Improv Wisdom: Spring Online Class 2018
There are people who prefer to say “Yes,” and there are people who prefer to say “No.” Those who say “Yes” are rewarded by the adventures they have, and those who say “No” are rewarded…
Author: Mark J. Chmiel
Short, Savory, and Sound: Aitken’s Miniatures
In fall 2000 I first encountered Robert Aitken Roshi with his book, The Dragon Who Never Sleeps, a collection of scores of four-line poems, or gathas. Nine years later, I read his Miniatures of a…
Congratulations to Jason Makansi!
Friends, I highly recommend Jason’s novel–here’s a blurb I wrote for it… “Religious texts aver that to save one life is akin to saving the entire world. The beauty of Jason Makansi’s novel is in…
Anna
It is we who are responsible for Putin’s policies, we first and foremost, not Putin. The fact that our reactions to him and his cynical manipulation of Russia have been confined to gossiping in the…
Share the Wealth with Ron Laney: Developing a Better Understanding
Many years ago, I partook in a handful of undergraduate psychology courses at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, and when a certain professor heard I would not be returning the following term, she phoned to inquire…
“You Wanna Forget It So Somebody Else Can Go Do It Somewhere Else–Hell No”
I recently have been re-watching Peter Davis’s 1974 documentary on Vietnam, Hearts and Minds. I keyed into Vietnam vet William Marshall’s scenes; you can watch here and here. I was curious what happened to him after the…
Modus Vivendi
A world of images is offered by Christ — better, dramatized by him — images of waiting, listening, observing, debating, healing, conveying hope and humor, telling stories that end with a question lodged like a…
The Seeds at Work within Us
Years ago, I read with pleasure Goethe’s Maxims and Reflections (translated by Elisabeth Stopp). A good number of them are worth revisiting, much like many of those I’ve encountered over the years from La Rochefoucauld,…
Share the Wealth with Andrew Wimmer–The Solar: A Bridge from Here to There
A decade ago I began reading and thinking in a more focused way about the economy. About money and how it works — and how it could and should work. I would like you to…