Category Archives: Living My Life

Fathers’ Day Thoughts

Posted on June 20, 2021 by hessd

I always thought that the basis of my authority over my children was that I had their welfare in mind and they did not have my welfare in mind. On the occasions when they argued with me, they found that … Continue reading →

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I and AI

Posted on May 16, 2021 by hessd

Sherry Turkle’s memoir, The Empathy Diaries, was published recently and I bought it as soon as I heard about it. She has spent nearly all of her professional career studying the human-robot interaction.  She is the one who, in Alone … Continue reading →

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Please have your mask on for us

Posted on January 20, 2021 by hessd

“Please have your mask on for us.” That’s what they say at the Starbucks Drive-through where I get my coffee in the morning.   I really like it and I’d like to think about it a little today. [1] I … Continue reading →

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The Seductions of Narrative

Posted on December 1, 2020 by hessd

Some years ago, I ran my best half marathon time ever.  There were some special circumstances in this race.  I can think of two classes of such circumstances.  I’m going to tell you what they are because I am still … Continue reading →

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A Skeptic has a Mystical Experience. Who would have thought it?

Posted on October 3, 2020 by hessd

A few weeks ago, I had a mystical experience.  I mention it because I am not at all sure what a mystical experience is and because I am not somebody who has mystical experiences.  Still…this time I did. So what’s … Continue reading →

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Boredom: A Sermon to Myself

Posted on August 18, 2020 by hessd

Since this is a sermon and since I come from a tradition where sermons are, nominally at least, based on texts, I have a text to offer.  This comes from Neal Stephenson’s Anathem and it is said to be a … Continue reading →

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Virtue Signaling

Posted on July 26, 2020 by hessd

I am sorry to be coming so late to the party. “Virtue signaling” is a term I heard for the first time today. I know. I ought to get out more. It seems to me that “virtue signaling” is an … Continue reading →

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A Klan of “Karens”

Posted on July 2, 2020 by hessd

You may have heard about the fuss kicked up by Amber Lynn Gilles at the Starbucks in San Diego. The short version is that she didn’t wear a mask, as store rules required her to do, and was not served. … Continue reading →

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Strategic cockroach

Posted on June 8, 2020 by hessd

Yesterday, my husband thought he saw a cockroach in the kitchen. He sprayed everything down and cleaned thoroughly. Today, I’m putting the cockroach in the bathroom. That’s one of the cute little reports included in a paper called Funnies, which … Continue reading →

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Feeling no pain

Posted on June 1, 2020 by hessd

Mostly, I’ve heard that phrase as another way to say that someone was drunk.  “He was feelin’ no pain,” someone will say, rolling his eyes meaningfully.  I want to use the phrase a little differently.  This will sound like a … Continue reading →

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