Motherless Brooklyn

The Other Stuff

His latest book is crap—in my mind anyway. Jonathan Lethem’s The Arrest takes place in the near future, some years after everything stops. You know, everything: electronics, motors, hydraulics, solar power, indoor plumbing. Amenities, creature comforts. It all stops, but you never learn why. Witchcraft is my guess. As good a reason as anything else.

The cartoon cover should have been my clue, and it almost was. It drew an eye-roll, but then I read the back cover; they called it a dystopian story. I’m a sucker for dystopian. But here’s the thing, they actually portrayed a utopia. An agrarian society, bicycles as transport, homemade wine, bushels of weed, a community library. It all seemed pretty A-OK to me. But of course, there was the stupid car on the cover. And around that stupid car sat a stupid plot. Whatever. I gutted through the book, the whole way wondering why…

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Am I Real?

The answer to that question is YES, I AM REAL!  The problem, it seems, is proving it. I turned seventy this week and that should make me real. As the Skin Horse told the Velveteen Rabbit in the popular children’s’ book by Margery Williams, “Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair … Continue reading Am I Real?

Generosity

How would you like to change? I’m not talking about things like losing weight or exercising more. I mean how would you like to change in ways that make you a better person in your dealings with those around you? Or in ways that are important to others? I am confronting that question right now … Continue reading Generosity

Organizing 2021

It’s a new year. Time for a new bullet journal. \When you read about bullet journals, the idea is that you grab a new blank notebook and begin fresh each year. That’s not the way I roll but it just happened to work out this year. When I began bullet journaling, I grabbed a cheap … Continue reading Organizing 2021