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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Tag Archives: literature
The Meaning of Life: Can we find it in great literature?
by cheri block sabraw Last year, I visited the marvelous San Francisco Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park. Along with a shockingly gorgeous white crocodile and a room full of butterflies, was a human skull time line, illustrating the … Continue reading
Posted in Education, On fiction
Tagged literature, mindfulness, Scotty McLennan, Stanford
44 Comments
Thoreau, the loon, and David Letterman
by cheri block Luckily, I am married to a rock solid man–Judge Blah–who has principles and values, a man whom I admire. But not every woman is as fortunate as I am to be married to such a guy. Some … Continue reading
A 14th Century Heroine: Alisoun of Bath
by cheri block After spending three weeks with Alisoun of Bath (and indirectly with her marvelous creator, Geoffrey Chaucer) I have a new heroine: the Wife of Bath of The Canterbury Tales. I love her. I love Chaucer too, for … Continue reading
E-mails of Thomas Mann, 1889-1955
by cheri block Last week, Judge Blah and I wandered around San Luis Obispo and as always, ended up in the Phoenix Book Store where the floorboards creak and the old books smell. An hour later, we left for a … Continue reading
In Paradiso, Dante sees the White Rose
by cheri block My guide Virgil has been weakened this month, so we could not meet at Elephant Bar to discuss the Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso this past week. Looking more like a shade than a robust Italian, he answered … Continue reading
Beowulf’s Kennings
Attention students: if you use any part of this essay, you must cite the source or you will be plagiarizing. You have permission to use part of my essay, provided you give appropriate credit. Thanks! by cheri block Until Seamus … Continue reading
The Sins of the Flesh
by cheri block The word confession is an attractive one to nosey journalists, betrayed wives, and Catholic priests. The Confessions of St. Augustine, written in the late 4th Century C.E., is the first autobiography. In thirteen chapters, Augustine tells his … Continue reading
Matrix at the Mall
by cheri block Myrtle is the loose woman who eyes rich Tom Buchanan on the commuter train from Long Island to New York City. He oozes money. She, wife of a garage mechanic with grease under his fingernails, sees the … Continue reading
Mr. Griswold’s Eulogy
Mr. Keane looks like Gordon Lindsey, I told my dad in 1961. Gordon Lindsey was the owner of the local mortuary, the one we kids tip-toed by on our way to school. Mr. Lindsey grew red roses and calla lilies … Continue reading
A Cup of Creon
by cheri block sabraw Joe and I had coffee last Monday to discuss Sophocles, Aeschylus, and Euripides, three Greek tragedians. Our usual booth was taken. Our usual server was busy. Joe wasn’t pleased. Hell, we’ll take that booth over there, … Continue reading
