Photo by Tyler Donaghy. New York City. Portfolio. Welcome to Photography Friday! This is a chance to relax and enjoy a beautiful and artistic photo at the end of the week. For me, it is a chance to catch up on some projects I have been wanting to accomplish for a long time, including finding a publisher for my poetry...
The inquisitive one woke up determined to solve the mystery of whether the i.o.’s house was in the U.S. or Canada. “I can do this,” the i.o. said, sitting up in bed, and frowning at the nearby maple syrup and hockey gear. “I can solve this mystery!” At that moment, the wise ant was sauntering in through a crack in...
Do you ever have the creepy sensation that things aren’t what they seem? I have had that feeling regularly in my life. I don’t know if others do, hence my question to you, reader. That wasn’t just rhetorical. I really want to know. Often over the course of my life, I have had this sensation upon waking up from a...
Photo by Paul Bulai. Iasi, Romania. Portfolio. Welcome to Photography Friday! This is a chance to relax and enjoy a beautiful and artistic photo at the end of the week. For me, it is a chance to catch up on some projects I have been wanting to accomplish for a long time, including finding a publisher for my poetry collection...
Life is hard. It can be disappointing, stressful, constrictive. But most of us find solace in some little habit or activity, to sustain us through the dark times, and lift us up during the good times. I don’t condone smoking; as we all know, it is terrible for one’s health. But the protagonist of the novel A Passage North, by...
Shortlisted for the Booker Prize—a prize I deeply respect—is a book of great beauty, absolutely Proustian in language. A Passage North, by Anuk Arudpragasam, did not win (the winner was announced here), but is a powerful read that I recommend to all who love psychologically deep, beautifully crafted language. The novel is packed with extremely long sentences that wind in...
Everyone needs to take a break once in a while. This blog is on hiatus this week. See you again soon!
Photo by Artem Kniaz. Lviv, Ukraine. Portfolio. Welcome to Photography Friday! This is a chance to relax and enjoy a beautiful and artistic photo at the end of the week. For me, it is a chance to catch up on some projects I have been wanting to accomplish for a long time, including finding a publisher for my poetry collection...
The inquisitive one, purportedly now in Canada, opened the front door to the house and walked inside. Everything appeared to be where the inquisitive one had left it, before departing to storm the U.S. Capitol. The open box of Halloween costume supplies was still sitting in the middle of the living room. Butterflies were flitting around, per usual. “You’re alive!”...
Despite being published almost 70 years ago, Lucky Jim, by Kingsley Amis, feels as modern and relevant as anything published today. I was astounded by the perfection of this novel. It is a comical work, and it had me laughing aloud all the way through. It also contains many deep wisdoms, some of which I am sharing on this blog....
Photo by Edward Howell. London. Portfolio. Welcome to Photography Friday! This is a chance to relax and enjoy a beautiful and artistic photo at the end of the week. For me, it is a chance to catch up on some projects I have been wanting to accomplish for a long time, including finding a publisher for my poetry collection and...
One of the most profound sentences in the great 1953 novel Lucky Jim, by Kingsley Amis, seems so simple as to be unworthy of stating. And yet it is, after all, eminently worthy of stating. Here it is: “It was one more argument to support his theory that nice things are nicer than nasty ones.” The protagonist of the novel,...
Luck! We all want it, but no one knows how to get it. Even those who have it don’t know how they got it. And those who had it once don’t know how to find it again. Oh, to be lucky! One of my favorite novels in the whole world, which I was lucky enough to discover recently, is about...
Photo by Duong Thinh. Osaka, Japan. Portfolio. Welcome to Photography Friday! This is a chance to relax and enjoy a beautiful and artistic photo at the end of the week. For me, it is a chance to catch up on some projects I have been wanting to accomplish for a long time, including finding a publisher for my poetry collection...
Some of us can socialize all day long without tiring (extroverts), while others of us reach a socialization limit and thereafter need down time (introverts). In his book Projections, Karl Deisseroth discusses how the extroversion-introversion scale might relate to the autism spectrum, positing that those on the spectrum may experience something similar to extreme introversion. The neuroscientific explanation he gives...
Sometimes the ability to stay up for multiple days and nights in a row, joyfully performing a highly specific and demanding task, is beneficial. One chapter of the book Projections, by Karl Deisseroth, focuses on bipolar. As usual, Deisseroth tells the story of one patient who suffers from the disorder, alongside his own story as a psychologist, as well as...
Hi, Blog Readers! I hope you have been enjoying the photographs featured on Photography Friday. I have been diligently using the time gained to submit my poems to literary journals for publication. It’s a big job. Each literary journal has different submission requirements, and each time I submit I must make a careful selection of poems, format them to specification,...
I often think about the maxim that the most interesting findings occur at the intersections of fields. I recently discovered a book that lands at the intersection of literature, psychiatry, and neuroscience. It was a fabulous read. I discovered this book in a tiny, one-paragraph blurb in the New Yorker; the book wasn’t even featured in an article. But it...
For years, I have been hearing stories about people who have gained health benefits—even miraculous, lifesaving ones—from going gluten free. I am now one of those people. As I explained in a previous post, my neurologist told me that I have a rare medical condition causing post-concussion syndrome, including the occurrence of severe setbacks that were making it impossible for...
Photo by Marina Reich. Magdeburg, Germany. Portfolio. Welcome to Photography Friday! This is a chance to relax and enjoy a beautiful and artistic photo at the end of the week. For me, it is a chance to catch up on some projects I have been wanting to accomplish for a long time, including finding a publisher for my poetry collection...
I have read the masterpiece Don Quixote, by Miguel de Cervantes, twice in my life. The two experiences were quite different. This was in large part due to the fact that I read two very different translations of the book. Don Quixote Reading #1: Bargain-Bin Translation The first time, I was in my early 30s. I had picked up the...
I recently met a guy who disclosed to me that his personal motto is “Not my circus, not my monkeys.” Despite this expression having been popular for a number of years—it’s all over the Internet—I did not remember hearing it before. But I instantly took to it. What lovely imagery. And what lovely meaning: so metaphorical, yet so obvious. At...
Mind the gap! This I will do. Yes, sir; yes, ma’am! It would be a shame to drop a personal item between the platform and the train—or, God forbid, a body part. I am finding that the gaps here in London are more irregular than in Washington, D.C., and truly do require some minding. Sometimes the train is flush with...
Everything in moderation, including moderation. Heard that before? Now you have, in any case. Feel free to attribute that quote to me. After all, I wrote it. (Look above, if you don’t believe me.) Take it and run with it, Internet! Origin of the Quote Oh, so you require more persuasion before quoting me on that? You wish to know...
Humor me for a moment, and mentally discard all those books that are, in your opinion, page-turners. Any reads that you find to be quick, easy, fun, fascinating, lovely, exciting, or otherwise engrossing are irrelevant to this discussion. Next, add to that discard pile all those books that lack redeeming qualities, as far as you can tell. You’ve read a...
I got into a minor Facebook spat with a friend. I had posted an image of Kamala Harris wearing the Converse sneakers she has become famous for wearing. And I wrote that I was excited about this clothing choice by a woman at the top levels of government. My friend objected. She said, why are people commenting on a female...
The following is a true story about if vs whether grammar pitfalls that can happen in business communications. The First Email A few weeks ago, one of the leaders of the company I work for sent all employees an email announcing an upcoming company event and listing possible dates on which it might be held. The leader also wrote this:...
One A tall, paunchy man stood next to the wall. No one could see him, except for me. I was afraid of him. I tried to stuff him into a large trunk and close the lid. The lid would not completely close. I was afraid, knowing he would emerge again. Later, I was in a bedroom packed with people. The...
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Books previewed
Swan Dive Georgina Pazcoguin
A Passage North Anuk Arudpragasam
Lucky Jim Kingsley Amis
Projections Karl Deisseroth
The Indian Lawyer James Welch
Atomic Habits James Clear
The History of Philosophy A. C. Grayling
Dusk, Night, Dawn Anne Lamott
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Philip K. Dick
Nothing to See Here Kevin Wilson
Change Damon Centola
Homeland Elegies Ayad Akhtar
Becoming Attached Robert Karen
Piranesi Susanna Clarke
Don Quixote Miguel de Cervantes
Solitary Albert Woodfox
Girl, Woman, Other Bernardine Evaristo
Enlightenment by Trial and Error Jay Michaelson
Death in Her Hands Ottessa Moshfegh
The Cooking Gene Michael W. Twitty
The First Bad Man Miranda July
Upheaval Jared Diamond
A Journal of the Plague Year Daniel Defoe
Creatures Crissy Van Meter
Indelicacy Amina Cain
Say What You Mean Oren Jay Sofer
Habits of a Happy Brain Loretta Graziano Breuning
Bad Behavior, This Is Pleasure Mary Gaitskill
The Brother Gardeners Andrea Wulf
Severance Ling Ma
How to Be an Antiracist Ibram X. Kendi
The Museum of Modern Love Heather Rose
Why I Write George Orwell
The Woman Destroyed Simone de Beauvoir
Educated Tara Westover
The Gift Hafiz
The Collected Schizophrenias Esmé Weijun Wang
Your Duck Is My Duck Deborah Eisenberg
Sapiens Yuval Noah Harari
Milkman Anna Burns
Under the Banner of Heaven Jon Krakauer
Waiting for Bojangles Olivier Bourdeaut
A Mind Unraveled Kurt Eichenwald
Eugénie Grandet Honoré de Balzac
The Body Keeps the Score Bessel van der Kolk, M.D.
The Bookshop Penelope Fitzgerald
Digital Minimalism Cal Newport
The Sisters Brothers Patrick deWitt
Dare to Lead Brené Brown
My Year of Rest and Relaxation Ottessa Moshfegh
Almost Everything Anne Lamott
Born to Run Christopher McDougall, Bruce Springsteen
The Ladies’ Paradise Émile Zola
The World Beyond Your Head Matthew B. Crawford
All the Birds, Singing Evie Wyld
Barracoon Zora Neale Hurston
Dandelion Wine Ray Bradbury
JavaScript & jQuery Jon Duckett
Home Fire Kamila Shamsie
The Weather Detective Peter Wohlleben
Play It As It Lays Joan Didion
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck Mark Manson
Convenience Store Woman Sayaka Murata
Perfect Me Heather Widdows
Sorry to Disrupt the Peace Patty Yumi Cottrell
Why Buddhism Is True Robert Wright
What Is Real? Adam Becker
Kudos Rachel Cusk
The Days of Abandonment Elena Ferrante
F*cked Corinne Fisher & Krystyna Hutchinson
Searching for Stars on an Island in Maine Alan Lightman
Wide Sargasso Sea Jean Rhys
Infinite Jest David Foster Wallace
A Room of One’s Own Virginia Woolf
A Passage North Anuk Arudpragasam
Lucky Jim Kingsley Amis
Projections Karl Deisseroth
The Indian Lawyer James Welch
Atomic Habits James Clear
The History of Philosophy A. C. Grayling
Dusk, Night, Dawn Anne Lamott
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Philip K. Dick
Nothing to See Here Kevin Wilson
Change Damon Centola
Homeland Elegies Ayad Akhtar
Becoming Attached Robert Karen
Piranesi Susanna Clarke
Don Quixote Miguel de Cervantes
Solitary Albert Woodfox
Girl, Woman, Other Bernardine Evaristo
Enlightenment by Trial and Error Jay Michaelson
Death in Her Hands Ottessa Moshfegh
The Cooking Gene Michael W. Twitty
The First Bad Man Miranda July
Upheaval Jared Diamond
A Journal of the Plague Year Daniel Defoe
Creatures Crissy Van Meter
Indelicacy Amina Cain
Say What You Mean Oren Jay Sofer
Habits of a Happy Brain Loretta Graziano Breuning
Bad Behavior, This Is Pleasure Mary Gaitskill
The Brother Gardeners Andrea Wulf
Severance Ling Ma
How to Be an Antiracist Ibram X. Kendi
The Museum of Modern Love Heather Rose
Why I Write George Orwell
The Woman Destroyed Simone de Beauvoir
Educated Tara Westover
The Gift Hafiz
The Collected Schizophrenias Esmé Weijun Wang
Your Duck Is My Duck Deborah Eisenberg
Sapiens Yuval Noah Harari
Milkman Anna Burns
Under the Banner of Heaven Jon Krakauer
Waiting for Bojangles Olivier Bourdeaut
A Mind Unraveled Kurt Eichenwald
Eugénie Grandet Honoré de Balzac
The Body Keeps the Score Bessel van der Kolk, M.D.
The Bookshop Penelope Fitzgerald
Digital Minimalism Cal Newport
The Sisters Brothers Patrick deWitt
Dare to Lead Brené Brown
My Year of Rest and Relaxation Ottessa Moshfegh
Almost Everything Anne Lamott
Born to Run Christopher McDougall, Bruce Springsteen
The Ladies’ Paradise Émile Zola
The World Beyond Your Head Matthew B. Crawford
All the Birds, Singing Evie Wyld
Barracoon Zora Neale Hurston
Dandelion Wine Ray Bradbury
JavaScript & jQuery Jon Duckett
Home Fire Kamila Shamsie
The Weather Detective Peter Wohlleben
Play It As It Lays Joan Didion
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck Mark Manson
Convenience Store Woman Sayaka Murata
Perfect Me Heather Widdows
Sorry to Disrupt the Peace Patty Yumi Cottrell
Why Buddhism Is True Robert Wright
What Is Real? Adam Becker
Kudos Rachel Cusk
The Days of Abandonment Elena Ferrante
F*cked Corinne Fisher & Krystyna Hutchinson
Searching for Stars on an Island in Maine Alan Lightman
Wide Sargasso Sea Jean Rhys
Infinite Jest David Foster Wallace
A Room of One’s Own Virginia Woolf
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