Products Archive

Weekend Butler: Warm up with a thriller in Paris. A film masterpiece. The importance of paying attention. Snark from (yes!) Mahatma Gandhi. 3:54 of joyous exercise. Should married couples live apart? A unicorn event, and more. - SHOPPING ON AMAZON: As an Amazon Associate, I earn a modest commission from qualifying purchases. How does that work? You start on Butler, buy something on Amazon --- or Whole

Weekend Butler: Watch a derecho (know what it is?) Urgent fix for Facebook users! Sermon of the year: “Learn to handle ‘hard’ well. Gazpacho! A great movie! Song of the summer! And more! - DERECHO. KNOW WHAT THAT IS? From the Washington Post: A derecho (pictured above) is a horizontal thunderstorm that can travel hundreds of miles with the impact of a 100-mile-wide

Weekend Butler: Watching the eclipse. A POW camp: “We’re all Jews here.” Song: “I’ll never smoke weed with Willie again!” Thrilling sports movie. And… carrots! - SUPPORTING BUTLER: Head Butler no longer gets a commission on your Amazon purchases. So the only way you can contribute to Head Butler’s bottom line is to become a patron

Weekend Butler: What’s your Covid trauma? (I’ll go first.) NPR: “the best song of the last decade.” What prevents addiction? (You’ll be surprised.) And a great use for tomatoes. - ABOUT THE PHOTO: Rachel Maddow, high school prom. MY COVID TRAUMA...AND YOURS? When I meet a new person now, I want to ask about their Covid trauma --- the personal moment that

Weekend Butler: When politics and culture merge. Steven Spielberg watches “Lawrence of Arabia” with the director. A Mary Oliver poem. Steven Fry meets God. Seinfeld explains writing jokes. Apple and Butternut Squash Soup. And more. - WHAT'S HAPPENING IN IRAN ISN'T JUST POLITICS, IT'S CULTURE... AND ALSO MOVIES Reading about oppression in a distant country requires focus, which everyone I know is having trouble with this week.

Weekend Butler: Where I’ll be on 9/24. Still More Allbirds. “My Wife Thinks You’re Dead.” The Most Relevant Movie. Bob Dylan at 80. - WHERE WILL I BE ON SEPTEMBER 24? BOB DYLAN AT 80 When I was a tot compiling my first book, I arrived at the moment every writer dreads — many words to

Weekend Butler: Who benefits most from random acts of kindness? Not the recipient. You. (So get to it). The most relevant weekend movie. A woman scorned. A seasonal recipe. - SUPPORTING BUTLER: You can become a patron of this site, and automatically donate any amount you please — starting with $1 — each month. The service that enables this is

Weekend Butler: Why did he do the right thing? “Instinct.” Stanley Kubrick’s first movie. An unforgettable poem. Celery & Apple Stuffed Chicken. An ethereal song. - “BE KIND, FOR EVERYONE YOU MEET IS FIGHTING A HARD BATTLE.” New York Yankees vs. Toronto Blue Jays. We’re watching the bleachers, because Yankee slugger Aaron Judge is at bat, and

Weekend Butler: Why do friends and lovers matter so much now? Best weekend book. Cruelty in Texas. “Negotiating” with striking writers. Closeness without sex? Glenn Gould and Seamus Heaney videos. A great combination: Scampi-and-corn. - THE OLDER YOU GET, THE MORE PEOPLE MATTER In the last month, I have signed off on my novel about the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama. My writing partner’s agent blessed

Weekend Butler: Your pantry wants — no, needs — this sauce. Your cat wants — no, needs — this. A great Hitchcock thriller you’ve never seen. Streaming: Jesse & Ghislaine have their “moment.” - CAT HOUSE There was never a cat because I don't like them and they know it and, self-amused sadists that are, they come right to me. But now there is

Weekend Butler: ZZ Top’s tour buses, Eric Carle’s hopeful children’s book, Brandi Carlile sings John Prine, and a Florida woman proves the kindness of strangers - When your priorities are clear, hard decisions become easier. But not easy. You look forward to stronger commitments to your lifeboat crew and to a personal project that might entertain

Weekend Edition: “Sometimes it hurts to be a woman.” Pulse Oximeters (yes, again). “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” A poem for lovers, and more. - "SOMETIMES IT HURTS TO BE A WOMAN" It will be of interest to no more than two of you that Kacey Musgraves --- a female singer from Nashville --- won

Weekend Edition: Heather Cox Richardson is required reading. A gorgeous song. A racy novel. A life coach on Zoom. - REQUIRED READING: HEATHER COX RICHARDSON One of the consolations of working late is ”Letters from an American,” the daily dispatch from Heather Cox Richardson (in the photo, above) that usually

Weekend Edition: Some stories of kindness and beauty: Roast chicken (again? yes), the weekend movie, “A Whiter Shade of Pale” (again? yes), and a gorilla more human than some humans - Another gnarly week, in which the usual suspects conspired to make you feel even worse. There's one stunning news story here. But as much as possible, let's focus on beauty

Weekend Edition: Spend the weekend without the news. ‘Squid Game.’ Liz Cheney. Josh Ritter, and more. - SPEND THE WEEKEND WITHOUT LOOKING AT THE NEWS Curtis Mayfield was soul music’s Prince of Optimism -- and he sometimes got depressed. When that happened, he went to the movies.

Weekend edition: What’s “real?” Ask M.C. Escher. More about Gabby Petito & Brian Laundrie? (Yes.) Another necessary movie. And a great good news story. - “ILLUSION” IS THE WORD OF MY WEEK I can’t be the only one here who watches what’s happening and asks: Can this be real? Are the people in the way of

Weekend Update: Weekend Butler, plus…Daniel Ellsberg, who leaked the Pentagon Papers, died today. The publisher called this a Young Adult book. It’s better than that: a National Book Award finalist that will thrill — and challenge and enrage — adults as well as kids. Read my review. Buy the book for your kids and grandkids — and for you. Discuss (you can’t not). - SUPPORTING BUTLER: You can become a patron of this site, and automatically donate any amount you please — starting with $1 — each month. The service that enables this is

WEN Hair Products - NOTE: Some customers report problems with WEN and are vocal on Amazon message boards and elsewhere. My daughter --- my only child, and precious to me --- has used it

What I Did On My Summer Vacation - A lot can happen in a few weeks, and a lot did. But what stands out is a two-week course in Computer Graphics & Game Design that our 9.5-year-old daughter

What is to be done? - My review of The Trillion Dollar Meltdown made some readers crazy. Here's a representative e-mail: What about me? This book is all about them...It is good to know about