Author Archives: John Swinburn

I need to remember this: there are more important things than uncooperative wifi networks, cantankerous computers, glitchy light switches, and rusty nails. The sun, for instance, and coffee.

Every now and again, your memories torture you.  They shred your wishes and dreams and they thrash your desires against the rocks like waves in brutal storms. There’s a lesson there, somewhere, if only you can learn it.  But if  there’s no … Continue reading →

Never forget the people who cared most about you.  They are the reason you are who you are today.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.  The beholder is obliged to express his or her appreciation of that beauty to the subject whose beauty is beheld, and to the surrounding world that failed to even notice. I happen … Continue reading →

I believe Shakespeare drank beer.  That is reason enough for me to do the same.

Listening to NPR’s All Things Considered makes me feel like I’m “home,” even though I’ve tended to listen to it while I’m in the car.  Yesterday afternoon, as I listened to it in my little studio/office/storage room off the garage, … Continue reading →

One’s demons don’t come calling only in the dark of night.  They are there, at one’s side, every moment of every day. Until they reveal who they are, they are chilling shadows who block the light.

“You will not be punished for your anger; you will be punished by your anger.” ― Gautama Buddha

Let a little conservatism into your liberalism.  Let a little skepticism into your belief.  Let a little callousness into your empathy.  Let a little love into your hate.  Mix it all up and before long you’ll be less bitter and a little … Continue reading →

Looking up into the night sky to see millions of tiny white specks is a remarkable experience.  The response to that experience may create religions or generate an appreciation of the vastness or the universe.  In one case, the experience is … Continue reading →

For me, a day can be judged a good one the moment I realize the sun has risen and I did not die in my sleep.  If I can hold on to that attitude, everything will be all  right.

I’ve been asked whether I prefer the mountains or the seaside, which is akin to asking whether I would rather breathe or have blood course through my veins. [As of 2:31 a.m., when I write this, we are OK…tornado devastation … Continue reading →

Every question has an answer, but the reverse is not necessarily true. That reality should inform the inventors whose products vie for time on late-night cable television. Yet, still, there are those who invest their money and our time in marketing … Continue reading →

Sleep is something most people take for granted.  But when it won’t come, or it comes and then leaves early, it’s no longer possible to be so cavalier about it.