More on Lies and Lying

Simon’s post about lying reminded me of an interesting (I hope) thing I read years ago, bout deception, speech, and oath-taking. I think maybe it was Stephen Pinker who pointed out that, while animals can practice deception, (2 of the most famous examples being a bird feigning a broken wing, and an opossum playing dead) … Continue reading More on Lies and Lying →

June 22

…is the birthday of my sister’s boyfriend. Well, yeah, stupid word: “boyfriend” but I can’t be arsed to do better tonight. He and my darling sister are both dead now. He outlived her by over a year, although he was a decade plus older. He was ….i wanna say a polyglot, but that doesn’t sound … Continue reading June 22 →

Centennial

My beloved house is about to turn 100! As might happen with any old lady, she just yesterday presented me with an unforeseen infirmity: a major plumbing issue. It seems nothing is forever, not even cast-iron pipes. This was a major letdown as I had to cancel my Solstice party on Friday. She needs major … Continue reading Centennial →

”Let Not His Hoar Head Go Down To The Grave In Peace”

Joe Biden is in for a lot of agony, now, a horrible death. Soon he will be beyond the power of any human authority to compel him to tell Congress, and us, the answer to the obvious question: If you weren’t in charge— WHO WAS? So come on GOP: move on him NOW, yesterday if … Continue reading ”Let Not His Hoar Head Go Down To The Grave In Peace” →

What is a Woman?

You know those drawings that, as you stare at them, suddenly reveal themselves as some other image? The simplest on is the box: the surface which appears nearest to you flips back and forth. Or the famous one, wherein at first you see a girl sitting at her dressing table, and suddenly you see a … Continue reading What is a Woman? →

A Pity Beyond All Telling…

…is hid in the heart of love. Wrote Yeats, and went on to describe the pleasurable experience of…worrying, I reckon, about one’s love object, even if he or she really isn’t in any immediate danger, none beyond the mortality we all share: “A pity beyond all telling/Is hid in the heart of love:/The folk that … Continue reading A Pity Beyond All Telling… →

Atlantis USA

Eggs That’s what got me thinking this morning as I prepared my fave breakfast (soft-boiled, with pieces of toast crumbled in..😋) As the deep gold yolk spurted up at me, suddenly…….I’m at a party in a neighborhood in suburban Philadelphia. In a….well, I reckon you’d call it a “housing development”, but an old one. A … Continue reading Atlantis USA →

“Sky Flakes”

”It is blue butterfly day here in Spring/And with these skyflakes down in flurry on flurry,/There is more unmixed color on the wing/Than flowers will show for days, unless they hurry! But these are flowers that fly, and seem to sing,/And now, from having ridden out desire/They lie closed over in the wind, and cling/Where … Continue reading “Sky Flakes” →

The April Fools

Those are my neighbors up here on the Plateau who expect Spring in April. This morning we’re waking up to a beautiful fluffy snowfall. It was raining when we took our walk about 11 PM, but changed over during the night, So now I’m looking out upon a “landscape drawn in pearly monotones”, as the … Continue reading The April Fools →

Peerless

..that’s me No I don’t mean I’m head ‘n’ shoulders above my peers; I mean I don’t HAVE any. I’d say our closest peers are usually our college friends, right? They are of an age, and of a socioeconomic and educational level, with us. Where are these women now? How do they look? Have they … Continue reading Peerless →