This was Spirit Week at the local high school. I had a substitute teaching job on Friday, and I got the full impact up close. Why this week? Friday night was a football game with a neighboring suburb, their arch rivals. Over the years, this rivalry has evolved into a higher purpose — it includes
I have always considered the duckbill platypus to be the most unusual mammal. It’s semi-aquatic, the only mammal to lay eggs, and resembles an animal designed by committee. With a duck’s bill, a beaver’s tail, and an otter’s foot, some thought the early specimens were a hoax. But now I have read of an even
The saddest outcome when we depart a country after a conflict is the people we leave behind. It happened in Vietnam. I know personally because I had a graduate-school classmate who was Vietnamese. Somehow in the chaos of those final days the nuclear family got out (thanks largely to individual initiatives by some of my
This is a poem I wrote based on many years as a trick-or-treat host. Halloween Fun by Bob Welbaum Halloween can be fun for adults, too. I like to hold out a bowl of candy — a nice assortment — and simply say “You may take one of your choice.” and watch the little
I come from a non-drinking family, so I don’t know what it’s like to be drunk. But apparently humans aren’t the only ones who come under the influence of behavior-altering drugs. There is a column in the October 24, 2016 issue of Time magazine (page 8) that gives four examples of under-the-influence animals. — Recently
There are some interesting ideas in this world (and a lot we still don’t know about ourselves), but this idea is so radical I’m almost afraid to write about it. There is a short video on YouTube entitled “You Have a Second Brain” that claims your digestive system acts as another brain and it has
Do you have a dog? Then you might be interested in a Yale University study that has shown that dogs are so smart, they will ignore your bad directions. In the study, a treat was placed inside a puzzle. Solving the puzzle involved one step — lifting the lid — but the researchers added one
It’s been awhile since I’ve posted an original short story. This was published on the Bewildering Stories website in issue #635 (http://www.bewilderingstories.com/issue635/last_chance.html) It does contain a bit of adult language. One Last Chance Jake had been in nicer hospitals than this. His mother had passed away in a new facility, big and
This piece combines two of my favorite interests — the English language and Disney. In 1950, Disney produced a Goofy cartoon entitled Motor Mania, in which a mild-mannered “Mr. Walker” transforms into a manic “Mr. Wheeler” every time he gets behind the wheel of his car. (There are multiple uploads on YouTube.) It’s a great
Every so often I see a questions that brings me up short. For example, we need words to talk, but why do we need words to think? Durham University psychologist Charles Fernyhough has been studying this. Fernyhough thinks approximately 20 to 25 percent of our waking time is spent with language directed at ourselves. Why?