Category Archives: Just Thinking

I wrote, a month or two ago, about an exercise in which one attempts to describe himself from the perspective of someone he has just met.  I will do that here, basing my description on a specific person to whom … Continue reading →

Where and when does happiness reside?  Is it in a distant city or state, across town, perhaps in a different country?  Will it come later today, tomorrow, next year? How and when can one be happy?  If now is not the … Continue reading →

I understand pouring alcohol on a wound can help prevent it from becoming infected. It doesn’t matter whether it’s bourbon or gin, vodka or scotch; it may hurt at first, but the pain will subside.  If the problem is a … Continue reading →

Today has been a gratifying one, another in a series of days that have different reasons for being good ones, yet all getting to the same place; being good. The day started for me at about 4:00 a.m., when I … Continue reading →

The pottery studio was in much better shape when I left it yesterday than it was when I arrived. About a dozen of us spent several hours scouring it from top to bottom, scraping layers of dried clay from every … Continue reading →

The title refers to the thick fog inside my brain and to the soup outside my windows that makes it impossible to see more than a few feet beyond the windows. As I contemplated what I wanted to write this … Continue reading →

Leaves. They’re everywhere. Floating in the air, blowing along the roadway, scattering from trees like disoriented flocks of large, angry birds. They fill our driveway and our two lots, so many that a thousand large leaf bags would contain only … Continue reading →

I wish I had developed a natural affinity for spectator sports, the national pastimes that tie my countrymen in knots, weave them into a fabric of brotherhood and sisterhood and intimacy that requires no real commitment, just naked, banal lust. … Continue reading →

Despite an embarrassing number of flubs, my twenty-four minutes of fame was quite enjoyable last night at Maxine’s in Hot Springs. Several members of the Village Writers’ Club turned out, which helped the audience numbers considerably. I could almost feel the … Continue reading →

“Tells stories and believes them.” That’s one statement I recall from my “Birkman Method” report, a psychological profile that ostensibly reported an individual’s personality in normal circumstances and under pressure.  I don’t recall whether the statement applied to normal behavior or behavior … Continue reading →

The perspectives of two people sitting in the same room, looking at the same scene, can be vastly different.  Why, then, is it so very hard for us to understand the differences in the perspectives of the leaders of two countries, looking … Continue reading →

I want to be free to make mistakes, but I don’t want to put them on public display. I want to be able to experiment with things I desire to do but have not done, without the spectacle of laughing crowds. … Continue reading →

My sister died on February 19, 2010. On the day of her death, I wrote this in another blog, one to which I rarely post anymore: She fed people she didn’t know, she gave up her bed for people who needed … Continue reading →

I managed to weave the following components into a productive and enjoyable day: Solar powered driveway lights. Birthday party for a seven-year-old boy. Face mask intended to block silica dust from entering my lungs. Wine. Jack Daniels Old Number 7. … Continue reading →