seanessay.com “…Sir, when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life…” Samual Johnson January, they say, is when people make a resolution to travel. If so, dear reader, I suggest London. I can’t offer a reasonable bird’s eye view as a travel agent can, but I may offer a few snapshots from […]
Relating Across the Rainbow of Time
seanessay.com Is there a felt need to be able to talk across time, to people of other generations? Maybe not, because maybe people think it’s so hopeless they suppress any spark of hope. “I don’t care to talk to young punks.” Like how, before women’s liberation gave hope, we suppressed sparks of outrage at sexism. […]
Tourist Breaks the Ice to Talk to Strangers
seanessay.com When traveling, some folks despair, wondering how to “break the ice” with strangers: One tourist said he just couldn’t engage with locals, “not even in bars and cafes.” A couple, planning to travel to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary, feared they wouldn’t speak with a single soul. To that couple I offered specific advice, […]
Bella Baxter As a Victorian Man From Mars
seanessay.com Having already seen the show in London, I just had to gleefully stride into the lobby of Calgary’s arthouse cinema, The Plaza, and proclaim at the counter, “One adult for Bella Baxter!” They knew I meant the controversial movie Poor Things, which several female journalists at a certain British well known progressive newspaper had […]
Secrets Tourists Don’t Tell about London
seanessay.com (Dateline London) Everybody likes London—I’ve been here a half dozen times. I tell people I stay in Central London, as “90 per cent of the tourist attractions” are there: Museums and Galleries, gardens and theatres, monuments, the science place and the zoo… And of course the shopping, including the world famous Harrods department store: […]
Contemplating the Death Penalty after Leaving the National Gallery
Visiting London, I am under the spell of great art, while back in God’s own country a mother’s son is on death row… We normally regard the issue of having a legal death penalty as a binary: Yes or No. But long ago I challenged that binary: Maybe our society could protect itself by giving […]