Journeys of a Bent Mind

I recently read a post of the granddaughter of a 79-year old Civil Rights veteran who lamented, “They used teargas on us back in the day! And they used it again last night!” It does seem as though it was just yesterday, and feels as though the vu was deja all over again. Continue reading →

Here’s the thing: I’m totally fine with having to wear a mask. I don’t even consider it an inconvenience, but a necessary measure to protect myself AND to protect others, including you, from the Coronavirus pandemic. I know that ONLY 1-2% of people are being infected, and that sounds like a very little number when you consider the thousands upon thousands who make up our country. Continue reading →

RE: George Floyd

Many years ago, I heard of an ancient cannon minted somewhere in the 1700s in a museum somewhere in Europe. It was part of a display of military hardware, in this case the artillery belonging to the army of a king. It was large and heavy, able to fire a projectile that weighed quite a bit. Around the end of the barrel was an engraved inscription: “The final argument of the King.” That struck me, and has stuck with me all these years. It was a profound impression because it said things on so many levels. Continue reading →

Growing up as an ethnic minority in America I remember the phrase “American melting pot.” It sounded like a beautiful concept and description of the experiment that is America. But underneath that surface impression I felt an unsettling stillness, a disquieting bump. As nice as it sounded it somehow didn’t feel right; there was something wrong with that picture of who we are. Continue reading →

Overall, my life has been mostly free of racial assaults and attacks, certainly nothing physical. Of those that did happen, only a few were direct confrontations. Most of them were side swipes.

There was nothing of any kind that I remember when we first returned from camp, which would have been late spring 1945, because I learned later that the principal and all the teachers of Mitchell Elementary School had agreed to protect the five of us Japanese kids. I think too, it was a different time and children were held to respect their elders and were fearful of getting into trouble if they didn’t. Respect of elders was important in the upbringing of children then, maybe more-so than today. Continue reading →

I love words that sound the same, but are spelled differently, e.g. – your,  you’re, and yore; and those that are spelled the same, but have different  meanings, e.g. – lead the metal, and lead the verb. Continue reading →

What do I know about being an introvert, and when did I know it? When did it occur to me I was one? What did it mean when it dawned on me? How did I know? Continue reading →

I have just self-published a new work, the purpose of which is to give explanation to how my introvert mind works, and if I am successful in this, it should give some clues as to how the minds of most introverts work as well.

If you have followed me through my two volumes of dad jokes, The Ultimate Book of Dad Jokes, and Born to Pun, published by Ulysses Press, Berkeley, California, as well as my eight singlet volumes of The World’s 101 Worst Puns, Volumes I-VIII, self-published through CreateSpace, you have a bit of a feel for the meanderings of the mind of this wordsmith. Continue reading →

Paleolithic artists spent the greater part of 17,000 to 15,000 BCE affixing colored dyes and charcoal to the walls of Lascaux Cave depicting horses, deer, bison, aurochs, birds, and much more, in a display of exceptional artistry. Their depictions are marvelously accurate of the amazing creatures of the times, capturing not only the individual but as well its characteristic nature. What lead these artists into the darkness of this interior space to mount those magnificent images for all time? What inspired them to the task? What was their calling? Who was their muse? Continue reading →