December 2, 2019 Food for Thought As we move into the holidays, a season increasingly known for the food with which we mark it, I wish to give (for it is the season of giving) you some food for thought and have you think about, well, food.  Not so much about the food itself, but our relationship with food. I am not intimating that I wish to be intimate with a cheese danish (Should that be capitalized?  It is named for a country and coincidently does contain cheese.  This point will be important; you’ll see.) but more as we categorize food as a nomenclature.  I will show you what I mean ..read more

August 18, 2019 I’ll Be Gentle I wish to muse (I mean, that is what I do; I randomly muse: It is in the title you may remember.)  on one of what I see as the stranger aspects of language, especially English, and that is the tendency to brush over anything that might be delicate, embarrassing, unpleasant, unliked, or simply not fun to discuss.  This habit probably dates back to the middle to late Pleistocene and the probable development of human language (I really can’t comment as to whether or not other species do this with their languages.  How many species actually have a language.  I ..read more

August 4, 2019 A Hole Lot of Shaken Going’ On Please recall that I have spoken with you in the past about my superpower, that being the ability to lose almost anything.  Well, like many with said superpowers ( I am referring to extraordinary abilities, not the power to control the world through nuclear domination, though I do see how one might get the two confused. Amazing in English how many words and phrases can be taken in more than one way. )  Well, like many of the Marvels of the comic world (see what I did there?), my superpowers may have an extraterrestrial or, more precisely, an ..read more

July 30, 2019 No Service Available I must begin by saying sorry that I am publishing a day or two late, but I had an out-of-town commitment, which is not to say that I had been committed out of town.  No, that would imply a behavioral diagnosis, not an invitation, though I do guess that one could be invited to be committed, especially if one were committed to getting help, but, granted, that would take great commitment (Rather circular, isn’t it, this language of ours….) But, once again I am digressing from the point.  What is the point?  Well, allow me to get there.  Today, I am sorry t ..read more

July 21, 2019 Sounding Off Some may have noticed that the mountain man (That is me. Seriously, I have no idea why I have taken to referring to myself in the third person.) has been noticeably absent of late, but elements of life have been keeping the old bugger occupied.  Hopefully he is back on track and ready to take up the reigns and steer this ship over the mountain and ride off into the sunset.  (Try to beat that for mixing metaphors; bet you can’t, so put that feather in your cap and smoke it.)  A series of related and unrelated events have occurred over the last few weeks (That is ..read more

June 30, 2019 PEN IS EMPTY Delicate eyes and sensibilities please beware, for now we venture into the world of topics best described in dark corners and with our behavioral and medical professionals, or perhaps designated as PG-13, maybe chance even as MA-14 (Oh, grow up and stop being so offended by everything.) Today I am going to deviate from the norm to discuss a certain recurring deviation from the norm that in essence is becoming all to often the norm, and a deviation that has me presently growing increasingly concerned about the medical, and dare I say mental health of the modern ..read more

June 23, 2019 The Lost City of El Dorado and Other Geographic Anomalies   Sometime in the sixteenth century, Spanish explorer Hernán Cortés (I think it was Cortés; it was one of those Spanish explores with the goofy-looking pointed helmets and armor, which I seriously doubt they wore around in the South American equatorial heat) set out to find the lost city of El Dorado.  To the best of my knowledge, neither he nor any of the other explorers did. (According to Voltaire, Candide did, but I suspect that may be fiction.)  But, to be honest, I don’t really care who didn’t find it.  I’m more ..read more

June 17, 2019 When All Is Lost I must admit that a few weeks ago I stated that I would be posting twice a week.  That, I must admit, has turned out to be over optimistic in the extreme, so I am going to limit myself to just one post per week, at least for the present.  I hope not to upset either of you reading my blog.  Also, please excuse the lateness of this post.  Yesterday was father’s day, and as I am an excellent father and grandfather, beloved by all, (or, I am an obligatory burden, take your pick) I was rather occupied yesterday.  Again, please forgive (I’d do it for you.) Now, t ..read more

June 9, 2019 A Dream De-furred or (The Hair of the Dog) When I first walked into the house where I currently sit, typing away on a computer that was undreamed of at the time (okay, it may have been dreamed of, but it had not yet been constructed; that is my point.  It was a long time ago.) little did I dream (there is that dream imagery again.  Pretty cool, huh) that this seemingly behemoth structure would someday become my home (emphasis on the word “home” here); I believed there was no way that I, a single parent trying to raise two young sons, one in seventh grade and in fifth, could ..read more

June 2, 2019 Welcome to The Fairly Random Musings of a Bohemian Mountain Man.  Because of a certain terrible habit I have developed over the years of requiring thing such as food, shelter, and clothing to provide protection from the elements (Why do we refer to weather as “the elements?  As far as I can tell, weather is made up mostly of water, hydrogen and oxygen, and nitrogen and carbon dioxide.  That really does not constitute as “the elements.” Kevlar can protect from lead.  Lead too is an element, and we really should try to be protected from it, but I am just rambling now.) I will be ..read more