When a musical bio-pic like “A Complete Unknown” comes along, movie red flags always rise. Are we going to get another cookie-cutter, a paint-by-numbers retelling of a famous musician, lined with “magical moments” of inspiration behind the music numbers we know so well, heightened by a performance that is more mime than realistic by an…

South Korea’s limited series, “Squid Game,” became a national sensation when it debuted in the U.S. in the fall of 2021. Its combination of hyper-violence and reality show meets “The Hunger Games” proved the perfect blend of entertainment for an audience still dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic and feeling that life’s many challenges placed their…

For thousands of years, the transition into the new year sees people take a moment for self-reflection. Traditionally, people come up with a resolution for something they would like to improve upon, bring with them, or leave behind them with this year’s fresh start.  The Latin origin of the word resolve, resolvere, has a few meanings, such as: to loosen,…

We came in early, which, if you know anything about Team PomPom, is a miracle within itself because we are usually about 15-20 minutes late. As much as I love coaching 5-and 6-year-olds, it is extremely difficult to move them about the mountain in a timely fashion. Bathroom breaks, emergency snacks, bloody noses…they all control…

I have always stayed awake on New Year’s Eve to watch the ball drop in Times Square. No matter where I am or what I’m doing, for that final minute, I’m going to be glued to the television. It’s been a tradition of mine since I was a young child, and as far back as…

Well, the holidays are behind us and hopefully you enjoyed that special time of year. Once January rolls around, my mind gravitates toward spring and gardening. I want to forget that it’s winter. My apologies to those of you who still want to be skiing while I am tending to my daffodils! As many of…

When I think about winter survival, my mind first goes to wildlife: field mice curling up in nests, chickadees flocking to bird feeders, and amphibians burrowing into the mud. Rarely do I think about the adaptations of our northern species that can’t grow thicker fur, fluff up their feathers, or go underground. Trees, for instance,…

As a teenager, one of my most prized possessions was my stereo. The multi-unit system sat atop the dresser in my bedroom for years before following me to college and on to my first apartments. Nowadays, we only need a smartphone and a Spotify subscription to enjoy our favorite artists. Still, decades ago, serious music…

Director Robert Eggers’ re-imagining of F.W. Murnau’s 1922 silent classic “Nosferatu,” which itself was a thinly disguised ripoff of Bram Stoker’s “Dracula,” sneaked into theaters Christmas Day, just in the nick of time to give all the Goth kids nighttime refuge from all the family holiday parties, to sink their teeth into some counter-programming. For…

During winter, I often hear gnawing and the scurrying of little feet inside the walls of our house. Mice have taken shelter in our old farmhouse again.  Although I hate killing cute creatures, after we had to hire a carpenter twice to remove sections of our walls and take out smelly mouse nests, we resorted…

This week, social media feeds across the internet will be bursting at the seams with “new year, new me” posts. Self-improvement and lofty goals are always a good thing. However, what about self-acceptance? What would life feel like if you met it in the moment, from exactly where you are? Psychologist Carl Rogers said, “The…

I began this column five years ago, this past November. I started with an article about the Killington World Cup over Thanksgiving Weekend. I was supposed to write a special in-person local introspective on the race and call it a day.  But somehow, that one article evolved into one after the other, and until now,…

Ninety-nine percent of the time, while I run, I listen to either podcasts or audiobooks. My runs generally last one hour, so for those 60 minutes, I am a captive audience. I can thoroughly engross myself in listening and develop a deeper understanding of what’s being discussed. However, when Dec. 1 arrives, things change. On…

Plans are in the making for a new downtown hotel in Rutland. Reading about it prompted me to think about the lodging options available to people in the 1950s when I was growing up. My friend Mary Jane and I took a fun trip down memory lane, recalling the places we could remember. But to…

Stepping out of the gondola a little after 4:10 p.m., we can barely see anything with our goggles on. The sun is scheduled to set in about seven minutes, and you can feel the darkness. The lamps are on along all the wooden railings heading toward the peak lodge, and you can see the patrol…