If you read my memoir Ghosts and Ballyhoo, you’ll learn about Syd the Second. I’m absolutely convinced that he was the reincarnation of Syd the First. The reason I call Syd the Second the Cat Who Saved My Life is that he set a magnificent example of how to overcome trauma. Though a maniacally untrustworthy…
The self-slaughter of tribalism
July 15, 2014
Every day I read comments by atheists or “secular humanists” ridiculing the religious. And yet those who belittle the notion of “an invisible, bearded old man in the sky” tend to have a fanatically religious reverence for government. Yes, people come to my door trying to convert me to their religion. But at least they…
You don’t speak for me
July 11, 2014
Today I read a long blog post about how “90 percent” of us are furiously jealous of all good fortune that others enjoy. It’s only natural. If someone else is happy, successful, attractive, physically fit, talented, healthy, wealthy, and wise, the overwhelming majority of us wish ill on the person and hope they suffer calamity….
Why I’m optimistic
July 5, 2014
You may have heard of Kendall Jones, the teenaged cheerleader who goes big-game hunting in Africa. People call it a sport, but I don’t apply that term to life-and-death struggles. I’d much rather we leave wild animals alone. If there’s a need to cull them, I don’t think we should have our pictures taken cuddling…
On mandated forgiveness
July 3, 2014
Louis Zamperini died today at the age of ninety-seven. He was an Olympic distance runner and the subject of Laura Hillenbrand’s book Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption. I read the book and enjoyed it until the end. Zamperini forgave the Japanese war criminals who tortured him, even though they…
In opposition to the thundering herd
June 29, 2014
Sometimes it’s hard to remain optimistic. It seems like everyone is in a race to the bottom. What I’ve discovered about myself is that the worse people behave, the more import it is for me to stand against the thundering herd. I refuse to adopt the attitude of Charles Oakley, the murderer in Alfred Hitchcock’s…
But what does it say about YOU?
June 24, 2014
Yesterday I changed. Permanently. It’s neither a good nor a bad change. However, it was necessary. I didn’t intend to change; June 23, 2014, was going to be just another day. But something happened that set in motion a whole series of thoughts and conclusions, and by nightfall I was a different person. I would…