| Where Am I? |
ideas |
The search for self continues, in spite of everything. (2/4/2008) |
| Richard
Dawkins vs. Ken Wilber |
ideas |
Confronting the seeming differences between the material and the mystic (2/4/2008) |
| Evolution
and the Anthropic Principle |
ideas |
Yes, the evolutionary events that are us are incredibly improbable. (1/30/3008) |
| Wanting |
personal |
To be free of desire, they say, is to be free. (12/20/2007) |
| Cheshire
Cat |
ideas |
Who we think we are isn't even half of it. (11/27/2007) |
| To
the Editor of The Sun |
personal |
Feelings that go beyond words (11/10/2007) |
| "I
Could Have Been a Contender" |
ideas |
Heroes and the American Dream (10/31/2008) |
| What
I Wish I'd Said... |
ideas |
The mysterious forces that make us write (10/27/2007) |
| Keeping
Up With the World |
ideas |
The myths we harbor that often aren't true (10/11/2007) |
| Naming
the Unnamed |
ideas |
We have words for many things, but a lot that goes on inside us
remains unnamed. (10/11/2007) |
| Snoozing
in my Chair |
personal |
A poem. What else can I say? (10/8/2007) |
| Flight
of the Phoenix, Redux |
ideas |
Reason and logic may have their place, but . . .
(10/7/2007) |
| Remembering
that First Kiss |
personal |
. . . and other delights of age.
(10/1/2007) |
| The
Power of Fog |
ideas |
At the limits of language, how do we continue?
(9/28/2007) |
| On
God Being in the Details |
Music, Ideas |
Craftsmanship is inseparable from inspiration
(9/13,2007) |
| Principles
in Art |
ideas |
Rational Analysis goes only so far in telling us what a work of art
really means (9/5/2007) |
| Spirit
and Matter |
ideas |
More about Ken Wilber and the materialists (8/9/2007) |
| The
Enlightenment Conundrum |
ideas |
Ken Wilber and the materialists, playing with my mind
(8/2/2007) |
| On
Believing |
ideas |
Beliefs and Meta-beliefs and human nature (7/26/2007) |
| My
Visit with the Director of Lawrence Radiation Lab |
personal |
An "advice call" that was way out of my depth.
(12/13/1994) |
| Plodding
Down the Path, Seeking . . . What? |
personal |
Can a biological machine have free will? (7/16/2007) |
| Read
To Me |
personal |
A multi-media exploration of multi-media (7/4/2007) |
| Broad
Minded |
ideas |
I don't like to feel I'm being put in a box (7/12/2007) |
| Flight
2200 |
fiction |
Jet Fatigue (June 19, 2007) |
| Copyright
Inheritance |
ideas |
Should Homer have protected his work? (5/20/2007) |
| Lost
to the Clouds |
personal |
Dreams sometimes reveal us to ourselves. (5/19/2007) |
| Mammogram |
personal |
When "one thing leads to another" goes too
far (5/17/2007) |
| I'm
Old, Old, he said |
personal |
Learning the art of making acquaintances. (5/15/2007) |
| Layers |
ideas |
The difficulty of trying to classify people
(5/10/2007) |
| Patterns,
by Paul Simon and Douglas Hofstadter |
ideas |
Is there a me, or am "I" just a pattern?
(4/18/2007) |
| I
Believe in Rainbows |
ideas |
The Self, like the rainbow, may be an illusion (4/12/2007) |
| Whom
Can We Believe? |
ideas |
Is the whole world just somebody's opinion?
(4/1/2007) |
| Tax
Time |
personal |
Sometimes I think I'll never outgrow the classroom.
(3/6/2007) |
| Water?
What Water? |
ideas |
The more things change, the less we know of them.
(12/25/2006) |
| A
Long, Drawn-Out Solstice |
ideas |
Musing on an astronomical curiosity (12/24.2006) |
| Telling
Stories - 2 |
ideas |
My lesson in writing to be heard. (12/14/2006) |
| Beliefs
- Part Two |
ideas |
Some more thoughts about Sam Harris (10/14/2006) |
| Retro |
ideas |
Fashions change--and sometimes return
(10/13/2006) |
| The
Quest for Certainty |
ideas |
Certainty is an illusion, and its quest is sometimes
counterproductive. (8/25/2006) |
| To
the Ends of the Earth |
ideas |
Boundaries that don't exist. (8/10/2006) |
| Astonishment |
ideas |
It's about expectations and disappointments. (8/4/2006) |
| The
Meaning of Life |
ideas |
An ever-receding question. (7/27/2006) |
| Prosopagnosia |
personal |
It's called "Face-Blindness" and I have the next thing to
it. (7/13/2006) |
| On
Being Fully Alive |
personal |
Diane Ackerman continues to inspire me. (7/3/2006) |
| Rats |
personal |
A memoir about an incident that still intrigues me. (6/15/2006) |
| We
Hold These Truths... |
ideas |
Powerful as it is for us, the Declaration of Independence is not the
word of God. (6/14/2006) |
| Music
and Language |
ideas |
Maybe the Neanderthals sang instead of thinking.
(5/30/2006) |
| Circular
Thinking |
ideas |
A musing about why we feel bad. (5/22/2006) |
| There
Are Beliefs, and . . . |
ideas |
Sam Harris's book has a near-fatal weakness. (5/4/2006) |
| Runaway
World |
ideas |
Thomas Friedman's new book, The World is Flat, gave me some
things to think about (12/9/2005) |
| Deep
Playmate |
ideas |
Diane Ackerman has a good idea; I wish only that she had had a better
editor. (11/10/2005) |
| An
Alchemy of Telling |
ideas |
Diane Ackerman at her best, and writing about the mind -- I loved it!
(10/30/2005) |
| John |
personal |
Someone I met a long time ago, but never forgot. (8/10/
2005) |
| If
I Should Die before I Wake . . . |
personal |
A bedtime prayer my mother taught me, that I've learned all over
again. (6/30/ 2005) |
| Habits |
ideas |
We're stuck with having them, but we're not stuck with particular
habits. (6/23/ 2005) |
| Theme
Song Nostalgia |
personal |
The story of my life can be told in music. (6/9/ 2005) |
| Cultural
Genes |
ideas |
We haven't left evolution behind, but the Big Game is now in our
court. (5/26/ 2005) |
| The
Joy of Science |
ideas |
Fame and fortune may motivate scientific inquiry, but something else
is often more important. (5/19/ 2005) |
| The
Conundrum of Human Nature |
Ideas |
The nature-nurture issue, re-examined. Just because it's natural,
does that make it right? (5/13/2005) |
| No,
the Computer Isn't Smarter than I Am! |
Ideas |
A bit of advice from a computer mentor (5/9/2005) |
| Fight
or Flight or . . . What? |
personal |
I've learned something about myself that I'm not comfortable with,
but . . . (4/26/2005) |
| Minor
Island |
personal |
A memoir of an early experience that gave me a better sense of
myself. (composed 7/21/2001, posted 4/20/2005 ) |
| Landings
II and III |
personal |
Sentimental journeys, there and back, at 30,000 feet. (composed
2001, posted 4/16/2005) |
| A
Rant on Religion |
Ideas |
About tolerance and truth (4/1/2005) |
| "The
West Wing" Turning Right? |
Ideas |
It's only a television program, but there's something important about
it, and maybe it's time for a change (3/24/2005) |
| The
Geometry of Spring |
Ideas |
How come the winter sunrise doesn't change with the winter sunset?
And other musings. (3/11/2005) |
| Music
as Language |
Music, Ideas |
I love music, but I don't always understand it. (3/3/2005) |
| The
Sun on Me in the Morning |
personal |
There are some important things in my life, and this is one.
(2/2/2005) |
| What
is Art? |
Ideas |
Just because somebody says it is art doesn't make it true--or false
(1/31/2005) |
| Missing
Pieces |
personal |
Those little dreams and bits of dreams influence us all our lives (1/20/2005) |
| Beauty
and Spirit |
Ideas |
There's something more to beauty than entertainment.
(1/3/2005) |
| Living
Simply |
personal |
What do I really Want from Life? (1/28/2005) |
| Voices |
personal |
The mind is a mysterious thing. (2/8/2003) |
| I
Had a Brother, Once |
personal |
Blood doesn't always define relationships. (12/2/2004) |
| You
Don't Understand Us |
ideas |
Osama bin Laden's attempt to influence the U.S. elections.
(11/16/.2004) |
| The
New God of Probability |
ideas |
Statistics are taking the place of burning bushes (8/26/1994
- 11/11/2004) |
| The
Wild One |
Personal |
Sometimes, it feels right to just let go. (3/11/1995) |
| Insurance |
Personal |
All is impermanent, as The Buddha says. (10/22/2004) |
| The
Cost of Health Care |
Personal |
The cost/benefit dilemma that will continue to grow.
(10/15/2004) |
| Gene
Hackman as President? |
Ideas |
Fear seeks simple answers. (10/8/2004) |
| Being
Lifted Out of the Ordinary |
Ideas |
or, "People whom it would be wonderful to know..."
(9/9/2004) |
| Popular
Music Ain't What it Used to Be |
Music, Personal |
Sometimes it moves me, but the old show tunes stay in my head. (7/2/2004) |
| Sleeping
Beauty |
Personal |
My life seems full of mysteries--or is it just one?
(6/18/2004) |
| Once
or Twice |
Fiction |
A film/video script inspired by a haunting song
(4/12/2000) |
| The
Head and the Heart |
Ideas |
I have always felt two kinds of pull at me, my intellectual curiosity
and my emotional hunger for—something. (6/5/2004) |
| "Pay
attention!" |
Ideas |
The words came to me as if they had been spoken aloud. But of course
they weren't. (5/26/2004) |
| Music,
Poetry and Meaning |
Music, Ideas |
True meaning often comes to us, when it does, by a side door.
(5/6/2004) |
| On
Seeking Truth |
Ideas |
"Truth is not elusive," he says. But clarity is obscured by
our own filters. (4/23/2004) |
| Full
Moon |
Personal |
Somethin' in the way she moves me . . . (4/9/2004) |
| Perceptions
and Reality |
Ideas |
Just because something feels true doesn't mean necessarily that it
is. (4/2/2004) |
| The
Marriage Bond |
Ideas |
Opposite Sex, Same Sex--isn't the commitment the important thing?
(3/20/2004) |
| Taboo
is a Right-Brain Activity |
Ideas |
Humans are a rational species, but . . . (3/3/2004) |
| Are
We Connected? |
Personal |
Going from the general to the particular isn't always easy. (2/28/2004) |
| Copyright
versus Copyleft |
Ideas, etc |
As a writer, I want to protect what's mine. As a citizen, sometimes,
. . . (2/8/2004) |
| Manual
Focusing with the Nikon CP5700 |
Photography |
It's not as intuitive as it might be -- here's some help.
(1/14/2004) |
| Concert
for George |
Music, Personal |
Nostalgia for a more innocent age. (12/28/2003) |
| Zoë
Moon |
Personal |
The sculptor's gift from the gods. (12/28/2003) |
| An
Opportunity to Feel |
Personal |
Reading can't replace experience, but sometimes, when it's all I've
got, . . . (12/28/2003) |
| Who's
In Control Here? |
Ideas, etc |
Mostly, we are confident that we're in charge. Sometimes,
however... (12/24/2003) |
| Analogue |
Ideas, etc |
Words cannot be more than metaphors for real
experiences--or people. (12/24/2003) |
| Over
the River and Through the Woods . . . |
Personal |
Christmas will never be the way it was. (12/24/2003) |
| Commitment |
Ideas, etc |
Much confusion--and heartache--surrounds this
word. (11/12/2003) |
| Music
for Non-Musicians |
Music, Ideas |
Music, above just about everything, touches
us beyond words. (11/6/2003) |
| Cycles
of Transcendence |
Ideas, etc. |
The process of "transcend and
include" is not just a spiritual event. (11/6/2003) |
| Saving
Daylight |
Personal |
The swing toward darkness portends bigger
things for me. (10/24/2003) |
| Garage
Sale |
Personal |
Musing on all the "stuff" I
accumulate. (10/6/2003 |
| Prejudice |
Ideas, etc. |
It's not enough to be tolerant of other
groups. (9/22/2003) |
| Ego
and Self |
Ideas, etc. |
How is a sense of the self important--if the
self is only an illusion? (7/31/2003) |
| The
Big Picture |
Ideas, etc. |
How do we talk about transcendence? (7/3/2003) |
| Perspective |
Ideas, etc. |
The Good, the True, and the Beautiful--which
is truly important? (6/12/2003) |
| Mindfulness
as Larger Mind |
Ideas, etc. |
Intuition, wisdom--and even
enlightenment--come from mindful living (6/4/2003) |
| Small
Things |
Fiction |
Small things that enable large things to
happen (6/4/2003) |
| Assignment |
Ideas, etc. |
A not-taken-very-seriously assignment in my
writing group (5/2/2003) |
| Gimme
That Ole Time Photography |
Photography |
Struggling with nostalgia, excellence and
anticipation (4/25/2003) |
| Left
Turn |
Fiction |
One of those everyday experiences
(4/18/2003) |
| The
Power of Words |
Ideas, etc. |
In the best of relationships, sometimes words
separate us (4/10/2003) |
| Pushing
On |
Personal |
Rethinking some old habits
(3/28/2003) |
| My
Little Town |
Personal |
My home town is in my head, and is keeping me
from seeing what is. (3/14/2003) |
| Grasping |
Personal |
When I want something more.
(3/7/2003) |
| That
. . . Sense of History |
Fiction |
A story about an encounter with the past (2/15/2003) |
| Meteors |
Ideas, etc. |
Falling stars and other objects.
(2/6/2003) |
| State
of the Union |
Ideas, etc. |
After hearing President Bush's 2003 address.
(1/30/2003) |
| Click! |
Ideas, etc. |
It’s the mystery of emotions that give them
such power over us. The mystery and the awe. (1/20/2003) |
| Conversations |
Ideas, etc. |
Right and wrong, ideals, and e-mail. (1/16/2003) |
| Innocence |
Films |
Paul Cox's Australian film from 2000 (10/17/2002) |
| Memory |
Personal |
"From out of the past . . ."
(11/22/2002) |
| Intuition |
Ideas, etc. |
Some more poking around in
"consciousness." (11/15/2002 |
| Out
of My Mind |
Ideas, etc. |
Who's in charge here? Me? (11/8/2002) |
| The
West Wing |
Personal |
or--"What is True?" Some thoughts
about television and me (10/25/2002) |
| Everything
is Impermanent |
Personal |
Old memories never die, they just fade away
(10/21/2002) |
| Boomeritis |
Books |
About Ken Wilber's new novel. Can one be born in
1929 and be a Baby Boomer? (10/17/2002) |
| Music
and Magic |
Music |
Sometimes, music transforms experience
(10/8/2002) |
| Family
Thoughts |
Ideas, etc. |
We like to think that we make the important
decisions, but . . . (9/26/2002) |
| Community
as Surrender |
Community |
The paths of growth take similar directions (9/19/2002) |
| Muscles |
Personal |
I didn't think I needed them anymore, until .
. . (9/5/2002) |
| One
Life |
Ideas, etc. |
What's one life, more or less?
(8/29/2002) |
| Telling
Stories |
Ideas, etc. |
It seems to be built into us, but sometimes
things interfere. (8/22/2002) |
| Small
World |
Ideas, etc. |
"Six degrees of separation" between
us and them. (7/18/2002) |
| Bigger
Realities |
Ideas, etc. |
Some things, I may understand and deal with;
others, well . . . (6/29/2002) |
| What
Comes Next? |
Ideas, etc. |
I don't know where all my words come from,
but I'm working on it. (6/20/2002) |
| Dawn |
Personal |
What's so special about those soft moments of
the day? (written 7/6/ 2001, revised 6/ 14/ 2002) |
| Gaslight |
Personal |
I can still hear the soft pop and then the hollow hiss of the streetlamp
coming on in front of my grandmother’s house. . .
(6/6/2002) |
| Humor
as a higher level of consciousness |
Ideas, etc. |
Does insight have to be so serious?
(5/30/2002) |
|
Getting the Redeye Out |
Photography |
A trick using Photoshop to fix up digital
photographs (5/17/2002) |
|
Emotional Habits |
Personal |
A family gathering reminded me of my
loneliness (4/25/2002) |
|
Sometimes, everything goes wrong, but before it goes
. . . |
Ideas, etc. |
Bad breaks may not be the worst thing that
can happen (4/21/2002) |
| Beyond
All That |
Music |
When Harry James doesn't do it for me anymore
(2/27/2002) |
| Cohousing
- Community in Action |
Community |
A relatively new form of intentional
community (2/12/2002) |
| Emotional
Resonance |
Ideas, etc. |
If only I weren't so limited by words! (1/31/2002) |
| Extraordinary
Respect |
Ideas, etc. |
I wrote this some time ago for another Web
site, but it belongs here (2/10/2001) |
| My
Shadow, For Better or Worse |
Personal |
No, not that dark spot on the sidewalk--the
one inside me. (1/3/2002) |
| The
Power of Eyes |
Personal |
I guess I ain't dead yet--or safe from my own
weaknesses. (12/13/2001) |
| The
Irony of Being a Vegetarian |
Personal |
Sometimes two related values don't work very
well together. (12/7/2001) |
Insight
Meditation:
Practice Makes Perfect |
Ideas, etc. |
(Subtitled: A Nerd's Eye View) My
current answer to "Why do you meditate? (11/20/2001) |
| She
Blushed |
Personal |
After attending a concert in Toledo
(11/16/2001) |
| The
Wreck of the U.S.S.Shenandoah |
Flying Things |
I discovered some photos of this disaster in
an old family album. (11/11/2001) |
| The
Mouse in the Basement |
Personal |
They keep appearing, and I keep thinking
about them--and about me. (10/18/2001) |
| Us—and
Them |
Ideas, etc. |
September 11 inspired this one (9/28/2001) |
| Passion |
Personal |
The losses—and regrets—of aging. (8/19/2001) |
| Paradox
and Paradigm |
Ideas, etc. |
The changing nature of reality (8/10/2001) |
| To
Reach . . . |
Ideas, etc. |
About photography—and relationship
(6/26/2001) |
| I
Don't Understand |
Ideas, etc. |
I can't know everything about everything, of
course. But sometimes . . . (June 9, 2001) |
| Mind
and Matter |
Personal |
The question, "Who Am I?" keeps
coming up. (4/12/2001) |
| "Do
You Love God?" |
Personal |
Important Questions — and Fear. (3/22/2001) |
| Don, the Romantic |
Ideas, etc. |
Music does it again. A memory. (written
5/6/99, revised 3/16/2001) |
| Writer's
Lament |
Personal |
Maybe it's just the time of year (3/1/2001) |
| The
Guy in the Blue Saab |
Ideas, etc. |
Another wondering about my own behavior
(1/31/2001, written in May, 1995) |
| Releasing
Dreams |
Personal |
Urges to create seem to find their ways home (1/15/2001) |
| The
Sound of Silence |
Ideas, etc. |
My love-hate relationship with it (12/13/2000) |
| Eating
is an Intimate Act |
Ideas, etc. |
On choosing not to eat meat (11/28/2000) |
| Relating
to Cats and Dogs |
Personal |
I'm intrigued by the difference (10/4/2000) |
| Evolution
of Spiritual Capacity |
Ideas, etc. |
What seems to be reason to hope, although we might
not (6/14/2000) |
| Dreams
of Home |
|
A little bit about a book just finished
(6/5/2000) |
| On
Cloning and Other Experiments . . . |
Ideas, etc. |
Thoughts on what we ought to do.
(4/19/2000) |
| Free
as a Bird |
Personal |
It wasn't written recently, but I just rediscovered it,
and it still has an impact on me. (3/31/2000) |
| Creativity
and Psychic Phenomena |
Ideas, etc. |
A small "Aha!" while reading.
(3/9/2000) |
| Jack R.
Gibb |
Community |
Three small books Gibb wrote but hadn't published at his
death, and his big one. (3/5/2000) |
| Magic
in My Life |
Ideas, etc. |
A disquieting thought about my own growth--or lack of it. (3/1/2000) |
| My Difficulty with Aaron |
Ideas, etc. |
What "the spirit world" does for me--and doesn't. (1/23/2000) |
| Silk Scarf |
Personal |
Some thoughts about realities. (11/4/99) |
| Alice at 21 |
Personal |
I came across an old photo of my mother. (10/27/99) |
| Mindfulness and Mysticism |
Ideas, etc. |
Must there be a connection? (5/21/99) |
| Levels
of Consciousness |
Ideas, etc. |
Trying to understand the ideas of Ken Wilber
(9/9/1998) |
| Cookies and Milk |
Personal |
At a sleepless 2:00 A.M., I was reading and was reminded of
something from about 66 years ago. Read it, and maybe do some remembering
of your own. (1/22/99) |
| The Taste of Irony |
Ideas, etc. |
I wrote a kind of book review even before I had finished
reading the book. It will be interesting to me to go back to this after
I've read it all. (1/12/99) |
| Music Appreciation Class |
Ideas, etc. |
I don't know what prompts a lot of my writing. I try not to
let the impulse get away without my doing something about it.
This suddenly grew out of an experience I had. (1/14/99) |
| There are a lot of animals in the mountains |
Personal |
and I wrote about a few, and about a special kind of
caretaker . . . Click here to read about them (with photos). (2/1/99) |
