Tag Archives: empathy

A Peace of Picasso

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guernica

My first glimpse into the horrors of war did not come until after college. On a surf trip to the Basque Country of Spain, I asked a local friend what I should do since the waves were flat. He said I should go visit Guernica.

“Why would I go there?” I asked.

“It’s the city depicted in Picasso’s painting,” he said raising both his hands high in the air.

I had no idea what he was talking about. I never took art history at UC Santa Barbara. To tell the truth, all I really cared about as an undergrad was getting “some tasty waves and a cool buzz.” Continue reading →

Fix Everything in One Easy Step

Have you ever fixed something, but had no idea how you fixed it? We have this clock radio and the clock part went dark. Everything else worked, but we could not see the time at night. I pushed every button on that damn clock, but nothing could make the light work.

Bender: I take shop. You must be a f#*kin’ idiot!
Brian: I’m a f#*kin’ idiot because I can’t make a lamp?
Bender: No, you’re a genius because you can’t make a lamp.
Brian: What do you know about Trigonometry?
Bender: I could care less about Trigonometry.
Brian: Bender, did you know without Trigonometry there’d be no engineering?
Bender: Without lamps, there’d be no light. Continue reading →

The Small Penis Guru: Big Gifts in a Small Package

After 47 years of in the field research, I can honestly say that I have the smallest adult penis I have ever seen.

woman with magnifying glass

I will not bore you with the thousands of hours scanning locker rooms, gauging public showers, and peaking over urinal partitions. Two examples should suffice. Continue reading →

Feeling My Way to Peace

“To me, there are three things we all should do every day. We should do this every day of our lives. Number one is laugh. You should laugh every day. Number two is think. You should spend some time in thought. And number three is, you should have your emotions moved to tears…”–Jimmy Valvano

Last week, I took my wife to see Les Miserable, and Anne Hathaway  brought me to tears. (Quick review: Hathaway=Oscar; Jackman and Crowe sounded off key at times, and I’m tone deaf; Tom Hooper revolutionized filmmaking with his skin-tight close-ups) By the end of the film, however, my wife was sobbing, and I was just enjoying the music.anne hathaway

This is not the first time this had happened to me. In college, I took my girlfriend to see Platoon and she almost had to be removed from the theater because she was crying inconsolably during the My Lai-like massacre scene. My response, like everyone else in the theater, was “calm down; it’s just a movie.” Continue reading →

A Means to Survive: A Justification for Blogging

I love my wife to death. She is part of an inner circle club that has only ever had two members: me and her. She loves and accepts me with all my flaws, inadequacies, and mistakes. She is quite literally a part of me.0062

Maybe it is because of the tragic events that occurred earlier this month. Maybe it is because I study Buddhism (Bad Buddhist joke: Why did the Buddhist doctor get fired? Because he put down “birth” every time he had to answer “Cause of Death.”). Maybe it is because I am trying to be more empathetic with those who are grieving, but I have been thinking about what it would be like to lose the most significant bond I have made.

What would I do? Who would I turn to? How would I survive? Continue reading →

We Can Make a Difference–Right Here, Right Now

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“Peace is not something you wish for, it something you make, something you do, something you are, something you give away.”–Robert Fulghum

In an effort to actively do something to create more peace in the world in 2013, I am dedicating a number of my posts specifically to peace. I invite you to join me. We can call ourselves “Bloggers for Peace.” Everyone is invited to join. The requirements are simple and flexible.

  • Devote at least one post a month to/for/about peace. If you write poems or fiction, write a piece about peace. If you take photos, post a photo or gallery that reflects, symbolizes, defines, or creates peace. If you write rants, rant at something that disturbs the peace or rant about something that promotes peace. If you are into zen, post a blank white page. If you are an artist…you get the idea. Feel free to be creative. Peace has no boundaries. There are no mistakes. We have no enemies. Continue reading →

Spare the Child

He popped into our lives like a bee sting on the foot while running barefoot in the park: sudden, unexpected, and painful.

His name was Richard, but Mum said to call him “Dad.”

I was only 5 at the time.

My first memories of him consist of me yelling, “You’re not me Dad,” over and over. Maybe this defiance started the beatings; I don’t remember. Continue reading →

World Peace, Marital Bliss, and Blogging Fame–Not necessarily in that order

Eryn Vorn / Foter / CC BY

“Through compassion, through love, we can solve many problems, we can have true happiness, real disarmament.”–Dalai Lama

I wish I were a superhero who could step into the body and mind of others and force others to step into someone else’s body and mind.

I could have gotten my power after being bitten by a radioactive Tibetan Lama.

You could call me Empathico.

I would use my power for world peace, marital bliss, and blogging fame. Continue reading →