Click here for a revised PDF version of this post. If you're not rewriting, you're not writing! Recently, Caryn, the wife of my old ACS (American Community School of Beirut) friend David Holladay, called me out of the blue. The instant I took the call, I knew it was bad news. She told me that … Continue reading Last Schoolboy Standing
Category: Observations
Evelyn’s Death
Next week is the 11th anniversary of my mother’s death. It seems like yesterday, but a decade has passed. In that decade, my father Frank, my aunt Alberta, my wife’s mother Mahin, my good friend Carl, and many others have died: an entire generation has fallen. Those of us still alive have also changed. My … Continue reading Evelyn’s Death
My Three-Body Problem
I have a three-body problem. Today, while wandering in our local Barnes & Noble, I spotted, for the nth time, a boxed set edition of Cixin Liu’s Three-Body Problem (TBP). Once again, I resisted the urge to snatch the books off the shelf, pony up whatever B&N was asking, and ferry TBP home for a … Continue reading My Three-Body Problem
The First Total Solar Eclipse of the 21st Century
Earlier this month (April 8, 2024), a total solar eclipse cut through Mexico, the United States, and Canada. Total solar eclipses are paramount spectacles. It’s unlikely you will see anything else in your short, pointless life that will match a total eclipse. Thus, whenever an eclipse passes nearby, you should endeavor to place yourself in … Continue reading The First Total Solar Eclipse of the 21st Century
Morals are Demons that People Actually Believe In
Too much has been written about “morality.” It almost pains me to add to the deluge of drivel this topic has inundated the world with, but pains aside, here goes. If you are human and reading this1, you’ve probably been advised and instructed for your entire short life to be a “good moral person.” It … Continue reading Morals are Demons that People Actually Believe In
A Note on the Writer’s Strike
For the last few weeks, the Hollywood writers have been on strike. I won’t bore you with the details. Like all strikes it boils down to money. The writers feel they aren’t getting what’s owed to them, and the production companies want to hold onto as much sweet moola as possible. Normally I’m indifferent to … Continue reading A Note on the Writer’s Strike
For Me in Twenty Twenty-Three
Let’s get this over with! Every year I task myself with a list of publicly declared goals,1 and then in the next year, if I find myself among the living,2 I grade myself. How did 2022 go? Let’s start with my small goals. Goal: Observe as many Messier objects as weather permits and get my … Continue reading For Me in Twenty Twenty-Three
ChatGPT Comments on this Blog
In 2022 reality once again asserted dominance over wishful-thinking naked apes. Governments everywhere gave up on COVID. The virus won, as many cynics said it would three years ago. We now live with COVID, as if we had a choice, and it will kill some of us from time to time. Our transition to low … Continue reading ChatGPT Comments on this Blog
Mission Statements for this Blog
I have a weakness for how to improve your writing books.1 Lately, I’ve been reading Writing Tools by Roy Peter Clark. Writing Tools is full of useful advice that I will make efforts to heed. Clark’s Tool 40 motivated this post. Tool 40 advises writers to craft short mission statements2 for their compositions. He provides … Continue reading Mission Statements for this Blog
Travel Diary: Sydney and Home (Part 4)
This is the final installment of my Australia New Zealand travel notes. Click on any of the images to jump to my photo gallery for this trip. Day 25 Nov 3, 2022, Hyatt Regency room 917, Sydney, Mac Today the ship belatedly returned to Sydney; rough seas delayed our arrival. The previous night the ship … Continue reading Travel Diary: Sydney and Home (Part 4)
Analyze the Data not the Drivel 