James Pyles's Blog, page 100

A Hero in Harare

“I want to meet this Miles Morales,” twelve-year-old Miriro murmured spontaneously as he and his eleven-year-old sister Anesu did their maths homework at the kitchen table, warm afternoon sunlight streaming in the western window. “What are you talking about,” she replied in irritation. “He doesn’t even exist. He’s a cartoon.” “Uncle Tongai took me and […]

Quoting: Courage Builds Self Respect

Courage builds self-respect. When you sacrifice for principles and ideas, you increase your self-respect. When you face a painful situation and react with dignity, you increase your self-respect. When you say, “No,” to temptation even though others will try to persuade you to say, “Yes,” you increase your self-respect. When you don’t allow opposition to […]

Film Review of “Spider-Man: Into the Spider Verse” (2018)

About an hour ago as I write this, my son, grandson, and I were walking out of the theater after watching Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018). This animated film chronicles the coming of age and origin of the Miles Morales Spider-Man (voiced in the film by Shameik Moore), who, in the movie, looks about 13 […]

Quoting: Better Than Duct Tape

One person who frequently lost his temper, finally learned to control it with the following method: Whenever he felt angry at someone, he would take a sip of water and hold it in his mouth for five minutes. Only after the five minutes passed would he criticize someone. During this time his anger subsided and […]

The Sacrificed

“I can’t do it, Erickson. I’m no killer.” Rafael Isaiah Johnson had traveled back in time 172 years to stop a global extinction event and save the human race, but the man he hoped to enlist as an ally, Austin Randolph Erickson had another idea, a murderous one. The two men, one a Hispanic-African-American who […]

Book Review of “The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack: A Burton and Swinburne Adventure”

Some months ago at work, a friend of mine and I got to talking about steampunk as a sub-genre of science fiction, and, long story short, he recently lent me his copy of Mark Hodder’s 2010 novel The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack: A Burton and Swinburne Adventure. Basically, Hodder takes real places (London […]

Quoting: The Mistake is to Not Try

Try to become as great as you can. Some people are afraid to accomplish because they might make mistakes — and those mistakes will be more serious than if they remained simple! This is not valid reasoning. Each person is obligated to develop himself to the best of his ability. The smallest person has potential […]

The Girl Who Could Do Anything

“Come on, Grandpa. Over here.” Three-and-a-half year old Jillie ran ahead of sixty-three year old Robert, who was starting to feel the icy talons of fear clutch his heart as his migraine interfered with his control. “Coming, Angel.” Wiping moisture off of his forehead and locks of long, graying hair, he knew the migraine would […]

Quoting: Countering Sadness with a Treat

Be aware of what situations and behaviors give you pleasure. When you feel excessively sad and cannot change your attitude, make a conscious effort to take some action that might alleviate your sadness. If you anticipate feeling sad, prepare a list of things that might make you feel better. It could be talking to a […]

The Goats and Graves Reparation

“On Wednesday, January 2, 2019, President Donald Trump sent the 101st Airborne to maintain order at the American-Mexican border near Nogales. That was fifteen years ago.” Professor Pauline Vasquez periodically pressed her thumb on the remote, advancing the slideshow in her classroom. “500,000 migrants, desperate to gain sanctuary, were being turned away by Army soldiers, […]