Category: Autobiographical
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Dallas Willard (1935-2013)
I met Dallas Willard only once, at an A. P. A. meeting in San Francisco in the early '90s. I had sent him a paper on Husserl and Heidegger and we had plans to get together over dinner to discuss it. Unfortunately, the plans fell through when a son of Willard showed up. But we did…
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Black Top Mesa, Western Superstitions, 21 April 2013
Yesterday's killer hike, commencing at First Water Trailhead at 7:30 AM, took us to the top of Black Top Mesa (not to be confused with cholla-forested Black Mesa, also accessible via First Water). It is a leisurely saunter over Parker Pass and across some now-almost-dry streams until you arrive at the Bull Pass upgrade which is…
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Boston-Cambridge Under Lock Down
Two of my Boston stomping grounds, Harvard Square and Kenmore Square, deserted: Related articles The Woman Near Kenmore Square
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The Great Blizzard of ’78 Remembered
I had an odd schedule in those days. I hit the sack at four in the afternoon and got up at midnight. I caught the last trolley of the night to the end of the line, Boston College station. Got off, hiked up the hill to my office where I worked all night on my dissertation while listening…
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Ed Koch (1924-2013)
Here is my favorite Koch quotation: ''Listen, I love Boston,'' Mr. Koch said. ''It's a wonderful town to come up and visit, on occasion, but it's not New York. Boston is a very nice town, but compared to New York it's Podunk.'' That's Koch for you. Outspoken. Testicular. Not that I agree with the jibe. …
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Driving in California Ain’t What It Used to Be
I left my native state of California in 1973 and headed for Boston. Back in the day, California drivers were very good. So I was appalled to experience the awful driving habits of Bostonians. Not as bad as Turks who perform such stunts as driving on sidewalks and backing up in heavy traffic on account…
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The Calvin Blocker Story
When I lived in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, I was within walking distance of the old Arabica coffee house on Coventry Road. The Coventry district was quite a scene in those days and there I met numerous interesting characters of the sort one expects to find in coffee houses: would-be poets and novelists, pseudo-intellectual bullshitters of…
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Jeep Wrangler: Trailhead Access in Style
It was going to be either a Harley-Davidson or a Jeep Wrangler. I took the three-day motorcycle course, passed it, and got my license. But then good sense kicked in and I sprang for a 2013 Wrangler Unlimited Sport S. I'm a hiker, not a biker. And I value my long-term physical integrity. 'Unlimited' translates to…
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Running: Gain, No Pain
No pain to speak of, leastways. And I've been at it over 38 years. Your mileage may vary, as does Malcolm Pollack's who, in his Pain, No Gain, reports: I used to run. I never liked it much, but I did it anyway. I was never fleet of foot, and I never ran very far …
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He Was a Friend of Mine
John F. Kennedy was assassinated 49 years ago today. Here is The Byrds' tribute to the slain leader. They took a traditional song and redid the lyrics. The young Bob Dylan here offers an outstanding interpretation of the old song. I was in the eighth grade when Kennedy was gunned down. We were assembled in an…
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At the Supermarket: I Think of Hegel’s Logic
I was cruising the booze aisle in the local supermarket yesterday in search of wines for Thursday's Thanksgiving feast. I got into conversation with a friendly twenty-something dude who worked there. I said I was looking for sweet vermouth. He thought it was used to make martinis and so I explained that martinis call for dry vermouth while…
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The Academic Job Market in the ‘Sixties
Robert Paul Wolff tells it like it was: . . . I reflect on the ease and endless rewards of my career, moving from comfortable position to comfortable position, and compare it with the terrible struggles of young academics trying to gain some sort of security and time for their own scholarship in an increasingly…
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Are Blacks Labeled Felons to Keep Them from Voting?
This from a reader: I have been a fan of your blog for a long time. In fact you helped to establish my first wary steps into the discipline of philosophy. I struggled through your entries, persistent and confused, ultimately rewarded for my efforts. Your scathing, surly, incisive political commentary is a great alternative to…
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Forty Years Ago Today
My journal entry for 29 October 1972 was just this: "To live a philosophical life in a tumultuous, uncertain world is my goal." I pulled it off. I found my niche. I achieved my goal. But to achieve goals one must first posit them, and herein lies another reason to maintain a journal. One plans…
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The Halloween Dance
Wife went, I didn't. She goes every year, I beg off every year. Angel that she is, she doesn't begrudge me my nonattendance. I'd rather think and trance than drink and dance. Why? Well, we know that drinking and dancing won't get us anywhere. But it is at least possible that thinking and trancing will.