I remember wrestling with that age old conundrum called the Generation Gap when I was a teenager: we complained that our parents never understood us. I also recalled growing up in a developing country where we looked upon visitors from western countries with awe, unable to figure out how easy it was for them to […]
“So, if you quit writing fiction, why are you releasing another novel?” my rational self asks me. “For God’s Sake, man!” this know-it-all-self erupts in more self-righteousness, “the world is in lockdown, people have no money for food, they are too scared to go out to GET food, let alone attend a book launch or
Releasing a Book During a Pandemic Read More »
I dug up my collection of writing since the end of February 2020 and it amounts to one short story, a sketch for a novel that will probably never get written, a few blog articles like this one, and half a dozen book reviews. Pathetic. Was I stuck in the dreaded “writer’s block,” or had
Why I Stopped Writing Fiction Read More »
From my cozy writing perch at the cottage window overlooking the deck, I look out upon the gently rolling waters of Lake Kashagawigamog, protected by its robust treeline comprised of maples, birch, pine, cedar, hemlock and spruce , and I wonder, “Wasn’t this the same as when I came here last October? The air is
Something is rotten in the state of … Read More »
I’m trying to chronicle how a typical day in these Covid Times goes by. Let’s see, I wake up late, which is around 7.30 a.m., and play with Facebook. Amuse myself with jokes, memes, insults and the spreading gloom. Finally I rise around 9.00 a.m. when my body is starting to stiffen as exercise has
A Day in Our Pandemic Life Read More »
Since we shut down our economy over a month ago, I’ve been watching each day go by with a sense of bewilderment and dismay. My earlier hope for a better world is now held hostage by a sense of being useless, unable to determine what comes next. Is this what residing in a nursing home
Pandemic Ponderings Read More »
I have watched the last three weeks unfold with a sense of an ending and a suspicion of a new beginning. It started when I visited my broker in early March, and was presented with this rosy picture of my retirement plan which I had hoped to activate over the next couple of years. Apparently,
The End of the Empire of Greed Read More »
The train on this stretch from Vienna was modest compared to the other, longer ride from Berlin to Vienna: three-to-a-row seating in first class instead of two-to-a-row, no restaurant service and no WiFi. We also got off at the wrong station in suburban Budapest and realized that this was still a Soviet-era country trying hard
Budapest – straddling the Danube Read More »
A small city in what is now a small country (modern Austria’s population is 9M) which possesses the legacy of an empire many times its size with a population of over 70M oppressing and oppressed souls. Vienna is really a block of former palaces, now converted into museums, apartments, offices and concert halls, with public
Vienna – a city of palaces Read More »
I’d always wanted to visit Berlin, Vienna and Budapest. I had many invitations, and for one or more reasons they never panned out. This time, I just went, for time does not stand still and age creeps up insidiously. I’ll cover Berlin in this article, and the other two cities in articles to follow. Berlin,
Berlin – a tortured past and a creative future on display Read More »