My vision blurred and stars appeared in my eyes, as the muscled arm around my neck tightened pressure, restricting the flow of blood through my left carotid artery. The man’s opposite hand gripped my right lapel, similarly restricting the flow through my right carotid, slowly killing me with my own clothes. My physical strength, my will to fight, and my ego drained away as I reached the conclusion that I was beaten and reached up to the arm and tapped twice, croaking out the word “tap” in the process. Immediately, the pressure on my throat relaxed and I collapsed to the mat in a sweaty, spent heap, only to be helped to my feet by the same man that was choking me out moments before. This was my first day, my first baptism, to the sport of Brazilian jiu jitsu and it happened this week. Why, you might wonder, would a 46 year old father of three teens with no prior experience in martial arts voluntary submit himself…pay for the privilege… to an experience such as BJJ?
Continue reading “What Do You Suck At?”Supply and Demand
In addition to (infrequently) writing essays for The Essence of Water, I have another blog, The Deckle Edge, where I write about books, authors, and ideas. Last fall I added a podcast to The Deckle Edge where I interview writers to learn about their backgrounds and how and why they do their work. Its an excuse for me to have an extended conversation with interesting people, while helping them promote their work. It has been an enormous and unpredicted joy. Early on I invited guests whose books I enjoyed and reviewed or who I knew had a new book being released. These were engaging discussions and I began learning the craft of how to interview writers. As the podcast developed, I began asking guests “who should I be reading?” and “who would make a great guest?” That has afforded me warm introductions to authors and poets I might not have otherwise encountered or who might not otherwise have given me the time of day. It’s been a delightful surprise and the guest list has evolved in a serendipitous way. It has also made me feel part of this community of writers, like I’ve somehow pierced a veil into a previously hidden world.
Continue reading “Supply and Demand”On Art, Value, and NFTs
In November 2017 Christie’s auction house sold a painting known as the Salvator Mundi for the princely sum of $450 million. The authenticity of the painting, which isn’t very good, was long debated but in the end the painting, and thus its value, were attributed to Leonardo da Vinci and set a record for the most expensive painting ever sold.
Continue reading “On Art, Value, and NFTs”Memento Mori
I am usually in bed well before midnight on New Year’s Eve and I do not usually adopt New Year’s resolutions. It isn’t that object to resolutions, per se, but it isn’t the way my mind works. I am very much a planner and a goal setter. I like having objectives to work towards. I like knowing where I am headed. But the idea of a handful of resolutions to improve myself over the next 12 months doesn’t generally fit with the time horizon over which I set goals.
Continue reading “Memento Mori”Broken Bread and Poured Out Wine
With apologies to Abraham Maslow, I suggest our primary needs as 21st century human beings living in developed countries center around food and water, rest, shelter, and physical connection with others. Each of these needs can be fulfilled in basic, transactional ways, but can also be achieved in transcendent moments, allowing the bottom level of Maslow’s pyramid to leap upwards…self-actualization attained through the fulfillment of basic needs.
Continue reading “Broken Bread and Poured Out Wine”