Humor is the seventh sense. And just like all the others — vision, touch and smell, etc. — it varies from person to person and from situation to situation. From John Kerry’s “botched joke” to George Bush’s unintentional ones, there’s…
One of the things that I really love about New Hampshire is that profligate living doesn’t travel well up here. In L.A., if you build a big house on the top of a cliff overlooking the Pacific, everyone goes into…
New Hampshire is one of the few New England states with an expanding population — mostly “immigrants” from other states. It’s a good bet that a fair share are toting sauté pans and chef’s knives. It’s a blessed thing that…
When renovating your house, building the addition you’ve toyed with for years or starting your dream home from scratch, there are hundreds of questions and decisions ranging from the nitpicky to the immense throughout the process. From paint colors to…
A Weed by any other name might still wish to decriminalize the possession and use of marijuana in New Hampshire. It’s merely a coincidence that the primary sponsor of a bill for that purpose in the state House of Representatives…
The language of art is sometimes a simple translation. Artist Kyeong Kim found her inspiration in an elevator. The simple industrial beauty of the raised stainless-steel Braille words and the seemingly random pattern caught her eye. It was not the…
When you spot the forsythia at Strawbery Banke, you know you don’t have to wait much longer to enjoy the gardens there. John Forti, curator of historic landscape, is working to get the gardens up and running (there’s a volunteer…
Rubbing Salt? After reading this Q&A [with Ann Miller, director of N.H. Peace Action, March 2007 issue], I almost gagged from a sugar high. I’ve never read anything more naive than Ms. Miller’s opinion that everything in today’s violent world…
Hall of Fame Color photos indicate doctors who were voted top in their category for five consecutive years by our annual survey. Here’s how it works We send a survey to each doctor on the New Hampshire Board of Medicine’s…
Corrective lenses — what we call “glasses” — have a long history. In ancient Egypt, people realized that looking through a glass bowl filled with water would magnify print. By the 13th century, there were magnifying glasses to help with…
The philosopher Diogenes wandered the streets of Athens living on a diet of onions and carrying a torch in full daylight. When people stopped him to ask what he was doing, Diogenes would reply, “I’m searching for an honest man.”…
How Safe Are You Here in the Granite State? The short answer: about as safe as you can be anywhere, but what fun is that? Here’s a look at the state’s dark statistical underbelly. We all take pride in the…
A John Irving conversation unfolds like a John Irving novel. The sentences begin, dense with clauses, bristling with specific detail. Merrily they traverse the tangled undergrowth between subject and verb, meandering past, around, never quite to the point. Tagging along…
Most of us who live in New Hampshire don’t spend a lot of time worrying about our northern border. It’s just one of those things that has always been there and has seemed to work OK. We have lots of…
It’s a fact that is both obvious and surprising, serious and ironic. The places we are most endangered are the places that feel most like home. Most people know that cars are the biggest cause of fatal injuries in the…
Why did I buy six parking meters? Well, first and foremost, I’m a guy, and buying the parking meters was as much an “impulse” thing as checking out RVs at Campers Inn whenever I’m within a five-mile radius of the…
In prehistoric times clans gathered around a fire to bond by telling stories and making funny body noises. In the roaring 1920s and through the Second World War it was the crackle of the radio that brought families together every…
A landscaping project can be a daunting task for any homeowner. Whether the project is big or small, there are many factors to consider. To start with, there are zoning codes and safety issues, not to mention New Hampshire’s inconvenient…
Planting a tree is not as simple as you might think. Drive to the store — any big box discount store will do — pick out a nice looking tree, dig a hole, plop it in and let nature take…
As an award-winning writer Jodi Picoult uses her literary X-ray vision to peer inside homes, family ties, relationships and dark secrets of the heart. Her characters seem unnervingly familiar, her revelations are often disturbing, but the most powerful sense a…
Braided Geometry A new twist on an old craft Braided rugs that look at home in a contemporary setting get their precise patterns with special techniques. Sandy Luckury, of Bradford, butts the ends of each row instead of braiding in…
Officially Wrong With candidates announcing and the 2008 New Hampshire Primary beginning in earnest, I write to call attention to the fact that it is the N.H. Secretary of State, Bill Gardner, and not Governor Lynch, who will determine the…
Health care is a science and an art. It’s a practice steeped in tradition on a swiftly changing landscape. As the practice of medicine has grown more complex, people increasingly look to physicians to provide a sense of trust and…
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