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charm against boredom
Petals of narcissus after a storm Placed by the roots of an uprooted corm Miniature bulbs of grape hyacinth Neatly arranged at the base of a plinth Ready for planting again in the fall There to ensure that my life’s never dull.
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bedtime stories
Myths of the world largely unknown To the masses will ne’er be shown Some are forgot till the night dawns Bedtime stories told through dad’s yawns Haunt memories in remembered dreams Stories that were more than they seem Wisdom of ages told in a tale As three little sailors set sail Winken goes first into the night Followed by Blinken with nary a fight Finally Nod lays down his head Legends of old tuck them in bed.
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Tragedy at the Diner
Daily Prompt: By the Skin of Your Teeth: ‘Tragedy at the Diner’ is a fictional short story. What is there to say. I’m here only because I was quicker and smarter than someone else. I’m not proud of it; I’m actually a little ashamed. And I shouldn’t have been there at all that day. But, I had a few issues to work out and I wanted a drink while I did it. Grabbing a table far away from most of the customers, I started jotting down the pros and cons of my problem. I wasn’t paying much attention to what was going on around me. And I was actually making some progress with my dilemma. When I heard a strange noise, I looked up from my writing and saw the window shattering. I couldn’t understand at first what had happened, but things seemed to start moving in slow motion. It was like watching a replay on a sportscast, but this was real, here and now. Maybe the caffeine played a part, I don’t know. There was a truck coming straight at me sideways. It looked like a giant metal wall closing in on me like you see in those horror…
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Charity vs obligation
When there is a right to food, shelter and other items, there is also the duty of everyone to chip in to pay for that right to be guaranteed to the people that need it. When that happens it becomes an obligation. Many people find obligations to be too hard to keep up. They start to resent the people (government) ‘forcing’ them to comply. Charity on the other hand makes people feel good about helping others. If we truly want to help those in need, wouldn’t it be better to have these needs in the hands of charities? The government can help by not taxing the lands used for homeless shelters and other housing for those in need. What about the ‘soup kitchens’? Should they be tax exempt? Should they be located only close to the homeless shelters or should they be spread out so that even those that have a friend putting them up can manage to get to the soup kitchen easily? There are tales from the 1930’s of families sleeping in church pews, little children and grown men alike. This was a terrible time for people in need. We have corrected this issue by giving housing vouchers…
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Creationism and Its Critics in Antiquity
By: David Sedley 2007 So how did this book end up on my reading list? In my journey to find other adults to discuss the classics and how they pertain to modern issues I discovered this book and other resources. I started my quest by asking friends and family, this then expanded to social groups, and business acquaintances. One of the librarians was wondering why anybody would want to read that old stuff for fun, it was bad enough she had to read it in college. One day I was talking to one of my customers, (I own a board game store), he is a professor at University of Cincinnati and he informed me that they have a really good classics department and often host classics presentations that are open to the public. After checking the schedule online I found when the next presentation was. I made it a point to be there. The guest speaker was Dr. Athena Kirk on “The Semantics of Showcase in Herodotus’ Histories”. In preparation to meet this presenter, I looked up the professor online to see if she had any books that I could read beforehand. I did not find any, but I found…
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The New Aristocracy part 1
I think I understood what the conversation was about, but let me put it into words to be certain. Let me know if I made any mistakes in the line of thought. What I understand of your view of the ‘new aristocracy’ is: We are headed back into an age where the aristocrats/nobles rule the land. They own the majority of the land and the burgers/bourgeois own only a small portion of the land. The nobles will then be responsible for the care of the lower class, the serfs and indigent. And the land upon which the serf lives will determine whether he is treated well or not. Other aristocrats will be able to lure serfs of a certain type over to his land if he wishes. And this time the land to which you refer need not necessarily be actual land, but an ID card or credit chit. (Aren’t we already there?) We have gone through a metamorphosis over the last few hundred years, which is leading us right back to where we were in the age of kingdoms. People seem to want someone to tell them what to do and think. We upset the apple cart and upon…
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The Art of Europe: The Dark Ages from Theodoric to Charlemagne
By Paolo Verzone 1968 (Translated by Pamela Waley) I recommend this book if you are interested in learning more about the art and architecture of Western Europe during the Byzantine period (425-800 A.D.). The book is visually stimulating with its fifty-three color plates and ninety-one figures. With its helpful Glossary, a detailed Index and a brief Chronological Table it becomes a very easy to use reference book. A unique aspect of this book is that the color pictures were pasted in after the book was printed. The many descriptions of ancient churches, crypts and other buildings really kept me intrigued. The many examples of frescoes, plates, stele, mosaics and sculptures brought the period to life. The metalwork, paintings and jewelry enlightened me to the passion the craftsmen put into their work. The bibliophile in me was excited by the covers and pages of the colorful illuminated manuscripts that were covered in zoomorphic forms and intricate geometric designs. The author gives quite a bit of history throughout the book. This really helped me to understand and put in perspective the various forms of art and why certain styles were employed. This history trail not only told me of the events that…
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Hesiod: Theogony and Works & Days
Translated with an Introduction and Notes by M. L. West, 1991 Hesiod was said to have lived in the 8th Century B.C., roughly around the same time as Homer. Unlike Homer, Hesiod gets personal. He talks about where he came from, what he did, who his brother was and other details. He is known for two major works that are foundational to Ancient Greek studies, Theogony and Works and Days. In the Theogony, Hesiod gives us the genealogy of the gods. In doing so, he also gives us a basic philosophy of how and why things are the way they are, what forces act in the world, and how they are related. In the Works and Days we get a cross between a book of proverbs and a guide to husbandry, sort of a farmers almanac. We hear the famous story of Pandora and her infamous box. The five ages of man: gold, silver, bronze, heroic, and lastly iron. When I first read the Theogony I was excited about the genealogy of the Greek gods. But, as I go over it again and again, I start to see a whole philosophy embedded within the story. This is the only translation…
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Patrology: The Lives and Works of the Fathers of the Church
By Otto Bardenhewer translated by Thomas J. Shahan 1908. First of all, this book was not written for the casual reader. It is a great handbook to learn about the first five centuries of the Christian Church. It is full of rich references and copious notes that is a delight to the researcher or historian. Any person with a strong interest in early Christian history would find this book informative. The writer makes the assumption that the reader has a basic understanding of Greek, Latin, and the Bible. In describing the early writers he starts with a short bio and then follows it up with what works they wrote. He mentions which writings are still extant and which ones may have been erroneously attributed. One of the things that jumped out at me was how much material has been written in the past compared to how little has been preserved. I was led to believe that the reason a lot of old writings are no longer available, is because the “church” destroyed them. Well, why wasn’t the church able to save so many important documents of their own? Then I got to thinking about how even we, the United States…
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Writers Prompt: Where Will It Lead
speculative fiction idea: current events as of Aug 29,2013: preface 1.) Syria gassing of men, women, and children…U.S. blames Syrian government, but there is a question of whether the rebels may have done it and claimed the government did it just to get the U.S. involved. Russia and China are vetoing the UN Security Council action vote on the matter, while waiting for more information from the inspectors. 2.) The U.S. still has unemployment problems, or rather, underemployment problems. With a pay rate of $8.15/hr, fast food and other low wage workers are complaining they can’t pay their bills. If full time employment is assumed, this is $16300/yr which is comparable to what an adjunct professor/instructor at a public college makes in a year ($18000), but considerably less than the lowest that full time faculty makes ($50000). The fast food workers would like to be paid $15/hr or $30000/yr. Mind you this is a no/little skill job compared to a 6-8 year college degree position. (Although one must ask how many fast food employees have liberal arts degrees.) Most may think that these two events are unrelated. However, the preponderance of un-under-employed workers in the U.S. may lead to a…