Category Archives: Living My Life

Prudence, resilience, and awfulizing

Posted on March 2, 2019 by hessd

The idea behind pairing these ideas is that the amount of care we exercise in preventing bad outcomes can, under some circumstances, be translated into an unrealistic and ominous assessment of what those outcomes could be. I have had a … Continue reading →

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Grief sherpa

Posted on February 19, 2019 by hessd

I’m a big fan of good analytical categories.  I value them in the way academics tend to, but on beyond that, I have been benefitted by them in some very personal ways.  Martin and Doka, for instance [1], distinguish between … Continue reading →

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Not being afraid

Posted on February 12, 2019 by hessd

There is nothing quite like fear to inspire an ardent interest in what works. I am going to cite today two formulations that have helped me and that I have thought about. [1]  It seems odd to me, as I … Continue reading →

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Being friends with your adult children

Posted on February 9, 2019 by hessd

I want to begin with one of my favorite quotes from The West Wing.  Lisa Wolfe is a staffer in a Republican Senate, which controls the confirmation of federal judges.  Josh Lyman is a staffer in a Democratic White House, … Continue reading →

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It’s “Groundhog Day.” Again.

Posted on February 2, 2019 by hessd

I will watch Groundhog Day again on Saturday. I watch it every year. I just don’t seem to be able to help myself. (Just kidding about that last part.) In this well-known movie, Phil Connors (Bill Murray) discovers that his … Continue reading →

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Doing agreement

Posted on January 20, 2019 by hessd

Last night, I watched—again—one of the final episodes of The West Wing. In it, Matt Santos (Jimmy Smits) asks Arnie Vinick (Alan Alda) to be his Secretary of State. This seems odd, on the surface, because Santos has just defeated … Continue reading →

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Eagles fumble the ball

Posted on January 8, 2019 by hessd

Eagles fumble the ball Apologies first. I am sorry for that intrusive “Play” symbol in the middle of the picture. I couldn’t find a way to get rid of it except by substituting a “Pause” symbol. Then there is the … Continue reading →

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Yellow (Caution) lights

Posted on December 22, 2018 by hessd

Since my neighborhood Starbucks closed, I have been walking further in the morning to get coffee for Bette and me. A very urban route it is, too. And when I walk on Broadway going west or on Weidler coming back … Continue reading →

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Quod vide

Posted on December 12, 2018 by hessd

For every person who knows what quod vide means, there are probably 100 or more who would see q.v. in some material they are reading and know what it meant without even thinking about it. It may be that q.v. … Continue reading →

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“You’ve got to want it bad”

Posted on November 24, 2018 by hessd

When I so much as think those words, let alone write them, I hear the voice of President Andrew Shepherd (and I hear Sorkin’s touch with words) in The American President. He was talking about “America,” he says. The line … Continue reading →

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