Author Archives: John Swinburn

Disappointment. It’s a symptom of misunderstanding, I think. It emerges from unmet expectations that take their shapes from molds designed for other purposes. And it lingers, even after it is explained away as an aberration. Disappointment and depression go hand … Continue reading →

I knew little of the Bluebell Café and Country Store until yesterday, when my girlfriend (also known as IC and other such terms of endearment) and I went for a not-terribly-long, leisurely drive. We drove Highway 298 from Blue Springs, … Continue reading →

Last night, the World Tour of Wines dinner and wine tasting delivered samples of some very nice wines and a meal far superior to all previous offerings. Perhaps because of recent history, especially the horrors associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, … Continue reading →

From time to time, we need to step back from ourselves and look at the world through a different set of eyes. We must consider that our certainty may be a symptom, not a solution. If we examine the world … Continue reading →

We had planned on having Indian food for lunch last Friday, but instead we at at Brood & Barley. Though Brood & Barley was, as expected, wonderful, the fact that we missed out on an opportunity to eat Indian food … Continue reading →

Euphoria is an exaggerated sense of well-being; a state of intense happiness and self-confidence. The state of being—I’ll call it an emotion, though some might quibble with that characterization. saying it amplifies an emotion but is not one of its … Continue reading →

The First Law of Thermodynamics states that energy cannot be created or destroyed; the total amount of energy in the universe is—has always been, and will always be—constant. Energy simply is converted from one form to another; it does not … Continue reading →

So many things on my mind, yet so few of them are compatible with thinking with my fingers. I can’t figure out how to write them to solution or resolution, so I’ll have to depend on my brain, with no … Continue reading →

Yesterday, as we drove down a major thoroughfare in Little Rock, we commented to one another about the beautiful houses that lined both sides of the heavily-traveled street. When those houses were built, we speculated, the street would have been … Continue reading →

My visit to the surgeon today, following my pulmonary function test, was good. The results of my lung biopsy were negative! The surgeon called for the pulmonary function test “just in case,” so I would not have to return to … Continue reading →

We finally found the pulmonary function lab. Signage, none mentioning the lab, did not help. People did. So here we are, waiting for my test, the scope of which is not clear to me. I will know soon. In the … Continue reading →

We tend to gravitate toward what we believe with absolute certainty and toward the absolute unknown. Don’t we? We have a strange bondage to the unknown that parallels our comfort with what we think we know (but often don’t). I … Continue reading →

Despite humankind’s vast knowledge about this planet of ours, we know only a fraction of all there is to know about where we live and who lives with us. Our understanding, even of ourselves, is extremely limited. While our limited … Continue reading →

This morning’s post will be shorter than usual, surely a welcome respite to followers of this blog, people who must tire of regularly reading screeds that lately take on characteristics of a poorly-written nonfiction version of War and Peace. I … Continue reading →

During the past several days—roughly three weeks and change—I have been more addicted than usual to music. Listening to a rich musical pastiche has mined my emotions and, in the process, helped to clarify them. I’ve discovered that tastes in … Continue reading →

A friend’s comment on my latest blog post launched in me a whirlwind of thought. My friend related the story of her mother who, after 45 years of marriage, fell in love with another man just a few months following … Continue reading →

I spent part of the evening last night with my new actual girlfriend (who I feel like I’ve known and loved forever—more on that in a minute) and some other friends, listening to an extraordinarily talented young guitarist. It impressed … Continue reading →

The world did not end yesterday, despite the fact that I did not fulfil my self-imposed commitment to write at least one blog post per day. One of my brothers called to confirm that I had not shuffled off this … Continue reading →

Explosive cracks of thunder and flashes of lightning woke me just over half an hour ago. I got up to have a sip of water, which was a mistake. Getting out of bed was all it took to leave all … Continue reading →

Before this morning’s welcome experience with freshly-brewed, hot coffee, my last cup of the stuff was Sunday morning. Though I am by no means addicted to coffee, it is a welcome luxury I miss when I cannot have it. Yesterday, … Continue reading →

A million matters cross my mind this morning, topics spanning the scale from deliriously happy facts to some unhappy memories. The subjects of my thoughts have no cohesive theme, only haphazard elements from recollections across time. The one commonality in … Continue reading →

First things first. I accidentally hit the “post” button instead of the “save as draft” button a while ago, sending an utterly unfinished “new post” notice into a couple of dozen email boxes. My apologies to those who received a … Continue reading →

Last night, I joined friends for a celebration of wine and food aficionados. Each couple or individual brought wine and hors d’ouevres to share. Six bottles of wine and what felt like 48 ounces of food later, we finished the … Continue reading →

Last night, our team came in a very respectable second in the trivia game we planned at the local pub. I wish I could contribute more to the answers, but I’m afraid my knowledge, though trivial, does not work well … Continue reading →

Last night, I blamed the chiggers for my insomnia. Sometime before 3:00 a.m., the chigger bites, too numerous to count, made sleep impossible. They. Itched. Like. Crazy. I thought I had discarded the outdated chigger-bite-relief-goo that I bought a few … Continue reading →