Non-fiction

When on a short break to the farm recently my brother asked me some questions by our little fire under the Southern Sky. It gave me the idea for this essay and it was written for him.

The painter Paul Nash (1889-1946), the Wittenham Clumps, and place. See www.nashclumps.org for most of the pictures mentioned.

Another vent... when powers make a country a mess, it sucks! Especially one as beautiful as South Africa

I watch nature devastate itself with another layer of cruel nature; a sweet sense of desolation wells up within me as I survey the wasteland, and just before my sudden sadness tips me into despondency ...

If you're not comfortable with where you are, you can do something to change it. You have a choice here. You're the one who created the thoughts. So, re-create them. If you're confronted with a situation you don't like, re-frame it or shift your focus.

The castration that Fantine wants is the castration of the aristocratic, military state from the world of Christian Humanism and the Catholic Church.

the ultimate choice

Picasso's "The Young Girls of Avignon" created a scandal in 1907. He was painting prostitutes but he was also painting young women.

Not since the films of Ingmar Bergman have I seen such nakedness, such naked, glamourless acting displayed on the screen.

It's time for the world to get in India's face. Their disingenuous bullshit must stop.

A friend's experience prompts ruminations on this most unique of human animal.

The ‘cosy’ British mystery novel, a literary genre, so the stereotype goes, exclusively written and read by spinster aunts, this book is unashamedly part of that tradition and displays many of its virtues.

Happiness is good

Google has helped to settle many arguments that used to go unresolved.

The word 'Elitist' gets a bad rap. Elitism and meritocracy often go hand in hand...for a reason.
It's all about excellence.

Interpreting dreams can be fun. Or not. I try to take a decidedly esoteric bent on a dream and wind my way around my mind. Quite the journey, if you ask me. Let me know what you think.

Random thoughts of an old man.

So is everything is dependent upon context as the Postmodernists say, is individuality dead?

My little black book who travelled with me to Toronto and Cuba, who lay open on god knows how many beer stained bar tables in Munich while I scribbled out my alcoholic anguish…

From the suppliers, one gets all the tools to make a "pizza." If one decides to go with a franchise, one gets the advantage of the low-costs that are extended to the franchisor.