Amsterbeth’s blog

The Generation of Perfect Teeth

2009-10-03T19:52:41Z

Excerpt from article: In her book Making the American Mouth, Alyssa Picard argues that the postwar orthodontics boom helped the upper middle class get in the habit of paying high out-of-pocket fees to care for its teeth. Ironically, this practic...

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

A Mind-Blowing Moment

2009-09-13T08:51:07Z

I still have a few friends who claim they don't get social networking. Don't need it. Have no use for it. "I'd rather spend my time in the real world." "I don't want to 'chat' with some person who was a classmate in the first grade who found m...

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Sometimes I Feel Very Far Away

2009-08-07T07:17:41Z

It's 8:30 on a perfect Friday morning. I have already answered 10 work emails. The news of John Hughes' death has arrived. And "Don't You Forget About Me" is still a very beautiful song. The John Hughes's three-pack-- Ferris Beuller's Day Off,...

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

America End to End: If I Were President

2009-07-27T12:56:21Z

Having returned from my third MGX, I'm thinking about the reverse culture shock I feel when I visit the U.S. I wrote a post similar to this one around this same time last year, but I cannot help but come away with the lingering, powerful feeling...

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Charlotte

2009-07-16T14:40:07Z

Shushie Puss pie Shoo Shoo Puss 'n' Boots Charloo Char Chardiechar Charlotte Ruth Sometimes. Here I am waiting for Michael to come home. I've just given him the news. And I turn to this blog. My cat and constant companion for the last 13 years...

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Maastricht

2009-06-29T07:22:15Z

I took Michael to Maastricht for his birthday. Maastricht is a town in the south of Holland that is heavily influenced by its surroundings, that is to say, Belgium. We stayed at an amazing hotel, the Herenkruis hotel, which was once a church an...

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

R.I.P: Rent in Peace

2009-06-29T06:59:43Z

I was making conversation over lunch with some colleauges including someone working from our corporate offices whose mother had recently passed away. We were discussing the merits of cremation vs .burial. One of my colleagues mentioned that she...

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Mr. Shorto Got It Exactly Right

2009-05-05T07:40:49Z

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/03/magazine/03european-t.html?pagewanted=1&_r=5&em In his article comparing the Netherlands to the United States, Russell Shorto compares the two countries' approaches to social welfare and taxation with accuracy....

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

A Perfect Sunday Morning

2009-03-22T06:54:58Z

A few weeks ago a colleague of mine mentioned that he'd been feeling a bit off. Not depressed, just felt sort of stuck. My mother used the phrase "rat race" to describe how she was feeling around the same time. It is the seasonal dark before th...

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

A Coupla Good Movies

2009-03-15T09:24:29Z

"Designing Woman" starring Lauren Bacall and Gregory Peck was on the TV yesterday afternoon. I spent most of the day in my bathrobe, either in bed, or on the couch where Michael and I finished off a bottle of Veuve Clicquot and ate the remnants o...

Read and post comments | Send to a friend