I’ve always thought that writing should either educate, inform or entertain. If not, what’s the use? I had fun writing this one and I hope the readers will find some of the humor in it. Also, it reminded me of a close call that at the time was exciting but after a few years has […]
Some things are just unbelievable. This article, however, is a true story and it ranks up there with the Amazon Rainforest burning, building more coal-fired electric generating plants, and arresting illegal immigrants at a chicken factory without so much as a letter of reprimand to those that hired them. Not in scale, of course, but […]
I thought about what to title this essay and ended up with “The language problem.” I tried different things and none of them seemed to work. And when I say “problem”, I don’t mean it’s a problem for everybody. It’s only a problem for those that wish they could speak a second language and spend […]
Many times we say things and think nothing of it. Which is good, and probably the only way to have a friendly conversation. If we had to review every word we were going to utter as if in front of a judge after hearing the infamous “. . .can and will be used against you,” […]
Sometimes writing is just plain fun. This was the case with this latest essay. Think of a good topic, do some research and follow a few simple *rules: keep it simple, tell the truth, boil it down, ditch the dictionary, write clearly and don’t drink. The last two, I suppose, go together. Writing for the […]
Let me just say that English is a great language and one we often take for granted. So, I wrote the following article to point that out, perhaps also to remind people like me that keep forgetting, and because I thought it would be great fun — and it was. Every now and then something […]
Yes, Hemingway is a big deal. If you know nothing about American history, you should know something about Hemingway, especially if you are a writer. I confess to not knowing much about him before I started to write an interview with him, but the more I researched, the more I became engrossed: he grabs you, […]
Generally speaking, what to some people might look like an insurmountable problem can be nothing but chicken feed to someone else, in other words, easy pickings, especially if the other person is not involved in the so called “problem”. This, I suppose, is the reason we frequently need mediators, or a third party. Sure, some […]
We live in a strange time, or perhaps it has always been that way and no matter what decade or century you happen to spend your life in, it was strange, not to mention dangerous. Still, it never ceases to amaze me how much effort people will spend, and money, in order to cause trouble […]
In my appraisal, one of the reasons to write is to learn critical thinking. And it’s probably the best way. Nothing lets you see the many holes in your argument as your own words in front of you, plain as day in unadorned black and white. Plus, you have a chance to patch up […]