Home and Shopping

Sandra Smith writes: Waiting for the auctioneer is something like being present at a stage musical while the orchestra warms up. My stomach was a little fluttery. Would I understand? How fast would he talk? What if I scratched my nose and he thought I was bidding? I got so caught up in it, I forgot to listen to the amounts of the bids. more »

Joan L. Cannon writes: Unless memories and tradition count as “things,” these concrete reminders are not just things. They’re emblems. They’re absolute reminders — souvenirs in a literal sense — of what has happened in many lives, not just our own. As such, they serve as records that are apt to endure longer than any on paper.             more »

Stanford scholar Dan Jurafsky found that the words used in online restaurant reviews provide a surprising source of insight into human psychology. While positive reviews of expensive restaurants were rife with sensual and sexy metaphors, the good food at cheap restaurants prompted references to drugs. more »

Rose Madeline Mula writes: Three mysteries will always taunt me: Einstein's Theory of Relativity, how to buy low and sell high, and how it's possible to have three huge closets crammed with clothes and still never have a thing to wear-at least nothing appropriate for the occasion at hand. Everything I own is either too formal or too casual for anything to which I'm ever invited. I seem to have an uncanny knack for either buying all the wrong clothes or not getting asked to any of the right affairs. more »