Fearless hearts and great pumpkins

"To get through this life with any kind of self-respect at all, you need two things: an inquisitive mind, and a fearless heart." -Steve Earle. Like Linus waiting for the Great Pumpkin - Linus has a fearless heart, one that's been broken many times before, and he just comes back for more. You could call … Continue reading Fearless hearts and great pumpkins

Back in the light

Up  late  in my hotel in Bratislava, watching the live coverage of the rescue of the miners in Chile on the BBC. I can't turn it off. It's like watching rebirth as each  man is pulled through the seven hundred metres of rock in that tiny capsule. It's the kind of thing that reminds you of what … Continue reading Back in the light

Perspective

When you are home a lot, you discover that the relationships of the kids on a neighborhood street can rival the drama of corporate politics. Yesterday's drama on our street was triggered by a battle over whose turn it was to play with the wagon shared by a set of three siblings, all under the … Continue reading Perspective

Leaping (and crawling) toward independence

Each year on July 4, I try to celebrate  independence from something for the day. Past years have included independence from judging other people, from being afraid, and from sweets. (Don't ask. Didn't really work that well.) This year, I wasn't sure until this morning what it would be. Celebrating independence from work seemed both … Continue reading Leaping (and crawling) toward independence

Faith, hope, and charity

This was the kind of bar she never went into, never looked at twice. A dive bar, and not a cool dive bar for yuppies who wanted to trick themselves into believing they were slumming by drinking their microbrews in a place with walls covered in graffiti and waitresses covered with multiple piercings. No, this was a real dive bar – graffiti and piercings, sure, but not a microbrew within hailing distance. Cheap beer, cheap whiskey, and the chance to buy bad cocaine if you had the cash and the courage. Loud music, mostly country. Big guys wearing faded t-shirts with ripped off sleeves under denim vests covered in Harley patches, tattoos twitching on their beefy arms. Women in spike-heeled black boots whose curves overflowed their tight jeans and whose hair showed the effects of too many bad perms.