Author Archives: JRL

Change My Mind

What do you think it really takes to convince someone about anything? I don’t mean to the level where they’re nodding their head, flashing a smile, or clinking their drink to yours in a display of temporary solidarity. I mean … Continue reading

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White Hat Testing

Too many people only seem to do good deeds, or even want to be caught doing them, if there’s a reward in it: remuneration, recognition, or at least reputation. Even saints want to get in good with their patron (or patrons, male or female, mortal or divine, immanent or imminent, true north or morally ambivalent). And that’s good, in some respects, because it means of all the good deeds that need doing, at least some of them may get done. Because there’s always somebody promising something to those who believe in something enough to do something stupid about it. Continue reading

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Stop Feeding the Wrong Wolf

You want to start a revolution?
It’s like when you start to covet:
begin with the things you can see,
the wrongs you find within your reach.
Stop feeding the wrong wolf. Continue reading

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Slow and Steady: ballade

If you would change the world, you must
believe it can be done, of course,
and with your entire being, trust
that it needs changing. Do not force
your will upon a stubborn horse;
instead, with gentle words and grace
seek out resistance at its source:
for each small thing, a time and place. Continue reading

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The World’s a Mess: balada

The world’s a mess, some folks will say –
at least, it often seems that way,
the lines are blurred and hard to see
sometimes, and we may disagree
on what we should and ought to do,
what’s plainly false, and mostly true.
Oh, let us chart the proper course;
First put the cart behind the horse. Continue reading

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The World’s Not Like That: awdl gywydd

If the earth were made of cheese,
and the seas made just of ink,
soda crackers would be gold,
traded for things cold to drink.
But the world is not like that,
or else the rats would run it;
furthermore, it seems to me
a fantasy to dream it. Continue reading

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Expecting Different Results

Krishnamurti once said that it was no great achievement to appear sane and well-adjusted in an insane world. In these interesting times, that’s an idea that resonates with me on several levels. First of all, it calls into question what … Continue reading

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