School’s a waste of time, many students think. Yeah, teachers can drum their sales pitches into thick skulls, but how can that succeed when so much teaching seems unessential to their lives — now or in the future. So why not do the grand experiment and find out, once and for all, how long does anybody really Read More …
Think about it.
We are. Believe the wrong thing, it controls, shapes, colors, ruins your whole life. Even the lives of others. The question is: Are any beliefs good? Maybe the ones that keep us going. Even if untrue, or, better word, uncertain. Testament to faith. ? But ultimately beliefs are dangerous. At least more dangerous than we Read More …
One of J.K. Rowling’s geniuses is her gift for invention. Not real inventions, but ordinary things that become magical with a little wishful / twistful thinking. Hats that evaluate one’s brain. Portraits that move. Jelly beans that come in every flavor, even dirt. Brooms that fly, of course. It’s a child’s kind of imagining, and Read More …
When I was little, I was scared of the dark. Had to leave that night light on. Wonder if night lights could be redesigned to project a lit image on a wall or ceiling. Thoughts: Some powerful hero to scare monster away. Some harmless monster like Cookie Monster, to acclimate the kid to the whole idea. Or maybe project images Read More …
Actually, the more I think about it, maybe this is better. After all, it’s dishonest to pretend rogues and scoundrels and pseudo-angels don’t muck up our lives. Still, that doesn’t take you and me off the hook.
Mobile provocation: “Blame Yourself” on a bumper sticker. No offense intended, though. Not saying hate yourself or beat yourself up. Just let’s stop being two-faced. Can’t take credit for successes and blame others for our failures. Besides, what good does blaming others do? If you figure out how to fix other people (or me), please let me know. So Read More …
The only thing wrong with you is that you think there’s something wrong with you. I know they’d like me if only I’d stop worrying about people liking me. If can just stop trying not to try, I’ll find enlightenment.
1. It’s where you think you left it: Look more thoroughly. Repeat three times. Have someone else look, too. (One time I found a friend’s $5,000 check tucked under the flap of a bill.) 2. It fell. Look anywhere below. It’s in the drawer which was open, but then got closed. It hit the floor and Read More …
A funny newspaper column or book would be a collection of opinions by kids about adult likes and dislikes. Kids try pate. Cigarettes. Wine. The evening news. C-Span. Shakespeare. Caviar. Business suits. The Wall Street Journal. Brie. Slim-Fast. Might make a very “emperor’s new clothes” kind of point: Maybe adults don’t really some this boring, Read More …
Two sides have long histories of hatred? Let the aggressions out in some kind of sporting event. Slug it out in a boxing match. Play rough-and-tumble rugby. Fencing. Wrestling. Paintball. Prime minister vs. prime minister in a fierce game of foosball. Not saying this is a cure for war, but it could defuse some of the unreasonable Read More …
Find a need and fill it is the old inventing adage. In an era of the sky’s the limit, maybe it should be find a fantasy and fulfill it. Skip the obvious sex and love stuff. Instead, really imagine the limits of what’s possible. Ask: If you could have any one super power, what would it Read More …
ABC has remade faces and totally renovated homes. So how about remaking lives? Possibilities: Extreme Makeover: Mind Edition, where people get help from life coaches, psychologists, clergy, family and friends. Get Dr. Phil to host this puppy, perhaps. Or Oprah. Extreme Makeover: Love Life Edition. This time, instead of focusing on outer beauty, it would be about Read More …
Often you’ll hear expressed the idea that all roles are equally arbitrary. And, frankly, I bought into this for years. But now I realize: Yes, all the world may be a stage, but some roles are more real than others. Being a mother, for example, is based on giving birth, having a body that can breastfeed, and a baby’s Read More …
We’re so bombarded with ads, news, messages, airplane and traffic noise, rudeness, and tempting sights and smells, here’s a prediction: Someday we’ll have personal high-tech force fields that selectively screen out undesired sensory experiences. No, not some combo earplug-blindfold-noseplug deal. But a kind of programmable Sensory Sentry or Filter Field — a Globe of Obliviosity? — that lets you have peace and Read More …