Monthly Archives: December 2013

What it takes to keep your New Year’s resolutions

Posted on December 31, 2013 by Katherine Wikoff

Today’s Wall Street Journal has a really good article on what it takes to keep your New Year’s resolutions, “More Rational Resolutions,” by Angela Chen. My main takeaway was a technique called “pre-hindsight,” which is part of a three-day workshop hosted … Continue reading →

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Countdown to Downton Abbey (7 days to go) — Cora’s fortune

Posted on December 29, 2013 by Katherine Wikoff

I knew that it was common near the end of the 1800s for American heiresses to go hunting around Europe for impoverished noblemen.  It was the perfect win-win in some ways: an aristocratic pedigree for America’s nouveau riche and a … Continue reading →

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Visits from Jack Frost

Posted on December 24, 2013 by Katherine Wikoff

In my childhood home there was a window situated right at the turn in our staircase, only slightly higher than the steps themselves and just a short flight down from the second floor. Very dangerous spot for a window, if you ask … Continue reading →

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Countdown to Downton Abbey (13 days to go) — The Dowager Countess’s “Mom” Jeans

Posted on December 23, 2013 by Katherine Wikoff

Or at least the equivalent thereof. Have you noticed that as other women’s hemlines rise and hairstyles modernize, Violet Crawley (played by Maggie Smith) remains somewhat stuck in a pre-WWI Edwardian time warp?  Her hats are a bit smaller and slightly … Continue reading →

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He couldn’t keep a jailer: Why Nelson Mandela was a great leader

Posted on December 6, 2013 by Katherine Wikoff

Much has been said about Nelson Mandela over the past day.  But one thing I haven’t heard anyone speak of on the news channels—because, really, it’s pretty small potatoes when compared with this man’s towering greatness in so many areas—is … Continue reading →

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Is climate change cyclical?

Posted on December 5, 2013 by Katherine Wikoff

Although most media reports on climate change focus on looming disaster, I’ve read some interesting articles recently that look backward and provide some long-term perspective. Melting glaciers are revealing ancient human artifacts as they recede.  Beneath ice thousands of years … Continue reading →

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