I’ve long been a fan of writer, Edith Wharton, so when I came across a reprint of her essay, first published in March 1938, naturally I stopped to read it. In the course of her remarks, she made a number of observations, some of which were curious. What, for example, did she m
The second round of auditions for my play, Woman on the Scarlet Beast, came two weeks after the first. Though the director, Cassandra Schwanke, thought we had found our leading lady in the earlier audition, I wasn’t so sure. The woman she favored was too young. Somewhere, th
What was touted as a debate, turned out to be a love-in as Judith Shulevitz and Rebecca Traister reviewed the gains and losses of the feminist movement. (We Are All Feminists Now,” by Judith Schulevitz and Rebecca Traister, New Republic, 9/28/14 pgs 14-23.) While the goal of total
Recently, Pope Francis issued a statement which not only accepted science’s “Big Bang” theory on the origin of the universe but embraced Darwin’s theory of evolution as well. He concluded that neither of these suppositions contradicted the idea of divine intervention. On the c
A new frontier has come to light where women continue to face discrimination and it has a name: Gamegate. Like so much in the electronic age, games have largely been the province of males, both as consumers and designers. But lately a few women have entered the field and their p
A reader commented about my recent blog on meditation (Blog 10/14/14) to remind me that walking, as opposed to sitting, is a form of meditation, too, and once reminded, I was quick to acknowledge he was correct. Ancient mazes were designed to induce a meditative state and walking
Arguments for and against electing court judges by popular vote continue from time to time. In my community, judgeships tend to be uncompetitive with one person running for each vacant slot. It hardly seems worth the price of ink to put their names on the ballot and how these candid
Near the end of my last term in public office, my secretary left for California and I had to replace her. Rather than do a long search for a job that would last less than a year, I hired an independent contractor. After that, I turned my attention to the task of winding down the off
Every community, not matter how small, has a coffee shop or restaurant where people gather to see and be seen. In a city there are many places. Portland being a mid size city has more than its share, most of which I tend of avoid. If I don’t want the NSA spying on me, I don’
The night for the first play auditions finally arrived. For me, it had already been a long day. I dreaded going out again. Worse, the taxi I’d ordered failed to appear. I don’t like to drive at night but, having no alternative, I ploughed through a driving rain to reach th