He wasn't always my cat, but for the latter half of his life, as much as a cat belongs to anyone, he was mine. He could be aggravating, waking me before the alarm by knocking things from my nightstand. His digestion was always iffy. Despite all that, he could be a sweet and loving companion. This morning before my alarm went off, I lost a friend. I ( Read more... )

Happy Lene Day!

Saturday night we went to see the heavily-promoted Batman v Superman Dawn of Justice. On the plus side, there were some solid performances from Ben Affleck, Amy Adams, Laurence Fishburne and Gal Gadet, and some excellent 3-D effects. Unfortunately, the negative reviews are mostly correct ( Read more... )

It's the busiest time of the year. We're less than two weeks from the solstice holidays and less than three from the end of 2015. I can't say that I'm sorry to see the back of the upheavals I've been experiencing ( Read more... )

A lot has happened in the last two weeks.  Just to bring my readers up to date, there are two major things happening in my life right now ( Read more... )

All my readers know that I used to write poems, and some people have been kind enough to say I was pretty good at it.  For a long time, I haven't even tried to do anything in that vein.  Whether I am finally reaching a time of renewal or I am just riding a wave of NRE, that changed yesterday.  I offer you what may be a fluke or may be the first of ( Read more... )

After a few weeks of debating with myself and discussing with Bryan, I took a $200 plunge yesterday and bought the core books and screen for the newest D&D incarnation.  So far, I've only reached the write-up on Rogues in the Players Handbook, but I will say there are a few very promising things there.  The books are very pretty, to start with, ( Read more... )

There is an old song about very good years.  Yesterday, a Facebook post by Dr. Robert d'Amato recalled two such happy periods of my life, which may be one of the best gifts I get in this festive season ( Read more... )

On Facebook, a friend included the following reference in a comment on the issue of self-esteem.  "In "The Tempest", Prospero refers to Caliban--a stand-in for the sorcerer's own depravity--by saying, "This thing of darkness I acknowledge mine." He doesn't disavow Caliban, whitewash Caliban's villainy, or wallow in the curse of being saddled with ( Read more... )

I doubt that the insight I am about to share is new or original in any way, but it is nagging at me and so I intend to share it.  Please bear with me or skip what follows.
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