8/3/14 Non-Obvious

The secret of all victory lies in the organization of the non-obvious ~~~~Marcus Aurelius The lengthy Roman empire had many emperors. Not all of them were much good, some even evil…Nero, Caligula, Domitian, Diocletian, Commodus: none of them are remembered with much admiration, each of them demanding that they be worshiped as a god, and…

8/2/14 What I Don’t Know

Well, I do know that this is my daughter’s birthday. I became a father 32 years ago today. I know that I love her and the two precious daughters she has of her own, also known as my grandchildren, one of the best things I have found in life so far, which is something all…

7/23/14 Children on Parade

Is this politics? Please indulge me. Old sins easily beset us from time to time. Though I am extremely suspect of any statistics published by any UN agency, I will use them when I find them convenient. Doesn’t everyone like statistics that are convenient? I don’t have time to waste with inconvenient statistics. They don’t…

7/20/14 We’re All Immigrants

My great-great+++great grandfather, Edward Sharp, sailed on the ship Henry and Frances in 1687 from League, Scotland, and disembarked at Perth Amboy, New Jersey. He had received a land grant from William Penn and was fleeing Presbyterian persecution in Scotland, looking for religious freedom offered by the Quaker Corporate entity that was Pennsylvania. I’m not…

7/20/14 Whatever Happened to Graceful?

Things just aren’t what they used to be…not by a long shot. It doesn’t seem like so long ago when I could just grab the edge of my pickup truck and simply and gracefully swing over up and into the back, and just as gracefully place the same hand on the edge and simply hop…

7/19/14 Third-Rate Drivel

I cannot stop. I have this time on my hands since I am not feeling my best, not that I am complaining, so I decided I would write something. “You should write a novel,” a friend suggested. I have thought about that for quite some time. It’s hard work developing characters, keeping focused on the…

7/18/14 Disendontistry and Youthful Restoration

Nutrition is a more dismal science than economics. I have written about this many times before, but it keeps presenting itself for more mistreatment. Since I have set limits for myself about writing about politics and my topics have become more limited, I seem to keep unavoidably writing about the same ones. I don’t know…

7/8/14 What Happened to Persuasion?

Please be warned. I am writing this on my tablet. It is likely to be rife with typos which I will fix later. The touchscreen keypad is too small, the screen too tiny to see the words, and I detest typing anything on it other than a short note. Have I persuaded you that I…

7/5/14 That Lucky Old Sun

Writers use words to construct images the reader can visualize. Sometimes the crafty writer, or maybe it’s just the lucky writer, can craft images that are far more vivid than an actual image, and far more personal, since the visualized image comes from the mind of the reader. This is a very subjective process. It…

7/4/14 Awake at Smith Lake

There’s much worse places to be awake at. We spent two days getting ready for our three-hour trip. The whole family would be venturing to Smith Lake in Jasper, Alabama, to spend the July 4 weekend at the lake house of my life long friends, David and Pat Curtis. David and me share a special…