Notes from Around the Block- Irv–the Owl Man on the Rancho
- Olive the trees have olives
- Wanda Hickey and the Frog Pond
- A recently discovered DNA thread: forwarding news articles
- A Bride in Blue
- The Gates to a President’s Hell: Water and the IRS
- Marriage in Oxymoronica
- The Present Moment
- If your life were a book
- From the mouths of old babes
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Monthly Archives: November 2009
The Fiddler’s Three
by cheri block sabraw The dishwasher groaned last night, pleading for a respite from its nonstop labor. Limp stalks of celery hung over their glasses, swollen with tomato juice and salt. Even the dog gave up her incessant hunt for … Continue reading
Asian Fusion
by cheri block sabraw Funny people are hard to come by. With over 5000 former students in my mental Rolodex, only three types of kids come to mind: brilliant ones, defiant ones, and funny ones. One of the … Continue reading
A Cup of Li
by cheri block sabraw Joe and I got together last week to discuss the Analects of Confucius. Our conversation took a detour when a sinewy male waiter approached our cramped table, under which Joe’s sore knee waited in an angle … Continue reading
The Boy Zola
by cheri block sabraw One of the best examples of American Naturalism is Frank Norris’ The Octopus: A California Story. This 600-page book examines the 1880’s conflict between the Southern Pacific Railroad (in its own Manifest Destiny) and the wheat-growing … Continue reading
Labrador: Moose, Flies, Tennis Balls
Labrador Retrievers were named for the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador and for their amazing retrieving skills. When traveling in Nova Scotia last August, so close to Newfoundland and Labrador, I wondered about that northern Atlantic Canadian province. Who … Continue reading
Dido, Queen of the Ancient Meltdown
by cheri block The ancient poet Virgil, commissioned by his patron, Roman Emperor Augustus, to write an epic poem that would commemorate the founding of Rome, died before he finished his massive text, a work we know as The Aeneid. … Continue reading
Good Bye Dexter
This post tonight is the first one written on my spanking new MacBookPro. He doesn’t have a name yet, but I am open to suggestions. I am happy to own this amazing computer with the latest gadgets and sheen, but … Continue reading
Coffee at the Palace
Plato’s The Republic is a dynamic work of deductive philosophy. The Republic is lofty and challenging. In his dialectic, Plato lets the us know from the start what he intends to investigate and then proceeds, through a series of … Continue reading
