Noteworthy entries.
The Santa Claus we "know" has been tamed down from the earlier versions. Our Santa is not associated with anything unpleasant. Not true of the earlier version of Santa, St. Nicholas Consider this medieval story about St. Nicholas from a play by Henri Gheon called “The Sausage Maker’s Interlude.” A…
A note I jotted to myself sometime in the past. I don’t recall the circumstances, but the question posed feels universal. The spiritualists cringe and argue against any description of self-conscious life as mechanism, that any mere machine is necessarily only an accumulation of parts and processes that can never…
I have a quick tidbit to share- an observation made by a psychology professor I had this quarter. It gives me a refreshed and relaxed perspective on the topic of humanity's many mental foibles. It goes something like this: We use optical illusions to demonstrate how the visual system works,…
I spotted this ornamental cabbage poking out of the snow while walking through Manhattan two days ago. Is this a hint of Spring to come or the very end of the summer? Here are a couple of other cool things I saw while strolling through Manhattan. How can you fit…
Are you looking for a really unusual gift idea? I found one at a non-profit Mennonite store in University City, Missouri, Plowsharing Crafts. I spotted this object in the musical instruments section of the store. It looked like an animal's jawbone. The proprietor told me that it was, indeed, "a…