Friday 08 May 2026 Why didn’t I say: “Goodbye. I’ll return when I can”? Why didn’t I say: “I need to pause writing my weekly blogs because….” I didn’t anticipate my hiatus from this blog site lasting a full year; I thought no longer than four months. Looking through my Spring 2025 blogs, I realize […]
“You Don’t Call; You Don’t Write! What Happened?” Read More »
Tuesday 01 April 2025 Just Go! This mantra has become my rallying cry; even my wife has begun to declare this shibboleth. And why not? If you can go, stop waiting. If you can’t go, go anyway. The etymology of “to wait” reveals: c. 1200, waiten, “to watch with hostile intent, lie in wait for,
My Life List: My Zen Couple’s Retreat to Sedona, Arizona Read More »
Tuesday 11 March 2025 Bucket Lists sound so morbid, exuding fumes of death; after all, the two characters in Rob Reiner’s 2007 film, The Bucket List, written by Justin Zackham and based on his own “List of Things to do Before I Kick the Bucket”, which he shortened to “Justin’s Bucket List,” die before being
My Life List: An Introduction Read More »
Tuesday 04 March 2025 During the past two years, the thoughts of travelling more and of experiencing more adventures and of assigning more time to create those memories not only have enthralled me—bewitching me—but also have redefined my life’s purpose. I wouldn’t call what I am feeling as a “mid-life crisis.” No, I am not
This Is a Life List, Not a Bucket List: A Primer Read More »
Tuesday 25 February 2025 “If there is any kind of memorial… a single flower, photograph… anything, then that’s the point. If there isn’t a single thing, then that’s the point, too. I’m like an investigative reporter. I need to know either way,” I explained to my wife. “I might be too late to see if
Alexei Navalny: One Year Later Read More »
Tuesday 18 February 2025 Where to begin? What should I write today? The past week, my mind has been made to feel dizzy by writing subject ideas. The problem: choosing one topic over another one. All are equally good. Hence, the procrastination. This past Sunday was an important day of commemoration for me. On 16
When Writing Makes Me Dizzy Read More »
Tuesday 11 February 2025 Like last week’s blog entry, today’s blog started out as a rough draft for this blog site. As the writing became longer and more complicated, I convinced myself that it should go into my Katyn memoir manuscript. In fact, I wrote this piece as a culmination of a series of conversations
“Professor, Am I a Cynic?” Read More »
Tuesday 04 February 2025 During the Spring 2024 semester, I began creating new content for the revised draft of my Katyn manuscript. Originally, this piece was to be a blog intended for my “Professor….” Series. While drafting it, I quickly realized it was becoming a long, very complicated essay exploring cynicism, supposedly, mine. By the
“Professor, Are You Cynical?” Read More »
Tuesday 28 January 2025 “Ten years. Today is my tenth anniversary teaching this war class here,” I began. I started teaching last Wednesday, and I was more nervous than usual. To be honest, I haven’t felt nervous before starting a new semester in years. I felt something more than “first-day jitters.” This mood felt different.
Monday 20 January 2025 I start teaching classes this week. Revising my course assignment requirements and revisiting some poetry and nonfiction that I haven’t taught in years and adding them to my Spring’s reading lists, I am striving for a more effective, streamlined approach to my teaching. While fine-tuning my war classes and their course