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Author Archives: John Swinburn
Divergent Interests
A short while ago, I began watching season two of Narcos, the Netflix miniseries based on the brutal but financially wildly successful Columbian drug lord, Pablo Escobar. There’s something hideously fascinating about watching a well-acted action drama about a monstrous … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
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Insight
I remind myself frequently, if not always intentionally, that I do not know the struggles others face. I am not privy to the personal challenges, the emotional tribulations, or the overwhelming depressions that might explain the behavior of other … Continue reading
Posted in Just Thinking
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Shades of Gray
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
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Mood Swingles
I have more to say. More memories to document so as to more easily bring them to the surface later when I need them. Or want them. Yesterday, the couple who introduced to me the idea of moving to Hot … Continue reading
Posted in Just Thinking
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Interlude
The hours before dawn—the predawn darkness when the remainder of the world sleeps while I enjoy my solitude—offers a time to reflect in the absence of urgency. Nothing requires my attention at just after four in the morning. Nothing is in desperate … Continue reading
Posted in Fiction, Just Thinking, Writing
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Inching Away from the Edge
Some days—and today is one of them—I wish I could start over. From the beginning. Well, from the time I was in high school. My decisions, my choices, my interests; they would be so very different. I would listen more … Continue reading
Posted in Depression
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Misapprehensions
I sometimes think it is next to impossible to read people. Not infrequently, when I think I have a clear sense of how a person thinks or feels about an issue, his or her behavior—suggesting my reading was utterly off the mark—surprises me. … Continue reading
Posted in Just Thinking
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Not So Long Ago
Blogging is rewarding in sometimes unexpected ways. It can trigger memories that one might otherwise lose in the mist of time. While I use my blogs to capture ideas and emotions, I also use them to document moments of my life. On … Continue reading
Posted in Memories
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I Watch Her
I watch her, as she sits on a comfortable spot near the ocean. I see her eyes scan the horizon. She seeks answers in the waves and the clouds. She peers intently into the distance, striving to bring the answers … Continue reading
Posted in Fiction, Writing
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Personal Peculiarities
For reasons I do not entirely understand, I have a habit of periodically reading articles about the restaurant industry. I have never owned a restaurant nor have I ever worked in one, but the industry has an odd appeal, though ‘appeal’ may not be … Continue reading
Posted in Just Thinking
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Stegner’s Letter to His Lost Lover
If you could see inside my brain, if you could see the images of you that reside there, coming into sharp focus several times a day, you might know. You might understand how much you still mean to me, even after all … Continue reading
Posted in Fiction, Writing
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Reflections
I scan the dark horizon for signs of morning. But the low-hanging clouds, pulsing against a backdrop of distant lightning, reveal mourning instead, solemn displays of contrition too late in coming to a night too painful to remember, yet too fresh … Continue reading
Posted in Poetry, Writing
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In the Moment
Agostino, struggling to escape a frenzied nightmare, awoke to a choking swirl of thick brown and beige dust. His wife, Bernardina, lay motionless beside him in the bed, the upper quarter of her body beneath a slab of broken stone. Stone … Continue reading
Posted in Fiction, Writing
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FIshing for Something
The colors of cucumbers, tomatoes, pickles, radishes, and kipper snacks—bathed in piquante green and red sauces—blend in a way that soothes my mind. Though most of the colors are not in the least muted, they join together in a pacific … Continue reading
Posted in Food, Philosophy, Poetry
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Squeezing the Blush from the Day
This morning’s cool temperatures remind me that summer is winding down; if it were to wind down quickly, I would not complain. Coupled with blue skies and lower humidity, today’s cool start triggered an earnest interest in walking. Today, unfortunately, … Continue reading
Posted in Just Thinking
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Two Poems
I don’t recall precisely when I wrote the following poems, but I remember the emotions that underpinned their writing. They are as fresh when I read them now as the days I wrote them. That is what poetry does for the writer; … Continue reading
Posted in Poetry
4 Comments
Let Me Just Say मैं खाना पसंद है और खाना मुझे प्यार करता है।
Tonight’s dinner was a success, so say I. I futzed around on the internet bright and early this morning in search of Indian recipes I might like to try for dinner. I found dozens of interest. But, based on level … Continue reading
Posted in Food
2 Comments
Hope and Sadness
Today could be one of those days that slips into the mist without so much as a whimper. This Friday might slink off into the corroded dustbin of history, skirting recognition as a time worth remembering and shirking its responsibilities for … Continue reading
Posted in Just Thinking, Philosophy
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Culinary Compromise
A few days ago, I posted about my love affair with food. I mentioned the dilemma facing me; namely, that I intended to go on phase one of the South Beach Diet, a diet that might be incompatible with my intense interest … Continue reading
Posted in Food, Health
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Thoughts on Dignity and the Disposal of Corpses
As we pulled into the driveway yesterday afternoon from an art exhibit to which our friends and neighbors Bill and Carole had invited us, I noticed something in the driveway just outside the left side of the garage door. On first … Continue reading
Posted in Death, Just Thinking, Philosophy
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Focus
Rain has derailed my plans to take early morning walks, now, two days in a row. In my opinion, it’s Nature’s intrusion into such intended behaviors that makes treadmills appealing. I’ve used treadmills before, though I don’t own one and never … Continue reading
Posted in Health, Insomnia
4 Comments
Deviant Vignette
Death came unexpectedly at 4:34 p.m. on Wednesday, June 24. Milford Grey Oberweis napped on his leather loveseat, as was his practice, on that day. He expected to greet Julia Smithers at 6:30 p.m. for dinner but, instead, he died … Continue reading
Posted in Fiction, Writing
3 Comments
Education Trumps Racism: Give Peace a Chance
I mentioned at the end of last month that I would participate in an online discussion dealing with racism, with a focus on racism leading to the death of young Black men at the hands of police. My interest in … Continue reading
Posted in Peace, Philosophy, Racism
2 Comments
Simple Joys
The morning’s routine began early, a bit before five o’clock. An attempt to go back to sleep after a 4:30 pee break was unsuccessful so I slid out of bed, pulled on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt and … Continue reading
Posted in Just Thinking
1 Comment
Food, Glorious Food
There is no question that I enjoy food; eating it, cooking it, serving it, even taking pictures of it. I realize there exists a thriving industry in mocking people who post photos of food, but that doesn’t bother me. I … Continue reading
Posted in Food, Health
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