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Category Archives: Essays
‘Hand to Mouth’ by Linda Tirado
Thanks to Mary M for sending this along: So why do poor people seem so self destructive. Well, “Our bodies hurt, our brains hurt, and our souls hurt.” Poor people are exhausted, degraded, angry and depressed most days of their … Continue reading
Posted in Essays, Homeless, Poverty, Social justice
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Shoulder Taps
Thanks to Margarete B who found this one. The spontaneous “shoulder taps” that happen can be wonderful, but sometimes silence is best. I remember seeing a very obese lady in my office one time. Her problem was totally unrelated to … Continue reading
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Ageism: A ‘Prevalent and Insidious’ Health Threat
Ed note: This article probably deserves some discussion. Have you experienced ageism? Are we too sensitive about our age? Are the concerns about ageism at times over the top, being too politically correct? Does our tendency to joke about our … Continue reading
Posted in Aging Sites, Essays
1 Comment
The secret to San Francisco’s famous sourdough: bug poop
Thanks to Pam P for sending this in By Charlotte Druckman and Kevin Gray in Popular Science It’s easy to get a rise out of a local TV news crew. Especially in a slo-mo state capital like California’s. So it was on September 6, 2007, … Continue reading
The moral philosophy of David Brooks
David Brooks is quite honest in his latest book. He became a workaholic and his marriage fell apart six years ago. His Quest for a Moral Life is a message to us all about personal responsibility for our actions, and … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Essays, Philosophy
1 Comment
The funeral as we know it is becoming a relic — just in time for a death boom
By Karen Heller April 15 (in the Washington Post – thanks to Frank C for sending this in) Dayna West knows how to throw a fabulous memorial shindig. She hired Los Angeles celebration-of-life planner Alison Bossert — yes, those now exist — … Continue reading
Posted in end of life, environment, Essays, Remembrances
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Our Disgrace at the Border by David Brooks
Suppose one night there is a knock on your door. You open it to find 100 bedraggled families shivering in your yard — exhausted, filthy, terrified. The first cry of your heart would be to take them in, but you’d … Continue reading
Posted in Essays, Law, Politics, Race, Social justice
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Who was Sparky?
Thanks to Rosemary W for sending the video along From Wikipedia: “Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota,[3] Schulz grew up in Saint Paul. He was the only child of Carl Schulz, who was born in Germany, and Dena Halverson, who had Norwegian heritage.[4] His uncle called him “Sparky” after the … Continue reading
To boost your self-esteem, write about chapters of your life
From Aeon: “In truth, so much of what happens to us in life is random – we are pawns at the mercy of Lady Luck. To take ownership of our experiences and exert a feeling of control over our future, … Continue reading
Posted in Essays, Remembrances
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Hope springs eternal
Below is from Alexander Pope’s An Essay on Man. Though Pope isn’t talking about the folly of Mariner’s Mania, he does remind us to “drop into thyself and be a fool.” Know then thyself, presume not God to scanThe proper … Continue reading
Posted in Essays, Philosophy, Sports
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The Incredible Shrinking Trump Boom
By Paul Krugman from the NYT: “So far, Donald Trump has passed only one significant piece of legislation: the 2017 tax cut. It was, to be fair, a pretty big deal: corporations, the principal beneficiaries, have already saved more than … Continue reading
Dissecting the Dreams of Brexit Britain
Ed Note: Could anyone please enlighten us as to what’s really going on in the existential crises called Brexit. Are they really dreaming of a lost empire? Is it white nationalism? Is it mainly reflecting the long simmering differences between … Continue reading
A black man’s dialogue with the KKK
Thanks to Gordon G. An amazing dialogue brings about understanding and change.
Posted in Essays, Race, Social justice
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Does tipping humanize the restaurant experience?
From Aeon: “Historians mostly agree that tipping was originally an aristocratic custom. In early 17th century England, it became expected that visitors to a private home would, on departure, leave a small amount of money, called a vail, to the … Continue reading
The policy implications of love your neighbor.
By David Brooks in the NYT “Ideas drive history. But not just any ideas, magnetic ideas. Ideas so charismatic that people devote their lives to them. In his 1999 book, “The Real American Dream,” Andrew Delbanco described the different ideas that, at … Continue reading
Posted in Essays, Politics, Social justice
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Honesty – from “Consolations” by David Whyte
Ed note: Below is a second essay about a word, this time honesty, by the writer and poet David Whyte is his book “Consolations.” Please let me know if you would like more essays about common words. Or you can click on the above link to Amazon books. “Honesty is reached through the doorway of grief and loss. Where we cannot go in our mind, our memory, or our body … Continue reading
Posted in Essays, Uncategorized
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“Consolations – The Solace, Nourishment and Underlying Meaning of Everyday Words” by David Whyte
Words carry power to each one of us in a different way. The internationally acclaimed poet and Author David Whyte makes his home in the Pacific Northwest, where rain and changeable skies remind him of the other, more distant homes … Continue reading
Posted in Essays, literature
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What would Lincoln do?
By David BlankenhornSpecial to The Los Angeles Times Abraham Lincoln, who was born 210 years ago this month, was president during an era even more rancorous and polarized than our own. Yet he managed to navigate it — not in a … Continue reading
Posted in Advocacy, Essays, History, Philosophy, Politics
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Authors write about love
“I like not only to be loved, but also to be told I am loved.”—By George Eliot “The one thing we can never get enough of is love. And the one thing we never give enough of is love.” —By … Continue reading
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Route 66 – Get your kicks!
From Savingplaces.org: While it’s not the oldest automobile highway in the United States, Route 66—a National Treasure of the National Trust—is likely the most enduring highway in America’s public consciousness. “The Mother Road,” as it’s often called, represents a significant … Continue reading
Posted in Education, environment, Essays, History, Photography, Remembrances, Travel
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Expectations can change us!
Posted in environment, Essays
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Downtown driving tax could fix traffic without pricing out the poor
From Crosscut: Mayor Durkan wants to toll drivers to lower emissions and break Seattle’s gridlock, and new research shows it could benefit low-income communities, too.by An evening view of the Pacific Tower on Beacon Hill, Seattle, with traffic on Interstate … Continue reading
Posted in environment, Essays, In the Neighborhood, Social justice, Traffic
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