Fish for Friday

My favorite cartoonist is a genius named Dan Piraro. He draws a one-square strip named "Bizarro." Don is a vegetarian and often writes gags with a vegetarian theme. I saw this one today and thought of Jim Rix, whose article "What is the cause of Heart Disease?" was published on Moristotle on November 20. [personal communication]

Thor's Day: Love your enemies deciphered in quartina

Click to enlarge

According to the Gospel of Matthew (5:44, King James Version), Jesus said:

But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.

Ask Wednesday: Ralph Earle on poetry in Sufism

Ralph Earle is a poet with a particular interest in Sufism. Sufism is a contemplative branch of Islam, with a rich tradition of poetry in several eastern languages (Persian, Arabic, Urdu...), much of which has been translated into English.

Tuesday with Another Voice

Today's voice belongs to
Contributing Editor
Tom Lowe

I'm so bored with politics today

My father was a lifelong Republican. He learned his political values in the Progressive Era of the reformist Governor of California Hiram Johnson, and reflected that shade of Republicanism throughout his life. His letters to his college roommate, who was a member of the California Assembly, a New Deal Democrat, reflect the McCloud Lumber Company-owned, Northern California town’s establishment’s view of the New Deal programs—mildly critical but not hostile.

Trestina for end of year's persimmon season

Year's season for persimmons has ended

October-November was their season.
We had a wonderful harvest this year
Of eighty-one delicious persimmons.

Always on Sunday: Henning Mankell's Wallander (Swedish TV)

Another week in which TV programs proved better than my sampling of feature movies, which included the following losers:

• The Hunger Games (2012), a dystopian post-apocalyptic fantasy whose derivation from a young-adult novel might explain its appeal to teenagers,

Fall photos

"Overlooking the Columbia in the Rain"

By Ken Marks

Every year my wife and I take a trip to photograph the fall foliage somewhere in the U.S. This year I didn't have the energy for a flight to the East Coast—we live in California—so we decided on a car tour of Oregon.

Fish for Friday

When I read Walter Isaacson's book on Steve Jobs, the quote below struck me as a credo. It was written by Jobs as text for an ad in the "Think Different" campaign that never ran (his agency at the time didn't like it). I've attached the rough video that Jobs had made to demonstrate how it should look.

Thor's Day: Let's talk turkey

By Tom Lowe

Turkey Day was how I thought of Thanksgiving when I was young. The odor of the bird roasting, helping prepare the homemade dressing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes and yams. Our family was spread out over most of the West, so the scene is just my parents and myself. It was the next day that I really waited for—turkey sandwiches, really pretty simple: bread, mayonnaise, and meat.

Ask Wednesday: Whitman Reardon, MD on medical doctoring

When we last saw (or were seen by) our primary care physician, we asked her if we could interview her. We wanted to provide our readers a  medical doctor's first-person account, so we were ecstatic when she agreed!
    Whitman Reardon, MD, is an internist in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where she practices office-based medicine.

Tuesday with Another Voice

Today's voice belongs to
Guest Columnist
Jim Rix

What is the cause of Heart Disease?

First let’s be clear on just what “Heart Disease” is, because some people confuse it with its consequences (heart attack, stroke, etc.) and/or its risk factors (high blood pressure, high cholesterol, etc.).

Whatta, whatta

What a weekend, what a day. Besides having to do more chores than usual while my wife is convalescing from knee surgery, I had to tend to Siegfried's special needs this weekend and today. He threw up on the parlor rug after breakfast on Saturday, then again an hour later on the guest bed, and I spent about three hours driving over to Chapel Hill to have him examined by a veterinarian, who asked me whether he had ingested anything "unusual."

Always on Sunday: Upstairs Downstairs (TV)

It's over forty-one years now that Upstairs[,] Downstairs has been a part of our television lives. We began watching it when Upstairs, Downstairs was first aired in 1971, with all of its 68 episodes hosted by fatherly Alistair Cooke.

Trestina with Another Voice

Editor's Note: In a comment the other day on "Persimmons in sestina," I gently cajoled my contributing editors for their lack of enthusiasm for the trestina form of verse. I told Neophyte that until his kind comment came along—"You all have crafted a fine poem, a minimalistic tour de force"—I was amazed at the extent to which my efforts had fallen with a thud on Moristotle's readers and on the other members of its editorial staff.

Fish for Friday

Click to enlarge

The last word? I was thinking the graphic's conclusion myself. [personal communication]

Thor's Day: The Virgin Mary's great trauma

Half-listening to the radio as I was driving my wife to her first doctor's appointment after knee surgery, I heard a headline on National Public Radio something about how Mary, the mother of Jesus, had suffered great trauma in her life.

Ask Wednesday: Dr. Jean Ramses Rouchon on his life in public health (so far)

We are honored to interview Dr. Jean Ramses Rouchon, a naturalized citizen of the United States who has in the course of his varied educational and work experiences become a skilled practitioner in public health. He earned his Doctor of Medicine degree in Port-au-Prince, Haiti in 1992.

Tuesday with Another Voice

Today's voice belongs to
Contributing Editor
Ken Marks

Reviewing the landscape

Now that the election is behind us, it's a good time to review the landscape, take a fresh look at what ails us, and decide what the remedies might be. To facilitate this task, I'd like to propose a question that never fails to arouse contention: "What is the main problem facing America today?" My hope is to arrive at a satisfying answer by offering up a number of popular answers and evaluating each one, according to my perceptions and biases.

Trestina to say thanks to our daughter

Rams 24, 49ers 24, OT

Thanks to our daughter for coming to help

My wife and I are glad that our daughter
Could come and be with us for a week. Our thanks
To her for solid, patient, cheerful help.

Always on Sunday: Call the Midwife (TV)

We didn't watch a feature film this week. In fact, my wife hardly watched anything other than what she could catch by looking up from a hospital bed after surgery on Monday, and back home since Thursday she is not supposed to have her left knee in a 90° position for more than thirty minutes at a time. Not that either of us has had energy left over from our altered routines to concentrate on a good movie—or TV program either.

Trestina for wife home from hospital

Wife home from surgery in hospital

On Thursday this week we welcomed her home
—To daughter and dog, mama, to me, wife—
From surgery Monday in hospital.

Fish for Friday

click to enlarge

This is too funny. Especially the RAF response. [personal communication; see item to right, which you can click to enlarge]

Thor's Day: The most insidious belief of all?

Some exit polling this week sought to gather data on how religious belief correlated to voting in the presidential election [excerpts from Sarah Posner's "Exit Polls on Religion"]:

In Florida...24% of the respondents were white evangelicals, and 78% of them voted for Romney....

Jubilation

Ding dong the Mitt is dead!
Which old Mitt? The Wicked Mitt!
Ding dong the Wicked Mitt is dead!

Ask Wednesday: Jack Cover on living with kidney cancer

Jack Cover and our editor in chief go way back, to their 25th Yale Class of 1964 Reunion. Unfortunately, they can't remember meeting before that, but maybe it's just their memories. Morris and his wife attended Jack and his wife's wedding in 1991 and have enjoyed many meals together, and Jack and Morris have enjoyed quite a few miles of walks.
    Within the last year we were saddened to learn of the recurrence of Jack's kidney cancer, after thirty years of quiet.

Tuesday with Another Voice

Today's voice belongs to
Contributing Editor
motomynd

When the minority take power through bullying and incivility: Why are the majority so over-understanding about it?

What do Joan of Arc, born 1412, a 14-year old girl in Pakistan in 2012, and at least half of modern-day Americans, all have in common? They are all victims of societies that for some mysterious and unexplainable reason choose to tolerate minority groups taking control through bullying and brutish behavior, instead of stopping it.

Persimmons in sestina (completed)

The fourth and fifth stanzas appeared on Monday, October 15. Today we conclude with the sixth stanza and the terminal envoy. We have also improved the phrasing of some of the lines from Mondays before. Enjoy!

Always on Sunday: Blue Bloods (TV)

I may need help. I seem to be addicted to the police drama series Blue Bloods on CBS. I haven't missed an episode about its NYPD cop family: grandfather and former police commissioner Henry Reagan (Len Cariou), father and current police commissioner Frank Reagan (Tom Selleck, who is only five years younger than Cariou), sons Danny and Jamie Reagan (Donnie Wahlberg and Will Estes, respectively), and daughter and assistant district attorney Erin Reagan-Boyle (Bridget Moynahan)—and Danny and his wife Linda (Amy Carlson's) two sons and Erin's daughter.

First Saturday Green 101: Going green with brown leaves

By motomynd

This is the time of year when the heat of summer yields to the coolness of fall, and the autumn leaves put on a spectacular show.
    Then they fall to the ground.

Fish for Friday

October surprise! All this week I've been fretting over "Romney creep" (as distinct from Romney the Creep). With each new day of polling data, he seemed to inch higher. Colorado, Iowa, Wisconsin—all seemed to be slipping into his camp.

Thor's Day: For if you're very good

A trestina^* for the very good:

For you all , if you're saints, your very day

The Catholic Church recognizes saints,
Too many of them to give each of all
His very own, singular, special day.