Author Archives: hessd

It is so easy to exaggerate the current antipathy between (some) men and (some) women in the U.S. today. Here is a political overview: For a growing percentage of young men, Cox [1] wrote: Feminism has less to do with … Continue reading →

A wonderful picture came into my mind this morning. I’m going to share it in the hope that you will enjoy it as much as I did. It will take a little setting up. I am listening to Jennifer Paxton’s … Continue reading →

I think I’ve passed a milestone of some kind. You’re never sure at the time, I suppose. I am basing this opinion on the fact that I find myself looking back at something that I have routinely looked ahead to … Continue reading →

I would like for you to stand with me on the sidelines of this conflict and try to determine what it is about. Let’s pursue the implicit football metaphor a little. As is true in many contested rulings, it is … Continue reading →

I have a thought about being possessed by demons. The thought I want to pursue isn’t all that scary, but it wouldn’t hurt to start with the only joke I know about demon possession. Question: What happens when you fall … Continue reading →

Why is that? What, exactly, have I done to “deserve” a break today? The thing I like best about etymology is not that it tells us what a word “really means.” [1] It is that it tells us how it … Continue reading →

I have not heard anything good about “black and white thinking” for a long time. In fact, I haven’t heard anything good about discrimination of any kind for a long time. The discrimination problem is easier to understand. It is … Continue reading →

This is about the achievement of two women, Ayo and Mead. They live in the village of Woodedge on one of the islands with which Ursula LeGuin has populated her world, EarthSea. Let me describe the achievement first, then I … Continue reading →

For many years, we read Auden’s “For the Time Being” at or near the date of Epiphany. Then that practice fell, as did many others, into the COVID 19 hole. This year, Bette and I climbed out of that hole … Continue reading →

I’ve been reading a good deal about “self-care” recently. I have read so much, in fact, that I am beginning to think about it. If you wanted to glance over a series of images about self care and you put … Continue reading →