OVERHEARD IN THE GROCERY CHECKOUT line, the following exchange between tall father and fidgety small son: SS (holding a 2021 Star Wars calendar): Look! It’s Darth Vader. And Luke Skywalker. TF: Luke is a Jedi, right? SS: Right. TF: Jedi…
Author: Neal Ross Attinson
Neal Ross Attinson is one of those text-compulsives who feels naked without a keyboard, or at least a a pad and pen. He is unafraid of adverbs, loves astronomy and gastronomy with equally unabashed passion, and lives with/in an eclectic library in Sonoma, California.
A young person who goes out and sees this great conjunction now can potentially see the next close one in 2080. It’d be a nice connection between generations, one that makes you think about all those who have seen these conjunctions in the past–and those who will glimpse it in the future.”
— Astronomer Patrick Hartigan on tonight’s celestial event
Gustibus Interruptus (A Prosatio Silban Tale)
WITH A PATIENCE DERIVED FROM long practice, Prosatio Silban measured his pain and disgust against the vast cold deeps of Time. It was an old reflex, and a welcome corrective to the blood trickling from his arms and legs, not…
Truly, you are where your mind is.”
–Baal Shem Tov
Prosatio Silban and the Hidden Kingdom
THEY WERE STURDY, SQUAT AND rowdy, but also virtuosi of fire and metal – which was only one of many reasons why Prosatio Silban always enjoyed the Delvers’ company. He had arrived for the first time at their northern realm…
5 Thoughts: A Celebration of Bags
0. WHO AMONG US HAS NOT searched for the perfect shouldered carryall? Here are five of my favorites: 1. In high school, I owned a black, one-pocket, snap-closure American naval officer’s bag suitable for a notebook, pens, paperbacks and other…
Prosatio Silban and the Quest Authentic
PROSATIO SILBAN DIDN’T ACTUALLY MEAN to offend a decedent cook – but sometimes, that’s just how the game-bones fall. This is how it began: The culinary mercenary was browsing his favorite secondhand book-and-scroll shop in the city of epicurean Pormaris…
How to Become Wise(r)
PICTURE, ON EVERYTHING/PLACE/PERSON/MOMENT you encounter, a big bright label that says, “LEARN HERE.”
Prosatio Silban and the Infinite Application
THE RICH PANOPLY OF UULIAN cuisine offers recipes suitable for everyday use, as well as those forming the culinary backbone of special occasions. And sometimes, one can serve in both roles. Prosatio Silban smiled the smile of a man completing…
How to Cook Anything, in Four Easy Steps
1. COLLECT INGREDIENTS. 2. Combine. 3. Process. 4. Serve. (To paraphrase the sage Hillel, “The rest is dishwashing. Now go dry.”)
Prosatio Silban and the Familiar Spirit
WHEN VISITING YOUR BOYHOOD HOME after the passage of too-many years, it’s only natural that it should seem quite a bit smaller than last you saw it. But aside from towering over the landscape, Prosatio Silban was amazed by how…
If my audience will feel that these interpretations are also relevant to their perceptions and emotions, I shall feel amply rewarded. However, I shall not feel hurt if my thoughts will find no response in the hearts of my listeners.”
— Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, The Lonely Man of Faith