Ten Smiles that are Windows to Your Personality
Every person has a "signature" or baseline smile that places their personality into one of ten categories. This smile is an unconscious behavior that reveals one's soul undressed.
A primer for exercise protocol at the mall
Mallwalking is an enjoyable exercise regimen which avoids health club expenses, bad weather, traffic hazards, leg injuries, dog bites and muggings. The mall has trip-free walkways, security, clean restrooms, long hours and ever-changing scenery. Here are some guidelines.
The value of friendship is revealed in this heartwarming story of two high school friends whose lives diverged until as septuagenarians they bonded again while mallwalking as part of their medical rehab for coronary bypass surgery.
Depression and Anorexia
A middle-aged woman battles for meaning and for life itself against the dark, suffocating forces of depression and anorexia. Read about her remarkable coping rituals.
Home
Dickeyville has the quaintness of a New England town on the western edge of Baltimore City and it is on the National Historic Register. This essay reveals its history and links provide a gorgeous photo tour and walking tour instructions.
The story of romance and war for a World War II torpedo-bomber pilot.
The lack of strategic planning during the simultaneous implementation of well-meaning Federal government programs after World War II led to the draining of workers from the urban cores. The concentration of poor left in the cities created a vacuum filled by the drug culture, which was enabled by the permissiveness of the 1960s.
An homage to a brief era in American History without war, recession, traffic nightmares, drugs, high murder rates, social promotion, latch-key kids, riots, wanton permissiveness, and the nanny state.
On April 21, 1948 the Baltimore Bullets defeated the Philadelphia Warriors to win basketball's world championship and the only NBA title the city has ever won. MVP and future Hall-of-Famer Buddy Jeannette received a television set and the rest of the players got pen and pencil sets.
From the day it opened in 1974, Gettysburg battlefield purists fought for its removal but lost 15 lawsuits to the developer. The purists finally achieved its destruction to conclude what 60 Minutes correspondent Morley Safer called "The Second Battle of Gettysburg."
The 1850s ended with the acrimonious destruction of Ross Winans' relationship with the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company and his demise as a railroad man. That divorce contributed to Baltimore's demise as one of the world's leading producers of locomotives.
Top
Central Racecourse was Baltimore's first nationally prominent thoroughbred race track and the initial Baltimore home track of the Maryland Jockey Club. A charter from Congress allowed them to move from Annapolis and begin Baltimore racing in 1831. It hosted Hall-of-Famers such as Boston and Fashion and celebrities such as Alexis de Tocqueville and President Andrew Jackson.
In a crowded, competitive field which doesn't require a college degree for entry, only a few become super listing agents. Super agents are the lifeblood of the industry and there are 10 secrets to that elusive status.
Lincoln freed no slaves. Those who did have been cruelly negated by American history. Lincoln's only plan was for a white state, achievable by 37-years of gradual emancipation accompanied by deportation.
Steve Rash developed many coping mechanisms in his thirty-year battle with end-stage renal disease. Two transplant rejections led him on a courageous search for a fulfilling life while enduring three decades of dialysis.
Polio was conquered in the U. S. in the 1950s by vaccines. But in 1945, 12-year-old Clare contracted bulbar polio, the disease's deadliest form. She was isolated to await death when she made a vow.
Top
Paul Belz Writings
ESSAYS, NOVELS, AND COMPILATIONS
Two workaholics with successful careers were drifting apart. To save their marriage they quit their jobs, opened a Dairy Queen franchise and worked together at their mall store.
The story of a urologist with a passion for mallwalking. The surgeon searched a lifetime for elusive fulfillment and relationship skills until cancer brought him his epiphany.
A story about ambition, choices, consequences and coloring books. She abandoned two husbands and a loving family to pursue modeling dreams in New York City. Then one day she disappeared without a trace.
Without Russian assistance in the American Revolution, the War of 1812, and the Civil War, the United States would not have survived.
The Eye is Love's Tongue
For two years the mallwalkers enjoyed a complex romance without physical or verbal contact; not even a hello or a goodbye. The remarkable relationship was built entirely on eye contact!
The history of the Christmas holiday and how all of its modern rituals and traditions began.
A Parade through the Mall
A large suburban regional mall is the best laboratory in America at the dawn of the 21st century for observing the full spectrum of humanity on parade.
Why It's Important and How Much is Enough?
This essay explains why historic preservation is essential to a nation and explores the question of how much preservation is appropriate.
America's New Social Paradigm as the 21st Century Begins
The personal story of Sidney, a mall security guard. What men and women wanted as the 21st Century began in America.
When asked about her vacillating relationship with Grace, Rachel likened it to a train wreck. "It's too fascinating not to be drawn to it, but then you're repulsed by what you find."
A fascinating history of the three 18th and 19th century water controversies that created and shaped the city of Baltimore, Maryland.
Preserving Puzzles and Friendships
Whether completing a jigsaw puzzle, developing a friendship or evolving a marriage, a late-stage decision must be made about permanence.
An Essay on Organized Religion
After living in the same city for over 50 years, he became her first Christian friend and she became his first Jewish friend.
The rosary never left the hand of this Johns Hopkins surgeon's wife. She believed it had more power to create miracles than modern medicine. Water she brought back from Lourdes made a believer of the paralyzed son who had long joined her husband and daughters in ridiculing her zeal.
"The Star Spangled Banner" is rooted in racism, treason, sexism, and back-room politics. The United States needs a new national anthem.
He taught English for 40 years in an urban core American city. His view on the government's destruction of the public school system and his coping strategy for his 40th year in a violent environment makes a compelling story.
A humorous, anthropomorphic look at the annual and daily rhythms of an upscale, regional suburban shopping mall at the end of the 20th century.
A sketch of the Catholic Church's long support of and involvement in slavery and the Maryland Church's influence on Roger B. Taney and his 1857 Supreme Court Dred Scott decision.