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A Little Dog Beneath an Ancient Sun
I don’t know how it happened. When Dennis, the little Corgi mutt who’d been by my side since I ended up in a wheelchair, died, I wanted a Beagle. I was actively looking for one (and had found one on a shelter website not too far away) the morning I came across Gordon’s picture and…
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Pablo
It’s hard to put into words what it was like living in the shadow cast by AIDS in the 90s. One of my exes (I have several – in my heyday, I was what you might call a serial monogamist) gave HIV the name Pablo, because we could not comprehend nor relate to an unseen…
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Clear the Shelters
August is not just the month I irrationally believe the universe has it in for me. It is also the month of the nationwide Clear the Shelters event. Shelter pets are very near and dear to my heart – and I’ll tell you why: they saved my life! Since becoming ill, and retiring to the…
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Two responses to Nihilism
In the 19th and 20th centuries modernity came into its fullness, and with this maturation the religious worldview began to fall away leaving us with a crisis of meaning that we’ve come to call Nihilism. The emergence of Nihilism prompted philosophers to ponder anew that clichéd philosophical question – what is the meaning of life?…
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The day fish was cancelled
We had fish for lunch yesterday. To be more accurate, I should say they served fish for lunch yesterday. I had an egg salad sandwich. Around here, the kitchen always offers an alternative when seafood is the entrée. It’s usually chicken. But yesterday the kitchen whipped up a batch of the most delicious egg salad…
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A message from Gordon
For most Americans, the Fourth of July is a glorious celebration of national independence from a tyrannical king. It is a day filled with backyard barbecues, potato salad of questionable age, patriotic T-shirts that somehow feature more eagles than the national seal, and enough grilled meat to keep cardiologists gainfully employed for another year. As…
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Emotional Incontinence
When Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom died in 2022, it was more than a notable death, like that of a celebrity, politician, someone associated with a bestselling book, a certain business or product, or some other position of prominence within society. She was a head of state, yes, but her reign of 70…
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In Defense, and Praise, of Bread
Few things in life are more satisfying than bread. And when it comes to bread, there really is only one choice: the baguette. The baguette is one of the simplest breads in the world, yet it is also one of the most beloved. Made from only a few basic ingredients — flour, water, yeast, and…
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Smoking
I recently rediscovered Barry Manilow. I bought a “greatest hits” compilation of his on iTunes called Ultimate Manilow, and found I knew the words to every song! The arrangements, the melodies, the build to the moment of maximum drama: these were really good songs. I mean really, really good. The sentiment in the lyrics was…
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On the milestone of my 200th post
Shortly after moving in to Stonewall Gardens Assisted Living in 2015, I turned 50. A milestone. Last week, now in my eleventh year here, I turned 60. Another milestone. And thinking that a good idea for a post, I did lots of research on milestones – their origin in, where else but ancient Rome, their…
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