Tag: skating past death

Mine own and others; let’s just say I’m “medically interesting.”

Only great pain is the ultimate liberator of the spirit […] I doubt that such pain makes us ‘better’; but I know that it makes us more profound.”
— Friedrich Nietzsche

Tortured Gastronome

EVERY TIME ANTHONY BOURDAIN MAKES a reference on one of his TV shows to hanging himself in a shower stall, Ann and I swap meaningful looks. After all, that’s exactly how the 61-year-old chef, traveler, writer and raconteur ended up…

Prayer

O One; Distant One, Dear One, Let me not be blind to the beauty and ugliness and truth that my eyes don’t see, and are as present as the scent among fields of lavender and the warm summer air on…

Three Hard Things

Kicking a whale up a beach Braiding grape jelly Comforting the chronically afflicted. (1/22/09 P.S. to RW: who asked “Why would you kick a whale?” The only reason I can think of is that 1) he’s down, and 2) you’re…

Too Mellow to Die

It worries me somewhat that my friends and colleagues are more concerned than I am that I experienced my fourth cardioversion Sunday. “Experienced” is the wrong word. I experienced, and have a clear memory of, the 150 beats-per-minute irregular jangle…