Author Archives: SJ
Grandma Got Run Over by a Midterm
Many years ago, when I headed off to college, I had just one living parent and one surviving grandparent. Barring some unforeseen tragedy, my oldest son should ship off to his still-unknown alma mater not only with both me and … Continue reading
Dear Woody Johnson
Congratulations on being appointed Ambassador to Great Britain. Believe it or not, the pomp and prestige of the office you’re assuming rivals that of owning the 27th best football team in the NFL. As a former American expat who lived … Continue reading
Hey, I wrote a book
No, it isn’t about food, travel, or human stupidity, though maybe I’ll get around to those subjects one of these days. It’s called Heads I Win, Tails I Win: Why Smart Investors Fail and How to Tilt the Odds in … Continue reading
The Haves and the Have Mores
Make sure you’re sitting down when you read this. Ready? Here goes: In certain unknown corners of the world there is a “money-based caste system” in operation. Crazy, right? I read this in an interesting but somewhat tone-deaf front page … Continue reading
Hot Chicken!
I think I’m in love … with a bird. Last week I traveled to Nashville with the cover story of accompanying my oldest son on a tour of Vanderbilt and to visit my little sister. At the top of my agenda, … Continue reading
Math Is Hard
Store clerk: “If you open up a store card today you’ll get 55% off of whatever you buy.” Me: “Awesome.” And so that’s how I went from buying a single pair of shoes to a whole bunch of stuff. At … Continue reading
Ninjas, Soba, and Buddhism
So I’ve been remiss in updating this blog, especially considering the fact that the whole family spent two weeks in Japan over the summer. It practically provided me with years of material, but where to begin? We saw so much! … Continue reading
The Secret Hungarian Restaurant
“We could always try the secret Hungarian restaurant.” Wait, what? Lamenting the disappearance of eateries serving central European soul food with my cousin Pete – our beloved Mocca, the last one standing, closed over a decade ago after 47 years in … Continue reading
I ♥ Molvania
You know you’re doing something wrong (or very, very right) if the correction to your story gets thousands more page views than your actual article. So, in case you missed it, The New York Times had one for the ages … Continue reading
Balaton Memories
Growing up in the U.S., your idea of a beach vacation may have been sunny Florida or something more modest like The Jersey Shore. In communist Hungary, the only place to go was “Balaton.” It’s a lake, but no ordinary … Continue reading
Cacophony and cheese 