B. McEwan

From a Beginning Bird Watcher, May 13, 2013

I purchased these binoculars in preparation for a course in birdwatching that I am taking from the NYC Audubon Society. Now that I have used them a few times, including on a day-long birding trip to a seaside wildlife refuge, I can report that they are well worth the price. The weather was cloudy and rainy on my trip, yet the glasses never fogged up. And since they are also waterproof, I didn't worry overmuch about a few raindrops falling on them as we tramped around in the drizzle.

But their real value is that they are easy to use and deliver a bright, clear image, even on a gray day. And they are not too heavy. Plus they come with a sturdy, protective case and a comfortable… Read more

Disappointing Drop in Quality, May 13, 2013

This is the fourth Keurig I've purchased and with each purchase the quality of the machine has deteriorated. I first bought one in 2007 for my small NYC office. About 15 people used it several times a day and it worked beautifully! We loved the ability for each of us to have the kind of coffee or tea, or even hot chocolate, that we preferred. When that machine wore out after about 4 years I felt that I had gotten more than my money's worth from it.

In 2008 I bought a similar machine for my home. It was as great as the one I had in my office. That one was used by the family, also several times a day, for about three years. When it broke I bought another just like the one we had… Read more

Oddly Appealing, April 28, 2013

Whether you enjoy reading this book or not will depend on how you feel about short stories that are mostly about place and character. If, for instance, you like Thomas Hardy's classic, The Return of the Native, set on the forbidding Egdon Heath and featuring a host of complex, brooding characters, then you will probably like Godforsaken Idaho. On the other hand, if you can't tolerate unresolved emotional conflicts, salty language and dark humor, you will probably want to read something else.

I am rather attracted to the angst-ridden characters in this short story collection by Shawn Vestal, as well as to the author's ability to illustrate how the topography of a place is… Read more