Author Archives: John Swinburn

My Unsung Hero from Hidden Brain strikes me as an odd label for a radio program, but every time I hear an episode of the National Public Radio (NPR) show, my judgment of the title disappears. In its place, I … Continue reading →

Evidence of a new season, masked by cold recollections and icy memories, struggles to assert itself. Early morning brightness might reveal clues about what is to come, but grey, wet skies hide the sun. Yellow daffodils scream their stories as … Continue reading →

As far as I know, last night’s threats of tornadoes in our immediate vicinity did not pan out. The forest surrounding the house remains standing. To my knowledge, the roof above my head in intact. While carnage and devastation may … Continue reading →

Self-control can protect one from danger or embarrassment or various other forms of unpleasantness. I have to exercise self-control on an ongoing basis, for those very reasons. But harnessing one’s immediate desires can prevent a person from experiencing delight, as … Continue reading →

We know nothing. We hold beliefs. We harbor suspicions. We think we know. But we do not know. We simply convince ourselves of the certainty of certain facts. We do that because, otherwise, we would live in a state of … Continue reading →

The internet ostensibly gives committed seekers of the “truth” ways to find it. Increasingly, though, those searchers discover “truth” is a painstakingly re-created replica of the Mona Lisa. These seekers do not find truth, but a counterfeit commissioned by “incorruptible … Continue reading →

Why is it, I wonder, that barren-leafed, fog-enshrouded forests seem simultaneously menacing and inviting? Why does being surrounded by a forest of hazy, blurry, naked trees—their trunks erect and tall—give me a sense that the indistinct distance is hiding both … Continue reading →

An inadvertent motion by an itchy “trigger” finger sent a raw, rough, utterly unfinished draft of the first few paragraphs of a prospective piece of short fiction onto the internet last night. Mi novia questioned why I used my WordPress … Continue reading →

Whether the memory originated from a personal experience or from a story I read or heard about, it touched a nerve that remains raw more than more than thirty years later. Details of the memory have blurred over time, but … Continue reading →

Another early start—even earlier than yesterday. The glowing red numbers on the bedside clock read “3:43” when I got out of bed for the second time this morning. I mistook the time as “2:11” the first time, but I missed … Continue reading →

Arising a few hours before sunrise can be a cleansing occurrence. I think getting up that early enables a person to discard some of the accumulated detritus from the preceding days and weeks—if, that is, the person wants an opportunity … Continue reading →

I am beyond restless, hungry for a different environment. Anxious and thirsty for some kind of change. Edgy and agitated.  Anxious to abandon my predictable daily routines for a while. Maybe longer. I do not know the source of my … Continue reading →

A flurry of friends occupy my thoughts this morning. Yesterday, Jim and Vicki, good friends of mine since around 1997, made a little detour on their way from Alexandria, Virginia to Dallas to have lunch with us. This afternoon, if … Continue reading →

I learned about the Sarco yesterday, however I only skimmed part of an article that described the device and its creator. The idea made enough of an impact on me, though, that I decided to explore it in a little … Continue reading →

I am curious about life experiences that have shaped the attitudes and beliefs of people I know; both people close to me and others with whom I know only casually. If the world were as accommodating as I would like, … Continue reading →

I woke early enough this morning. But, even so, I have no interest in doing anything. Not writing, not eating breakfast. Nothing at all. I want to go back to bed and sleep through the day and through the night … Continue reading →

Brilliant blue flashes of light and growling, rolling, ground-shaking concussions from cracks of thunder woke me from a dream. With no coverings over the windowpanes, every flash of lightning illuminated the room, filling it with an otherworldly fluorescent blue cast. … Continue reading →

The question arises in me periodically—or, maybe, it always crouches in the back of my mind: Where, or what, is “home?” In a mobile society, the concept that home is the place in which one was born applies to fewer … Continue reading →

Today is Valentine’s Day. Like so many other holidays, it has been appropriated by money-hungry merchants and their philosophical kin, eager to transform a celebration into an opportunity to extract money from celebrants. I read an article this morning that … Continue reading →

Discipline. When one thinks about the discipline required for successful dieting or exercising, one’s thoughts center on the self-control necessary to train oneself to follow a specific regimen. But when the subject involves correcting a child who has behaved badly, … Continue reading →

I read, with some regularity, NPR’s blog, Goats and Soda: Stories of Life in a Changing World [the story of the blog’s name is interesting, by the way]. This morning, I read a fascinating and entertaining story about “glam makeovers … Continue reading →

If I could start over—from the very beginning—and had the ability to make the choice, I think I might choose to be Finnish or Estonian or Dutch. Many years ago, I spent a day in Helsinki, so the choice of … Continue reading →

Presented with an unlabeled globe or map of the world, what percentage of Americans would be able to correctly pinpoint more than fifty percent of the following locations: Somalia; Cameroon; Burkina Faso; Sudan; Chad; Democratic Republic of Congo; Gabon; Rwanda; … Continue reading →

Yesterday’s long periods involving very heavy rain have stretched into a new day. Brilliant blue skies look at me through a trio of large windows. The monitor of my new computer, a  27-inch beast, blocks part of the view, but … Continue reading →

On occasion, thin slices of almost-lost memories struggle to the surface of consciousness. When that occurs, the mind sometimes attempts to resurrect those forgotten moments. Most of those long-abandoned recollections quickly fade. But some of them, after they spring up, … Continue reading →