“It was a scene,” he told Playboy magazine. “Everyone went out and applauded the sunset every night. Bales of marijuana washed up on the shore. There were great cheap Cuban restaurants … Key West seemed like the End: East Coast Division — a common reason people wind up there, especially writers, artists, musicians and…
What is happiness? By what means do we know if we are happy? It seems that only in retrospect I judge myself to have been happy. My grand daughter is almost four years old. She appears to be as happy as is humanly possible when I push her high in a swing. While swinging…
This strange poem resonates with me. Nietzsche was in a class by himself as a professional intellectual. The youngest person to hold the Chair of Classical Philology at the University of Basel at the age of 24, he later turned to philosophy. Nietzsche was an incessant writer. He was plagued with health problems. Also,…
“Souls that are unsure” Souls that are unsure and cloying I loathe like their acclaim. All their honors are annoying, All their praise is self-hatred and shame. Since I do not join their dances, Tied to their old rope, I am followed by their glances’ Sweetly poisoned envy without hope. Let them curse me…
The concluding appendix of The Gay Science is a collection of poems. The section is entitled Songs of Prince Bird-free, or “free as a bird.” The German term signifies an outlaw whom anyone can shoot on sight. The reader of The Gay Science likely would not be surprised at the ambiguity of the title. …
I felt ambivalence. Not being a connoisseur of antique automobiles why would I desire the press of congestion at the Geneva Concours d’Elegance? Contemplating vintage vehicles on the flat screen in the course of a television historical drama is enough for me. On the other hand, the event was free… As you would guess…
Another poem from the concluding appendix to The Gay Science. I like the sardonic note of this one, a surreal description of a professional religionist, of a man-of-the-cloth. Beppa is the pious priest, the first to benefit from forgiveness-at-a-discount offered by the church. “With another sin, one wipes old sins away.” Another phrasing that…
Saturday is a quasi holiday for many adults, and for children. A timeout from the usual routine of work, perhaps some chores around the yard or house, followed by a visit to the Farmer’s Market. Certainly that describes a Saturday in late summer for those like myself living in a Fox River Valley community. …
“Who will sing a song for us?” — and that is the question is it not? Who, perhaps you or I will step forward to do our best with the future’s melody! What of concern which you and I are certain to have of being misunderstood? That is none of our business! It is…
So the hand moves forward, the tragedy begins… That describes my sense of reality after reading the account of the Republican debate last night. I did not watch. I was tempted by shear voyeurism, but managed to resist my inclination. The eight Republican candidates running for second place, far behind the polling numbers of…
