That’s Punny!

I’m pretty upset with myself.  I grew up in the Austin area (and yet!) I never once heard of El Arroyo restaurant, not until a few days ago. Since the 1980s, besides serving fine Tex-Mex cuisine to countless customers, the eatery has been posting imaginably funny and clever signs in its parking lot.  In fact, … More That’s Punny!

New Podcast!

Check out Wise & Shine’s new podcast.  In our latest episode, I talk with Wynne Leon about “Finding My Father’s Faith,” her memoir.  Enjoy! 

Knowledge is Power: Philosophy from a video game

“Finish him,” was the famous phrase heard on Mortal Kombat 3 when it came time to obliterate your opponent. You might remember the drunken wobble Raiden does just before Sub-Zero uppercuts him into oblivion. Good times. As a kid, another part of the game always stood out: the opening credits. The phrase flashing across the … More Knowledge is Power: Philosophy from a video game

Zugzwang

First of all, let’s just take a moment to enjoy the aesthetic decadence of that word. It’s zippy, it’s got zest. In some ways, as we will see, it captures a greater than zero percentage of the zeitgeist. It is every bit the equal of “zozzled,” a Jazz Age term for drunk. But “zugzwang” isn’t … More Zugzwang

Why Sports Help Me

Not me doing sports, obviously. That’s bizarre and more than a little disquieting to even picture. But for many people, sports, or more precisely, following a particular sport, team, or player, is something for which they feel a deep abiding passion. For me, it’s baseball. And even though I’m about to relate something specific to … More Why Sports Help Me

Expansiveness

When my inquisitive daughter was about 3 ½ years old, we had a conversation about perspective. We looked out our back door at the houses around and I asked her to count how many she could see. Three. Then we went to the second floor and I helped her count – seven. And then we … More Expansiveness

Being Joy

The inversion of Truth (that things and achievement are the source of our joy) has become so prevalent in society that the majority of persons are unaware that it is an utter falsity. For reasons that are highly suspect, the story related to happiness/joy has become very corrupt. On a daily basis, we are informed that this, that, or … More Being Joy

Goodbye Spunky

My wife and I take care of a few feral cats that live in our neighborhood.  They move quietly and gracefully into and out of our backyard and remind me of lithe shadows.  We feed and water them, and when it got summertime hot back in early June, we constructed a crude but effective cat … More Goodbye Spunky