This morning, a little after 8 a.m., the power went out in our little hamlet. Flicker of the lights, beep of the smoke detectors, thought it might come back right away, but no. Time to call the power company. Ah, but the home phone has an electric base, so there was no way to call out from it. Naturally, the internet and television were inoperable as well. Good thing we get a paper bill…
When the Robin Williams movie “Dead Poets Society” came out in 1989, the phrase “Carpe diem” [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ec8FOZvcPVM] became all the rage. It means, “Seize the day,” as in none of us is getting out of this world alive – we don’t know when our time is going to be up – it may well be as early as the next instant or tomorrow – and we’d better enjoy it while we can. I often see…
Olio: a miscellaneous collection of things Do you ever run across so many fascinating items online that they back up before you get a chance to share them? I’m suffering that condition now but I’m going to control myself and share only 6 of them. Want to Create Things That Matter? Be Lazy. [99u] – While I agree with the basic premise of this article – that creating things of value, deep things, you have…
Olio: a miscellaneous collection of things — My recent internet findings … I had not heard the terms “trigger warnings” or “microagressions” until the past month. Now I’m seeing the whole phenomenon surrounding me. For a good article that explains both, see “The Coddling of the American Mind” from The Atlantic. South Park has also been exploring the issue in recent episodes with the character P.C. Principal. “i will let go of my darkness when…
Since my dad died 2 1/2 years ago, I’ve been paying especially close attention to the local obituaries. Perhaps because my dad died after having just turned 71, which seems much too young to my 48-year-old soul, I noticed that I was seeing an awful lot of deaths among the 40 to 60-year-old cohort, joining those who were over the age of 85. (It’s not uncommon to see people reach the high 90s or even…