When I thought as a child
When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. —1 Corinthians 13:11 Children have a lot of time … Continue reading →
Category Archives: Getting philosophical: life, love, the universe
The “does it make me look fat?” question
Quite a few people responded to my observation at the end of this post about “the admitted double-bind of that ancient question: ‘does this outfit make me look fat?’” So I thought I’d expand (pun intended) a bit on that … Continue reading →
Is there a racist in the audience?
Re the Shirley Sherrod video, commenter “cm” remarks: i thought the point of the video was showing the reaction of the audience (naacp ppl) when she mentioned not helping the white farmer. they laughed and said amen at this point … Continue reading →
First memories
[NOTE: I came across this old post of mine the other day, and thought it might be fun to repeat it, with some added thoughts.] I’ve always had an excellent recollection for early events in my life, with the peculiarity … Continue reading →
Abortion and sympathy, men and women
Today I was sent a link to this this piece, which discusses the enraged reaction of some radical feminists to the idea of sympathy cards (or even sympathy itself) for men whose female significant others have had abortions and are … Continue reading →
Father’s Day musings and poetry
[NOTE: This a slightly edited version of a previous post of mine.] Father’s Day. A sort of poor stepchild to Mother’s Day, although fathers themselves are hardly that. They are central to a family. Just ask the people who never … Continue reading →
Update on Clive Wearing: amnesia, a love story
Some of you may recall a post I wrote in 2005 about Clive Wearing, the man with such profound memory loss that he lived in a single repeating and ever-changing present moment disconnected from those that had gone before. To … Continue reading →
Another change story: sports, politics, and life
Here’s the story of a man whose political change was sparked by a kids’ basketball game, of all things. Roland Toy ran up against a group of liberal parents who wanted to protect their fourth-graders from the pain and struggle … Continue reading →
Tipper and Al are splitsville…
…and there’s sorrow and consternation in the land. Seriously, there is. And in order to feel sad about it, it’s not even necessary to be a Democrat, or to like Tipper and Al Gore. It’s almost always upsetting and even … Continue reading →
Babies care
You think babies are just selfish slugs? Think again. According to researcher Paul Bloom (the article is long, but worth reading in its entirety), they have a capacity for empathy, however rudimentary: Human babies, notably, cry more to the cries … Continue reading →
Life and death: it’s a thin line
A few days ago I was visiting New York for my brother’s birthday—a big one, but I’ll not reveal the exact number. The official celebration was at a wonderful restaurant in a private room, featuring one of those tasting menus … Continue reading →
Affairs of state: Nicolas and Chantal and Carla and Benjamin
It’s all tré¨s Frané§ais. The marriage of French President Nicolas Sarkozy and First Lady Carla Bruni appears to have succumbed to simultaneous affairs, he with Junior Minister for Ecology Chantal Jouanno and she with singer Benjamin Biolay. I say, if … Continue reading →