Author Archives: John Swinburn

You have to get inside another person’s head to look at the world through his or her eyes.  Often, though, you find there is no room for you there.

Some days, I wake up and realize I am among the most fortunate of men.  Most days, in fact.  I don’t know what I have done to deserve being married to my wife, but whatever it is, I am grateful … Continue reading →

Some colors are just not worth talking about.  Others deserve more attention than we can possibly give them.  The vast majority are unremarkable but at least they are innocuous.  Consider, for example, cobalt blue, amaranth, and caput mortuum. Into which … Continue reading →

Burning books and erecting fortifications are the usual occupations of princes… ~Jorge Luis Borges~

I wonder about odd things.  When was the first sleep-specific pillow created and from what was it made?  Before people used pillows, was our physiology different?  Did humans’ changing physiology contribute to our need or want to use pillows to sleep … Continue reading →

I’ve never attempted to compile a list of pros and cons of permitting humanity to continue exercising its control over this planet.  Not yet.  Going into it, though, I suspect the scales might be roughly in balance, with just a … Continue reading →

In late afternoon, I look at the dappled light between branches and leaves, the brilliance of the sun bright in the sky beyond.  The light is bright, almost blinding, but still mottled and broken by leaves left hanging in the early fall air.  The longer I … Continue reading →

I’d like to get 14,400 samples of paints of different colors and paint each on a one-inch square on a ten foot by ten foot wall.  With sufficient planning, the wall could look like a wave, or an explosion, of color.

At some point, if you’re not a sculptor, you have to admit to yourself you’re not a sculptor. You can wish and hope and promise you’ll be a good boy if things would just be different, but it does no … Continue reading →

“Prisms refract light in much the same way prisons refract life.” I wrote that a few months ago, but it has added meaning today, the day after a conservative wave swept over the land. The worsening political landscape can be seen either … Continue reading →

We value variety in all aspects of our lives, yet we covet and fiercely protect our routines. Even in language, we treasure diversity, yet we tend to collect phrases and use them repeatedly, in favor of those less common. There … Continue reading →

It’s one of those days that suggest stew and hot soup, helped along with a mug of hot chocolate or a snifter of brandy.  But I’ll have to be satisfied with hot coffee and planning for stew and hot soups, because … Continue reading →