Stories Short and Strange
17 short stories for general audiences ranging from the unusual to the unbelievable to the just plain strange.
Some Facts About Mother’s Day
Sunday, May 14 was our annual national Mother’s Day. In commemoration, the Writer’s Almanac published some background information about how we got here. Like so many milestones, it can be traced back to one determined person. Mother’s Day was first celebrated in Grafton, West Virginia in 1908 when a woman named Anna Jarvis held a
Pardoning Jefferson Davis
Civil wars a horrible, brutal ordeals that can scar for decades, if not centuries. The Spanish Civil War was especially traumatic, and I’m beginning to doubt that Syria will ever be a viable political entity again. Which is another example of how unique our nation is. We endured our own civil war, and yes, it
Another Reason To Like Bugs
Disney’s California Adventure and Disney’s Animal Kingdom theme parks both have an audio-animatronic and video theater show entitled “It’s Tough To Be a Bug”. One of the show’s messages is how essential bugs are to our world (“We’re Pollinators!”). Recently I’ve found another reason why bugs are so good to have around. According to the
Wild Worlds Around Us
I have always been fascinated with the stars. Now technological breakthroughs are giving us tools to explore the star systems around us, despite the unfathomable distances involved. What we are finding is stranger than fiction. These include huge black holes, colliding galaxies, and planets with bizarre orbits. One source for information is Astronomy magazine http://www.astronomy.com.
How To Put Your Life Back Together
This is another interesting book I’ve heard about, but haven’t read. So, for what it’s worth… “Susan Burton’s world changed in an instant when her five-year-old son was killed by a van driving down their street. Consumed by grief and without access to professional help, Susan self-medicated, becoming addicted first to cocaine, then crack. As
Just What Were the 1960s, Anyway?
When I was growing up in the 1960s, there was some speculation as to how that era would be remembered. Would it be the Nuclear Age or the Space Age? Now it’s become pretty clear it was actually the Transistor And Birth-Control-Pill Age. I was reminded of this because we’ve recently passed two milestones, according
How to Tell If A Borrower Will Pay You Back
Some topics just beg to be written about. I found one such topic on New York Magazine’s “The Science of Us” news summary on May 8, 2017. Entitled “How to Predict If a Borrower Will Pay You Back”, it’s actually excerpted from the book EVERYBODY LIES: Big Data, New Data, and What the Internet Can
Paul Revere Williams — American Pioneer
While driving back from Boston three weeks ago, I happened to listen to a very interesting story about a real pioneer. His name was Paul Revere Williams. Paul R. Williams (as he was known) was born in Los Angeles on February 18, 1894. When he was two years old, his father died; when he was
Moonshot — Testing the Limits of the Human Body
I’ve been running as a sport since 1980. One thing I’ve learned as a result is not to limit myself; it’s amazing what you can do when you put your mind to it. I’m not the only one who feels that way. The men’s world record for the marathon (26.2 miles) is 2:02:57, set by
What Our Meat Is Thinking
I love to eat meat. But having been raised on a farm, I’m acutely aware that we are feasting on fellow mammals. If you feel as I do, you probably won’t want to read this. There is a new book entitled Personalities on the Plate: The Lives & Minds of Animals We Eat by Barbara J. King.