Must Be The One Whose Magic Touch Can Change Your Mind

The Walrus and the Carpenter had eaten all the oysters. Alice is confident about which character she prefers. Or is she? “I like the Walrus best,” said Alice, “because you see he was a little sorry for the poor oysters.” “He ate more than the Carpenter, though,” said Tweedledee. “You see he held his handkerchief […]

It Seemed About A Hundred Years Ago

Barlo loved that smell. Feeckoh Plus Bowel Treatment, with “attenuated donor E.coli”. He sprinkled a bit more of the green powder on his insect muesli. “Oh My, Yipes” he said aloud, poured on the distilled water, and caught some of the Neuro-News as it came in. It was HIS moment. Just nineteen, he had finally […]

Well Then, Give Me Your Pain

I’m not sure that anyone reads Lou Salome, or about Lou Salome, anymore. The peripatetic Russian psychoanalyst and feminist, born in 1861, was linked to famous men of her age, including Ree, Nietzsche, Wagner, Freud and Rilke, among others. In fact, there was a menage of sorts with the first two, the Poet and the […]

If It Were Not For Reality

When Gary Larson retired in 1995, the world became a poorer place. Everyone has their favourite cartoon. Mine is the look-alike Freudian psychiatrist carefully writing in his imposing notebook while a clearly disturbed patient on the couch talks and talks and talks. If you look carefully at the psychiatrist’s notebook, he has written “Just Plain […]

Wish You Were Here

How many times have you said it? Or written it down? Or, more likely, just thought it? It’s about people, places, the past, and you. You remember that time you went up to SinCity or Brissie with your mates, it might have been ’92, or ’82 or (gulp) some indeterminant time in the mid-sixties. You […]

You Know, Albert, Your Trouble Is That You Can’t Count

Resilience is making a comeback. It was always a trait, and it used to be a culture. Even 50 years ago, a person was encouraged to (metaphor advisory) bounce back, dust off, get their act together and snap out of it. It evolved out of authoritarian parenting, and resulted in children (and adults) ranking lower […]

We Need Few Words To Express The Essential

Polonius would have been right at home on Twitter. “Brevity is the soul of wit” he  advises King Claudius and his Queen Gertrude, following up with “…I will be brief. Your noble son is mad” Whoa. Your noble son is mad. He only needs 21 characters and spits in Twitter’s eye because he has said […]