Today on my Facebook page, when I talked about going to the local rally in solidarity with the kids who had organized the March for Our Lives in DC, a friend of a friend said this to me: “Owning a gun or buying a gun when adjudicated mentally unstable is also already a law, and […]
GUNS DON’T KILL PEOPLE?? Read More »
I’m discovering that a lot of people interested in Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders don’t know where to start getting education about them. This entry will be my repository of links that give basic information that I think is vital for parents, caregivers, professionals, and clinicians to know. It is not meant to be a source
LINKS ABOUT FETAL ALCOHOL SPECTRUM DISORDERS Read More »
The world got the word today that Stephen Hawking has died. He had a huge influence on my metaphysics because of his statement that a creator–God–was not required in order for there to be a Big Bang. It was at that point that I felt comfortable not assuming God any more, and began to feel
Stephen Hawking and My Unbelief Read More »
I married into a family that includes two young women born to (the same, as it happens) birth mother who drank. They were both diagnosed early on with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS). I had heard of of FAS, and I had heard of the “Not a Single Drop” campaign, whose logo is attached above. But
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Is About So Much More than Facial Characteristics Read More »
When we left Our Hero, he was reflecting on how Beesing et al had said, matter-of-factly, “[Enneagramic Eights] do not like to face the fact that in spite of their outward behavior of strength they are marshmallows inside.” I think often of the advice, “Love like you’ve never been hurt,” and I’ve often wondered over
HOW INTIMACY HAS SMASHED THROUGH MY DEFENSES, PART II: I AM SHIELDED IN MY ARMOR Read More »
Nearly half my life ago, circa 1990, I was first exposed to the Enneagram as a personality-typing tool that might give me insight into how I operate vis-à-vis members of my family of origin. The first book I read on the topic reflected Jesuit explorations of the tool for spiritual growth. I have studied, though
I have a pretty high IQ, am highly educated, and am extremely articulate. None of these facts presupposes any of the others, but they all happen to converge in me. I learned in grad school more than in college to think critically, but now I can’t easily turn off my critical-thinking impulse. I have historically
Why Are Words of Intelligence, or Lack of Same, So Potent? Read More »
We have mashed up two old essays about the name that I changed to and have posted them here, but now I want to talk about the nuts and bolts and about the social implications of changing one’s name as I have viewed the process up close, once when I did it in 2000 and
On the Process of Changing My Name Read More »
A conversation today highlighted something I have often thought about. I have always been someone who errs on the side of giving unnecessary information. It has always been easy for me to spill my guts, to tell the story in great detail, to spin out the yarn. My friend Eileen says that I am one
Privacy, Secrecy, Discretion, and Whose Story Is Whose Read More »
A PROSAIC INTERPRETATION OF KIPLING’S “IF” FOR THE DAWN OF THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY Originally published in 2003. Here are some reliable indicators of having reached real maturity. If you manifest them, rest assured that you’ll be unhindered in your ability to create and appreciate as many “peak experiences” as you may ever want to in
A Prosaic Interpretation of Kipling’s “If” Read More »
