George Steiner, literary critic, essayist, teacher, and novelist died last month at the age of 90. He was renowned in academic circles for the breadth of his classical humanism and among literati for his work as a book reviewer at … Continue reading A Lesson from the Master
I went grocery shopping at Safeway yesterday, which I usually avoid like–I’ll say it–the plague. But it wasn’t what I expected at all. The store did not look like Venezuela, although the toilet paper shelves were practically bare. I say … Continue reading March Madness
I came across a movie this week on YouTube entitled Ballad of a Soldier (1959). Directed by Grigoriy Chukhray, the film tells the story of a young private in the Red Army during World War Two named Alyosha Skvortsov (Volodya … Continue reading Sidetracked
I am in the way no matter where I am or what I do. I am in the way standing in the kitchen, waiting at Starbuck’s for my coconut milk latte, grocery shopping with or without a cart, passing a … Continue reading Standing Room Only
During the early days of space travel, astronaut jokes were very common. As with most genre humor, the jokes were not about astronauts or even the Mercury, Gemini, or Apollo programs. They were really about human nature. By the time … Continue reading Stop Feeding the Monkey
It used to be you knew what to expect with a witch hunt. That was then. First, they would occur around times of crisis. These crises often developed as a result of drought, pestilence, natural disasters, or war. Take, for … Continue reading Witch Hunts Then and Now
Over drinks this week with a friend, we eventually got around to some philosophical analysis. You know, the kind that comes after you’ve gone through the inside baseball at work and exchanged family updates. You can tell when the conversation enters … Continue reading “You Get Used to It”
