Doris O'Brien is a retired college Speech teacher and banker. She has published two books of humor (Up or Down With Women's Liberation and Humor Me a Little) and for many years contributed light verse to the Pepper 'n Salt column of the Wall Street Journal. She is an avid writer of letters to the editors.
Doris celebrated her 50th wedding anniversary in the same year she welcomed her first grandchild. She now lives in Pasadena with a great view of the San Gabriel mountains — and the annual Tournament of Roses Parade.
She can be reached by e-mail: witsendob at (@) gmail.com
What if the Mayan Calendar is Right?
It’s become an annual tradition for my husband and me to create a calendar for an intimate group of friends. This year we decided to add an extra page. After the month of November 2012 is an illustration of the Mayan calendar with a 3-week ‘bucket list’ of things to do before the world is predicted to end on December 21st more »
Bicentennial of Academy of Natural Sciences at Drexel; Nation's Oldest Natural History Museum
With eight books and a map of Switzerland, the founders began a library, which ranks among the world’s finest natural history libraries. Each founder also contributed a few specimens; the collections now number 17 million specimens more »
'Castle Doctrine' Laws Provoke Heated Debate
When Sarah Dawn McKinley, of Blanchard, Oklahoma, shot and killed a burglar breaking into her home on New Year’s Eve, she was spared prosecution by the state’s “castle doctrine” law, which protects people who defend themselves against intruders. Oklahoma has one of the nation’s most expansive castle doctrine laws more »
Small Worlds: Artworks That Create an Intimate Spaces
The Toledo Museum of Art challenges us to look at the world from new perspectives through its exhibition: "We may feel oversized when peering at Gregory Euclide’s miniature ecosystems, yet small and disoriented when we are surrounded by the video installation by Tabaimo" more »
