Author Archives: John Swinburn

Artificial Thought Ten years into the evacuation, all that’s left should be an uninhabited planet. And, of course, the ruins of millions of commercial and residential buildings and sheer desolation. But the exodus stalled around the fifth year. And by … Continue reading →

Sympathy, in the face of indifference, is a squandered emotion. Indifference redefines sympathy, calling it a weakness; a flawed emotional state deserving only disdain and mockery.  Emotions can be fragile states that, in the presence of pressure and contempt, sometimes … Continue reading →

A clear, cloudless night sky looks radically different than the same sky at noon. Sky is defined as the region of the atmosphere visible from Earth’s surface.  But, at night, the atmosphere is not visible from Earth, is it? At … Continue reading →

Inflation is alive and well. The cost of my Medicare supplemental insurance increased by $42 a month; the cost of my prescription drug plan jumped by almost 213%, a $50 hike. Food prices seem to be on an upward trajectory, … Continue reading →

If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don’t have to worry about the answers. ~ Thomas Pynchon ~ If The Apocalypse were to begin just before 11 one Saturday morning, would we know it? Would we recognize … Continue reading →

I would like to visit the Obama Presidential Center when it is completed, but that wish is complicated by so damn many obstacles.  A piece in today’s New York Times added fuel to my desire to experience, first hand, what … Continue reading →

Much of my “padding” is gone, thanks to significant weight loss over time. Sitting on a wooden bench at the Balboa Marina at lunch yesterday was extremely uncomfortable; there’s essentially no fat to cushion my bony butt from the hard … Continue reading →

The U.S. government and many of the people it represents have long justified the displacement of indigenous peoples in support of westward expansion. The so-called treaties—used as tools during the negotiations to persuade indigenous people to exchange lands east of … Continue reading →

Too much sanity may be madness and the maddest of all, to see life as it is and not as it should be. ~ Miguel de Cervantes ~ Marfa, Texas has occupied my thoughts—off and on—for several days. I suspect … Continue reading →

A recent afternoon, spent listening to a variety of traditional and contemporary classical music, triggered in me a powerful longing for the impossible: a deep emotional and intellectual understanding of the core of the music, the kind of understanding that, … Continue reading →

A correlation exists between a person’s discomfort and his inability to harness coherent thought. The greater the degree of discomfort, the less lucid his thinking. Despite suggestions to the contrary [that irrational thought and ingenuity feed off one another], the … Continue reading →

Mid-October’s cooler temperatures, I hope, will help douse the fiery social and political rages of summer. But the weather, even if it has some impact, will not solve the problems arising from universal fury. If we have a any realistic … Continue reading →

Sometimes, signs pointing to the road to recovery are subject to the mischievous cruelty of vandals. Two days ago, I thought I was on that road. In fact, I was trudging along a country lane that, as I traveled, morphed … Continue reading →

The day began uneventfully yesterday. By 10:00 a.m., though, it began to sour. It got progressively worse—first, mild discomfort, then significant discomfort, then pain, then intense pain. From there it went downhill. I won’t go into the unappetizing details. Suffice … Continue reading →

Pressure. Uninterrupted stress. Tension. Heaviness. Brittle. Fragile. Breakable. Friable. Weight. Even in an environment overburdened with linguistic opportunities, we’re often at a loss for words. So many utterances fail in their efforts to attain man’s search for meaning. Understanding is … Continue reading →

High-speed replays of educational programs created and delivered by the U.S. guv’mn’t enable anyone with a Groove-Tuber Connection to get free access to courses including such classics as Dictatorship is Good; Permanently Stupefying Your Stupid Constituents; Road to Ruin on … Continue reading →

One by one, the twinkling stars stopped twinkling. Their lights dimmed, then brightened, then dimmed again and, finally, died. Early that night, the sky was so full of stars there was no space between any two of them to place … Continue reading →

American Gothic is the 1930 painting by Grant Wood, depicting a farm couple standing in front of their Carpenter Gothic style home. Wood’s sister was the model for the woman in the painting. The Wood family’s dentist was immortalized in … Continue reading →

The feathers of those big, raucous birds are as black as carbon. The sheen of their plumage reflects light like mirrors. The creatures’ morning routines consist of boisterous interchanges—perhaps conversations or arguments or mocking laughter. The trees surrounding the driveway … Continue reading →

While most of us were busy with our cluttered, frantic, and questionably purposive lives, a few among us spent time and intellectual energies on more esoteric matters. Twenty years into the twenty-first century, a group of astronomers devoted their days … Continue reading →

Some days, virtually everything within my line of sight appears dull, as if bleached by the sun or treated with whitewash. Like an old, weather-beaten wooden fence painted with a thin mixture of lime and water, every image on those … Continue reading →

Once again yesterday, I had a multitude of things on my mind, but my brain refused to cooperate in documenting any of them. So, after I had been up for quite a long time, went back to bed, where I … Continue reading →

The forest-green, long-sleeved, t-shirt I am wearing is covered with strands of white cat fur, thanks to my decision to hold Phaedra (the cat) in my arms  for an incredibly brief moment a short while ago. Judging from the amount … Continue reading →

The first leaf-drop of the season may have taken place just moments ago. Whether it was the first one or not, watching the leaf break away and float to the ground seemed symbolic to me; change is on the horizon. … Continue reading →

I think it’s important for one to take a certain distance from oneself. ~ Václav Havel ~ Sixty-eight years ago, members of the U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne Division and the National Guard escorted nine Black students to class at the … Continue reading →