Mr. Joyce Takes on the World

The Saddest of Days A Eulogy for Jane Austen             July 18 th is the saddest of days for Janeites. Yet it is also a time of celebration. While we collectively mourn the loss of someone so great to us, we also celebrate her life. Indeed, it is a time of both long-delayed tears, and joy.             As General Patton once said, about the casualties under his command, “It is foolish to mourn the dead. Instead, we should thank God that such men lived.”             I half-agree with the esteemed general. It is not foolish to mourn the dead; whether recent, or in the past. Though I agree, we should be thankful that such a woman lived. The daughter of a humble clergyman changed the world. She had lead no battlefield victories. Nor, did she run for office. Instead, she fought against convention. In a tim...

Hiraeth             Leviathan used to be my favorite word. I think that was partly because of how it sounded, but also because it described a sea monster. I first heard the word when I was about eight. That was because of the sci-fi flick of the same title, starring Peter Weller and Ernie Hudson. You can’t beat the pairing of Robocop and a Ghostbuster tackling a sea monster.             In recent years, I’ve come to know a new favorite word. Perhaps I should just make a list of favorite words, as it difficult to choose just one.             This word is different. There’s a beauty in the sound of it; as if it should be the name of a fair-haired girl, with blue eyes and a mournful look. It’s a word that speaks of serene landscapes, that are in perpetual overcast dawn. It is a word of mourning, and yet it car...

“I Will Carry You.”             How do we reaction when those we love are suffering? Do we give them advice? Do we tell them the perfunctory, “Everything is going to be okay?” Or, do we say nothing, and instead, listen?            Pain is just one part of being human. While suffering can be a great teacher, it doesn’t feel as such during the suffering. I also feel that few people will want to share the suffering of a loved one. Instead, people pretty much try to distance themselves from it. I feel that to survive the suffering, one must lean into it, and perhaps even embrace it. That sounds counter-intuitive, but it allows one to exorcise the suffering by “riding it out.” This is the suffering that comes to us, not the suffering that we make. That kind of suffering is discussed later.               Since Ch...

It's been ages since I've written poetry. I've always preferred to write prose, though I feel that as a writer one should be able to write almost anything. I take great inspiration from poetry, and see it as an influence on my writing style. In these days of analytical writing (of which I am a part of) I feel that we analytical writers can learn a lot from poetry.  As John Lennon once sang, "Turn off your mind, relax, and float downstream."  That's a lesson we can all learn.  Allow your mind to drift, and read some verse.  Over the next few entries I'll post some verses I've composed. He's one that I did recently as practice.  A Prayer for A Rose A prayer for a rose, A rose of white. A prayer to guide us Through the night. A rose of virtue, A rose so fair. A rose beyond compare. A prayer for a rose, A rose of red. A prayer to guide us To thy bed. A rose of peace. A rose of love. A rose that runs T...

Sexism 101 Suffragettes Annie Kennedy and Christabel Pankhurst   Feminism: the concept that women and men are socially, economically, politically, intellectually, and spiritually equal. Economics hasn't quite gotten there yet, but there's still hope. As for the other elements of classical feminism...society has come a long way. It still needs to strive though. So, why does sexism bother me? The answer to that is simple. It devalues women. Well, that's it then. End of essay. Wait, there's more! Not only does it devalue women, but it also causes men to devalue themselves as well. You see, women, contrary to popular belief, do not come from Venus. They are human, just like men. Sure their bodies are different, and they have the tendency to smell better than men, but that's another story. The point is that women and men both come from Earth. We're both from the same species, and we need to treat each other as suc...

Fairness Sometimes I'm not fair. For as selfless and giving as I am, I can also be selfish at times. For example, I know a young woman that I care for deeply. She's currently in a phase in her life where demands on her time are many, and free time is scarce. So scarce in fact, that she's living a semi-cloistered life as she takes up her studies. At first, I felt snubbed. I thought, “What's taking her so long? Why doesn't she have five minutes to write to me? Did I do something wrong? Is it me?” I then realized that I wasn't being fair. I wasn't being sensitive to her needs, or her time frame. I also wasn't being fair to her struggles. Where she is now, I once was. Sometimes, I'm still there. Sometimes I forget what hurdles I've had to overcome just to function in daily life. Maybe that's a defense mechanism. If so, it's one that can distorted reality. I need to replace it with a mechanism of compassion, in...

Just say "Yes."  I'm reminded of something my uncle Tom told me after his brother died. It was the winter of 2002, and on Christmas Eve, he shared with the family the last conversation he had with his brother, James. He said, “As Jim was dying, we started talking about regrets. He told me that the one big regret he had was not marrying this girl he dated back in the 60's. He wanted to marry her, but we were Protestant, and she was Catholic. Our parents wouldn't have stood for that.” He fell silent after that, and didn't say more. I could see by the look on his face that he was disappointed for his brother, but not at him. James died without ever marrying, or having children. He lived alone, and worked as a environmental scientist. He once wrote a scholarly work on the history and uses of the soybean. For vegetarians that might be considered pornography. For the rest of us it's far from Fifty Shades of Tofu. James was...

Nothing But Heart My heart is the strongest organ I have; both literally and physically. Don't get me wrong, I'm a thinker. Come to think of it I think too damn much. I over analyze things sometimes. Or, as I told a friend recently, I will flog a dead horse. I will continue to flog it, even after the horse has been removed, and placed in its grave. I think I do that because when something bothers me, it really bothers me until is resolved. I like a sense of resolution to conflicts and other problems that occur in life. I don't like loose ends or ambiguity. I have to know, and I have to know above all else. But I'm not all brain games. While I enjoy contemplating life, the universe, and everything, I know when to switch from brain to heart mode. As an example I've often said, “Writing is an emotional exercise, not an intellectual one.” The intellect part comes when you're fixing things up to look presentable to readers. If the heart isn't ...