A Nation of Words

Miriam Weinstein’s Yiddish: A Nation of Words is a compelling book. Go to Amazon.com and type in “Yiddish” and many books will come up whose titles are cheap, sentimental, ridiculous, goofy.  Weinstein has a sense…

Writing to Wake Up

1. Natalie Goldberg: I also place on the altar a photo of Allen Ginsberg in a yellow wood frame, sitting in a white shirt, cross-legged, his face captured in an uncanny smile. He is our…

On Bhakti Yoga

1. Allen Ginsberg: Well, the Hindus say that this is the Kali Age or Kali Yuga or Kali Cycle, and we are all so sunk in matter, the five senses are matter, sense, that they…

Tonight’s Share the Wealth

Tony’s sharing tonight on the municipal courts, racism and ArchCity Defenders work reminded me of the following lines from Bertolt Brecht: It take a lot of things to change the world: Anger and tenacity. Science and…

Itadakimas

Itadakimas is an important word in the Japanese language. Literally, it means, “I place this over my head,” and is translated as “I humbly receive.” It is the blessing which all Japanese, from the day laborer…