Category: miscellaneous

How did the American get on the roof of the toilet?

   This blog has been only about refugees lately, and as much as I’m still obsessed with the topic (more on that another time), there’s so much else going on. Other things need to be dealt with. And quickly.  For example: people climbing objects in public & standing on said objects. Like in the photo… Continue reading How did the American get on the roof of the toilet?

Oliver Sacks has died and I can’t get Rilke’s Der Panther out of my head

‘Sein Blick ist vom Vorübergehn der Stäbe so müd geworden, daß er nichts mehr hält. Ihm ist, als ob es tausend Stäbe gäbe und hinter tausend Stäben keine Welt. Der weiche Gang geschmeidig starker Schritte, der sich im allerkleinsten Kreise dreht, ist wie ein Tanz von Kraft um eine Mitte, in der betäubt ein großer… Continue reading Oliver Sacks has died and I can’t get Rilke’s Der Panther out of my head

serenading those of the feline persuasion in my best owl voice

   Normally, I provide the source for photos/artwork when I include it here, but this is something that was included in a comment thread & I’ve got no idea where it originated. If I find out, I’ll definitely come back and mention where it came from.  The drawing certainly reflects some nicer moments of the… Continue reading serenading those of the feline persuasion in my best owl voice

they’ve just locked away their goods for the rest of the weekend

   Reading more blogs about living in Germany, I’m noticing there’s quite a lot of material I’ve not even bothered to cover here. When you live somewhere long enough, even as an outsider, you begin to take local oddities for granted.  Last week, for example, I was rushing out the door to grab some milk,… Continue reading they’ve just locked away their goods for the rest of the weekend

Generosity toward the future

   ‘Real generosity toward the future consists in giving all to what is present.‘ (Albert Camus) Perhaps it’s a side effect of aging, but I find myself complaining about weather more than I did when I was younger. When I was quite young, my grandmother was obsessed with watching the evening news, and the part… Continue reading Generosity toward the future

My beautiful heathen

    Nearly as long as I’ve been blogging, I’ve been trying to avoid talking too much about twitter. For one thing, it’s incredibly boring if you’re not already there. So many people with whom I interact in my daily life ridicule the medium, and I gave up long ago any hope of changing their… Continue reading My beautiful heathen

Shining in the light of the setting sun

  When you’ve got nothing interesting to say, talk about the weather. Right? Well, I’ve got plenty of interesting things to talk about….still the coming springtime is on my mind. This wasn’t the hardest winter, but I’ve been ready to usher it out the door for most of February. I’m not normally like that, which… Continue reading Shining in the light of the setting sun

Fine words butter no parsnips

 Well, I was just kidding when I assured Robert Godden that I’d used ‘Fine words butter no parsnips’ in a long ago blogpost. Purportedly, he’s just spent an hour looking through the archives of my various blogs for the nonexistent time I used that phrase…now I almost feel bad, but not really.  Maybe he-of-gullible-tendencies… Continue reading Fine words butter no parsnips

Reading the paper on a Sunday

Have felt a bit out of sorts lately, and then the weekend comes around and I don’t get nearly enough done on my writing projects. I’m juggling this and that, and seemingly without warning Sunday evening sneaks up on me. What on earth have I been doing since Friday night when the vast expanse of… Continue reading Reading the paper on a Sunday