Welcome statement


Parting Words from Moristotle (07/31/2023)
tells how to access our archives
of art, poems, stories, serials, travelogues,
essays, reviews, interviews, correspondence….

Saturday, September 30, 2017

Fiction: Betrayed

A chapter from a novel in progress

By Ed Rogers

[Editor’s Note: Ed tells me that “The Unspoken War is a tale of international corruption that threatens the existence of a large number of species of sharks. Charlie Blankenship had never heard of shark finning, but a chance meeting and a trip to Costa Rica changed all that. His encounter with the Taiwanese mafia and a beautiful French environmentalist may lead to his death, but would you expect anything else in Paradise?”
    The chapter we share here highlights shark finning, which you might not have heard of either. Below the chapter we provide excerpts from a couple of publications to throw further light on the deplorable practice, in Costa Rica, where Ed’s novel is set. You may, of course, elect to read them first, for the background.
]


Wednesday, September 27, 2017

Roger’s Reality: Bailey was a good dog

By Roger Owens

Bailey was a good dog. She wanted to be a good dog; she tried very hard. We first saw Bailey in a photo from a group called Rescue Sisters, out of Palm City Florida. She was at the back of the cage, sitting on her tail, obviously scared to death. The post said she was aggressive. I knew right off they were wrong. She wasn’t aggressive, she was terrified. Of what there was no way to tell, but Bailey was a brindle Catahoula, a breed we have extensive experience with, and when brindle hounds are frightened they tend to respond aggressively. A fine point, but there is a difference.

Monday, September 25, 2017

Drs. Strangelove

Life (& death) mirroring art

By Moristotle

Anyone ought to act soon who would like to see Stanley Kubrick’s 1964 film classic, Dr. Strangelove, one more time. It may soon be too late: “Kim’s Rejoinder to Trump’s Rocket Man: ‘Mentally Deranged U.S. Dotard’” [Choe Sang-Hun, NY Times, September 21]. Excerpt:

Saturday, September 23, 2017

The Loneliest Liberal: Local custom

By James Knudsen

Nearly thirty years ago I was driving to St. John’s Hospital in Santa Monica, California to see for the first time my nephew. Fifteen days ago I watched as that same nephew made his mother, Morissa, a mother-in-law. This milestone occurred in the Czech Republic capital of Prague.

Thursday, September 21, 2017

Correspondence: Tweets & titters

Edited by Moristotle

[Items of correspondence are not attributed; they remain anonymous. They have been chosen for their inherent interest as journalism, story, or provocative opinion, which may or may not be shared by the editor or other members of the staff of Moristotle & Co.]

Trump could never even think tweets like these: “The Trump Tweets We’ll Never See” [Andrew Postman, NY Times, August 19]. Excerpt:

Tuesday, September 19, 2017

Correspondence: The sexes

Edited by Moristotle

[Items of correspondence are not attributed; they remain anonymous. They have been chosen for their inherent interest as journalism, story, or provocative opinion, which may or may not be shared by the editor or other members of the staff of Moristotle & Co.]

Interesting view of feminist philosophy, which seems to promise improvement, not only in the climate for women, but also in philosophical thinking itself: “Feminism and the Future of Philosophy” [Gary Gutting, NY Times, September 18]. Excerpt:

Sunday, September 17, 2017

Susan’s Stuff: for september, #6

moral merit badge, 8.17, 30 x 40, mounted on canvas

By Susan C. Price

6th of 6 new paintings recently “finished”....

Saturday, September 16, 2017

Interview: Carolyn Richardson on Math-U-See (and other schoolings from life)

Interviewed by Moristotle

My wife and I have for many years purchased seeds for our bird feeders from the Wild Bird Center in Chapel Hill. That’s where I met Carolyn Richardson and her younger son, Nolan, both of whom had started working there a few weeks earlier.

Thursday, September 14, 2017

Paris Journal: Side trip to Wales

Welcome to Caerdydd (Welsh for Cardiff)

By Moristotle

On Saturday, June 17, the Paris metro stations were relatively deserted for our 6 a.m. departure from Mark’s apartment. We were off to take a train from Gare Du Nord to the port city of Calais, to be met there by our friend Penelope Griffiths, who had driven over from Cardiff, Wales to meet us and take us back on a ferry across the English Channel so we could see the White Cliffs of Dover.

Wednesday, September 13, 2017

Susan’s Stuff: for september, #5

memory lemur, 6.17, 30 x 38

By Susan C. Price

5th of 6 new paintings recently “finished”....

Monday, September 11, 2017

Susan’s Stuff: for september, #4

lil torso, 2017, 10 x 11

By Susan C. Price

4th of 6 new paintings recently “finished”....

Sunday, September 10, 2017

Fiction: Dancing at the Driftwood Hotel (#1)

A novella with some real characters

By Roger Owens

[Editor’s Note: Hurricane Irma seems to be telling us to go ahead and announce  n o w  the forthcoming publication of Roger’s novella: “With 130-M.P.H. Winds, Storm’s Eye Begins Passing Over the Florida Keys,” says a headline today in the NY Times. “The eye of the Category 4 hurricane was 15 miles southeast of Key West, the National Hurricane Center said.”]

Sketches from the Twin Cities: Greetings from Minnesota

Scenes from the 2017 Minnesota State Fair

By Geoffrey Dean

For the inaugural post of “Sketches” from the Twin Cities, after our move there last month from Salt Lake City, here are some scenes from the 2017 Minnesota State Fair. I will let the photos and videos tell the story, with minimal help from my aphoristic captions.

Saturday, September 9, 2017

Poetry & Portraits: An Essay on Ma’am

Sequel to “Ode to a Department Store

By Eric Meub
 





 
 

 
 
We had a creedI shop therefore I am;
We had a name — the honorific Ma’am,
that word of light whose bright acoustics beam
about the altars of the old regime.


Ten Years Ago Today: All in or all out


By Moristotle

[Originally published on September 9, 2007, not a word different, same image as then, but with an author’s note at the very end.]

I have talked approvingly of what I understood to be Kierkegaard’s view, on the question of belief in God, that it was nobler (as well as more accurate) to hang with one hand from one ledge of the narrow chasm of religious belief and with the other hand from the opposite ledge than to transfer either hand to join the other on the same ledge. Hanging precariously from both ledges symbolized doubt. Kierkegaard thought doubt nobler because it consigned the doubter to the perpetual angst of his uncertainty whether to believe or not to believe, since, as a matter of accuracy, the person could not be objectively sure which belief was right.

Thursday, September 7, 2017

Susan’s Stuff: for september, #3

furies & Jefferson, nothing is real, 8.2017, 44 x 30

By Susan C. Price

3rd of 6 new paintings recently “finished”....

Tuesday, September 5, 2017

Susan’s Stuff: for september, #2

dogs that only i remember, 6.17, 29 x 30.5

By Susan C. Price

2nd of 6 new paintings recently “finished”....

Monday, September 4, 2017

West Coast Observer: Soundings from the Portuguese

With a nod to Elizabeth Barrett Browning

By William Silveira

Acquiring new skills in old age is said to help ward off dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease. Taking a half-way measure, I decided instead to improve my knowledge of Portuguese.

Sunday, September 3, 2017

Susan’s Stuff: for september, #1

death sizzle, 7.2017, 9 x 11

By Susan C. Price

6 new paintings recently got “finished,” so of course let’s stuff them on moristotle [one at a time on prime-numbered days over the next two weeks, at the editor’s insistence; he thinks this stuff is “rich...in glorious expression, color, evocation, ARTISTRY!”].