Those lyric lines filled the atmosphere of the Starbucks patron seating area. Under present conditions such language seems to be the apex of irony. On a two hour zoom call yesterday President Biden is reported to have ‘warned’ Putin of Russia that if he attacks Ukraine, he will be sorry… And so goes the…
January 8th will be the birthday of Elvis Presley. Plato was no fan of poetry. Plato, a professor of philosophy, Athenian who lived 4th Century BCE, expressed aversion to the arts. Plato was pointed in his criticism of poetry. He believed that poetry especially when combined with the emotional stimulus of music was dangerous. …
Yesterday evening I was guest at a birthday celebration for our grandson. Family members gathered to express our joy on the occasion of his turning 7 years old. The event was glorious. Of course gifts were given, enough toys to afford hours of pleasure and learning. Thoughtful aunts gave him clothes too. Our family…
Saturday, and it is quiet in the Starbucks seating area. This serene atmosphere will change soon. Families are sure to arrive, busy with Christmas shopping here in Geneva. The space will be crowded, as customers wait for a warm beverage. Last night I joined my best friend of over 50 years for a dinner…
I did not post yesterday. Yesterday, after arriving at Starbucks I discovered my laptop computer was hardly running, no life left in the battery. Over night, a power discharge depleted the machine. I was left without my usual writing aid. I could have improvised with pen and paper. I chose to read instead, and…
Seinsgefühl, German for “feeling of being.” Our discussion last night on the topic of Existentialism, the post WWII movement revolved around this indispensable aspect of our lives, “feeling of being.” For our fathers, or grandfathers who survived the industrial scale slaughter and destruction of Europe, of the Pacific islands including Japan the issue was…
Tuesday dawned brisk, in the low 30s the sky a shade of baby blue. One more day is given, a gift to be lived, and who knows what opportunities will come for appreciation, puzzlement, a tap on the shoulder so to speak, there is more to be learned, much more. As is my habit…
Transparency. Sounds innocuous enough, even desirable. Who does not wish to have daily life smoothed out, obstacles and bottle necks which make realizing our objectives, especially those involved in getting what we need from relationships, — removed? Transparency is a good idea is it not? Transparency is a watchword, a conceptual key to the…
It is the very mind itself that leads the mind astray, –of the mind do not be mindless. –Takuan Sōhō Voltaire once said, “Le mieux est l’ennemi du bien,” — the perfect is enemy of the good. A few of us, together around a table at Barnes & Noble last night, and several more…
Like practitioners of the Baroque,we too are irrepressible creators of images,but secretly we are iconoclasts -not in the sense that we destroy images,but in the sense that we manufacture a profusion of imagesin which there is nothing to see.Present-day images – be they video images, paintings,products of the plastic arts, or audiovisual or synthesized…
