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Untapped Depths
Every day we walk or drive past countless numbers of people without communicating with them in any meaningful way. That’s perfectly natural. It would be impossible to get anything done if we stopped to have intense conversations with everyone we encountered. But lately I have been viewing all these strangers with fresh eyes. That’s because…
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The Other Side of the Story
I just had this psychedelic thought, and I’m not even smoking pot. Here it is: Stories are three-dimensional. They have sides. They have perspectives. They have angles. The conclusions you draw from them will be based on which direction you approach them from. You can’t see all sides at once. I suppose I always thought…
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Blogheimers
If you’ve been in a long-term relationship, you’re probably well-versed in your partner’s stories. You’ve heard them all before. All you have to hear is, “That reminds me of the time when…” and you inwardly groan. Now imagine writing a daily blog for years on end. After a while you forget which stories you’ve told.…
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I Was Here
Approximately 40,800 years ago, someone, possibly a Neandertal, painted the oldest known cave art in a place called the Cave of El Castillo in northern Spain. This is the first evidence we have of someone saying, “Death shall not silence me.” And we’ve been saying it ever since. Wanting to survive beyond your expiration date…
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I Don’t Want a Jetpack
When I was little, my favorite cartoon was the Jetsons. This fascinating story of a family living way in the future, amongst efficient and complicated gadgets and jet cars always excited my imagination. I was convinced, as were many of my contemporaries, that by the year 2000 we’d all be flying around using jetpacks in…
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Cliffhangers
The other night, around midnight, I was driving to work on a deserted stretch of highway when I came upon a cop who had a car pulled over on the side of the road. No big deal. But then about 200 yards beyond that scene, in the middle of I swear to God freakin’ NOWHERE,…
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Spiders, Spiders, Everywhere
I dreamt of a village in a desert out west. The people had gathered around a campfire to listen to an old man tell stories. He traveled from town to town to recount the tales of their people. He told cautionary tales to teach the young ones how to behave. He told the stories of…
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Reality Based Children’s Books
The other day I watched a brief video of a Children’s book that was narrated by Samuel L Jackson. It’s called “Go the F**k to Sleep”. I don’t know what made me laugh harder: the actual book, which was surely written more for the entertainment of adults, or the fact that we have reached a…