Monthly Archives: October 2016

Unmasked

Posted on October 31, 2016 by John Swinburn

It’s hard to believe, but today marks my sixty-third consecutive party-free Halloween. That’s right. I’ve never in my life attended a Halloween party. At least not in my adult life. And probably not even in my childhood. It’s not that I … Continue reading →

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Eclectica

Posted on October 30, 2016 by John Swinburn

I’m in an eclectic musical mood, brought about, perhaps, by my earlier exorcism. Music helps me think or, more precisely, helps me analyze my thoughts. The playlist so far this morning, thanks to Spotify: Stranger in a Strange Land, Leon Russell … Continue reading →

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Exorcism

Posted on October 30, 2016 by John Swinburn

At four minutes past three this morning, when I walked outside on the back deck and looked skyward, I was treated to an amazing, spectacular vision. It was as if the stars had not hidden themselves behind the ambient light beneath … Continue reading →

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Only Ideas

Posted on October 29, 2016 by John Swinburn

I have always considered myself somewhat ‘bohemian.’ But my unorthodox core, for virtually all my life until this very moment, has remained hidden beneath a shell, a cover designed to appear conventional. Perhaps that’s a story I tell myself, though. It may … Continue reading →

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Culinary Hypocrisy

Posted on October 29, 2016 by John Swinburn

I was reminded this morning of an essay I read six years ago that made me pause and reflect on my fascination with food. The essayist, William Deresiewicz, asserts that food replaced art as the embodiment of high culture. Deresiewicz says the “foodie” … Continue reading →

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Gunfire

Posted on October 28, 2016 by John Swinburn

Yesterday, my wife and I got involved in some gunplay. We went to a shooting range about ten miles from the house and fired a variety of weapons: 9mm Glock, a shotgun, and I fired an M4 carbine, though my wife … Continue reading →

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Ahead of the Game

Posted on October 27, 2016 by John Swinburn

This afternoon, after missing an author’s presentation at the community library due to uncooperative time and distance, I arrived home to continue yesterday afternoon’s endeavor: painting a ceramic bust I made in my sculpture class. I bisque fired the monster … Continue reading →

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Seeing Smoke

Posted on October 27, 2016 by John Swinburn

Elvin Sharp awoke with a start. His eyes sprang open to reveal ribbons of soft blue and white light billowing from beneath the motel door. The swirling strips of light confused him. Light doesn’t curl like that, does it? Of course not. … Continue reading →

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Bribe

Posted on October 26, 2016 by John Swinburn

My first visit to Germany is a bit of a blur. I traveled there on a “fam trip.” That’s a euphemism for “bribe.” A familiarization tour is a means by which the hospitality industry attempts to bribe people with the power … Continue reading →

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Photograph

Posted on October 25, 2016 by John Swinburn

The boy I was, looking earnestly into the camera, could not have known his passion would melt, after a thousand defeats, into painful indifference. That hopeful lad, barely in his twenties, knew nothing of failure. He believed intellect could take him … Continue reading →

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The Person You Have Been

Posted on October 24, 2016 by John Swinburn

Boy, could I tell you some stories! You probably wouldn’t believe them, even though they’re all true. See, when you’ve lived a life as crazy as mine, people think the stories you tell are pure fiction. Nobody believes me when I … Continue reading →

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Human Trafficking

Posted on October 23, 2016 by John Swinburn

I attended an interesting and informative, but disturbing, presentation this morning on human trafficking. I learned that human trafficking is not a problem limited to other countries but is of enormous concern right here in the USA. Sex trafficking, labor … Continue reading →

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Grace

Posted on October 23, 2016 by John Swinburn

An image of a hand-written letter George H.W. Bush left in the Oval Office on January 1993 for Bill Clinton has gone viral (click on image to enlarge). The letter exemplifies a flurry of shared sentiments that seem to have sparked … Continue reading →

Posted in Civility, Philosophy, Politics, Secular morality | Leave a comment

Hoodwinked

Posted on October 22, 2016 by John Swinburn

Bloody insomnia! I tried a new tactic last night, getting to bed very early (before 9 pm), figuring I might be able to get more sleep if I gave myself more time to sleep. You know, if I planned to … Continue reading →

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Birthday Decadence

Posted on October 21, 2016 by John Swinburn

Birthday Alarm (which I once used to remind me about birthdays of people with whom I did business) tells me I share my birthday with Dizzy Gillespie, Carrie Fisher, Alfred Nobel, and Benjamin Netanyahu. I should feel honored to be … Continue reading →

Posted in Aging, Food, Mythology | Leave a comment

Sinking into Fear and Politics

Posted on October 20, 2016 by John Swinburn

In terms of sleep, last night was moderately better than the several nights that preceded it. I think it only took me about thirty minutes to drift off to sleep after I went to bed at 12:30, though I was … Continue reading →

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Adaptive Jook

Posted on October 19, 2016 by John Swinburn

Well, insomuch as my efforts to sleep in recent hours were only modestly successful, there’s only one thing to do: post a photo of last night’s dinner with an explanation. What you see in the photo is bastardized adaptive jook. … Continue reading →

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Pale Lights in the Night

Posted on October 19, 2016 by John Swinburn

Very early in the morning, just after midnight, the dim night light in the bathroom provides just enough illumination for me to avoid bumping into bedroom furniture. An hour and a half later, the faint glow of the microwave’s clock does the same … Continue reading →

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Race in America: 13th

Posted on October 18, 2016 by John Swinburn

Last night, I watched a documentary film, directed by Ava DuVernay and entitled 13th, named after the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Ostensibly, the Thirteenth Amendment outlawed and eliminated slavery. The film convincingly argues slavery was preserved and sustained through mass incarceration … Continue reading →

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Flaws, Faults, and How We Define Them

Posted on October 17, 2016 by John Swinburn

If you’re looking for flaws, look inside yourself. Look at your own behaviors, behaviors for which you would condemn others were they to engage in them. If you judge other people for failing to meet standards and expectations you are incapable … Continue reading →

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A Bit of Background

Posted on October 16, 2016 by John Swinburn

Whisper. Tell the story, but tell it at such low volume that the audience must strain to hear it. Tell it like the truth can’t bear loud noise. There, now you know the predicament I’m in. Truth dare not speak … Continue reading →

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Malaise

Posted on October 15, 2016 by John Swinburn

My waning interest in writing troubles me. Or, perhaps, it’s my willingness to invest my fingers in fiction that’s atrophied in recent weeks. I want not to write, but to have written. I think Dorothy Parker wrote something like that. I … Continue reading →

Posted in Philosophy, Writing | 1 Comment

Broken

Posted on October 14, 2016 by John Swinburn

Redemption is a fallacy, a wish without reality. Mistakes are not corrected, they’re simply patched and painted. Atonement comes through action, if it ever comes at all, penance is a token, a souvenir of all that’s wrong. Forgiveness is just … Continue reading →

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Without a Plan

Posted on October 14, 2016 by John Swinburn

I’m drinking coffee in a thunderstorm. Well, not really IN a thunderstorm; that is, I’m not getting soaked. But I hear it. Cracks of thunder punctuate the sound of rain pounding on the roof. I can only imagine what the wind and … Continue reading →

Posted in Philosophy | 2 Comments

Trapped in a Mine

Posted on October 12, 2016 by John Swinburn

Today, while looking through old notebooks, I came across a note I wrote six years ago. Late in the evening of October 12, 2010. The note, dated October 12, 2010 and marked with the time I wrote it 10:28 p.m. read, … Continue reading →

Posted in Compassion, Emotion, Memories | 2 Comments