"I would argue that nothing gives life more purpose than the realization that every moment of consciousness is a precious and fragile gift."
—Steven Pinker
In brief, I had an emotional breakdown in February this year. I abandoned Brevity Quest 2023 and left you hanging. mea culpa maxima Months in Hermitville are not good for a soul it seems, and I…
Oh, synchronicity! Oh, serendipity!
So, yesterday, a Portuguese culture event started at work. Just for fun, last week I browsed Goodwill auctions for Portuguese items, and found (and won) a copy of Elizabeth Barret Browning's Sonnets from the Portuguese. It arrived yesterday, also. Thought I'd check for nodes on it since it is in the…
We went to New York City in August of 2001, visited friends, saw plays, and did tourist things. Poked our heads into the lobby of the Chelsea. We debated going up the World Trade Center, but opted for the Empire State. It had more history, real and imaginary, and, yeah, we actually said something like, "it's not like the WTC isn't going to be there next time."
Yeah.
My wife spent most of that September 11 trying to get in…