It may be February, but summer will be here soon enough. And you know what that means: Vacation time! And while most folks will try to get away for awhile to locations near or far, there are always going to be an unfortunate few who “get” to see the inside of a place they would rather not have to tour – the hospital! It’s always the furthest thing from most peoples’ minds, especially for those in good health. Nobody wants to think of themselves as an accident victim, …

In the writing game, there is a definite hierarchy – like a caste system, with some writers snobbishly looking down on others because they “just” write in newspapers, for example, instead of having their own ISBN number. “Yeah, we can’t all be like Stephen King – there’s no need to rub it in,” I told the world famous author with dozens of books and movie deals, not to mention plenty of cash, when he ranked on me (no, it was not Stephen King!). But now I can hold …

No matter who wins or loses the Super Bowl (Go Giants!), you know you could have done a better job running the team. But you’re wrong – I, not you, am the one who should be in charge! Brits, Aussies, Canadians, and the rest of you lot – you’ll forgive us Americans for a bit while we prepare for the greatest American holiday of the year, Super Sunday – on which the Super Bowl, this year featuring the New York Giants and the New England Patriots, is …

On the one hand, your kid’s report card wasn’t on, shall we say, the up and up. Lots of room for improvement. But of course, the little geniuses have their reasons for the subpar performance, especially in math and science: The teachers, the kids, the principal’s so mean, a kid stole my pen on the day of the test, the dog ate my homework…except you don’t have a dog! Oh, they can be smart when they want – like when they’re working with the family computer. No problems …

Kermit the frog was right It’s not easy being green – a greenhorn, that is. It’s an old-fashioned kind of word, what they used to call European immigrants to the New World 100 or so years ago. But guess what – history is repeating itself! Don’t believe me? Just listen to your kids having a mile-a-minute (sorry, kilometer a minute!) conversation in Hebrew with their Israeli friends, and see how much of it you can follow! A greenhorn, of course, is a clueless newcomer. And while many of …