Blog
Asking questions can lead you to new places. Writing helps bring you to answers. And more questions.
Here, I’ve collected writings on a number of topics. Sometimes they’ve been published elsewhere, and other times they’re just for this blog.
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On Christmas, my siblings and I used to always open our stockings before mom and dad were willing to get out of bed (wrapping gifts for seven kids makes for a late night on Christmas Eve). We’d open the gifts, which we all at one time or another wrecked our bank accounts buying (just me?), on one…
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I’ve got a lot to be thankful for—my wonderful fiancée, family, friends, an apartment that’s big enough, always enough food. My car mostly works. Today I’m supposed to write about something I’m thankful for. Just one, single, incredible blessing in my life. A big task, I know. So, let me tell you about my cat.…
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Even with the myriad social outlets, it’s hard to get anything watched, heard, or (dare I say) read on the web these days. There’s just so much, well, stuff. Too much, maybe. And everyone is trying to find a way to get more eyes on their message, info, or advertisement. In the digital world, we…
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Essay advice from Franz Kafka
When it comes to fiction, Franz Kafka is amazing. He was ahead of his time, and in some respects, is ahead of ours. However, he wasn’t that much of an essayist, according to some personal reflections in Franz Kafka: Diaries, 1910-1923. In his journal, Kafka comments on some lines from Goethe, saying: The difficulties of bringing to an end…
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Lima, Indiana
Maybe every town in America transmits that radio signal, and on certain nights when the weather and the frequency are just right, we can all hear our hometowns talking softly to us in the back of our dreams. -Cathy Day, The Circus in Winter
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Martinsville baseball team evens out its record
On Thursday, I covered the Martinsville Artesians varsity baseball team. The Arties won, 9-7, although the Greenwood Woodmen nearly made a comeback in the last few innings. Coach Mike Schwartzentruber said that the fact the team held on and won shows that the players have improved from years past. However, he added that the…
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Robert Neal—actor and professor
Robert Neal is a tall mountain of a man with booming voice and intense eyes. The first time that I saw Robert, he had a big black beard, long coat and overlarge pirate hat. He was playing Orsino in the strangest production of “Twelfth Night” that I’ve ever seen. (So, I guess, the weirder of two productions.)…
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Nikki Giovanni on Kurt Vonnegut and Antarctica
If I say something stupid, which does happen, I prefer to be in the company of friends. Not famous people. But when I met Nikki Giovanni, I said something pretty stupid. Nikki was speaking for a diversity lecture at UIndy, and she kept bringing up Kurt Vonnegut, a personal hero of mine. So I recommended: “If you’re…
James Figy 