Stories Short and Strange
17 short stories for general audiences ranging from the unusual to the unbelievable to the just plain strange.
Have We Forgotten Nonviolence?
Recently I came across an interview with Taylor Branch, Martin Luther King, Jr.’s, biographer. Published in the January 2015 issue of “Smithsonian” magazine, it discusses Dr. King’s true legacy. Branch makes an important case: “Look at the fall of the Berlin Wall, the fall of the whole Soviet Union, begun with nonviolent demonstrations in a
Our First Air Force
It is a fundamental principle of warfare: control the high ground and you have the advantage. Of course, the ultimate high ground is in the air. In the American Civil War, that meant balloons. Both the Union and Confederacy experimented with balloons, with the Union having more success, although “success” is a relative term in
Making Friends With Dogs
I was standing out in front of my house the other night, enjoying the evening air. There was a nice sunset, and the birds were out happily chirping. But something more sinister was out, too. As I looked up the street, I saw the largest dog I have ever seen. He was about the size
Facing Your Fears
In a previous post I mentioned aibohphobia as the fear of palindromes (and which itself is a palindrome). Which leads to the question — how many things are there to be afraid of? Lots. My Webster’s New World College Dictionary lists phobia as “an irrational, excessive, and persistent fear of some particular thing or situation”,
What is a Buckeye?
A judge told this anecdote during a speech I heard a long time ago. He was about to sentence a young man, and asked him if he had anything to say. The young man replied, “Yes sir, are you a Buckeye?” No, the judge wasn’t, but the question was so unusual it piqued his curiosity.
The Importance of Proofreading
This is a true story from a friend in the advertising business. He had designed a calendar for a client as a beginning-of-the-year promotion. Each month was introduced with a wise saying. One month’s saying was “Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.” The following month’s was “Well
What is Your Favorite Palindrome? Part II
Actually, a palindrome can be just about anything that is the same both forwards and backwards. (See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palindrome) The Greeks and Romans had a type of palindrome in which the words rather than letters are read in reverse order. “Jack loves Jill, not Jane” versus “Jane, not Jill, loves Jack”. This is harder in English, so
What is Your Favorite Palindrome? Part I
Mine is (of course) the common form of my first name: Bob. (Sometimes when authors autograph books for me, I tell them “Try not to get it backwards.”) The most elaborate palindrome I’ve ever seen is “Go hang a salami! I’m a lasagna hog!” This was by a clever writer named Jon Agee, who’s written
Department of Redundancy Department…
A comment on the English language: The English language is about one half redundant. Do you agree? If not, just read the words in bold. (I saw this on a sign in Hollywood, CA.)
Brave New World… of Food?
Something about the menu didn’t seem quite right. We were at one of our favorite restaurants for our weekly Saturday dining-out. The menu had been redone, and one of the new offerings caught my eye. It was an appetizer: Chicken Fingers with dipping sauce $3.99 Maybe it was the fact that I was unusually alert