According to an article in The Atlantic, “Sudden Russian Death Syndrome”, rich, influential people around Vladimir Putin and in the greater Russian orbit seem to have developed a nasty habit of getting dead. In case the hyperlink above brings you to a paywall, here’s an excerpt from the article that lists a few of the […]
Sometime during my Holiday Season musings, I came across two posts from the editors at LinkedIn News. Since I detected no tongues in cheeks, I took them to be evidence of the extent to which we’ve become purely reactive; that is, in the absence of critical thinking, questioning, and anticipation, we observe and react. That’s […]
We live on East Street in Middletown, Connecticut. On the west side of East Street, there’s a neighborhood, Sylvan Run Village, in which Eddie loves to walk every morning. Through that neighborhood, there’s a stream that flows north. Since I don’t believe in gravity, I don’t find that particularly troubling. But I did want to […]
Kindness is the language that the deaf can hear and the blind can see. ~ Unknown Many people appreciate that being kind is synonymous with showing you care about others. On the other hand, others sneer at kindness in business and express the belief that if you’re too kind, you only set yourself up for […]
In case you missed the memo, kids, we’re in deep kimchi. That’s right. According to this measured and highly objective headline in that paragon of levelheadedness and evenhandedness, The Washington Post, “World has nine years to avert catastrophic warming, study shows.” See what I mean? We’re on the brink of an apocalyptic something or other, […]
An election is coming. Universal peace is declared, and the foxes have a sincere interest in prolonging the lives of the poultry. (George Eliot, nee Mary Ann Evans) Here in Connecticut — the Nutmeg State, the Land of Steady Habits, the Constitution State, the Provisions State, the Blue Law State, the Freestone, and Brownstone State, […]
I made a brief reference to a story I’ll recount here in an earlier post. It warrants elaboration here because the subject of planning seems to have crept into many of the conversations I’ve been engaged in of late, including this one with my friend, Jim Vinoski. The notion of planning always troubled me. It […]
I’ve written about my depression before. But since this is Mental Health Awareness Month — and since every month should be Mental Health Awareness Month — I want to revisit the topic. In that earlier piece, I wrote my depression was characterized by stark, unrelenting terror. It resulted in a kind of hypervigilance, an exaggerated […]
I’ve been having trouble with the notion of authenticity for quite some time. My first challenge is one of definition. According to dictionary.com, authentic, whence derives authenticity, is defined like this: adjective: 1. not false or copied; genuine 2. having an origin supported by unquestionable evidence; authenticated; verified 3. representing one’s true nature or beliefs; […]
As the obsessive language freak I happen to be, I’m always sensitive to new expressions creeping into the vernacular. Most frequently, those expressions are meaningless; that is, they don’t actually express anything of substance. But they’re valuable for what they signal. And they signal four things about the people who use them. Those people: Likely […]
