Articles written by Risa Wolf

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About me - Risa Wolf

A Chicagoan by birth, across the past 50 years Risa Wolf has lived in four states and five countries. A trained graphic artist, she is also a PhD in Medieval English Literature.

Risa's love affair with language, writing, music, and drawing is life-long. Most

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Pets & Animals > Cat Psychology Cat communication: 1 of 26
All cats communicate very well with each other. How well a cat can communicate with a human depends upon you.Cats are said to be solitary. On the contrary, cats are social animals - as any pile of furry bodies taking turns on the outside of the heap on a cold day demonstrates. Cats will share their food; they often adopt star... More..
Creative Writing > Humor Humor: Shopping at the grocery store: 2 of 49
Very strange things can happen when shopping at the grocery store. Have you ever been followed up and down the aisles while shopping for food? It happens to me all the time. And it is creepy because it means that you are being watched. Now, we are not talking about incidents like the time in the produce department after care... More..
Creative Writing > Memoirs Memoirs: Family memories begin in the kitchen: 1 of 14
Family memories do begin in the kitchen.We ate together as a family and, after dinner, we would play together as a family. I fondly remember all the different word games we played and the poems we memorized and recited for my parents. My memories of dinner itself, though, are far from fond. We had a serious problem.I don't kn... More..
Food & Drink > Salad Recipes Recipes: Greek salad: 2 of 24
Is there any dish more evocative of Greece than Salata Xoriatikh? This Salad of the Countryside, better known as Greek Salad, is almost synonymous with the country itself. Not only is this salad served throughout the country, the mere mention of its name brings back the wonderful smells and sights of Greece. Every cookbook w... More..
Creative Writing > Humor Humor: Pets: 12 of 138
The Contest:They were the Mutt and Jeff of the feline world. Actually, it was more like Mack Truck meets Skateboard.We inherited Gus with the house. He was not your average cat. According to my husband, Gus had been the runt of the litter and the neighborhood good witch had pointed at him intoning, "You will be the largest ca... More..
Creative Writing > Humor Humor: Bad drivers: 5 of 37
Bad drivers:The Trooper's hands were shaking. Mine would have been shaking, too, if I had his dangerous job: giving the road test for a driver's license. Talk about dealing with bad drivers. Waiting inside for my turn, I saw the entire incident.I had been abroad for 15 years and, while I had an international driver's license,... More..
Arts & Humanities > French Language Do the French have better language skills than other countries?: 1 of 7
Mais non! If you live in France for a while, you will soon learn that speakers of French are no different than speakers of English, Dutch, German, Italian, Spanish, Greek, or, for that matter, Hebrew. Speakers of a native language talk too fast; French is no exception. The French slur, clip, dice and slice words, elide vowels... More..
Arts & Humanities > Ancient & Biblical Languages Greek vs Hebrew: Which language is more essential for Bible study?: 3 of 20
The question as to which language, Greek or Hebrew, is more essential for study of the Bible would appear difficult to answer. The answer comes from Jesus of Nazareth. While he probably spoke enough Greek to work nearby at the new town of Sepphoris, the languages that Jesus knew were Hebrew and Aramaic. The many references to... More..
Creative Writing > Humor Humor: Childhood memories: 18 of 113
Oh, We Went for a Ride in the Car:I have a tendency to stray off the known path. I may have inherited it from my father. He loved to travel and he had an intense curiosity to see what was over the next hill or down that little lane. We never knew exactly how we would get from here to there when we went for a ride in the car.T... More..
Arts & Humanities > Literature (Other) Should books have ratings like movies to warn parents about inappropriate content?: 12 of 74
Parental guidelines (PG) for children's books exist right now. What purpose would even more PG labels serve? Look at the cover of any book for children in the United States; it already has a label by physical age. Children's books already use one-size-fits-all vocabularies-by-age. Labeling is censorship, no matter how present... More..