Category Archives: Ruminations

Patterns

It’s a pattern. I daydream about hitting the road for an extended period to explore new places, revisit places from my long ago past, or simply to separate myself from the day-to-day routine by which I sometimes feel confined. It’s … Continue reading

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The Question is a Serpent

Dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life I ask myself the question over and over and over and over, hoping to one day find an answer: “Who am I, under the veneer?” It hasn’t even been a … Continue reading

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Mediterranean Course Correction

I inquired of Google this morning: “What is the Mediterranean lifestyle?” The first answer I found—and the one I intend on adapting as my own—was this, from a blog entitled, The Mediterranean Dish in a post labeled Live the Mediterranean … Continue reading

Posted in Change, Compassion, Doing Without, Empathy, Essay, Generosity, Philosophy, Ruminations, Self-discipline, Selfishness | Leave a comment

Returning to the Empty Well

This morning, as I am sometimes wont to do, I wandered aimlessly through some of my old blog posts, looking for evidence of creativity and talent. “Looking” is the wrong word. “Hoping” better describes my motive. What I found did … Continue reading

Posted in Frustration, Procrastination, Ruminations, Self-discipline, Writing | Leave a comment

Superficial Thematic Explorations of a Saturday Morning in September

I’ve noticed recurring themes involving anger, darkness, and pessimism in both my poetry and my prose. How could I not notice them? They are so obvious as to slap me in the face, hard, when I read them. But when … Continue reading

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In Disgusted Defense of Ann Coulter’s Right to Speak

As I read news of the cancellation, reinstatement, and subsequent cancellation of Anne Coulter’s speech at the University of California at Berkeley, I question the intelligence of the people who violently oppose the her speech. Do those people not understand … Continue reading

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Psycholinguistic Musings

Sinew. That word can evoke, for me, images of sturdy steel bands, thick in the middle but narrowing almost to points on the ends; ribbons of metallic lies constrained at either end by truth. It’s as if truth confines the streamer of … Continue reading

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Physical and Mental

Today, I’m using this blog as a journal. On my agenda this morning is a visit to my doctor for my annual physical, then a visit to Little Rock this afternoon with a friend. The first activity is routine. The physical … Continue reading

Posted in Health, Just Thinking, Nature, Noise, Ruminations, Sound | Leave a comment

Mining My Brain for Thoughts and Secrets

I’ve been awake for more than an hour and up for half an hour. And it’s only 4:30 a.m. This is not what I planned for Saturday. I planned, instead, to get up around 5:30, have a couple of cups … Continue reading

Posted in Creativity, Insomnia, Ruminations | 3 Comments

Three Hundred Sixty-Five

In our rush to the next event, the next activity, the next interaction, we sometimes fail to appreciate those precious moments, the moments time snatches away from us as it marches inexorably along. We fail to recognize that, perhaps, a repeat of … Continue reading

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Three Hundred Sixty-Four

Some days, like today, I am more grateful for coffee than I ever expected to be. A cup of hot French roast coffee in my mug is my drug of choice; secret lovers, my coffee and I. Buried deep in … Continue reading

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Three Hundred Sixty-Three

We assume things will always be as they always have been. When the rain starts, we assume the skies ultimately will clear; that’s the way it’s always been. When a war begins, we assume it will eventually end; that’s the way … Continue reading

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Three Hundred Sixty-Two

As I glance at the “dashboard” of my blog, I notice there’s a snapshot of just a few of the categories I’ve assigned to posts I’ve written. The visible topics are: racism, rant, regret, religion, resolutions, ruminations, and science. I click … Continue reading

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Three Hundred Sixty-One

Today is Sunday, the very last one anyone will experience during 2015. That, in and of itself, merits special attention. But so, too, does every day, if one considers the matter in context.  For example, every Monday is the very … Continue reading

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Three Hundred Sixty

Humans want to connect with other humans, to share their thoughts and wishes and dreams. And we want to be with other people, physically; we want to dine with friends and family, attend events with them, and simply be in their … Continue reading

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Three Hundred Fifty-Nine

The difference between confidence and arrogance is like the difference between belief and desire; there’s a connection, but it is distant and labyrinthine. There exists a similarity, too—and a gulf—between confidence and timidity. The appearance of timidity does not necessarily signify … Continue reading

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Three Hundred Fifty-Eight

As I sit at my desk, peering out the window into the shadowy darkness; the differences between day and night command my contemplation. On a clear day, awash in a wild spectrum of colors and contrasts, my eyes delight in seeing jagged ribbons … Continue reading

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Three Hundred Fifty-Seven

This new day is replete with opportunities to counter frustrations; I intend to seize on every single one of them.

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Three Hundred Fifty-Six

I coax myself into believing things I want to believe. I think I see or sense emotions in another person and hope I am right; believe there’s truth in my hoped-for perception. But, when my self-deception can no longer sustain itself, I must acknowledge the stark reality … Continue reading

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Three Hundred Fifty-Five

I started to write this morning about looking in the mirror and seeing a man I like more now than I did a few years ago. But, in the back of my mind, it occurred to me that I’ve written a number of … Continue reading

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Three Hundred Fifty-Four

I find it almost impossible to keep silent about something I so desperately want to say. But I’m afraid the world as I know it would end if I said it. Fear, or should I say cowardice, again wins the … Continue reading

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Three Hundred Fifty-Three

Paint your thoughts on a thin canvas with a feather dipped in graphite dust. You’ll have to explain, of course, but that will be reason enough for you to spend adequate time on the matter so you, yourself, will understand what … Continue reading

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Three Hundred Fifty-Two

Some questions go unasked out of fear of repercussions; fear that the subtle clues that led to them were misread. Conversations that might have led to extraordinary joy, therefore, go unspoken. Yet, if the clues were indeed misread, then the justifiable fears … Continue reading

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Three Hundred Fifty-One

My voice, spoken through my fingers tapping on the keyboard, expresses thoughts too intimate for my tongue and my teeth to fashion into words. My virtually unknown blog allows me the freedom to express myself in ways I am unlikely to ever … Continue reading

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Three Hundred Fifty

I watched the day creep along, hobbling along like an old man with a bent and unusable walking stick, insisting it was enough to support him. He insisted he was strong enough to hobble up the hill. I shouldn’t have … Continue reading

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