The other day, I sat in an overstuffed chair in the lobby of the retirement center beside a 92 year-old woman who tends to have her finger on the pulse of the community.  Since I’d heard rumblings about recent staff changes, I imagined I might glean more insights.  As for the chan

Over coffee and conversation at the retirement center, the woman I was sitting with was in the midst of a fascinating story when she stopped and looked blank.  She seemed stuck for a word so I offered it.  Grateful, she went  on with her story, but not before observing, “Around h

During lunch with a resident at the retirement center, we talked about art and its effect on the aging brain. Both of us thought any form art challenged people’s perceptions and kept that organ active. From there, we took a short hop to various types of writing: fiction, non-fictio

Yesterday, I wrote about the dark side of robotics, which stems largely from a wariness about ourselves. (Blog 8/31/15)   Writer, John Mooallem raises our level of consciousness about “them” and “us” further in, “Is it ok to kick a robot?” (Wired, July 2015 pg. 52.) Besi

Many times I’ve noted a large gap exists between what our brain tells us about the world and truth. My novel Trompe l’Oeil is a study of that gap – the difference between appearance and reality. Even so, we infinitely small creatures of a small planet among billions of galaxies

Some friends dropped by the other day with a book for me to read, Their Eyes Were Watching God.  Published in 1937 by a Zora Neal Huston, the tribute on the cover was written by Alice Walker:  There is no book more important to me than this one. I’d never heard of the author so, b

Having strong objections to the notion that human activities are influencing climate change doesn’t alter the facts.  A recent review of scientific opinion on the subject reveals that people need to limit their contribution to global warming by 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit. (“Climate C

The other day a nurse told me a story about an 88 year-old woman who had come into the doctor’s office with a concern. The patient and her boyfriend were having sex every day. She worried if it might cause a health problem. Surprised, the nurse laughed and told the older woman to �

Several years ago, I spent 10 days at Buddhist retreat in Berkley. Naturally, there was much talk about good and bad karma — the notion that we reap what we sow. Good deeds will attract good outcomes; bad deeds will attract bad outcomes. Emotionally, the sentiment satisfies my d