bio – Page 62 – Countries Beginning with I

Following the War

I’ve read that many Americans, and probably others, are obsessively watching the war coverage on television – and that coverage is closer, more immediate, and probably scarier than we’ve ever seen before. I’m avoiding the television. I get plenty upset just thinking about it all; I have a vivid imagination and don’t need supplemental images.… Continue reading Following the War

News Coverage of the Second Iraq War

I find the news coverage of this war emotionally confusing, when contrasted with my memories. When we returned to the US in 1972, I had my first exposure to television news. At the time, Walter Cronkite closed every evening’s newscast with a list of American and Vietnamese (north and south) casualties – which ran to… Continue reading News Coverage of the Second Iraq War

Here We Go Again: The Beginning of the Second Iraq War

Whatever one’s feelings about the rightness or otherwise of it, war is never a comfortable time. This one in particular is cause for nervousness among Americans overseas. I’ve just received email from the US Embassy in Rome advising “American citizens in Italy to take prudent steps to ensure their personal safety in the coming days.… Continue reading Here We Go Again: The Beginning of the Second Iraq War

Fiction: Ivaldi

I began Ivaldi during my undergraduate years at the University of Texas at Austin. Douglass Parker, a professor of Classics, taught a course in Parageography – the geography of fantasy worlds. The reading list ranged from The Odyssey to Tolkein, and I remember vividly the day Dr. Parker came bounding into class, waving a book… Continue reading Fiction: Ivaldi

Largo al Factotum… Why People Think I Know Opera

Those of you who know me from Adaptec/Roxio days probably remember the tag line appended to my every email and newsletter: “Largo al Factotum del CD-R.” It’s a pun on a line from Figaro’s song in the opera in “The Barber of Seville.” The original phrase is “Largo al factotum della citta’” (“Make way for… Continue reading Largo al Factotum… Why People Think I Know Opera