In order to “imagine a new art, one must break the ancient art,” the French author Marcel Schwob wrote more than 100 years ago. Today, that call to action has been boldly made in the form of a Change.org petition demanding that Jeff Bezos buy and eat the Mona Lisa. The petition, which at press…
I have always wondered how these busy politicians get clothing help: Nancy Pelosi, Jill Biden, Vice President Harris. They cannot possibly take the time to plan their wardrobes. What’s the secret? — Searle, Eugene, Ore. For some reason, the reality that politicians (and their partners) often have help selecting their public-facing wardrobes has always been…
Relationships often come with their fair share of challenges, both big and small. However, learning to overcome these obstacles can strengthen your connection. Nathan Friedman and Amanda Winer, who met during a Birthright Israel trip in 2015, learned quickly that a little adversity can be a bonding experience. Hours into their first date, in January…
With vaccinations on the rise and mortality rates related to Covid-19 going down in Europe and other parts of the world, many people are making plans to travel this summer and beyond. But experts say the quickly circulating Delta variant is a new concern for travelers, particularly those who are unvaccinated. The European Union said…
One also could not easily kneel, or pray, in such shoes, which were sometimes known as “Satan’s claws.” In 1215, Pope Innocent III prohibited clergy members from wearing, among other things, “shoes with embroidery or pointed toes.” The edict was unsuccessful enough that Pope Urban V tried again in 1362. Poulaines swept into England in…
I received an email last week from a reader named Esmeralda in Madrid, who wrote that the summers there are quite hot: “We need to cook cool meals and using the oven is completely forbidden.” She’s been making creamy salmorejo, a close relative of gazpacho from Córdoba in southern Spain — which, she noted, gets…
A festive cape, draped from your shoulders, paired with a dress and glitzy heels while you sip on mulled wine. That’s the sort of scene Macy’s was envisioning for holiday parties in 2020, before the reality of Zoom nights in living rooms. “We really felt good about this dress-up opportunity, people really feeling glam,” said…
These “amelioration techniques” were dishonest and fraudulent, as the producers tried to pass off their blends as Bordeaux or Burgundy. Penfolds, of course, is doing nothing of the sort. It’s transparent with its marketing and “Wine of the World” labeling. And with suggested retail prices of $149 a bottle for the Bin 149 and $700…
People might be going to restaurants and having friends over for dinner again, but are they ready to gather around a communal dip bowl with crackers and carrot sticks in hand? The answer will vary depending on the situation and how comfortable you are with the people who will be sharing the dip. But whether…
Extreme conditions California burned with a fury last summer and fall. The wildfire season, the state’s worst on record, started earlier, with fires spreading faster and tearing up areas that previously had been thought to be protected from or at least resistant to blazes, ultimately burning more than four million acres. Fire is nothing new…