A Blog About Creativity
The stranger who rescued him was a dark-skinned woman. She'd been wearing a green dress with flowers and a matching sweater, delicate pearl buttons running down the front. She smelled exotic like rose petals. All he wanted to do was to thank … [Continue reading]
A sign at a café in Medellín illustrates the Colombiano passion for courtesy. Un tinto—a small cup of black coffee—costs $2000 Colombian pesos. Or about 65 cents. Ask for your tinto with a simple “por favor” and the price immediately … [Continue reading]
At the time of the winter solstice, the veil between heaven and earth narrows, opening us to the possibility of transformation. In some spiritual traditions, it’s called a thin place, an idea that captured my attention enough to use it as the title … [Continue reading]
In between fetching pain pills and making me lunch, Gertrude watches me grimace every time I roll over. Or get up to go to the bathroom. Sneezing is the worst. “No more golf for you,” she says. I’m recovering ever-so-slowly from a bulging disk. … [Continue reading]
No one is expected to be squeaky-clean cradle to grave. As a psychologist at a university counseling center, I was privy to many regrets and misbehaviors, lies, secrets, and even some illegal acts. On a handful of occasions, young men confessed to … [Continue reading]
The muezzin lolls me out of a deep sleep with his plaintive call to prayer. It's 5:30 in the morning, pitch black but for a swath of light through the curtains. Two-wheeled carts are rumbling along the cobblestone walkway below. A moped whizzes … [Continue reading]
For months, I've been edging toward writing another blog post about musings on a recent golf lesson. It was going to be humorous with a message at the end about not being too self-critical. I wish I could feel good about writing that post. But the … [Continue reading]
I'd no sooner gotten in the cab from the airport to downtown Wellington, New Zealand, when the driver launched into a mini-lecture about the voracious stoat—a short-tailed weasel that has wreaked havoc on native species. Here in the US, we think … [Continue reading]
Fiction thrives on spectacle and deceit. We're intrigued by a protagonist who lies. The narcissist, whose egotism obscures alternative viewpoints, is greeted enthusiastically in the world of film and literature. We marvel at the sleight of hand, if … [Continue reading]
Here's a frightening piece of history I stumbled upon in the course of researching my second novel. Just one more example of why ignorance matters. In the 1950's, Joseph McCarthy's decade of reckless red-baiting led to a purging in the State … [Continue reading]
