We often talk about situations where a person reveals their character. It doesn’t take difficult or near-impossible situations to get a reading; even the most mundane or ordinary circumstances can provoke a telling reaction.
With the reality series The Contender, someone raised the question about why contestant Ahmed Kaddour failed to make the grade. He entered the [...]

Two Sundays ago, I saw a coyote prowling through the farmers field beyond our backyard. It was maybe just a coincidence that a marauding predator was in the area– but since I felt down, I wanted to interpret the event as something deeper.
His positive traits include humor and sometimes cleverness. His negative traits are usually [...]

You ever notice the massive market in anti-aging products or services? Even for men, we can get certain hormones (HGH) prescribed for treatment. Most of the sales are driven by personal anxieties over appearance; yet looking good isn’t the entire story– we also want to be in good health.
While backpacking in Italy, I met a man who wouldn’t smoke, drink, [...]

The real culture shock hit me when I returned to Canada and thought about our lives here. The way we’d lived them–by hanging onto some vestiges of life in India and Kenya while abandoning or replacing other customs and culture–finally came into perspective.
My cousin gave me a book by Lambert Mascarenhas called Sorrowing Lies My Land. The [...]

On Sunday morning, Sleepless in Seattle was on satellite, and I ended up watching the entire movie. I found Meg Ryan’s acting to be slightly overblown, and I suppose Tom Hanks was good–but not great.
What was the point behind that movie? Taking a chance, going for it, and not spending the rest of your life [...]

I must be looking for something
Something sacred I lost
But the river is wide
And it’s too hard to cross
***
There has to be a difference between us. People actually have to recognize superiority. It has to be made explicit.
Hidden, quiet, and unknown– that’s death.

At CSI Airport in Bombay, not a single duty free shop seemed open. I hoped for vast shops, bars and restaurants past the final security checkpoint– but found only a deserted seating area. Two Italians were similarly puzzled; one managed to get out of the secure area and bought some cokes and cartons of food.
“What [...]

And I hit the floor
Yeah, I thought I could leave but couldn’t get out the door
I was so sick and tired
Of a livin’ a lie
I was wishin’ that I
Would die
***
In the afternoons, the heat is oppressive. Ignoring the danger, I walked down the highway for a couple miles. I was just in time to watch [...]