Category Archives: Living My Life

Deciding to Eat Out

Posted on May 28, 2017 by hessd

We all have values we say we hold and, as a subcategory, values we actually hold. [1] And these values, my values and your values, are very often the same, differing only in rank order. “Only,” he says. Nearly all … Continue reading →

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“Serving others”

Posted on May 24, 2017 by hessd

In one of my favorite episodes (Season 5, Episode 6) of The West Wing, President Bartlet loses his sense of how vitally important the presidency is. He has flown to Oklahoma to lend whatever support he can to a tornado-stricken … Continue reading →

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Reflections on Ireland, 2017

Posted on May 16, 2017 by hessd

As I write this, it is just after noon in Dublin, where I had breakfast yesterday.  It is just after 4:00 a.m. in Portland, Oregon where, when Starbucks opens, I will have breakfast today.  My mind is still full of … Continue reading →

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Now bring on the victory laps

Posted on April 26, 2017 by hessd

When I first began to formulate the metaphor of victory laps in 1977 (much more later), my wife, Donnie, and our children—then 16, 14, and 12—were living in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania on a little circle of houses kept for new … Continue reading →

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A Hollywood opening

Posted on April 25, 2017 by hessd

Saturday, April 22, was my first visit to the Hollywood branch [1] of our library system. [2] It was a spectacularly good experience. Already I feel a reluctance to go back to try to experience it all over again because … Continue reading →

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A Bunny Welcome for Jesus

Posted on April 23, 2017 by hessd

This year, Walmart featured a very upbeat TV ad with the caption, “Easter like you mean it.” It’s about kids running around in a well cared for neighborhood, chasing each other and finding easter eggs while inside the house, the … Continue reading →

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Remembering Dad at Easter

Posted on April 19, 2017 by hessd

My father has been dead for more than thirty years, but every Easter, I remember him as vividly as if we talked just last week. I am going to show you two really ordinary pictures today. They are pictures of … Continue reading →

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Welcome to the multiplex

Posted on April 6, 2017 by hessd

Have I got a deal for you. You buy your ticket to a “theater” showing…oh…half a dozen movies. This ticket will get you into the multiplex theater anytime you want as many times as you want, and when you are … Continue reading →

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I saw it with my own eyes

Posted on April 5, 2017 by hessd

April 4, 2017 I didn’t hit any serious theory about how we see things until I hit grad school. Then we paid a great deal of attention to Gestaltists—illustrations, explanations, and most fun of all, experiments. I liked it all, … Continue reading →

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The Last Word

Posted on March 29, 2017 by hessd

I am married to a librarian and every now and then she dips into whatever bag of tricks librarians have and produces just the right observation. That happened last weekend and I want to tell you about it. Telling you … Continue reading →

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