Reflections Upon an Occasion of Little Consequence
I. Death
Many times man lives and dies
Between his two eternities
That of race and that of soul
And ancient Ireland knew it all.
Whether man dies in his bed
Or the rifle knocks him dead,
A brief parting from those dear
Is the worst man has to fear.
T...
Turn the Page
“Everybody’s coming back to take stock of their lives. You know what I say? Leave your livestock alone.”
— Grosse Pointe Blank
One more rotation of a small blue planet on its circuit around a minor yellow star at the edge of...
Turn the Page
“Everybody’s coming back to take stock of their lives. You know what I say? Leave your livestock alone.”
— Grosse Pointe Blank
One more rotation of a small blue planet on its circuit around a minor yellow star at the edge of...
Shhh!
Je souhaite dans ma maison:
Une femme ayant sa raison,
Un chat passant parmi les livres,
Des amis en toute saison
Sans lesquels je ne peut pas vivre.
In my house I wish:
A woman with her reason,
A cat passing among the books,
Friends in every season
W...
As Good as It Gets
Carol Connelly: “OK, we all have these terrible stories to get over, and you...”
Melvin Udall: “It’s not true. Some of us have great stories, pretty stories that take place at lakes with boats and friends and noodle salad. J...
The Cold Companionable Streams
The trees are in their autumn beauty,The woodland paths are dry,Under the October twilight the waterMirrors a still sky;Upon the brimming water among the stonesAre nine-and-fifty swans.The nineteenth autumn has come upon meSince I first made my count;I...
Holiday Interlude
I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate. All those moments will be lost in time... like tears in rain...— Blade R...
Known Unknowns
[Edward Ferrars and Elinor Dashwood are baiting Margaret Dashwood, who is hiding]Edward: “Oh... Miss Dashwood. Forgive me. Do you by any chance have such a thing as a reliable atlas?”Elinor: “I believe so.”Edward: “Excellent. I wish to ...
Tort Reform
Overheard this morning at breakfast:Lawyer #1: “Being a litigator is like cleaning the Augean Stables: it’s not particularly pleasant work, but you know you’ll always have a job.”Lawyer #2: “That’s nothing. You should try representing in...
She Blinded Me with Science
Science has not changed the laws of social growth or betterment. Science has not changed the nature of society, has not made history a whit easier to understand, or human nature a whit easier to reform. It has won for us a great liberty in the physic...
The Land of the Free
“At pet stores in Detroit, you can buy frozen rats for seventy-five cents apiece, to feed your pet boa constrictor” back home in Grosse Pointe, or in Grosse Pointe Park, while the free nation of rats in Detroit emerges from alleys behin...
A Grave in the Clouds
In memoriam, September 11, 2001:If thou didst ever hold me in thy heart Absent thee from felicity awhile, And in this harsh world draw thy breath in pain, To tell my story.— William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark* * *Bear ...
