#VoiceInMyHead: "Your Rules"
My #ThemeSong today is Australian singer-songwriter Courtney Barnett's Avant Gardner. I've been sporadically "having trouble breathing in" since I was in middle-school (maybe before) - I know it's coming on again when I have to yawn to get a good breath. This is why, for my (belated) 50th birthday present, I am spending a few days at the beach by myself…
Senzenina and Calculated Risks
I first heard my #ThemeSong today when I watched The Power of One, written by one of my favorite authors, Bryce Courtenay, and starring Morgan Freeman (one of my favorite actors). Since first hearing this song, my ears perk at any mention of African musical influence, and they are far better off as a result…
Statistician's Blues and Being Ordinary
"They say 3 percent of the people use 5 to 6 percent of their brain
97 percent use 3 percent and the rest goes down the drain
I'll never know which one I am but I'll bet you my last dime
99 percent think with 3 percent 100 percent of the time"
~Todd Snider
16 Jan 2021: Weaning Off Facebook, Day 5 (Hamilton, the NRA, Aliens, and Psychedelics)
My theme song today is my 17-year-old son's favorite song from Hamilton (he likes all the Aaron Burr songs). It seems fitting as we wait for the inauguration of the new American President and its hopeful after math. In fact, it seems fitting for most days…
13 Jan 2021 - Weaning off Facebook, Day 2 (Coldplay and Excessively High Blood Pressure)
Cold Play’s album, Everyday Life, was released live at the Amman Citadel, Jordan, on 22 November 2019 and broadcast live around the world. The first half was performed at sunrise, and the second half was performed at sunset. It's the first and only time the album has been performed in full…
Voice in My Head Today: Acceptance
You need to stop doing what you think is expected of you, and start doing what you want to do in your heart (note: drugs, video-games and Facebook are definitively not included). Accept the arbitrary human rules and the fact that they are going to slow you down, and forge ahead despite the hurdles you don’t want to bother with…
Fifth Grade Poetry Lesson: Imitating the Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock
#TheLoveSongOfJAlfredPrufrock was my 10YO’s and my literary lesson today (‘Wellness Wednesday’ for virtual public school). It just kinda happened because, as we were leaving the house this AM, K said, "Let us go then, you and I." I have been using this phrase for years to signal to the kids that we are finally leaving. It’s probably my favorite stanza, though I’m adding “Oh, do not ask, “What is it?” Let us go and make our visit”…
The Ugly Pumpkin: A Fun and Funny Children's Picture Book for Halloween *and* Thanksgiving
I have been meaning to do a full review of this book all month, and now Halloween has come and gone! No worries, *The Ugly Pumpkin* (by David Horowitz) is an even better Thanksgiving book (and it lets the kids hold on to Halloween a little longer)…
Visit Pilot Mountain. Stay at Jomeokee Campground (even if it's just for the day).
Jomeokee Campground in Pinnacle, NC, is one of the most beautiful places I have ever spent the night (and I have camped throughout the US, Australia, and New Zealand). I encourage you to visit and camp (if you are up for it), particularly during the week when you may have the entire grounds to yourselves.
Twitter Haiku?
A very short, poetic (in the most modern sense) introspection while trying to get back to work…
What’s in a word?
Recently a childhood friend posted on Facebook: “If I ever did anything that you thought was racist or that offended you, I’m sorry.”
“How can you apologize for something when you don’t even know what it is you’re apologizing for?” I responded.
Since then, I’ve thought a lot about how I may have facilitated the racism that is unavoidable in our world today, and one memory keeps surfacing…
Get up off of our knees...
I think about the horrible division, greed and just plain hatred boiling in our collective consciousness right now and remember it's been simmering throughout history and will simmer again. Then I come across the video below. "Open your eyes to my heart, Lord" the song repeats. I think God knows our hearts all too well and that he is desperately trying to open our eyes to His…
Halgo European Deli and Groceries
“After providing a uniquely Polish experience in Durham, NC, for 12 years, Halgo European Deli has closed it’s doors. In memoriam, I’m reposting my review of them back in 2017. I’m sad not to be able to go through their doors again.”
Voice In My Head Today (#VIMHT)
Do you ever feel like, no matter how you try, you can't make things the way you want them to be? That's because YOU'RE NOT IN CONTROL …
Despite Psychopathic Capitalism...
Mark Zuckerberg makes a disgusting amount of money by appealing to the ids in all of us that demand instant recognition and gratification and, thanks to Facebook etc., now get it. This makes me angry at times and hopeless more often. How can a person joyfully prey upon and purposefully amplify the baser side of humanity just for money and personal glory? If this is the way our world works, then why even set the alarm clock?
Weeding (my contribution to National Poetry Month)
I've been doing a lot of gardening with the kids these last couple of weeks; and, whenever I garden with kids (I used to run a public in-school gardening club), somebody always defends the weeds. It always makes me contemplate the word and concept of genocide, which is what prompted me to write the poem below…
Why is the News always Bad?
I had the radio on this morning when my 9-year-old walked into the kitchen. "Why is the news always about bad stuff?" he lamented (repeatedly). "We all know Coronavirus is taking over the world, and we're doing what we're supposed to do. Why do they have to make us think about it all the time?” For today, John Krasinski’s interview of Steve Carell on “Some Good News” helped.
Voice In My Head Today (#VIMH)
The Voice In My Head today materialized in Robert Waldinger’s wonderful TedTalk on Happiness…
Yegor Zhukov: My New Hero
I would have preferred Masha Gesson had not mentioned the current US President in her article about Yegor Zhukov in the New Yorker, but the words of Russian college student Yegor Zhukov are music of the eternal kind. This man is my new hero. …