I Invite You to Subscribe
-
Recent Posts
Archives
Search on this Site
Categories
Blogroll
- 86,400 Seconds
- A Song Not Scored for Breathing (Cheryl/Hope)
- Actual Unretouched Photo
- Afroculinaria
- Brittle Road
- Chuck Sigars
- CMI Assn. Mgt. Blog
- Cutting Through the Crap
- Elle Jauffret
- HSV Area Restaurants
- Lizardek's Obiter Dictum
- Me and You and Ellie
- Neflix Genre Categories
- Out of the Lotus
- Perils of Caffeine in the Evening
- The New Dharma Bums
- The Singing Wench
- Unretouched Photo
- Words/Love
- writing as jo(e)
- Your Fireant
Author Archives: John Swinburn
Be Kind
I posted a good bit of this yesterday on Facebook. I’m posting it here because I want to be able to find it again; to use it as a reminder to try to be better. Yesterday, I expressed anger at … Continue reading
Posted in Anger, Compassion, Kindness
Leave a comment
I Wish I Knew
If the world were meant to be comprehensible, we would be able to climb inside others’ heads to determine what they really think. We would be able to discover, for example, whether people who seem serene and unflappable and genuinely … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Leave a comment
Seriously. No, Seriously.
A blank white computer screen often summons me to fill it with what’s on my mind. That is, essentially, it beckons me to transfer what I’m thinking to the screen. That allows my thoughts to be read by others who … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Leave a comment
Vulnerability
I am accused, from time to time, of being afraid of being vulnerable. I’m told that I fear exposing my vulnerability would challenge my maleness or my “manhood” or my sense of personal man-centered strength. And I’ve bought into the … Continue reading
Posted in Vulnerability
Leave a comment
Scale
A July 23, 2003 article in The Telegraph touches on the scope of what we see through telescopes in a clear, dark night sky: There are 10 times more stars in the night sky than grains of sand in the … Continue reading
Posted in Philosophy
Leave a comment
Processing Ideas
I wrote a rather long post this morning about distance and intimacy between people and what it might mean and how it might be expressed. Even though the topic is emotional, the post seemed clinical and emotionless, so I’ll let … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Leave a comment
Another Try: Wisdom
Wisdom involves knowledge, but knowledge alone does not constitute wisdom. Wisdom is the abstract application of knowledge with discernment. That is, wisdom is not just knowledge, it’s knowing what to do with knowledge. As I am wont to do when … Continue reading
Posted in Poetry, Wisdom, Writing
Leave a comment
Converting Mental Energy to Breakfast Mass
This morning, ever since I got up around 5, I have attempted to write posts for my blog. I’ve started at least five but, a few paragraph in, abandoned them; I lost interest in expressing myself before I could even … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Leave a comment
Living in a Dead Man’s Journal
He wrote the following in his journal on November 14, 2009: I wish I could bring myself to reveal all the secrets I’ve kept locked away for so very long. One day, perhaps, I’ll write a memoir, though I suspect … Continue reading
Posted in Fiction, Writing
Leave a comment
Lock and Key
On occasion, my appetite for interaction with other people shifts quickly and dramatically toward being a recluse. It happens so fast that I do not recognize it is happening until after the fact. Suddenly, I want nothing to do with … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Leave a comment
The Effects of Fire on Fuel
A screed. A diatribe. A rant. An inflammatory evangelical oratory capable of inciting fury. An opportunity to express the ferocity of my feelings without having to defend them. That’s what I’m looking for. An occasion to bitterly complain without offering … Continue reading
Posted in Poetry, Writing
Leave a comment
People Who Need Help and People Who Give It
We fed 167 people lunch today. Not really; we just loaded the donated food onto plates and into bags and distributed it to 167 people who came to the window of Jackson House. It’s hard for me to believe it; … Continue reading
Posted in Generosity
2 Comments
Under-the-Knife Anniversary
Today marks the one-year anniversary of the surgery I underwent to remove a cancerous tumor from my lung and, with it, the lower lobe of my right lung. All indications are that the cancer succumbed to the surgery and its … Continue reading
Posted in Cancer
Leave a comment
Last Night and Today
Last night’s Village Writers’ Club read-around and social gathering was, I think, a success. Everyone seemed to enjoy hearing the readings and, judging from the status of left-over food at the end of the evening, they liked the hors d’ouevres … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Leave a comment
Honesty
Honesty is dangerous, especially when it reveals flaws once hidden. Honesty is ruinous when it shatters trust and breaks the bonds of love. Honesty is a toxin we best not ingest if we hope to stay alive in a world … Continue reading
Posted in Poetry, Writing
Leave a comment
Roller-Coaster
A group of people from the Writers’ Club and a few spouses will come to the house this afternoon for wine and hors d’oeuvres and a read-around. We’re expecting to have around thirteen people, all-inclusive. Early this morning (up again … Continue reading
Posted in Emotion, Writing
Leave a comment
Being Better or Dying Trying
This paragraph completes this post; I wrote this paragraph after I wrote the rest of it. I write this to remind myself, and anyone else who stumbles on these words, that I have to write in order to know what … Continue reading
Posted in Doing Without
Leave a comment
Unit 42
I just finished watching, for the second time, the first episode of the first season of Unit 42. I watched the episode several months ago and enjoyed it immensely, but somehow got sidetracked, as I am wont to do, and … Continue reading
Posted in Film, Television, Television series
Leave a comment
A Few Things on My Mind in the Three Hours Since I Awoke
For some reason, humans seem to have a hard time accepting the fact that different cultures can have radically different world views. We tend to think the way we were taught to think and perceive the world is the only … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Leave a comment
Too Old
A brief post I wrote this morning for our church blog sparked a realization that I consider myself too old to do some things I’ve always wanted to do. The thing that triggered the awareness of how I see myself … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
2 Comments
Harissa in the House
Tonight’s menu will include lemon harissa chicken. I made a batch of harissa paste a few days ago, something I’ve been intending for at least several weeks and more probably several months. Making harissa paste is not hard, but it … Continue reading
Posted in Food
Leave a comment
I Wish Me Luck
It’s a couple of minutes after 1:00 a.m. and I think I’m going to try to go back to bed. After I made a cup of coffee, I glanced at the clock and realized it was only 12:30 a.m., not … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Leave a comment
Cluster
One of the many benefits of rising early, aside from luxurious isolation and time to sort out the mysteries of life, is the opportunity to cook for one. I have no objection at all to cooking for two, or even … Continue reading
Posted in Food, Poetry
Leave a comment
Lost Knowledge
Have you ever considered the enormity of the volume of knowledge that once occupied your brain but is no longer there? The encyclopedic size of missing knowledge is simply beyond comprehension. Where does it go? Does it reside somewhere in … Continue reading
Posted in Stream of Consciousness
Leave a comment
Thinking of Food
I’m making miso soup for breakfast again today. I made a rather disappointing batch two days ago. Not nearly enough miso paste, I think, and perhaps not enough tofu and mushrooms. I will try to rectify those deficiencies this morning. … Continue reading
Posted in Food
Leave a comment