Author Archives: John Swinburn

An online article in Wikipedia says the population of Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia peaked at approximately 4,800 in 1991, ten years after the planned community’s housing and infrastructure were built. Thirty years later, in 2021, its population had recovered to … Continue reading →

Comments—pro or con—about my posts are rarely left on my blog. Yesterday, a blog visitor left one of those rare comments; one decidedly non-complimentary, reacting to my my perspective on Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime performance: Omg did you even … Continue reading →

I read an item on Facebook this morning, reposted by an acquaintance, that presented an interesting snapshot summary about one of the recipients (Esther Duflo) of the 2019 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences (Nobel Prize in Economics). The article was … Continue reading →

When suspicion approaches certainty, context matters more than confidence. Concerns transform into worries, fear becomes terror. Desire leads to disappointment. The key to survival is adaptation;  adjusting to conform to what the circumstances require. But an overabundance of available approaches … Continue reading →

Several years ago, after learning just enough HyperText Markup Language (HTML) to write a bit of basic HTML code, I created what I call my internet “Resource Center” page, which was (and remains) my desktop starting point for opening a … Continue reading →

Thinking deeply about divisive issues—matters that tend to split groups of people into camps with conflicting philosophies—often is a multi-step process for me. The first step generally leads me to a firm conclusion, placing me in accord with one of … Continue reading →

Yesterday, I interrupted the mundane existence of simple survival. In its place, I briefly explored the journey of life through thought. I left my survival to carry on for awhile without me. My travels, as I walked away from my … Continue reading →

“The time will come…” “Time stands still…” No, the time will not come, nor does time stand still. Time is neither mobile nor stationary. Yet the language we use in discussing time suggests we consider time an entity, rather than … Continue reading →

Strength. Light. Power. Distance. Time. Pain. Temperature. Intelligence. Depth. Illumination. Area. Circumference. Likelihood. Poverty. Wealth. We have measures for almost everything. Some of those measures collide with one another or compete for dominance…like distance and circumference…and power and strength. Their … Continue reading →

Volcanic eruptions—spewing super-heated smoke and viscous molten rock from the bowels of Earth—may illustrate  our planet’s unchecked rage. Cold water springs from which potable water bubbles from below might offer a more serene, forgiving attitude, as if to counter the … Continue reading →

In this AP Photo by Manu Fernandez, a man rides a horse through a bonfire as part of a ritual in honor of Saint Anthony the Abbot, the patron saint of domestic animals, in San Bartolome de Pinares, Spain, Friday, … Continue reading →

Ten degrees Fahrenheit. That’s where it started. But after having glanced in another direction, I looked again. The temperature had risen, during that fleeting moment, by ten percent. Without knowing exactly how long a fleeting moment lasts, I cannot determine … Continue reading →

January 30 is a storied date; a date marked, marred, and memorialized by fame and infamy. The Associated Press website home page regularly features Today in History, a reminder of important events that took place on this day in years … Continue reading →

After experiencing several days of seasonal confinement, I lose track of which day is which…is today Saturday…or Tuesday…? Or, have we just come off the weekend? My online calendar would give me the correct answer, if I asked. But the … Continue reading →

At the rate the snow is melting, the streets should be clear when Santa Claus and his reindeer can be dislodged from the chimney. They became wedged there long before this latest ice age began, but their predicament will not … Continue reading →

So many things on my mind this morning, but nothing suitable for bloggery. I’ve been awake for hours. I’ve written nothing of any consequence. I’ve had thoughts this morning that matter just as much as my writing. Perhaps I’m a … Continue reading →

Most people, I suspect, think of the sun as a giant ball of fire; an inferno of condensed gas with flames burning hundreds of miles into space.  I imagine they think of stars in the same way; just more distant … Continue reading →

We are doing our part to conserve energy during this current plague of winter weather. Overnight, we set the thermostat to an uncomfortably cool six degrees under our “normal” setting. I am wearing a pair of long-johns and multiple layers … Continue reading →

When I was a child, if my vague memory is correct, my family had at least one and maybe two sets of encyclopedias. Encyclopediæ, if you prefer the Latin-influenced plural. I assumed, I think, the contents were factual; their legitimacy … Continue reading →

Vagueness—or imprecision—inhabits a “nearly” incalculable number of words in the English language: Many. Some. Almost. Few. Probably. Thick. Short. Considerably. Close. Near. Far. More. Less. Hard. Likely. Occasionally. Quite. Extremely. Low. Rarely. Fast. Mostly. Often. Nearly. Soft. Frequently. Long. High. … Continue reading →

The sky remains dark, just a few minutes before 6:00 a.m. as I sit down at my desk to begin my pointless morning ritual: recording my thoughts before they disappear into the day. Ephemeral fragments of the dream from which … Continue reading →

Loneliness and solitude live in the same neighborhood, but not necessarily in the same house. The subtle differences between them, sometimes hard to see, mimic the conflicts between aching or longing and satisfaction. Loneliness rushes in to fill a cold, … Continue reading →

I began writing almost three hours ago. But I stopped to experience the world around me to write these introductory words: Welcome to a tangle of anger, joy, calamity, serenity, and sorrow. Emotions wrap themselves in one another, confusing truth … Continue reading →

Negative space is just as important as positive space. Places we should leave alone…places we do not belong…should be respected for a thousand reasons, not the least of which is that interference with them is the handiwork of dangerous psychopaths … Continue reading →

Time steps in its own way, stumbling over itself and reversing course without explanation or apology. Wishes become memories. Facts become unreachable expectations, hidden by a tapestry of temporal tarps woven from invisible threads. Time tricks us into reliving memories … Continue reading →