Things I've learned recently: It's tempting to write expressions of moral outrage, like "Does anybody remember justice?", but then you remember that yes, most people do, but they'd rather reach for revenge or outrage instead. Justice takes too long. It's also too easy for justice to accept that the wrongdoer might not be so wrong… Continue reading Justice?, cats, resolutions, 2019
Category: bête noire
The Story of my Hand
Back in October 2016, I had a hospital stay, with surgery for an infection in my right thumb. In some ways, it's not that big of a deal, in other ways it was a very big deal - they used terms like "life-threatening" after the surgery was successful. There've been some long-term effects, some physical,… Continue reading The Story of my Hand
The Golden Rule
I've been thinking about the Golden Rule lately, and it's confusing and difficult for me. It's also confusing and difficult to express. I am fairly certain that this post will come across as whining and petulant. Who knows, maybe it is - but I don't think so, and that's not the intent with which it's… Continue reading The Golden Rule
Needs are often subjective, even if we don’t recognize that
How much pain could be forgotten if we remembered that many of our needs are subjective? They're not all subjective, of course... if you take something from the base of Maslow's pyramid from a person, that person will logically and realistically suffer. Air, food, water, shelter... all critical to human survival. But love? Self-esteem? The… Continue reading Needs are often subjective, even if we don’t recognize that
About “Two Wishes”
This is a post of liner notes, sort of, about "Two Wishes," a story I posted a couple of months ago. I normally enjoy such author's notes myself, but I also understand that they sometimes erode what magic a story has, so I wanted to keep these in a separate post. "Two Wishes" is basically… Continue reading About “Two Wishes”
Fiction: Two Wishes
I have lived two lives. In my first life, when I was old, I wandered through a shop of antiques looking for a lampstand. My cat had finally knocked over my wife's light; it was a gift for her from years before, given by one of my sons, and while I couldn't repair or replace… Continue reading Fiction: Two Wishes
The simplest words
I was thinking of my epitaph this morning, after reading the colophon of a book I love. It struck me how different my epitaph would be, if it said "He died," with the addition of one word: "And." Both are good epitaphs, I suppose; they communicate the essential information. When I die, I will be… Continue reading The simplest words
The hardest thing about life is living it.
It's easy to look at life's little hurdles and respond with something trite, like "It could be worse," or "You could have brain cancer." The thing is: those things are true; it could be worse, you could have brain cancer... and sometimes you do. Sometimes the bump in the road is minor in comparison to… Continue reading The hardest thing about life is living it.
