DEAR HARRIETTE: I’ve been talking to a guy for about a year now. It has been casual for two reasons: He is unemployed (for quite some time now) and struggling, and I am in the beginning of a divorce – a messy scenario.
DETROIT – Here in the Mariners’ Church, planted in the shadow of the Renaissance Center at the corner of Woodbridge Street and Woodward Avenue, the gales of November seem to swirl in the air.
Hello, dear readers! Welcome to our monthly letters column. The holiday season is here, which means rich food, festive drinks and frequent gatherings.
DEAR HARRIETTE: I recently got into a heated argument with my dad, and it’s been bothering me ever since. The fight started when I told him I wanted to move to a different city for a job opportunity.
When George W. Bush ran for president in 2000, he faced a widespread public perception that he was callow and inexperienced, even though he was 54 years old and the governor of Texas. That’s not an unheard-of situation in presidential politics; the solution is for the less-experienced candidate to pick an older and more experienced running mate to give the ticket some gravitas. That is what Bush did.
ASK THE DOCTORS
DEAR HARRIETTE: My friends and I made plans to go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art last weekend to visit the rooftop before it closed (not just for the season, but for the next five years due to upcoming renovations). I was really looking forward to it since it felt like a once-in-along- time experience we’d all share together.
• Among the most annoying things when painting a room are all of the drips along the edges of the can. It can become extremely messy and make it difficult to reseal the can when you’re finished. To prevent drips, do this: Stretch a rubber band over the paint and across the center of the opening. Each time you dip the brush, run it across the rubber band so excess paint drips back into the can and not over the sides. How easy is that?
DEAR HARRIETTE: My friend is upset with me because I didn’t defend her during a heated argument in a group chat with some of our mutual friends. I didn’t feel I should get involved. The conversation had escalated quickly, and I thought it was better to stay neutral. Now she’s distant and barely responds when I try to reach out.
Abraham Lincoln made the presidency a pulpit. Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt transformed the office into an engine of big government. John F. Kennedy made it a platform of inspiration. Presidents routinely take the office they inherit and reshape it to their own tastes, focus it on their own priorities, remake it in their own images.