A friend with children in middle school called me recently and for an hour gave details of her kids being bullied on the playground and in her own difficulty in getting anybody to do anything about it.
    One of the toughest challenges facing someone who wishes to express a strong opinion is in explaining how he or she came across the information to be complained about. For example, I once read an excoriation of Hustler Magazine.
    But first, let me explain that Hustler, the publication owned by Larry Flynt, is the world’s most obstreperous “adult” magazine What’s “obstreperous”? I don’t have a dictionary handy, but . . . it’s bad.
    It’s a matter of considerable linguistic curiosity to me that the two words in the English language that properly address the influence the moon has on human (and animal) nature are “moonstruck” and “lunatic.”
    The easiest New Year’s resolution to make and keep is one that you’ve gotten a head start on. Two of the things on my mind (and body) are money and pounds, respectively.
    A few weeks ago in this column I was happy to report that the number of credit cards in our household had dropped from something in the teens to just one. And the corresponding indebtedness is currently about one-fourth of what it was a year ago.