David Klein's Blog, page 4

Pentagon Pizza Report

An essay published by the bipartisan think tank the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) discussed the challenge of surprising your enemy in a military attack in the twenty-first century. Back in the day, it was easier to pull off a military shocker. Case in point: the United States was woefully unprepared for the […]

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Dad Lessons I’ve Learned

I annually repost this column from an earlier date of ten dad lessons I’ve learned in honor of all fathers on this Father’s Day. With every passing year, these lessons feel more relevant and continue to guide my evolving role as a father as my kids become independent adults. They’re all based on my experience. […]

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We the People, We Must Resist

While Trump presided over a noxious display of military might at his Soviet-style parade in Washington yesterday, we participated in the No Kings protest against dictatorship and for democracy. Thousands of people in Albany came out to peacefully protest the accumulation of unconstitutional power by the current administration, to denounce its cruelty, to speak out […]

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Desperate, Disparate Housewives

I’ve meant to read the British author Rachel Cusk for some time. She’s been praised by critics and awarded literary prizes throughout a writing career that has spanned twelve novels and several books of nonfiction. She writes about women, in contrast to another author I recently discovered, David Szalay, who writes about men. I probably […]

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The House on the Bay

Since the day I was old enough to stray from my mother’s watchful eye and wander off from our blanket spread on the sandy, modest public beach at Thunder Bay on the shore of Lake Erie in Canada, I would take beach walks along the curve of the bay. Walk east, and you come across […]

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The Tarnished Em Dash

One of my favorite punctuation marks—the em dash—(see what I did there?) is under siege. I’ve made liberal use of the em dash in all five of my novels, deploying it early and often in my writing style: STASH (page 1): “But she reminded herself that Nora was only seven, a loving, intelligent girl, tall […]

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The Mountains are Calling

Our hiking season begins on a perfectly pleasant day on the shoulder between Spring and Summer. Mild temps, verdant landscape, stream crossings, muddy spots, flitting bugs. Jimmy and I wanted to ease our way in, so we picked a hike of about six miles that would get us to the top of two of the […]

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Love Song for a Second Chance

I saw you standing at the cornerLast night at First and ParkI lagged behind so we wouldn’t meetUntil you vanished in the dark Then you spot me all aloneAt the bar of our favorite jointYou walk out before I turn aroundbecause really what’s the point We never claimed we’d meet once more, by design or […]

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Gratulationes

It’s a diploma, I know that much. And although my Latin is mighty rusty, in fact nonexistent, my best translation is this: You’ve done one hell of a job and on behalf of this university, your professors, mentors, family, and friends, we congratulate you, we honor you, we admire your keen intelligence, dedication, creativity, and […]

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Hedonic Adaptation

I only recently discovered a term for a phenomenon I’ve experienced many times, one we’ve all experienced—hedonic adaptation.   I’ve known about hedonism, which is living to maximize pleasure, and I’m acquainted with several hedonists who have devoted their lives to pleasure, but hedonic adaptation is new for me. Hedonic adaptation is the process by […]

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