The thing I always liked about Easter, the holiday, as opposed to Easter the holy day, was its simplicity. It was like the season it landed in, fine all by itself. It didn't need to be dressed up the way Christmas is. It didn't need bright lights and tinsel and bold colors like red and gold and green. Easter was pastels and cotton dresses…

The story made the 17-year-old choke on her Corn Flakes. 'This is gross. This is disgusting. Did you read this? It's horrible.' Indeed it was. It was 'Pet Semetary' come to life, the true tale of a dog that died, was buried and rose from the dead. Except Brownie didn't really die. His owner ran over him and the dog looked dead, so

It's seasonal. The snow melts, the sun shines, the ground softens, and it happens. It's as predictable as hay fever. One day I'm going about my business living my life like a normal human being; and then, the first of the garden catalogs arrives in the mail and I get obsessed. It's a kind of spell, I know, but while it lasts, I feel like Snow White…

The story made the 17-year-old choke on her Corn Flakes. 'This is gross. This is disgusting. Did you read this? It's horrible.'

Indeed it was. It was 'Pet Semetary' come to life, the true tale of a dog that died, was buried and rose from the dead. Except Brownie didn't really die. His owner ran over him and the dog looked dead, so she buried him in a field near her New Mexico home and then….

She never expected to be living like this, to be afraid in her own house, to be afraid not just for herself but for her husband and children. She never expected to feel so angry and helpless and betrayed…

My daughter answers the phone, 'Hello? This is the winter of our discontent.’ 'It's from the movie 'Reality Bites,'' she explains. I remember it as an old John Steinbeck novel.

The point is the same. This is the winter of our discontent.  Fifteen snowstorms, nearly 90 inches of the rotten stuff; frigid cold, burst pipes, leaky roofs, huge heating bills, snow days…

I've saved the clipping for years A minor British stage actress died ages ago while I was visiting London and a newspaper dedicated nearly a quarter of a page to a remembrance of her life. It's a great obituary, so typical of the British. They don't just tell you that someone…