Category Archives: Thoughts For the Day

Burning books and erecting fortifications are the usual occupations of princes… ~Jorge Luis Borges~

I wonder about odd things.  When was the first sleep-specific pillow created and from what was it made?  Before people used pillows, was our physiology different?  Did humans’ changing physiology contribute to our need or want to use pillows to sleep … Continue reading →

I’ve never attempted to compile a list of pros and cons of permitting humanity to continue exercising its control over this planet.  Not yet.  Going into it, though, I suspect the scales might be roughly in balance, with just a … Continue reading →

In late afternoon, I look at the dappled light between branches and leaves, the brilliance of the sun bright in the sky beyond.  The light is bright, almost blinding, but still mottled and broken by leaves left hanging in the early fall air.  The longer I … Continue reading →

I’d like to get 14,400 samples of paints of different colors and paint each on a one-inch square on a ten foot by ten foot wall.  With sufficient planning, the wall could look like a wave, or an explosion, of color.

At some point, if you’re not a sculptor, you have to admit to yourself you’re not a sculptor. You can wish and hope and promise you’ll be a good boy if things would just be different, but it does no … Continue reading →

“Prisms refract light in much the same way prisons refract life.” I wrote that a few months ago, but it has added meaning today, the day after a conservative wave swept over the land. The worsening political landscape can be seen either … Continue reading →

We value variety in all aspects of our lives, yet we covet and fiercely protect our routines. Even in language, we treasure diversity, yet we tend to collect phrases and use them repeatedly, in favor of those less common. There … Continue reading →

It’s one of those days that suggest stew and hot soup, helped along with a mug of hot chocolate or a snifter of brandy.  But I’ll have to be satisfied with hot coffee and planning for stew and hot soups, because … Continue reading →

Think of the struggles of a farmer, facing fierce winters in Minnesota to build a life for himself and his family during the 1850s.  Maybe his name was Olafsen, maybe it was Henriksen, maybe it was something else.  It doesn’t … Continue reading →

I wonder who first conceived the idea of libraries? That person, if it was just one person, deserves our highest gratitude. The  library is altruism at its very best.

We are the recipients of time. Some of us with enough to fill a barrel, others with only enough to fill a thimble.

One month.  Just one month is all it would take, I think.  One month living as the “average” earthling lives, eating the same food the “average” earthling eats, sleeping where the “average” earthling sleeps, getting the same medical care the “average” … Continue reading →

Most people would prefer to see you succeed in an undertaking than to see you fail, because most people understand the shoe could be on the other foot.

Irony can be lost on a person whose mind is already made up.  Indeed, irony can simply reinforce the stereotypes residing in the person’s brain. Let it go; the only intellect that can cure the problem is not yours.

If it weren’t for lemons and limes, the world would be a less exciting and flavorful place. Unfortunately, we have the capacity to do to lemons and limes and thousands of other life forms what we did to the ivory-billed … Continue reading →

Explore almost anything deeply enough and you will see connections and interactions that would have been nearly invisible on a more cursory examination.  Mathematics, astronomy, cartography, botany, sociology…the list is endless.  More interesting, perhaps, is that even matters that on first blush … Continue reading →

Lack of use will wither the mind into an impermeable shell, bone-dry and leather-hard. At that point, it’s incapable of absorbing even a single new thought.  But with proper mental exercise, it can stay pliable; it can be open to ideas that challenge even the most … Continue reading →

Here in the forest, the sounds of night are not soft. I open the door at 4:30 a.m. and listen to a cacophony of noise; insects, birds, animals of all sorts.  They are hidden from sight, but unafraid to be … Continue reading →

Today is my niece’s birthday.  That makes me think the world is a fortunate place to have people of her caliber in it.  Happy birthday, to one of my favorite nieces! Now, as to other matters: we can wish and … Continue reading →

Some days are gentler than others, the usually hard corners worn just soft enough to make them malleable.  Those are the days when, after hours of dappled brightness, night comes on slowly, as if the light in the sky were draining away … Continue reading →

If I could go back to my twentieth birthday, I would have a full-frontal photo(fully clothed) of me taken, along with a full-body profile.  Then, each year on the same day, I would repeat the process.  The photos would be … Continue reading →

If your intended destination is Halifax, Nova Scotia, boarding a Laredo-bound bus in San Antonio is likely to put you on a deeply unpleasant and circuitous route. Check your intent, then check your ticket.

It is so easy to get discouraged by the behavior of dullards, witless thugs whose brains are incapable of anything but egotism and idiocy.  But I won’t let the cretins who disrupted the 24th Annual Pumpkin Festival in Keene, New Hampshire or the jerks … Continue reading →

An interesting and informative exercise involves describing oneself from the perspective of someone else who’s just met you.  The description includes both one’s physical and personality attributes and characteristics.  There will be more on this later.  For now, this is … Continue reading →