Crutches
I own a pair of crutches. I keep them in the hallway closet where I can grab them if I need them . . . because every so often I will. I have a knee condition where my kneecaps naturally dislocate. I can move my kneecaps with my hand, or they will naturally dislocate in a regular rhythmic way. It doesn’t hurt. But when one dislocates outside of that rhythm, I collapse. I fall to the ground, grasping my knee, shouting expletives as tears come to my eyes. My kneecap will move back into place automatically, but the unexpected offbeat...
read morelearning to swim
I recently learned how to swim. I decided it was time to learn. I asked friends for a swim instructor referral, looked it up and enrolled in a class. A week later, I was swimming across the pool. It was that easy. In my own defense, I knew what to do. I just wasn’t very good at doing it. It’s not just me. It’s a big catch-22 for adults who can’t swim: You’re afraid of the water because you can’t swim. And you can’t swim because you’re afraid of the water. Ultimately, you have to trust the teacher and jump in...
read moreGetting Happy
I make grits on weekend mornings. As a vegan, I try to make organic grits and I have them with soy-sausage or scrambled tofu rather than the corned beef hash, scrambled tofu or fried liver on which I was raised. Eating grits on the weekends reminds me of leisurely family breakfasts with my parents, talking about nothing important, not having to rush to school or work or any place of consequence. Since we were the only people in Michigan I knew who ate grits, and we were the only black people in my neighborhood, I assumed that grits were...
read moreThe Power Of Honesty
I have a confession: I like soap operas. Not all, but a couple. I’ve been following their story lines for years. At the end of almost every weekday, I indulge myself by watching the day’s episode online. It seems like a perfect mindless wasy to unwind. I jokingly tell friends, “Whatever’s going on in my life, it will pale in comparison to the drama these characters invoke in their lives.” I know it’s TV. I know it’s not real. Yet the philosopher in me is fascinated by how years of television can operate off of...
read moreEvidence
I find comfort in those two tones that indicate that an episode of a “Law and Order” franchise is coming on. I don’t mind watching reruns because I’ve usually forgotten the outcome. I feel the same way about the “CSI” franchises and the television show “House.” This might be my personal television vice, but I suspect that it’s part of a wider fascination with evidence. That is, many people have become increasingly interested in various forms of evidence– through technology, skepticism, a need for healing or a quest...
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