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Author Archives: John Swinburn
Valentine’s Day Demise
A little post-Valentine’s Day whimsical satire… ‘Twas the day after V-Day, smelling chocolate and honey. Most wallets were empty, yet we kept spending money. Credit cards maxed out, with creditors waiting, to be paid with our gluttony and our bad … Continue reading
For Good Reason
Today was not a day for writing. At least not for me. Oh, I got some done. But it was a struggle. I worked on three versions of a story I intended to submit to a contest. Finally, with only … Continue reading
Lessons
Little by little, we learn the lessons of a lifetime. Some find their purpose as solutions to problems we encounter along the way. A few reshape us in profound ways, causing a new person to emerge from the changes they … Continue reading
Posted in Philosophy, Regret
1 Comment
Old Stories
Skimming old stories I wrote, and even ones I started and abandoned, is a little like sorting through old photos. Photos are two dimensional triggers that may, if given enough attention, draw memories out of the tangled gauze of dim recollections. But … Continue reading
Posted in Just Thinking
2 Comments
Iceland, Yes, Iceland
Have you ever wanted to go to Iceland? Yeah. Me, too. How about Finland? Yeah, I’ve been there once (just one day in Helsinki); I want to go back and spend a bit more time. On a whim, I checked … Continue reading
Posted in Just Thinking, Travel
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Food and Music and Coincidental Clothes
The unfortunate reality of yesterday’s lunch was this: the food did not tip the orgasmeter as I hoped it would. The amuse bouche was all right, though its presentation and the explanation given by the server were disappointing. The butternut … Continue reading
Posted in Food, Music
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Fancy Lunch
Today, I willingly go off the South Beach diet at lunch time. The menu for today at the Pulaski Technical College Culinary Arts program Food Production IV lunch consists of: Butternut Squash soup Mussels Mouclade and Spinach Mousse Beef Wellington Crème … Continue reading
Posted in Food
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Not My Words
The lyrics of Leonard Cohen’s poem/song, Sisters of Mercy, are among the most powerful I have ever heard uttered. This morning, some of them are on my mind. Yes, you who must leave everything that you cannot control. It begins … Continue reading
Posted in Just Thinking
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Under the Veneer
“These damn conversations just won’t stop. If I were capable of holding my tongue, the issues would simply fade away. But, no, it seems I can’t let my flippant comments pass into their deserved oblivion. I am powerless; I simply … Continue reading
Posted in Fiction, Writing
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Opposites Attract
The clear, blue sky would be of no consequence to us if not for its contrast with low, grey, growling clouds showering us with rain and snow and hail and mist. A still, quiet morning is appealing in part because it … Continue reading
Posted in Philosophy, Weather
2 Comments
Hazards
One of the hazards of conducting research for writing a piece of fiction is becoming so intrigued by the subject of the research that the writing doesn’t get done. I know this because I’ve been told it happens and, unfortunately, I’ve … Continue reading
Posted in Writing
2 Comments
What Are We—What Am I—Going to Do About This?
Chance encounters sometimes lead one to think about things that might rarely bubble to the surface of consciousness were it not for prompting by that meeting. Yesterday was one such occasion. While attending a Garvan Gardens workshop entitled Cooking with Fresh Herbs: … Continue reading
Posted in Compassion, Empathy, Justice, Philosophy
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On Taking Oneself a Little Less Seriously
“Dawn, ripening to the hue of a pumpkin, crept out of the night sky behind streaks of thin grey clouds ripping across the horizon like claws.” The questions, of course, are these: Who is Dawn and why is she creeping out of the … Continue reading
Posted in Writing
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Edgar Mitchell
I read this morning of the death of Edgar Mitchell, the Apollo 14 astronaut who was one of only twelve humans to have walked on the moon. Apollo 14 launched on January 31, 1971; the lunar landing took place on … Continue reading
Posted in Just Thinking
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Foreign to the Fields
I stop my car by the side of the distant, desolate black top highway, a road with little purpose but for farmers to reach their fields; long-dried tracks of tractor tire mud offer evidence of the reason for the road. … Continue reading
Posted in Poetry
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Baiser Français
We are in the early stages of planning a trip to southern France. My approach to preparation for the trip involves learning some of the more mundane aspects of French life, with an eye toward enabling us to blend in, … Continue reading
Posted in Just Thinking, Travel
1 Comment
Treating Ourselves Like Thesauri
Who am I? What constitutes ‘me?’ Those questions, and more like them, have been asked for millennia; I suspect for as long as humankind has been consciously aware of its existence as a part, or master, of nature. I have … Continue reading
Posted in Philosophy
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Breaking the Block
It’s not that I can’t write. It’s not writer’s block. Nothing like that at all. No, it’s that I’m simply not in a frame of mind suitable for writing the sort of material I usually enjoy writing. Until recently, when … Continue reading
Posted in Just Thinking
3 Comments
Who I Was
In recent months, I have become fascinated with (or, perhaps, fixated on) what I wrote years ago on my first blog. I’m sure I’ve recently mentioned, here, my obsession with my earlier writings. Reading what I wrote reveals to me the … Continue reading
Posted in Just Thinking
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Mistakes
Mistakes become larger than life, taking on more power and greater significance than they deserve. It’s as if a person assumes a single mistake is part of a lengthy pattern of blunders firmly nestled in a concrete case, even before the cement has time to set. He … Continue reading
Posted in Just Thinking
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On Death and Dying
As I listened to parts of a radio interview yesterday morning about new ways to think about the concept of death, I felt my mind adjusting itself to a new perspective. The interview, with an artist who created “death suits” impregnated with … Continue reading
Posted in Death
2 Comments
Looking Back
You look back at the goals you set but never worked to achieve, the person you wished you were but never tried to be, and the life you wanted to live but never dared to try. When you glance back at those … Continue reading
Posted in Poetry, Writing
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They Litter the Landscape
I once knew a guy who was, without question, very bright. I respected his sharp wit and his ability to sell himself. His attributes served him well in many ways. He made a nice income and was able to convince people who mattered … Continue reading
Posted in Greed
2 Comments
Platform
Black streaks and a film of grey grime already covered the mounds of snow, pushed against the curbs and sidewalks by plows an hour earlier. This gritty reality was utterly unlike the fresh beauty of winter snows he remembered from life on a farm in the Texas … Continue reading
Posted in Writing
3 Comments
Do It Yourself?
I dropped off a pair of my jeans with a local embroidery/sewing/alterations shop yesterday. The jeans need a repair; my predilection for pulling on a belt loop to hike up my jeans before they slip over my hips and fall to the … Continue reading
Posted in Just Thinking
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