seanessay.com The ancient Chinese told a tale of a middle aged man who was very loyal to his aged parents. He played on the floor around them, like an infant, to shelter them from the knowledge they were old. I sheltered Mom, and that was wrong. During her parenting years, me and my five siblings […]
Comic strips Add to Quality of Life
seanessay.com Sometimes, I read comics while musing on the roads not taken “See you in the funny papers:” Did your loved ones say goodby that way? My brother often did. People who read the funny pages of modern newspapers don’t know what they’re missing. The four-panel newspaper comics of my day were funnier because they […]
Abuse in the Home and Community
seanessay.com “May you live all the days of your life.” Jonathan Swift, rationalist poet: (1667-1745) Physical and mental abuse, from my parents and four brothers, declined as I grew bigger. Shortly after I moved away as a teenager, and was trying to process my life, I reasoned: If I have my arms and legs chopped […]
Phonics and Whole Word, Smashed by Human Nature
seanessay.com There’s anger in New York City over the state of children’s reading ability. Recently a retired New York English professor has been bitter about the school board, under “Calkins,” teaching “whole word.” He blogged that “evidence-based” science would presumably support, instead, teaching by using phonics, as in having children read by sounding out the […]
Enlightenment in Old Age
seanessay.com They say Buddhists get their enlightenment very abruptly. I’d like that too, but for me things take a while. I’m now over Greenland thinking lofty thoughts. This morning in London I was in the Bloomsbury district, of bookstores and writers, enjoying the More Delish cafe, chatting with the owner. In my American midwest accent—where […]
At Home Outside the Home
seanessay.com A newsletter headline: (after folks painted a mural on a cul-de-sac) Community is about doing something together that makes belonging matter. Head Office Highlights, September 2023 Last week, regarding voting, I mentioned a man from a patriarchal planet coercing his wife’s vote. This week I met an acquaintance who said his little woman doesn’t […]