In Japan many homes have a feature that is called in direct translation, a god-shelf, or kami-dana in Japanese. This feature, a wooden shelf placed in a wall niche, is used for placement of pictures of the deceased, and on occasion a burning candle, and food offering. I thought this odd when I lived…
Comment was made in the course of our discussion of the Iliad, of the great cultural differences in the late-bronze age status of women, and that of our own time, three millennia in the future. Consider the character of Briseis, taken and given as a spoil of war to Achilles consequent to the razing…
Our grand daughter was laid to rest day before yesterday. She passed three weeks before she was due to be born. There is a cause which we most certainly will never know. There is no reason that she died. She was loved intensely and nothing was left undone to prepare for her coming into…
It is unusual for me to leave you behind for any reason. When I crossed the Ohio River on the new toll bridge leaving Louisville, I felt deeply why I needed to leave you behind. For the first time I felt our family; how substantial, how strong it has become. We grieved for our…
There is nothing more terrible, and more truthful than a mother weeping for her stillborn child. Words absolutely fail to convey anything of the meaning of the experience. One observes and understands nothing of what is happening. To weep is a natural, appropriate response to death, the passage of something or someone who is…
The quotes from Guevara are mind bending. As a source of insight, Che Guevara is considered by many to be a stone-cold-killer, an enemy of all social order. The quote indicates that he was anything but stone-cold, and that he was an advocate of a particular kind of order. Wait, is that a hand…
Our daughter and her partner are expecting a baby girl. Kai is to be born in January. I am awed that the child is to bear my mothers name as her middle name. My mother was a extraordinarily courageous and kind woman. She would have been greatly honored to have her name given to…
“Si vous êtes pris dans le rêve de l’autre, vous êtes foutu” (If you’re trapped in the dream of the other, you’re fucked) —Gilles Deleuze Have you ever been in love? Horrible isn’t it? It makes you so vulnerable. It opens your chest and it opens up your heart and it means that someone…
Thanks Dad !
With all the disruptions swirling around us, even if one is not directly impacted, — these are troubled times. I am dismayed for my countrymen in Northern California, and in Puerto Rico. Those who live in Houston and in the Florida Keys will suffer the hard labor of recovery for many months, perhaps years…
