Third is a relative term. It is a family oriented term if you have three in the family. It can mean one more than two. But third also refers to third base. When Alex Rodriguez plays in the field he is on third base. Sometimes I think third can also refer to the planet Earth because we are the third from the Sun. And it can refer to the third of any series. For this reason the word third is one of my favorite words, and it is a favorite in my family, too. Read Full Story

There are many kind of families and they have many ways of dealing with their children. But one universal is that kids need play. And dance is my favorite form of play. That is my passion. I like tap, ballet, and jazz dancing.One thing necessary for tap is good dance shoes. Another thing that is necessary is a type of dance shoe that is appropriate for the dance you are doing. A friend of mine regularly uses sneakers. I have told him repeatedly that he would do better with appropriate attire,... Read Full Story

There is a legacy that Thomas Eakins fans should know about and it involves the secret life of Thomas Eakins. In this Portrait of Susan Macdowell Eakins (the wife of the artist), Eakins reveals his trademark approach to the face, one which leaves no stone unturned, so to speak. He has the gumption to make her eyes flash at the viewer with a subdued and hidden horror at what they have seen and what they conceal. But who knows what Eakins was really thinking as he did this painting. Look at her... Read Full Story

The steam locomotive has mystified generations of fans of this mode of transportation. The steam locomotive has fascinated families as well as individual collectors. The steam locomotive has made generations of boys and men aware of new heights in collecting and they are grateful to the manufactures of these trains as well as to those who make the toy trains too. Read Full Story

Every holiday season. Yes, that's right. Every holiday season, without fail. I'm talking about how often I frown upon discount cigars and turn instead to a trip to Cuba. As often as I can I venture into the Cuban waters and paddle my kayak to the shores of Havana. There I look for a light in a cafe known as Smirkin's Cove. They wait for me at the table. Two of them. They are in black and they are suffused with an aroma of sawdust and old wood and, of course, the smoke of burning tobacco. Tha... Read Full Story

Thomas Eakins and his niece had a strange yet famous relationship. They did not use any live chat software, however they could have had they lived today. Instead, Eakins is said to have caused his niece to commit suicide by attacking her and molesting the girl. She blew her brains out with a shotgun. These startling incidents are discussed in a new book about Eakins that anyone can obtain from their library or online. I am not making this stuff up. It is verified and historical. More than tha... Read Full Story

The greatest painters realize that the human skin is one of the most deceptively easy things to paint and yet one of the most difficult to get right. If only models would use more wrinkle cream, they declaim. If only they would take better care of their skin! For heaven's sake, just look at these people, going to waste. If only they took more fish oil they'd have a radiance about them that would certainly translate to the canvass. Yet not one in a hundred takes the time to do things right. Read Full Story

The Agnew Clinic by Thomas Eakins is a painting that undoubtedly contains hidden dimensions and meanings not apparent to the conscious mind of most viewers, yet which give the work some of its strange mystery and power. A new book about Eakins reveals that he was a sadist, that he had relationship problems, that he was interested in nudity, that he liked to shock women who were his models by stripping in front of them, and that he had other mental quirks, all of which are somehow hidden in th... Read Full Story

Every Mickey Spillane fan knows about cars. The faster the better. Some Ferrari parts might even be involved in the story. But Agatha Christie was also interested in cars, though not for the same reason. She usually wanted to go for a drive in the country with her uncles and her family. She was a big fan of driving to relax. She then would go back to work on a new story. These are the ways that cars factor into the mystery milieu. Even Samuel Beckett was interested in cars and mystery novels. Read Full Story

Not only are there many who have gone to South America for vacation, but there are a sizable group of adventurers who have journeyed there for more exotic reasons, one of them being to discover true health secrets from the Amazon. One of these is the best eye cream, which can be had in many American department stores. Most adventurers, though, believe in the guava and the other South American fruits that can produce an oil superior to anything you're likely to find online or in a store. It's ... Read Full Story