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Personal Essay: What is imagination?

Some time ago, a friend and colleague posited that religious fundamentalists and extremists, which he equated to cult members, had no imagination. He said that’s what locked them into doggedly following their leader’s demands without question no matter how extreme or dangerous those demands were. While he was specifically talking about some egregious situation surrounding the rabid political divisions between the far-right extremists and pretty much everyone else, I started thinking about the concept of imagination overall. What is imagination? How is imagination employed? What are the benefits of having an imagination? Does a lack of imagination make somebody more susceptible to fundamentalism or cult participation, or more perilously, does lacking an imagination make somebody dangerous? [Continue reading]

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Personal Essay: Difficult lessons to learn

I recently shared what I thought was a cogent, albeit satirical take on the choice before us this November. It was the following David Sedaris quote posted by Mark Acres. A friend shared Acres’ post on their timeline, and I shared it to mine.

Several friends commented on the post. Most were either close to retirement or in retirement save for one who posted a somewhat provocative take based on his own demographic – a very smart, engaged, well-educated younger voter who is scared and angry about the future of our country, idealistic, and concerned that he is not seeing the Democratic Party reaching out to younger voters in a way that shows they are listening to their concerns. This sparked a heated exchange between several commenters including me. The older generation was trying to explain the lessons we’ve all learned through hard-earned experience and why a protest vote in this particular election could be very dangerous. To be fair, my younger friend lives in a very blue area of a very blue state, so his vote if he chooses to use it as a protest probably won’t do much damage, but the general concept is one that got me thinking back to my young, idealistic college days and the hard lesson I learned in the first presidential election in which I was eligible to vote. [Continue reading]

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Personal Essay: 2024 – A Leap Year to remember

29 February only occurs in years divisible by 4, and for centennial years, only those divisible by 400. This little oddity has been written about in verse in that famous poem that has become a favorite mnemonic for remembering how many days each month contains:

Thirty days hath September,
April, June, and November;
All the rest have thirty-one,
Excepting February alone,
And that has twenty-eight days clear
And twenty-nine in each leap year.

Growing up, leap years were exciting in a good way. We had the Olympics, both winter and summer in leap years. Because of a decision made by the Olympic committee in 1986, starting in 1994, the summer and winter games alternated in even years. That means that now only the summer games are held in leap years. In the summer of 2024, that extravaganza will take place in Paris, France.

U.S. presidential elections are held in leap years (barring the non-leap year centennials of course). While presidential elections always have the potential to be a little dicey, until relatively recently, the differences meant some potential policy shifts, but it didn’t really seem as if democracy itself was on the line. This leap year just like the last one, democracy’s fate is as yet undetermined. [Continue reading]

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Book: A Firehose of Falsehood: The Story of Disinformation, written by Teri Kanefield, illustrated by Pat Dorian

‘A Firehose of Falsehood’ is a must read!

A brilliant new book entitled A Firehose of Falsehood: The Story of Disinformation written by Teri Kanefield and illustrated by Pat Dorian is finally available to all (as of 13 February 2024). You can buy your copy at your favorite brick and mortar bookseller, order it online, or borrow it from your local library. In August 2023, I had the opportunity to review a pre-publication copy of this stunning work, and it packed a punch. I more recently received a pre-publication hardcover copy of the book which I was eager to see. Although it was the same material as the digital version I previously reviewed, it was even more gripping in hardcover. This is a must-read book for everyone. A Firehose of Falsehood is a graphic novel, and as such, the illustrations are an integral and powerful part of the story. Kanefield wrote the informative and entertaining prose, and Dorian’s breathtaking four-color illustrations make this book also a work of art. [Continue reading]

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Personal Essay: Books matter

Something unexpected happened recently.

Almost a year ago, I wrote an essay about a controversial post I made on Facebook with a simple thesis. Reading and listening are not the same thing. In the course of my background reading for that piece, I dug into some of the research surrounding the differences between reading and listening as it pertained to absorbing and processing written material. One interesting note came to light during that investigation, that being that there’s also a difference in comprehension and retention based on how you read printed material. There was some study evidence that reading an e-book isn’t quite as good for comprehension as reading a physical book. Given that wasn’t the focus of my previous essay, I noted it, mentioned it in passing in the essay, and set it aside. … All that aside, I recently experienced an unexpected demonstration of the power of a physical book compared to its electronic sibling. [Continue reading]

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Personal Essay: The splooting squirrel

It’s important not to forget about the simple things in life. … Recently, I was bringing in my garbage and recycle bins after pickup and noticed a squirrel watching me from the nearby fence. It wasn’t on top of the fence though. There are often squirrels running up and down the trees and fences in our development, but this little fellow was splooted vertically, head down, tail up, on the fence. I was intrigued. I’ve seen other squirrels do this on tree trunks from time to time, usually watching and chasing each other, but I hadn’t before seen one do this on a fence all by itself this way. When they are on the fence, they are usually in motion either running up or down or along the top of the fence. They sometimes stop and sit (not sploot) on top in a more stable position for a variety of reasons, especially if they are carrying something and need to adjust their load. [Continue reading]

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Personal Essay: My magical musical journey: Part 9 – For the love of music

Music can be all-encompassing whether making music or just listening to it. It can be healing. It can be invigorating. It can also stimulate the brain in ways that nothing else can. Music encourages artistic and emotional connection and expression. And unfortunately in our profit-centered world, it can also be far too expensive. … What about those who just want to play for the love of music making without regard for payment or even performance? While a large portion of the arts community has returned to live performances, for many who remain cautious and crowd averse in our pandemic-laden world, live performance is fast becoming a distant memory. [Continue reading]

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Fiction: Humans are Weird

I am an observer not of this world, though most of the life forms that inhabit this planet have no knowledge of my existence which is probably a good thing. I’m here to observe and report back whether Earth is receptive to a cultural exchange with our world. So far it’s clear that none of the life forms from this world would yet be able to reach ours on their own although sometimes an early exchange can prove beneficial to all concerned. Sadly, from my observations thus far I’m inclined to recommend against such an exchange at this time. While the life forms on this planet pose no direct threat to us, our presence would greatly complicate the situation for the life forms on this planet and would undoubtedly change the course of their development. [Continue reading]

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Fiction: What a Rat Race

Robert was restless. He looked around quickly and then took off running through the lab, climbing over various apparatus, leaping from landing to landing, until finally stopping atop a bookcase in the corner. It was late, the lights were dimmed, and he wanted to play. This was not an unusual occurrence after the scientists left for the day. [Continue reading]

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Personal Essay: What is an expert?

With the advent of the internet, and more recently the widespread availability and influence of social media, what constitutes an expert has been challenged in the media and in the public sphere. … In this information age, anybody with a connection to the internet can search for answers to any question imaginable or pontificate their own claims on myriad publicly visible platforms.

Just because somebody writes or speaks with assurance doesn’t automatically mean they are an expert or even that they necessarily know what they are talking about. Possessing academic credentials alone doesn’t guarantee that the speaker or writer is an expert either. Further, having purely academic credentials isn’t always necessary for somebody to gain proficiency or even expert level knowledge in a discipline. Mentoring and apprenticeships can be effective ways to learn and hone expert level skills in areas as varied as the performing arts to vocational trades or even some more academically oriented pursuits such various types of engineering. It depends on the quality of the mentor, the aptitude and dedication of the mentee or apprentice, and the educational requirements of the discipline. [Continue reading]

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Book: Ice Cold, by Tess Gerritsen

Ski trips can be dangerous

Tess Gerritsen’s eighth book in the Rizzoli & Isles series, Ice Cold, was first released in 2010. This time Gerritsen doesn’t dig into her anthropology background. Instead she uses her medical background on the living rather than the dead in this heart-stopping adventure. Reeling from her recent breakup with Father Daniel Brophy, Dr. Maura Isles attends a pathology conference in Wyoming of all places. In November. Before readers catch up with Maura’s adventure, they are first introduced to an insular community in Plain of Angels, Idaho. The compound is home to a small, religious group serving their leader, Prophet Jeremiah Goode. As is often the case in Gerritsen’s mysteries, this opening chapter from the past provides key pieces of information that will become crucial later in the story. In this look back, readers see that the prophet leads what can only be described as a cult. While the activities might jolt the hairs on the back of a reader’s neck, no specific crime is yet revealed. [Continue reading]

Book: The Keepsake, by Tess Gerritsen

The things we keep

Tess Gerritsen’s seventh Rizzoli & Isles book, The Keepsake, was first released in 2008. Gerritsen digs even further into her anthropology background branching off into the sub-specialties of Archeology and Egyptology when a mummy discovered at a local museum turns out to be not at all what it seems. As always in this series the past predicts the future, although in this perplexing case, far more secrets than usual are uncovered. [Continue reading]

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Book: Turn On the Light So I Can Hear, by Teri Kanefield

Hearing in the light of day

Teri Kanefield is many things. She’s a lawyer who spent the bulk of her time in practice as an appellate defense attorney. She’s a teacher having taught college level English and creative writing. She’s an award winning author of both fiction and nonfiction. Her educational credentials are impeccable including both her law degree and a master’s in English with an emphasis in fiction writing, something that no doubt came in handy in weaving compelling (but true) narratives in her legal briefs. Now retired from her law practice, she volunteers her time to support our democracy. She uses her writing to reach across boundaries and continue to educate and entertain. Ever the teacher, she provides political and legal analysis for major news organizations and on her own through her blog and social media to help untangle the complex landscape that we now inhabit. Her books continue to be something special. Even in her fiction, she includes salient details that come from her broad base of experience in numerous ways. Turn On the Light So I Can Hear is a novel that reads very personally. It’s not necessarily autobiographical, but the issues and social commentary are familiar to her. [Continue reading]

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Book: Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America, by Heather Cox Richardson

‘Democracy Awakening’ puts it all in perspective

Heather Cox Richardson’s newest book, Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America, was released on 26 September 2023 and is a must read to understand how we got to where we are, the dangers we face, how Americans have strengthened our democracy in times of yore, and finally, how we can again counter the authoritarian threat and reclaim our democracy from those who would abolish it forever. For those who regularly read Professor Richardson’s nightly newsletter, Letters from an American, there isn’t a lot of new material in this book. What is new is how Richardson has condensed the journey and the solution into this tight volume. This isn’t a big book. In fact, it’s a collection of 30 essays of six to eight pages apiece. Bounding these essays are a Forward introducing the material and discussing how the book came about and a Conclusion at the end tying together the pieces of how we could go about recovering and strengthening our democracy going forward. Richardson is honest that she can’t say it’s a sure thing, but the vast majority of Americans want our democracy to survive. The question is whether the overwhelming majority of people will pull together to make it so. Only time will tell. [Continue reading]

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Book: Children of Memory, by Adrian Tchaikovsky

‘Children of Memory’ completes the journey

Adrian Tchaikovsky’s series that began with Children of Time, concludes with Children of Memory, released in November 2022. Again many of the characters (or their descendants from previous books) are back. This time, an instance of the AI known as Avrana Kern is built into yet another interstellar ship. She and all of her other instances are what remain of the ancient human terraformer/scientist who jump-started the advancement of numerous species on diverse worlds, though not all intelligent life was directly the result of her intervention. The ship this time is called the Skipper, and its crew is comprised of a Human (with a capital H), a few portiids (a type of intellectually advanced jumping spider), an enhanced octopus, an interlocutor or observer who has taken Human form but is in reality a colony of intelligent entities from the planet Nod, and two new arrivals. [Continue reading]

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Book: A Rule Against Murder, by Louise Penny

The Morrows and a murder

A Rule Against Murder is the fourth Chief Inspector Armand Gamache (of the Sûreté du Quebec) story by Canadian author Louise Penny first released in 2009. In Canada, the title was originally The Murder Stone which gives more away about the mystery from the outset. This time Armand and Reine-Marie are enjoying an anniversary trip to the luxurious Manoir Bellechasse, an inn in a lovely forested location not far from Three Pines. They had planned to enjoy the scenery and each other’s uninterrupted company in the peaceful old-world setting. The only other guests are the Finneys – a large, wealthy, multigenerational family there for their own celebration of sorts. Early on Irene Finney, the matriarch of the Finney family, and her adult children get the entirely wrong idea about the Gamaches thinking that Armand is a lowly shopkeeper, and Reine-Marie is a cleaning women when they misinterpret something that the Gamaches say in casual conversation. The Finneys are awaiting the wayward sibling and his wife, who surprisingly turn out to be Peter and Clara Morrow from Three Pines. Peter and Clara arrive the night before a statue of Irene’s first husband, Charles Morrow, is to be unveiled. It turns out that Bert Finney is Irene’s second husband, but her children (Thomas, Julia, Peter, and Marianna) are all Morrows. [Continue reading]

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Book: Hell’s Corner, by David Baldacci

The Camel Club’s final case

At the outset of the story, Stone is pulled back into the government fold, though not as a Triple Six assassin since that division no longer exists. He has other skills that they desperately need, so the president makes him an offer he that cannot refuse. Stone has been living off the grid for the last thirty years or so, constantly looking over his shoulder because even his own government has been after him. After his recent retaliatory actions to remove his two biggest threats it actually has a valid reason to pursue and eliminate him. The president recognizes his value despite Stone’s sometimes rogue behavior, so he offers him the opportunity to work on a high stakes case. If successful, the president promises that he’ll allow Stone to live out the rest of his life in peace. Stone agrees and is due to embark on a grueling training course after which he’ll be put back in the field on a case he really isn’t expected to survive. [Continue reading]

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Book: The Very Nice Box, by Eve Gleichman and Laura Blackett

Everyone needs a very nice box

The Very Nice Box is a quirky, sensitive first novel by Eve Gleichman and Laura Blackett, released in July 2021. Gleichman and Blackett’s debut novel deftly takes on social stigmas, office peculiarities, loss, grief, relationships, and happiness wrapped up in an engaging story filled with humor and unexpected twists that keeps readers on the edge of their seats anxious to find out what happens next. The story centers on Ava Simon, an able engineer who leads a design team for STÄDA, a company in Brooklyn somewhat reminiscent of IKEA providing a wide range of heavily branded products meant for functionality above all else. These products are fashionable and cover almost every area of furnishing and function a person could need for their home, office, and personal care. Ava designs an essential furnishing that everyone needs – boxes. Her passion project is to design and build The Very Nice Box, something destined to become one of STÄDA’s signature products. [Continue reading]

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Book: Memoirs and True Confessions of a Disinformation Warrior, by Teri Kanefield

The dangers of disinformation in a compelling novel

Teri Kanefield is many things. She’s a former appellate defense lawyer who helped those who couldn’t afford representation. She’s an educator who taught at the high school and college level. She’s an author who has published informative works of nonfiction as well as compelling novels. And most recently, she’s tirelessly working to educate the public in hopes of helping people understand the political and legal minefield that has been thrust upon us by the rising authoritarian threat. … Most recently, Kanefield has given her regular readers a gift. … Kanefield released the story, entitled Memoirs and True Confessions of a Disinformation Warrior, in three lengthy posts on her blog, initially linked from the end of her 18 March 2023 entry about Trump’s imminent arrest. The pieces of the novel can be found here: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3. [Continue reading]

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Book: King and Maxwell, by David Baldacci

The end of the King and Maxwell series

King and Maxwell is the sixth and final book in David Baldacci’s King & Maxwell series, and it doesn’t disappoint. The last three books of the series, First Family, The Sixth Man, and King and Maxwell are closely coupled, each picking up where the last one leaves off. Sean King and Michelle Maxwell are looking to get back to a more normal, less life-threatening routine when they come upon a teenager running through the woods with a gun in a vicious storm. The boy, Tyler Wingo, is frantic. He’s been informed that his father, Sam Wingo, was killed in combat in Afghanistan. The trouble is that Sam Wingo is very much alive, and he’s a hunted man though it takes a while to determine that this is the case. After some negotiation and being threatened by various government and government adjacent thugs, King, Maxwell, their client Tyler Wingo, his father Sam, and a couple of innocent bystanders are in grave danger. No matter the risks, they aren’t deterred from their quest to clear Sam’s name and get him and Tyler to safety. [Continue reading]

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Book: Woodwind Instruments: a practical guide for technicians and repairers, by Daniel Bangham

The book every woodwind player and technician should have

Woodwind Instruments: a practical guide for technicians and repairers by Daniel Bangham is a new release that will be a useful reference for woodwind technicians and players alike. Expected in late October 2022 through The Crowood Press, Bangham’s book provides instructions for setting up a complete workshop to repair and maintain clarinets, flutes, saxophones, oboes, and bassoons. The detailed repair instructions for technicians include most routine and complex repairs they might encounter. For players, the book can serve as a guide on caring for their instruments along with what to look for when they are encountering problems going so far as instructing them on some stop gap measures until they can get their instruments to a repair shop. The book is aimed at technicians, particularly given the specialized equipment needed to affect repairs, but understanding more about how their instruments work helps players get the most out of them even if they don’t want to try to make the repairs themselves. [Continue reading]

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Personal Essay: What is reality?

In our current world, there is a great deal of effort being expended to bend people’s perceptions of reality to gain personal, organizational, or even national advantage. I’ve written about the dangers of propaganda before, and in modern society with its current technological advancements there are more tools available today than ever before to impose false realities, i.e., to create mythologies. … Taking a step back from current world events, it’s instructive to consider something that Yuval Noah Harari observed. In his book Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, he introduced the idea of common myths, upon which all of our modern societies are based, suggesting these myths may have primed us all to be open to persuasion in direct conflict with our own observations. [Continue reading]

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Profile: Val is making the world a better place through the arts

Every so often we are fortunate to cross paths with somebody with that intangible spark that makes them stand out in a really good way. They bring enthusiasm to all they do, and they inspire others to reach far beyond what seems possible. I ran into such a person some years ago, and I’ve been amazed by what this young fellow has done and continues to do.

I first worked with Val Zvinyatskovsky when he was but 10-years-old. He played the role of Jojo, one of the leads in a youth production of Seussical that I was music directing. This particular group used live orchestras drawn from the greater musician community to give their young actors the privilege and thrill of performing in musicals in a way that would prepare them for potential careers in professional theater. Through the rehearsal process, this young actor stood out as one of the most skilled, prepared, and polished young thespians I’d seen. He not only had all of his lines and blocking down pat long before the cast needed to be off book, but his musical timing was impeccable. He never missed. Even so, it wasn’t until we got into the run of the show that I realized just how accomplished and curious this young man was. [Continue reading]

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Fiction: A World Without Lies

As happened most nights, Alex and Rowan Jeffries were having an impassioned discussion over dinner. The twins had been sharing a house for most of their lives, Alex a professor of biochemistry and Rowan a professor of music and religious studies at the same university. Having grown up together and only living separately as university students because they attended different schools in different states, it was both comforting and financially practical to have come together again once their student days were over. Neither had ever been married, and they considered one another perfect roommates. They relied on each other and were the best of friends even though they had a few notable philosophical differences. In fact, those differences often helped them, though they really only differed dramatically in a few areas. In other areas of their lives, they were often in agreement even when their approaches sometimes diverged. This evening, they were engrossed in a discussion in which they agreed for the most part, but differed in application. The subject this evening was honesty, or more directly, the value of truth and dangers of lies. [Continue reading]

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Book: REMEMBERING MOM AND DAD

In REMEMBERING MOM AND DAD, I make the jump from analyzing the stories to telling them.  The book is a collection of nonfiction essays and short stories written over time remembering Bayla and Jerry Jacobson. The stories include personal recollections from my experience along with the retelling of numerous events related to me in conversations over the years. Some of the stories included are: “Music in the House”, “The Parenthood Plunge”, “The Jacobson Pet Parade”, “Disney Days of Summer”, and many more.  Interested?

Purchase the print edition:

• Online on Amazon
• In person at Leigh’s Favorite Books in Sunnyvale, CA

Purchase a digital copy in Kindle or Nook formats.
Read the full Introduction.

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