January 2012
28 posts
January 31, 2012
TEACH A LION TO LAUGH? NOT NECESSARY
I’m reading a novel set during the time of South Africa’s transition from apartheid to universal suffrage. Like so many books about this country, “Skinner’s Drift” by Lisa Fugard, paints a stark picture of exotic terrains that seem almost otherworldly — as if heat, wind and dust had smeared the vistas like wet paint across a canvas....
January 30, 2012
DO I CONTRADICT MYSELF?
I picked up another book at the Dollar Store a while ago, though I didn’t crack it open until yesterday. I bought it because it carried a seal on the cover designating it as a 2006 “Notable Book” by the “New York Times.” I try not to be a snob in my book choices. Being an unknown writer, I like to support my peers who, like me, are struggling to find an...
January 27, 2012
DR. OZ AND GINKGO AND ASTRAGULUS … OH MY!
Being 75 and living alone with only a 95 year-old-mother as my nearest relative, I spend a good deal of time reading about the aging process and how to stay healthy. Like most seniors I know, I want to remain independent for as long as I can, and I’m certain that good health is the key. Most of the advice I’ve read is pretty routine: reduce fats and...
January 26, 2012
ILLUMINATION FOR A DARK AND STORMY NIGHT
Cozy mystery novels are my favorite companions during the long winter months. Fortunately, there are many writers in this genre, more than I have time to read, in fact. But when I find an author I especially like, I make a practice of reading through the entire series and then feel bereft when I close the book on the last. If the author is ...
January 25, 2012
THOUGHTS ON FREEDOM AND HUMILITY
A recent news article on Yahoo (1/3/12) reported that given global warming, certain animal species are adapting to the change. Notably, cold and warm water sharks have begun to mate with one another, creating a new strain capable of existing in a wider temperature range. I thought about this phenomenon as I took my walk through the park later that...
January 24, 2012
A TALE HALF TOLD
I’ve just finished reading one of my book finds from the Dollar Store, Don DeLillo’s “Point Omega.” Normally, I wouldn’t identify the author of a work I didn’t like but DeLillo is a National Book Award winner so I’m certain my pale criticism will do him no harm.
(Don DeLillo)
I’d not read any of his work before, though I knew the name and was eager to become...
January 23, 2012
ST THOMAS AQUINAS CAN BE FOUND AT THE ENTRANCE TO THE PUBLIC TOILETS
A couple of days ago I was browsing through my local Barnes & Nobel bookstore, looking for the paperback edition of “Cleopatra” by Stacy Schiff. The cost of the hardback was astronomical so I’d planned to save a few dollars by waiting for the soft cover. When I found it, I was disappointed because it, too, was...
ANOTHER GLITCH
It appears that my blog for Sunday “Let Freedom Roar,” did not make it onto blog site. Instead a reply from a reader made it instead. I will try to correct this shortly.
-related commentary-
With women gradually outnumbering men on this country and in the work place, it is only a matter of time that they will be a majority in the political sphere. Let us hope that they will refuse to take men as their model for performance. If not, I can already hear the strangled, outraged voices of men finding themselves face with discriminatory, coercive legislation of their sex in the way ...
A SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT - 39 years!
On Sunday, January 22, 2012, a special blog will appear on this page where I join with NOW and NARAL and bloggers across the nation to celebrate the 39th anniversary of the Surpreme Court’s decision on Roe v. Wade. I invite my friends on Facebook to read it; I invite my fellow bloggers to join me in the event by adding words of their own to their pages or attaching mine with attribution...
January 22, 2012
LET FREEDOM ROAR
On January 22, 1973 an important Supreme Court document was written that became the law of the land. The decision rendered in Roe v. Wade gave a woman control over her body and released her from back alley abortions and a fear of persecution that sometimes led to suicide.
When the decision came down, I felt as if I were taking a breath of air for the first time. I could live...
January 20, 2012
THE CONUNDRUM OF MY EMPTY POCKET
Michael Lewis, my favorite stock market guru, has written a review for a new book by Noble Prize winner Daniel Kahneman. The title is “Think, Fast and Slow.” Kahneman is a psychologist who received his recognition in economics for a theory he promulgated about how we make decisions in a period of uncertainty — a subject of great fascination...
January 19, 2012
SAVORING SUCCESS ONE BON-BON AT A TIME
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the publication of Ken Kesey’s “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.” To commemorate the occasion, Viking Press will release a commemorative edition. James Wolcott notes the event in his essay, “Still Cuckoo After all these Years.” In it, he speculates on the success of this single novel for which the author...
January 18, 2012
THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI
“In each of us there is another whom we do not know.” (“The Mystery of Expertise” by David Eagleman, “This Week,” 12/2012) Carol Jung’s quote is the way David Eagleman summarizes the theme of his new book “Incognito,” a non-fiction piece that explores the large chasm between the conscious and unconscious mind.
(courtesy:...
January 17, 2012
REVELATIONS OF A PARK
Susan Heeger, a guest writer for “Good Housekeeping” wrote about her daily walks through the park which she’s been doing for the last 14 years. (“Good Housekeeping,” “A Walk in the Park” 1/2012) She writes about the community of walkers around her who, without realizing it, have become a part of her life. She thinks fondly for the heavy set man who has whittled down his...
January 16, 2012
NO ONE IS FREE UNLESS EVERYONE IS FREE – Women have a dream, too
Before we get dewy-eyed about the democratic revolutions going on in the Middle East, we need to look closely at who tends to benefit. Certainly, cats won’t benefit, or dogs, or pigs or chickens, and neither, it seems will women. Aliaa Dawood, a writer, reports from Egypt that the men are staging a new revolution against women....
January 13, 2012
HOISTED BY THEIR OWN PETARD
At last, some wily citizens in danger of foreclosure on their homes have found a loophole in the mortgage chaos that may teach the bankers an expensive lesson. Christopher Ketcham explains in his article for “Harper’s” (Jan. 2012) how these bankers thought they were being clever when they created an institution called MERS (Mortgage Electronic...
January 12, 2012
ADULTRY, ABORTION AND BETRAYAL – Just another ordinary day
Bernard Berenson was an art critic who died in 1959 but who, before the light faded from his eyes, bemoaned what he considered to be the coming age of mediocrity in America. He’s not alone in his thinking. Philip Roth recently made a similar prediction.
Personally, I take a more optimistic view of America’s direction but must admit that...
January 11, 2012
FACING OUR ANGELS AND DEMONS
Steven Pinker’s new book, “The Better Angels of Our Nature” argues that peace and not war is beginning to take hold around the globe. Pinker is a Professor of Psychology at Harvard and his conclusion is the result of years of study.
At first, I doubted his thesis, but he offers proof. In the 18-century, he argues, there were 222 capital crimes in...
WatchI recently appeared as a guest on the Portland-based Internet talk show, “Tell Me About It” with Francine Raften. She is a gracious, engaging host who turns conversation into a contact sport!
Once you finish laughing.. be sure to check out Francine’s Internet home at http://earth2world.com/
January 10, 2012
UNLESS YOU’RE JERRY SEINFELD – It has to be about something
A couple of weeks ago I joined a site of fellow bloggers. I’ve been told this is a way to connect with others who share the same interest and perhaps pick up an idea along the way. Like every new environment, I’m struggling to get my bearings while being bombarded by messages of welcome from my fellow bloggers. As far as I can guess...
January 9, 2012
KIRKUS – TO THINE OWN SELF BE TRUE
The “New York Times” recently printed a story about a woman author who purchased a critique from “Kirkus Review” for her self-published novel (“Self-Publishers Flourish as Writers Pay the Tab,” by Motoko Rich, Book Section, 1/27/09). I was stunnedby the information as the agency prides itself on independence, its motto being, “The World’s...
THE POWER OF NIGHTMARES
“The Power of Nightmares,” is a 3 part film (available on DVD) about the simultaneous rise of radical conservatism in both the Islamic and Christian worlds. Strongly recommended of anyone struggling to get a perspective on where we are in the world today.
January 6, 2012
WHEN BATHTUBS AND WORDS COLLIDE
A friend from my Facebook page recently wrote that my blog posts have inspired her to consider beginning one of her own. Naturally, I am flattered. That my words can inspire anyone strikes me as remarkable.
The task of writing a blog isn’t easy. A blog is more than conversation; it’s organized thought which conversation isn’t. It must raise ideas of interest...
January 5, 2012
TO SIT AT THE TABLE OR LEAD FROM BEHIND?
Since writing that a speech is part of the repertoire of being a writer, I want to comment on one I heard via Facebook. A friend had shared a clip that featured the female executive of a large corporation. She was speaking to an audience about why few women had climbed the corporate ladder. I listened with particular interest to her example of how...
January 4, 2012
OCCUPY THE PENTAGON – NOT WALL STREET
George F. Kennan lived a lucid 100 years and one of his books written in the 1950’s, “Realities of American Foreign Policy,” I carried with me in my travels through Europe and Africa. With his wisdom tucked under my arm, I could make sense of the world. He was a man with a remarkable talent for conveying complex ideas with clear, readable...
January 3, 2012
THE ONLY THING WE HAVE TO FEAR IS FEAR ITSELF – Franklin D. Roosevelt
I’m half way through my reading of Barbara Walker’s book “Man Made God” and found the history of the Inquisition tough going. The acts of brutality over those 500 years are as vicious as the human mind can imagine and, based on Papal records, Walker speculates that nearly nine ...
January 2, 2012
THE TENDER MERCIES OF FAILURE
“The Adventures of Pinocchio” by Carlo Collodi, made famous by Walt Disney’s animation, is the story of a wooden puppet who is led astray by a number of unscrupulous adventurers. Having lost his way, the puppet vows to return to his creator, Geppeto, with enough virtue to help him become a real boy. Everyone knows the story and everyone knows how...
