Stories Short and Strange
17 short stories for general audiences ranging from the unusual to the unbelievable to the just plain strange.
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.
Original Poem — On Importance
A poem from my book Some Poems About Life, available on this website. On Importance I saw an old friend yesterday. A high school classmate. We had a lot to catch up on. Her’s doing very well, he says. He has a very responsible position. He makes major decisions all the time. People
Have You Ever Heard of the Easter Panda?
There’s an unusual way to celebrate Easter in the Washington, D.C. area. The National Zoo hosts a major annual event on Easter Monday, which is an unofficial holiday celebrated by African Americans in D.C. since the 1890s. This event is believed to have started because black housekeepers had to work on Easter Sunday, so they
For Anyone Who Loves Science
For anyone out there who loves science, especially astronomy, and is fascinated by the size and diversity of the universe (like I am), Astronomy magazine has released the “27 Best Hubble images on its 27th birthday” (http://astronomy.com/news/2017/04/best-of-hubble-images?spMailingID=28849033&spUserID=NDYyNDk0Mjk0MTgxS0&spJobID=1024146748&spReportId=MTAyNDE0Njc0OAS2). Recall the Hubble space telescope was launched into low Earth orbit on April 24, 1990. With a 2.4-meter
At The Dayton Book Expo
Today was the 2017 Dayton [OH] Book Expo at Sinclair Community College. The publishing business has changed lightyears since I entered it in 1990. Today anyone can get published, so this show was a fascinating assortment of (near as I could tell) about 80 local, self-published authors. There were also seminars on such subjects as
Understanding Pet Behavior — Dog’s Guilty Faces
Dog owners are quite familiar with the look their pet gives when it knows it’s done something wrong — a bowed head and very large, sad eyes. Biologist Nathan Lents, writing in Psychology Today, has a name for that look: the “apology bow.” But it apparently is more than an attempt to gain your sympathy.
Killers of the Flower Moon
History tells a lot of stories that are fascinating, yet illustrate the utter cruelty of our fellow human beings. A new book receiving a lot of attention falls squarely into this category. Its title is Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann. I haven’t read