Roger B. Burt's Blog, page 22

Life’s a Beach (Not the other word)

 

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What does the beach mean to you?

Allegories Abound

The term in the title is often made as a complaint about hardship or complications. But it also can be interpreted as an allegory. How we love the beach! Glorious in summer it offers us motion, change, ease and cools our days and nights with gentle breezes.

But the most prominent feature of the beach is the waves. They touch our hearts as the most prominent feature of our planet interacts with us. It also represents the very essence of our...

Dreams Versus Reality

 

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Let’s branch out a little from this world of fraught political realities.

The Caribbean is a land of dreams. Beautiful islands, lush waters, jungles and happy, welcoming people. That is what we see. Reality is always different. Not that it isn’t lovely but the experience of life is complex. We had been seduced and were building a home on a beautiful island with which we had fallen in love.

Complex History

As a tourist what you see is a bewitching landscape and the lush experience of the mo...

The New Millenials

 

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What is your age group called?

Making Noise

I’m from what is called the Silent Generation but it seems I can’t keep quiet. My commitment now is to an entirely different generation. They are called the Millenials. Once upon a time I was of that age and the cadre I traveled with was not so silent. So let me speak in behalf of the Millenials.

A common viewpoint is that age brings wisdom. Seriously? I am not impressed by the evidence to support that contention. Experience, perhaps. Wisdom. Not...

The Problem With Ratings

 

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What do you think about the issue of ratings for fiction?

What a Nuisance

When someone is writing fiction it seems likely that the primary reason they are doing it is to write fiction. Duh! It is an interest pursuit and can be challenging in a way that is fulfilling. Unfortunately, in most instances the author would also like to sell some books. Maybe they have a dream of being greatly successful or at least would hope there woul...

Eve and the Snake

 

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It’s Not So Simple

Monday’s post this week was about whether Eve did us a favor when she supposedly got humankind kicked out of Paradise. Of course there was another creature involved—the snake. The story I was thinking of was from the Bible. From interpretations I had heard, I thought the snake was somewhere between evil incarnate and the Devil. I thought it told us that we had lost the wonder of Paradise because we fell for what the snake was offering. Well, turns out it is all more comp...

Vitamin D and Health 2

 

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What a Dreadful Oversight

There is a condition called nonceliac gluten intolerance. I have it. And it means I can’t uptake vitamin D effectively from food. I can only get the doses I need from ultraviolet exposure.

Now I know the medical advise was terrible. All of my life I sought to lie in the sun at every opportunity. And now I know why. I have a picture of me lying in front of a snow drift in the sun in January. I hoped for help but now know if your shadow is not shorter than your heig...

Did Eve Do Us a Favor?

 

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Challenge and Opportunity

Writing fiction is a challenging task. It is generally said to be a creative pursuit. Easy statement but not so simple in practice. How many of us have looked at the image of the writer sitting at his/her desk wondering how to begin. Of course the first question is probably not what to write but why write. Somehow we feel a challenge or a push but at base writing fiction is fundamental to human existence.

Oh please! (I don’t mean that.) Not everyone feels the urge...

Vitamin D and Health – Part 1

Now a Change of Pace

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A Major Oversight

The warnings are everywhere, particularly in the summer. “Do not ever, ever go outside without putting on sunscreen!” (Obviously this warning serves the marketers of sunscreen.) Exposure to the sun puts you in danger of skin cancer and at minimum it may damage your skin, they say. There is some truth to these statements and moderation is indicated.

BUT, there is another side. Before the year 2000 there was little in the way of research concerning the ef...

A Focus on Society And Its Change – Partnership

Imagine What May Be At Our Doorstep

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And now we turn to our future and what may be the potential. Women have raised the torch of their empowerment high and it is now for men to respond and join them. Men have their own empowerment at issue. What seems like power can be in many senses a reflection of the fact that too often men have been feeling powerless. That takes some thought. And when we come together in an honest dialogue in the light of this new era we can help men overcome some of thei...

Nicolai Redux

 

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I’ve posted previously about my friend from graduate school, Nicolai Khoklov.

Let me review. One day at Duke University I was introduced to a new graduate student by the name of Nicolai. His heavy Russian accent was intriguing. Later it came out. He had been the head of the KGB for Eastern Europe and finally, after much soul searching, he defected.
The story is dramatic. Our intelligence service was to get his family and take them out of the count...