On being necessary
I don’t know anyone who doesn’t want to be necessary. Even when the demands become too much to bear. In those moments we wish we could escape but what we really want is to catch our breath. We don’t desire permanent seclusion. Not if we’re healthy. So it makes sense that we have a hard […]
Liberty at large
If you’re gonna do it Do it with some teeth. Give it all or else. Forfeit your complaints. For you are liberty at large. Your choices place you here today. Whether you think they do or not.
The plan
I think, sometimes, about the particular matters of my life that aren’t going along with the plan. The plan being the idea of how I said particular matters were going to unfold. Sometimes I feel discouraged when I think about these particular matters and wonder “What am I doing wrong, here?” The natures of the particular matters matter […]
Tricking children on Easter
My wife thinks she’s soooo funny. I suppose anyone can appear funny when they’re tricking children. If you find deceiving children amusing, that is. Which, apparently, Meredith does. Especially on Easter, the perfect occasion to dash their little hopes. You may be wondering how it’s done. Step 1: Fill their Easter baskets with cleaning supplies. Step […]
The new duck and cover
Tonight at dinner our 4th grader and 2nd grader described their lock down drill at school today. That’s the one where they prepare for someone entering the school with evil on their mind. We didn’t have these in the 80’s. Though I did participate in live bomb threat evacuations in college. That was an interesting semester. […]
Do you walk tall?
What’s your opinion of yourself? Does it look out for your best interests? Could it be doing a better job? Today I’m reminded of how our opinion of our own selves matters. How it shapes the way we think about what “people like us” do. Which shapes the way we approach the world, mostly others, […]
Armpit deep in lo mein
On my “phone” is a cartoonized depiction of me standing armpit deep in a box of lo mein. It’s absurd. And hilarious. To me. I’m holding a huge set of chopsticks with my left arm. At the very same time, I’m licking my lips, effortlessly. Send this to a friend as a response to a […]
You can’t get “there” from “here”
There’s “here” and there’s “there.” The game, it seems, is to get “there.” If you can do it quicker than the person to your left and your right even better. If you can do it before your self-imposed expectations that’s even-even better. Which makes being “here” a drag. Because if you’re “here” then you’re not […]
A night like this one
On a night like this one you can wear short sleeves. It feels weatherless. There’s a slight breeze. You wonder why you ever get frustrated. How anyone in this world can dream an ill dream on anyone else On a night like this one. Somewhere somebody is in pain. Someone someplace is being told news […]
