I married a Red Indian Poet. Could be he was the love of my life. But there has to be dating even after the love of your life. He was grand. Deep. Thoughtful. Passionate. He is changing the world and when we were together I somehow felt I was a part of his force.



He loves our girl. He loves all his children. When it comes right down to it he loves all his ex wives and all of humanity.



But I saw the writing on the wall. And the writing said:…

I love circles. I find them the perfect shape, architecturally, and I'm continually attracted to them:  in clocks, tables, mirrors... anywhere, really. What is more beautiful than a bubble floating on the breeze, catching the light on a sunny day?  

The trouble is:

I think in circles. No matter the subject, I will consider every aspect of a topic all the way around and through to the other side, often right back to the beginning. While in general this might…

I wrote a series of posts about the Gifford shooting in Colorado. This one is from Jan. 18, 2011. I chose to keep this one for two reasons: Because James Emmerling says my best work is my analogies and because this one includes a unusual view of the Rev. Al Sharpton. 

I've posted a couple of times about the Tucson shootings already, but it occurs to me that I may have a better way of putting this. My talent seems to lie with analogies. Try this…

Barack Obama said “…let us use this occasion to expand our moral imaginations”.

 “Our moral imaginations”, these are powerful and moving words. In these words I find a glimpse of a path forward. I believe our listening famine is not merely a famine of right not being able to hear left, or left not being able to see wisdom in the positions on the right. This is, of course, a great divide that we need to bridge. But it seems the source of this fatal divide is our…

Here is my favorite winter soup, a thick, rich and hearty Vegetarian Stew.  

 This is a great comfort meal when the weather is bad, or when the news is sad.

When stress is high. When colds and viruses abound.

Nerves can be soothed with the right meal.

Taste…

originally published Jan. 7, 2011 on Open Salon. This got an Editors' Pick. 

I've been reading some excellent posts lately from Kemstone and Rw005g on Social Security about how there are moves to reduce and/or privatize it, ostensibly out of the misguided conviction that any program run by the Government is intrinsically a bad idea but actually because banks can make way more money if they can force all Americans to speculate on their retirement income,…

Stephen Stills is undoubtedly one of the most influential artists of the era. He is the only musician to ever be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice in the same night: once for his association in The Buffalo Springfield and the other for his work with Crosby, Stills,  & Nash. As he turns 66 years old on January 3rd he continues to perform as a solo artist and in various combinations with lifelong friends David…