Category Archives: Friendship

Exploring an Empty Barrel

Posted on September 28, 2019 by John Swinburn

I spent part of the last hour of this morning reading bits and pieces of about six months’ worth of newsletters from the Lake Chapala Unitarian Universalist Fellowship. I’m not sure just why I found my way there. I started … Continue reading →

Posted in Friendship, Philosophy, Religion, Stream of Consciousness | Leave a comment

Learning Something Every Day

Posted on August 31, 2019 by John Swinburn

I spent much of the day yesterday in tourist-host mode, first accompanying a visiting friend to bathhouse row in Hot Springs, followed by a short stroll along Central Avenue, popping into a few shops and otherwise behaving as a tourist … Continue reading →

Posted in Friendship, History, Philosophy | Leave a comment

Musings on Marriage

Posted on April 13, 2019 by John Swinburn

Today is our thirty-ninth anniversary. Despite my remarkably flawed personality, she has opted to tough it out all these years. Based on the experience so far, I guess our marriage is going to last. And I’m very glad and grateful … Continue reading →

Posted in Friendship, Love, Marriage | 2 Comments

Friends versus Acquaintances

Posted on January 13, 2019 by John Swinburn

Last night, the concepts of “friend” versus “acquaintance” spun through my mind. I won’t try to explain why, because I think the explanation would only serve to erroneously paint me as a depressed skeptic. I’d rather think of myself as … Continue reading →

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Discomfiture Made Me Do It

Posted on March 28, 2018 by John Swinburn

The shame and discomfiture of my inactive fingers overtakes me; I must post SOMETHING on this blog or admit I am not a writer. It’s been more than a week since I posted an incoherent soul-search that attempted to discover … Continue reading →

Posted in Absurdist Fantasy, Booze, Food, Friendship, Weather | Leave a comment

Stronger Than I Thought

Posted on March 23, 2017 by John Swinburn

I’ve broken out of my dry spell, discussed just two posts ago, I guess. First, it was the roadrunner, photos of which I posted earlier today, and now it’s a memory that haunts me and touches me in ways I cannot … Continue reading →

Posted in Emotion, Friendship, Memories, Poetry | Leave a comment

Feasting with Friends

Posted on January 16, 2017 by John Swinburn

My failure to photographically record yesterday’s food frenzy is unfathomable. How could I, after spending the better part of two days preparing an extraordinary feast, forget to take pictures of the final product? I cannot explain. I cannot justify my oversight. … Continue reading →

Posted in Food, Friendship | Leave a comment

The Year in Pictures (of food)

Posted on December 14, 2016 by John Swinburn

Anyone who knows me knows I have this thing about food. I really enjoy cooking and eating and, as the collage above attests, taking pictures of food. Food is more than flavor and texture; it is eye candy, as well. … Continue reading →

Posted in Family, Food, Friendship | Leave a comment

Shades of Gray

Posted on September 5, 2016 by John Swinburn

I woke up to face a reality I did not expect to endure. It’s a reality that never occurred to me, really. A reality that suggests I may be out of touch with reality in some fundamental ways; ways that … Continue reading →

Posted in Compassion, Emotion, Friendship | Leave a comment

Dribs and Drabs of Dallas

Posted on March 13, 2016 by John Swinburn

The drive to Dallas was wet, especially early on as we left Hot Springs Village. Rain swept over the car in torrents, giving the windshield wipers a challenge they barely met. Once we merged onto I-30, about thirty-five miles from … Continue reading →

Posted in Food, Friendship, Just Thinking, Travel | 2 Comments

Voices and Memories and Energy

Posted on January 26, 2016 by John Swinburn

The last swallow of coffee is cold but, surprisingly, energizing. I look at my cup and wonder how I could have let that little bit of coffee sit, unattended and unswallowed, for so long. Ah, I know. I was writing … Continue reading →

Posted in Emotion, Family, Friendship, Health, Poetry, Walking | Leave a comment

Millstone

Posted on January 10, 2016 by John Swinburn

But whoever shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea. That—from Matthew 18:6 … Continue reading →

Posted in Emotion, Friendship, Philosophy | 4 Comments

Beer, Bathing & Wine

Posted on October 31, 2015 by John Swinburn

Last night was a joy. Friends from Dallas arrived and we enjoyed good food, marvelous libations, great conversation, and camaraderie. My sister-in-law was thrilled, as was I, that our friends’ arrival meant the delivery of three cases of wine not … Continue reading →

Posted in Food, Friendship, Just Thinking, Nudity | Leave a comment

Lonely Soulmates

Posted on October 10, 2015 by John Swinburn

The world, with all its billions of people, can be a lonely place for people whose ideas and attitudes don’t quite fit the norm. Though there must be someone among all those billions who share quirky ideas and attitudes, it’s hard … Continue reading →

Posted in Emotion, Friendship, Just Thinking | 2 Comments

Gourmet, Anyone?

Posted on September 23, 2015 by John Swinburn

Last night, we joined two other couples at Pulaski Technical College for a dinner prepared and served by students of the Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management Institute. The facility serves dinners (and lunch) two or three times per week to give … Continue reading →

Posted in Food, Friendship | Leave a comment

Tough Days

Posted on July 7, 2015 by John Swinburn

Yesterday was a tough day, as I learned from a friend that she was afraid her husband, also a friend, might be dying. Just a few days ago, he was taken from the rehab center where he is undergoing physical … Continue reading →

Posted in Aging, Death, Friendship, Health | 3 Comments

Face-to-Face Bloggery

Posted on June 2, 2015 by John Swinburn

Let’s see, now, I’ve met, face-to-face, several people through social media. Teresa. Robin and Roger. Tara. Juan. Kathy. Kathy. Cari.  Soon, I’ll meet another, Holly. In spite of my occasional rants about how social media tends to be a vacuum … Continue reading →

Posted in Communication, Friendship, Just Thinking, Writing | 1 Comment

Not Bothered by Paraskavedekatriaphobia

Posted on March 13, 2015 by John Swinburn

Tonight, we will attend “trivia night,” an event that supports an organization that, in turn, supports the Village library. We are sitting at one of two tables of eight organized by members of the Village Writers’ Club. Inasmuch as today … Continue reading →

Posted in Food, Friendship | Leave a comment

My Friends

Posted on February 28, 2015 by John Swinburn

I got an unexpected and unpleasant phone call tonight.  A friend called to say her husband is back in the hospital and, depending on the outcome of tests and evaluations and assessments, may not come home.  He may have to … Continue reading →

Posted in Friendship, Health | 1 Comment

Tamale Fest

Posted on February 21, 2015 by John Swinburn

I spent almost the entire day yesterday—well, from 11:00 a.m. until 5:30 p.m—working in the kitchen, preparing for today’s long-awaited tamale fest.  A couple of friends who have been after me to have a tamale party for more than twenty years (long … Continue reading →

Posted in Food, Friendship | 1 Comment

The Technology of Caring and Social Change

Posted on January 1, 2015 by John Swinburn

Sometimes, I question the value of Facebook, thinking with some degree of certainty that it is simply a narcissism-fueled vehicle, hurling its cargo toward self-inflicted ego implosion. But then, every once in a while, I see evidence that the technology and foundation … Continue reading →

Posted in Compassion, Friendship, Love, Technology | Leave a comment

Big Jim: Loss of a Good Man

Posted on December 27, 2014 by John Swinburn

This post will mean something only to one person, my good friend who is an occasional reader.    That is fine; it’s written entirely for him and his family.  My friend, I was so very sorry to learn of your father’s death. … Continue reading →

Posted in Death, Friendship, Memories | Leave a comment

About Last Night and Tomorrow

Posted on December 19, 2014 by John Swinburn

Our next door neighbors invited us to dinner last night, along with a couple up the street (at whose house my wife plays cards on Tuesday nights) and my wife’s sister. It was an early event, beginning at four o’clock … Continue reading →

Posted in Depression, Friendship | Leave a comment

Beautiful Day

Posted on November 2, 2014 by John Swinburn

Art brings people closer, compelling them to think and to consider ideas and perspectives unlike any they had considered before. “What was the artist thinking?” “What does it mean?” “How does this piece of art fit into my view of … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Food, Friendship | 3 Comments

Niña and Pinta and Friends

Posted on November 1, 2014 by John Swinburn

Yesterday was a full day. a drive to Fort Smith, some time examining two near full-size replicas of the Niña and Pinta (and recoiling at the thought of crossing the Atlantic in them), a visit to a very large and … Continue reading →

Posted in Friendship, Philosophy | 1 Comment