There was no kids’ table at this party, no singles table, nobody under the age of 35 even. A lot of gray hair, red wine, and sappy stories that all seemed to start with “I remember when . . .” It was my father’s 70th birthday party, held at Venda Ravioli, an Italian market in Providence’s Federal Hill neighborhood, where …

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In what way are you an advocate for animal rights? Most of my advocacy is in the form of the pen and teaching animal rights at the Massachusetts School of Law, where I’ve been a professor for 17 years.

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I have a theory about intermarriage. I know some people think Judaism is going to die out if Jews keep marrying outside the religion, but if my circle of friends is any indication, there’s a practical, perhaps even evolutionary, reason for Jews to be marrying gentiles. In every relationship I know of, the Jew has the worse sense of direction.

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Dear Matthew Schuster: On behalf of all of us in the business, I’d like to congratulate you and the staff of The Primary Source for sticking it to The Man the way you did over at Tufts University. When a student-faculty committee knuckled your plucky conservative publication, your paper fought back, charged censorship, came to the attention of some highpriced …

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$269,000 12 1/2 MECHANIC STREET, NO. 1, PROVINCETOWN SQUARE FOOTAGE 225 LOT SIZE .05 acre CONDO FEE $40 per month BEDROOMS Loft BATHS 1 full 2007 TAXES $1,004 LAST SOLD FOR $247,500 in 2006

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A couple of weeks ago, I was having lunch with my friend John Echeverria, who runs Georgetown University’s Environmental Law & Policy Institute. John and his family had just spent the last week of the summer in Truro, which, as we know, is pretty darned lovely at any time of year.

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I recently had a minor medical procedure that required a major bandage on my face. A stranger stopped me in a parking lot, asking what happened. I hesitated briefly and then said, “It’s personal.” What would have been the polite way to tell him it was none of his business?

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