Reaction to Random Catalysts

A foreign-born co-worker commented this morning that where he was from, Sunday was always a day off. I told him that it used to be that way in this country. Greater value used to be placed on the Christian principle of resting on the Sabbath. Now our society is so geared toward 24/7 that quite a... Sign in to see full entry.

I was dismayed to see my precious Pinot Grigio sausage left outside the refrigerator when I came home from work. In an attitude somewhere between determination and defiance, I cut two or three slices and ate them. If it had just been regular lunch meat, I probably would have thrown it out. But I... Sign in to see full entry.

For today, my thoughts are triggered by my glimpse of a USO billboard and a news clip about Jay Leno entertaining the troops. But who should I think of more for entertaining the troops? None of than Bob Hope. His movies were rather silly, and some might think the jokes he told on his Thanks for the... Sign in to see full entry.

In my town, every time I go to a certain grocery store, I have to be subjected to windowless, dark-shrouded building across the way. The building used to be a restaurant with high arching windows. Now the windows are walled in with brick. What is inside is supposed to be private, but seeing the... Sign in to see full entry.

A bank teller commented on the curlycue which I used to end my signature. He said it was my way of making it unique. Signatures need to be unique to each individual so that each person alone carries the authority to sign transactions with it. I was in sixth grade when I was first establishing my... Sign in to see full entry.

When I started this blog, I mentioned that from time to time I might take positions that rub people uncomfortably from one prevailing viewpoint and likewise from the other, or call them right and left. Here I address the tendency on either side to dehumanize. For the corporate right, the hazard is... Sign in to see full entry.

Our ancestors from centuries before never had the modern problem we face--that with our telephones. People's attentions are diverted by the telephone. Drivers on their cell phones are distracted and thereby a potential hazard to the surrounding traffic and of course to themselves. Telephones require... Sign in to see full entry.

Today at work, before even doing much of anything physical, the pain in my left elbow throbbed and persisted. I was aware that I have had the pain for some time, but today it seemed more noticeable. I suspect a certain work activity I perform--because of the weight involved and its repetitive... Sign in to see full entry.

A few blogs ago, I reported on my day trip, and why I felt the need to take it. I implied that I was trying to validate or add to my experience about which I was writing. But that is too complicated. I simply wanted to be that which I was setting about to write. I had a desire to be that fiction.... Sign in to see full entry.

I am not currently on jury duty, but hearing of a court case reminded me of my past experience. I may serve on the jury again shortly, or I may never get the call again. I may be called to the jury 20 years from now or I may be asked to serve five times in the next ten years. Such is the random pool... Sign in to see full entry.