The exchange of ideas began with the presentation of research notes. Five of us submitted summaries of our findings, our considerations on the prospect of building-from-scratch higher education. Perhaps it is obvious that college and post graduate studies are out of reach financially for a large majority of high school students desiring to continue. …
I witnessed, an extended email exchange between two friends which treated the topic of vengeance, rage-filled violence. The pivot point of the discussion had to do with a comparison/contrast between the palpable expression, the gorge-filled uprising of murderous wrath, and the more benign fictional, hypothetical contemplation of this emotional storm, such as we find…
Charlie Watts died on August 24. He was eighty. Watts played drums for the Rolling Stones since 1963. Is it trite to say that Watts passing marks the end of an era? There, I have said it and will say it again. A great deal of what we’ve taken for granted and relied upon…
Imagine, by way of experiment, two young men [Wittgenstein and Heidegger] strolling together through the city – and suddenly one says to the other: “How strange that everything exists [“das es überhaupt etwas gibt”]! How miraculous: There! And there! Do you see it, too?” And the other man nods and says “Yes I see…
It is Sunday. While at Starbucks I enjoyed a conversation with an acquaintance. The conversation ranged from the Le Mans race taking place in Europe while we conversed, to Formula1 racing and Drag racing. Both of us are gear-heads with a long standing interest in performance automobiles, engineering, and racing. Any Sunday spent at…
Close enough …! I am thinking of the Blueberry Festival which we attended at the Windy Acres Farm in Geneva Sunday afternoon. The Festival was an immersive experience, as festivals must be. Present at a festival, once more I am reminded that I am not alone. Others are raising families, introducing children to the…
A return home after days of absence is a special feeling. The conviction arises, “this is where I belong.” Is that familiar touch of place and of presence in time, — what is meant by “the hand of fate?” All of my experiences, the places, faces, and events have brought me to this place. …
Willmar, Minnesota. Years have passed since visiting with relatives here. Willmar, a great plains town is a center for the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad. Driving into Willmar, you are unlikely to miss the switching yard for the freight bearing trains bound for Chicago, or for the Pacific coast. Willmar is home to the…
I am in Baraboo Wisconsin today. I am alone, with a cup of coffee on an outside patio. The crows in the woods behind me are noisily conferring. I heard this song on the radio yesterday. Goodby Stranger was featured in Breakfast in America an album by the British group Supertramp, released in 1979. …
Monday, the morning illuminated with unfiltered sun. Reaching for my dark sunglasses I accelerated into traffic, peering directly into the rising sun. Turning left from Fabyan Parkway onto Rt 31 I noted the poor reception on the FM radio no matter the station selected. Atmospheric conditions are such, — static mixes with music,… That…
