Seeing the World through Words

This is a new blog. I enjoy writing and stimulating conversation so I plan to use it to make comments about current events, politics, religion, being in treatment for cancer, society, art, literature, philosophy, culture, and anything else of potential value that crosses my mind. I also enjoy making people laugh and encouraging critical thinking about issues and ideas. All of my adult life I have been fascinated with how ideas shape culture and vice versa so a lot of what I have to say will be informed by that.

I hope you enjoy this, find it stimulating, and throw in your own thoughts in the comments section or with a post on Facebook. My pledge to you is to try to keep the entries short and engaging so that you will want to read them and, if interested, dig deeper with your own research. I am of the strong opinion, thanks especially to my parents, that we have an obligation, first to ourselves and then to the communities to which we belong, to educate ourselves. This is part of my ongoing effort to do that by way of reflecting on and writing about things that are important and meaningful to all of us.

Oh, about the name. It's because my daughter Elsa once challenged me to summarize Thomas Cahill's book, "How the Irish Saved Civilization," in twenty-one words or less. Ever since then, it's been a standing requirement in our family that if I want to say something about anything I have to use that metric, if not literally, at least in spirit.