Kurt R.A. Giambastiani's Blog, page 43
July 6, 2016
Paper, Ink, Sand, Pounce
Have a question? Search the internet and youwill find an answer. Search long enough, and you can evenfind the answer you want. While that’s great (if you live in an echo chamber), it’s no help if you don’t know which answer you’re looking for. In that case, the internet will provide you with a bevy […]
June 30, 2016
The Fog of Should
Last week, my wife had her 60th birthday. So, naturally, I’ve been thinking about dying. In the past few years, life has changed. My wife and I have buried three of our four parents, making me thoroughly cognizant of my own mortality and the fact that I will, someday, end. As a result, I’ve been […]
June 23, 2016
Cognitive Dissonance Resolved
Know how people say that no one has ever changed their mind because of an internet post? Well prepare to be amazed, because I have an example of someone who did: me. Often— and I’m guilty of this myself— when we encounter a posting that runs counter to ouropinion it only reinforces our currently held […]
June 16, 2016
#Enough
From Sunday morning until late last night, I spent my time in a vortex of pessimism. Why? Because despite the media’s assurances, it seemed as though the massacre in Orlandohadnot “shocked the nation.” Rather, it seemed as though we, as a society, barely looked up from our breakfast cereal to acknowledge the tragedy. As always, […]
June 9, 2016
Pearls Before the Optimist
For as long as I’ve held an opinion on the matter, I’ve disliked oysters. My first experience withthem was as a main ingredient in a casserole. It was a dish of unappetizing, crusty brown…something…dotted by pale, rounded, rubbery oblongs that smelled of smoke and tasted of oily tinned fish. I did not have a second […]
May 31, 2016
The Changing Nature of War
I spent this Memorial Day reading about war; specifically, about the “Great War,” the First World War. One hundred years ago, Robert Graves, fresh from school, left his home in Great Britain and went to war in France. He recounts his experiences and observations in Good-Bye to All That, lauded as one of the best […]
May 25, 2016
Until Today
fur of satin midnight she is ever aloof wary silent an island of comportment her tail-wrapped feet situated primly at the boundary of our all-too-human bustle amber cabochons blink in the sunshine observing studying from the doorway from the top step intrigued but uninvolved present but apart untiltoday whenshe climbs up nestles between us curls […]
May 19, 2016
The Death of Sunday Night (and Monday, too)
For the longest time, I wasa show killer. Do you love a particular TV show? Well, for years, ifI loved it, too,it was doomed because, as soon as I started watching it, as soon as I fell in love with the show, its had maybe a year to live before it got canceled. I’m serious. […]
May 11, 2016
New Project: That’s a Wrap
I am a terrible businessman. Last week, I submitted my outlinefor the proposed Fairbanks biographical novel. Along with the actual outline/synopsis, I sent a letter explaining some of the decisions that went into its creation. The family only has experience with writing non-fiction works about the life of their patriarch, sculptor Avard Fairbanks, so I […]
May 5, 2016
New Project: The Outline
I am an outliner, and right now, I’m damned glad of it. Prior to beginning a project, I createa fairly extensive outline. Some writers prefer a more organic method; they set up a character in a conflict and write to see where it takes them. If I were a writer like that, this project would […]
