History, Courage & Learning to Remember
In college, I was no history buff. Dr. Lynwood Oyos’ legendary Western Civilization class at Augustana College nearly sank me in terms of my grade point average. He was a brilliant and personable professor who…
Coffee, Red Wine and Poetry
Although I usually write and read longer, paragraphed forms of writing, a good poem remains for me better than that first coffee in the morning, surpassing even that rich red warm glass of wine in…
Considering the Writer’s Life
Summer’s leaving. We’re experiencing a drought here, as are most of the Great Plains states. Of course, this has nothing to do with my infrequent blog posting these days. I am well-watered and fed, unlike…
Is There a True Olympic Spirit, Beyond Medals and Ideology?
The 2012 London Summer Olympic Games draw many of us to watch in wonder; each devoted athlete has dedicated his or her life to the agonizing, fine art of perfect completion. Whether they are competing…
Back in the Game, by Charles Holdefer: a Reader’s Review
Stanley Mercer might be called an accidental teacher. After fourteen years of pursuing his youthful dream of professional baseball through the U.S., Mexico and France, he returns to America, without success or his girlfriend, Delphine….
How Many Languages Do You Speak?
Probably more than you think. There’s your primary language, most likely the language you learned from birth. I know a few people who only spoke their parents’ language before they attended American schools and transitioned…
Mysterious Mathematics, Beauty and Truth in Fractals
Fractals fascinate the eye, but their beauty is more than skin deep. Their self-similar structure iterates, meaning it repeats a process where the result forms the starting point for the next step. Their structure originates…
Research and Information, the Old, Hard Way
In research for my fiction writing, I use primary sources when available. The internet is a wonderful thing but there are a lot of opinions flashing around, impersonating facts. Because of blatant plagiarism, bias and…
Migraines, Limitations and Laughing In Between
This week, all of the natural and artificial anti-blogging forces in the universe have conspired to keep me from writing here, so this is my attempt at defiance. I had a post half-finished on Tuesday,…
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