LKL’s Blog

I will never understand how anyone can think there is no value in learning a second language. While speaking several languages is obviously more useful for some people than others (e.g., people who travel a lot, or work for a multinational company), it’s not as if speaking a second language is a total waste if [...]

I still reread my favorite kids’ books from time to time, and I still have some of the original copies from when I was a kid. My favorites:

The Phantom Tollbooth, by Norton Juster
A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L’Engle
The Dunkard, by George Selden
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, by C. S. Lewis
Tikki Tikki Tembo, [...]

What is comfort food? The best description I can come up with is warm, soft, and easy to prepare, but that doesn’t work for everyone. My comfort foods are mashed potatoes and macaroni and cheese, both of which I crave when I’m sick or depressed. What are your comfort foods and when do you eat [...]

Among my friends and family, I’m considered something of a computer whiz. There are tons of people who know a lot more than I, but since I used computers daily long before they became a household word (my father was a computer programmer), I’m much more knowledgeable about and comfortable with them than many people [...]

When I decided to start a site on English, I had no idea what I was getting into. The lessons on English difficulties are fairly easy – I just write down what I know, double-check in the dictionary, and voilà. What turned out to be much harder is writing the ESL lessons. I thought I’d [...]

I’m a voracious reader, though not for what some might call “good” literature, meaning the classics or anything intellectual. Don’t get me wrong – I don’t think there’s anything bad about reading light, fluffy fiction that does nothing more than entertain and pass the time, but I’ve been told that I’m mistaken.
Anyway, [...]

The other night my husband was in the kitchen cutting a lime for a gin and tonic, and as I was a bit stuck on the Spanish lesson I was writing (on the perfect infinitive), I decided to take a little break from work and pick his brain at the same time (his Spanish is [...]

A friend of mine sent me the link to this Evolution of Dance video, by Judson Laipply. Not only is he a terrific dancer, but it’s fun – and funny – to see him sum up the evolution of dance in the US in just 6 minutes. Be sure you have JavaScript and FlashPlayer enabled [...]

I put together this list of hummus variations and I’d love to know if you can think of any others. I’m not really looking for completely different recipes (although I might do a separate list of those); just ideas for one or two additions that make a big difference.

Does anyone else love The Dilbert Blog? Scott Adams has some, shall we say, interesting views on the world, and I find it endlessly entertaining to read his entries, which range from odd to insane, passing through strange, unusual, bizarre, and wacky along the way. He’s always good for a few laughs, and the comments [...]