Nov 28
It’s certainly too early to start with the new year’s resolutions — though not too early to start breaking them — but it’s about the right time to start thinking in retrospective. That is, if there is a good season for that, which there isn’t. And, if there was, winter would not even in the …
Nov 25
Pedants hate the term “very unique” and spend quite a bit of time protesting it. I can’t blame them. They are right. Words mean what they mean. Unique means one of a kind. Although my sympathies lie with the pedants, I’m now willing to bend on this term. It is perfectly acceptable to ascribe degrees …
Nov 22
I have discovered a weakness in my stoicism that represents, not a flaw with the system, but one with myself. In the raw world, I attempt to keep my emotions private. People can reasonably assume that I do not have them. Even if they avoid leaping to that conclusion, they remain ignorant of where my …
Nov 18
Not very much. It’s a bit late to review “What the Bleep do We Know!?” Plus, I never saw the whole thing. I watched it for about twenty minutes. Then I vomited. While cleaning that up, I realized that I had not only lost my dinner but also a great deal of respect for the …
Nov 14
I know that I have readers and I do my best to cater but I still view this blog as a private enterprise and notebook. Please excuse me while I indulge myself — aka bore you. There’s just a couple of things I want to jot down because I think they’re basically right — yet …
Oct 13
I know there’s not exactly an overwhelming demand to learn more about stoicism but, after my last post about The Church of Spock, I thought there might be a need. Besides, “The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius” is one of my favourite books. So here’s a lecture in five parts about it. And a quick summary …
Sep 21
As promised, here are the links to Daryl Bank’s pictures from Turkey. There’s one group here and another here. The one on the right is my favourite but that might be because I’m seeing William Gibson speak tonight. And I’m actually excited. That fellow wrote the best first line of the twentith century: “The sky …
Sep 15
Here’s a dirty little secret. I’m an Ayn Rand fan. I’ve read “The Fountainhead” more times than I can remember and “Atlas Shrugged” three times. Love them both. I don’t agree with everything she says –I’m not totally insane — but I agree with the bulk and certainly with the spirit of the work. What …
Jul 08
Having a glass of tonic water mixed with some lime cordial seems simple enough. You walk to the fridge, pour the ingredients into a glass and viola. But it really isn’t that simple. That’s just the tip of the shark’s fin. Let’s take the glass. Its raw materials are ripped from the Earth, formed into …
Jun 28
One of my philosophies was put to the test last night. I was at some sort of musical performance, featuring the usual irate white people making a racket, and had escaped outside for a smoke. (The single upside to the smoking ban is that it always gives one a back door.) My friend and I …
