“What are you thinking of?” my friend asked me, when I was sitting silently. “Nothing,” I answered. Then I qualified my response. “Really, nothing.” “Really?” he challenged me. Did I really ever have no thoughts, an empty mind? I don’t think so, although meditating Buddhists may not agree. Even when my mind seems blank, I [...]
The butterfly effect – very small events having a major effect on seemingly unrelated major events at a later date – is hard to appreciate fully due to the apparent lack of connection between the happenings. The term was coined by Edward Lorenz drawing from a metaphorical example of the details of a tornado arising [...]
Paamiut, Greenland Remote? What’s That? Last week I was in Paamiut, and Qaqortoq, two villages in Greenland, the biggest island in the world with a total population as meager as 56,000. The inhabitants are confined to dots of settlements around the coast, leaving inland blanketed with glaciers – just space and more space [...]
When I peeled myself away from the beautiful fjords in Flateyri in northern Iceland, I discovered a slice of magic on main street: a bookstore established in 1914, owned and run by one family for its entire existence. It was an unexpected step back in time and an invitation to reflect. ...
Almost twenty years ago I wrote a short story (Rezin’s Ratio) that I considered a tongue-in-cheek fantasy. The premise was to establish a numerical basis for a person’s career standing, a success index, as it were. As Roger Rezin, the protagonist, put it: “I will figure out ways to tick people off and see what [...]
A story usually comes to me as an image – for example, an imaginary man standing in line inspired The Open Door in my short story collection (to be published by Adelaide Books in May, 2019) – or, as a single thought or feeling – such as, a creative anti-hero scientist who blends fact with fantasy in a political climate focused on pragmatism, which led to my novel, Jellyfish Have Eyes. I never know how these initial thoughts will develop into stories, or even if they will remain as first conceived.
