Category Archives: online journal

reck·on·ing/ˈrek(ə)niNG/nounthe action or process of calculating or estimating something. “last year was not, by any reckoning, a particularly good one” Similar: calculation, estimation, computation, working out, summation, counting, addition, total, tally, score a person’s view, opinion, or judgment. “by ancient reckoning, bacteria are plants” Similar: opinion, view, judgment, evaluation, way of thinking, estimate, estimation, appraisal,Continue reading “I reckon…”

I was just listening to a CNN host and some guest talking at each other about something the previous administration did. It’s really annoying when the host asks a question, then talks over the guest when they answer. We get that you don’t agree with the guest, but even when you do, you still talkContinue reading “Yes, we can”

Making things right. Twelve-step programs, in particular, teach about making amends for past misdeeds, and about making things right. The legal profession strives to settle conflicts over contracts by making the injured party whole. When a system is guilty of wrongdoing, of wrong thinking that has resulted in harm to others, how do they makeContinue reading “Recovery”

So. I watched the CNN documentary on the Tulsa race massacre of May 31, 1921. It was a horrific display of white supremacy and sadistic cruelty, with a mob of white people descending on a section of town known as Black Wall Street. The Greenwood section of Tulsa was “across the railroad tracks” from theContinue reading “Activism”

My writing prompt asks me about the worst day of my life. A day when I lost someone or something dear to me, a day when I came to an unpleasant realization, a day when I experienced a major setback. Well, that leaves me a wealth of territory to explore. Well, well, well. Let’s see.Continue reading “Many worst days…”

I’ve been through yesterday, I’m going through today, but I haven’t gotten tomorrow yet. Tomorrow is a brave new world, or maybe a cowardly old world. We’ll just have to see. Today is Memorial Day, when the nation pauses to honor it’s military veterans, particularly those who have given their lives in ultimate sacrifice toContinue reading “Tomorrow”

Back in the 70s, Judy Collins sang a song about clouds (Both Sides Now). We good little Catholic girls couldn’t get enough of that, singing it for contemporary Mass and plunking it out on our first nylon string guitars. Rows and flows of angel hairAnd ice cream castles in the airAnd feather canyons everywhereI’ve lookedContinue reading “Clouds”

My writing prompt for today asks me about the best day of my life, or several of the best days. I don’t know how to answer that. I’m considering how to rank my past days in retrospect, which is bizarre. I’m trying very hard to remember feeling joy and hope and happiness on a singleContinue reading “What is the best day?”

When matter is confined to a finite container and then agitated, it will seek to be liberated. It will swell the confines that limit it, making the boundaries as elastic as possible. It will seek its own level, compress itself to make the most efficient use of the available area. The compression causes heat toContinue reading “Venting”

There have been 17 mass shootings in America over the past week. The latest one, in San Jose, took nine lives. The gunman knew all of the victims because this was a workplace incident. They had all worked together. He was armed with two semi-automatic handguns and eleven magazines of ammunition. His apartment contained bomb-makingContinue reading “Liberty, or not”