Let A Thousand “Ack!” Headlines Bloom

“Cathy” is dunzo. The clumsily drawn comic strip that celebrated semi-hapless, semi-feisty single-womanhood (and, more recently, married-womanhood) is, after 34 years of chocolate jokes and man troubles, being retired. Creator Cathy Guisewite is citing creative exhaustion, and I for one think she’s completely correct. But enough about her. What struck me, as I read about …

A Note on Modern Marriage

So I was doing something goofy on Friday night (don’t ask; it involved some clowning around with a Swiffer), and my wife was rolling her eyes and chuckle-snorting to herself. And then she came out with the following: “I could Tweet this, but I won’t.” That’s right, people: I was (deservedly) threatened with tweet-shame. It …

‘Goodnight Moon’: The Criticism Continues

I’ve already said here that I think Goodnight Moon falls way short of its reputation. But my son picks it up nearly every night lately, demanding that it be read to him before sleeptime. Needless to say, we cave in. Except that he doesn’t quite read it. As soon as we get to certain pages, …

British Nannies: They’re Not All Nice

British parents! Wake up! Those foreign nannies you and your neighbors have been hiring (says the ever-class-conscious, and ever-classy, Daily Mail) all think their employers are lazy, sleazy, snooty, and lousy parents. More particularly, the mothers are inattentive and annoying, and the fathers are horndog creeps. Time to quit importing the help, this seems to …