• [ let’s have words ]

    Captivating conversation is disappearing almost as rapidly as glaciers and ice shelves. The culprit, as always, is the hot air created by humans — mostly in the form of inflammatory belligerence. Militance isn’t quiet. Nor is it chill.  You’ve heard of the Algonquin Round Table, right? They were a gang of smarty pants sophisticates back…

  • [ the 180 ]

    I’m willing to admit when I’m wrong and I was. Way wrong. Wronger than wrong. Full Site Editing isn’t the devil.  It’s a useful fall guy, though, so I took full advantage and blamed it for everything. I’m serious. I laid all my shortcomings at the feet of the editor — the lackluster thinking, the…

  • : welcome to the impasse :

    I decided on ‘impasse’ because it’s accurate and grown-up and sounds better than snit, but a snit is what this is. It was brought on by a theme upgrade. Amazing how such a minor change can unleash a full blown identity crisis, isn’t it? Well, no. This is what I do when I start feeling…

  • : the resolution to end all resolutions :

    Forget the poetic aphorisms. Forget the smarmy clichés. What the world needs is a straightforward, practical New Year’s resolution. Something to make life a little less painful. And whaddya know? I came up with one: Quit carrying pushpins in your pockets. Yesterday, New Year’s Eve, I arranged bulletin boards. Today, the day after, one thigh…

  • : do not enter :

    You don’t want to see this, I promise. Things are gonna get ugly around here and probably quit working altogether. Or wind up badly broken, at best. You see, I’m getting ready to gut this place — from top to bottom — and start fresh. No more header, no more footer, no more sidebars. No…