the game; not only do they play it, De Cecco makes … [Read More]

Have you ever thought about freezing your eggs? When are you going to get married?  What was wrong with your last boyfriend?  These are the kinds of interminable questions unmarried women over the age of thirty are subjected to. Just yesterday my father asked me for the umpteenth time if I would ever find a husband. “When I meet someone I … [Read More]

As often as not, keeping up on the daily news is too much for my little heart to bear.  During these periods I force myself to gloss over headlines in order not to be completely ignorant. When this practice triggers a panic that reason cannot suppress, I turn off most of my electronic devices and skip town.  Lately, with the goings … [Read More]

The end of civilization has arrived, and I’m mad as hell about it.  Last week I went to a wedding in the Canary Islands.  I was invited to a magnificent hotel owned by the father of the bride, only to find myself surrounded by contemptuous twerps. While I can appreciate how taxing it is to make polite conversation, what on earth … [Read More]

Kabbala is looking as old and unsightly as Madonna. With all due respect, Lady Di is dead. So who is one to emulate? And how is one to be charitable whilst New York is getting its lower parts licked by the Tribeca Film Festival? Stick with the tried and true?  I thought so. And so off I went, like the Jolie-Pitts … [Read More]