is my calling. As well as a classic novel by Jack London. It was first published in 1903, and became the most read book of its time. The book made London rich and famous. I first read it in 1972, living in a cabin on the Poudre River. However, I likely read "To Build A … Continue reading The Call Of The Wild
Tag: Freud
Man’s Search For Meaning
is ongoing and is getting to be a very crowded space. However, this post is mostly concerned with Viktor Frankl's best selling book about the World War Two Holocaust. In addition Frankl's Logotherapy. My provider, a clinical Psychologist, suggested I read this book. Because well lately, things have been grim. What follows are my thoughts, … Continue reading Man’s Search For Meaning
George Bernard Shaw: “a Tolstoy with jokes”
It's true! Or a David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest 100 years 'prior to'. I was introduced to Shaw's play Pygmalion (1914) sixty some years ago. When my mother took me by the hand and made me accompany her to My Fair Lady, a modern version of the theater performance, staring Julie Andrews and Rex Harrison. I can't recall … Continue reading George Bernard Shaw: “a Tolstoy with jokes”
Father’s Day: five years later
Does it get any easier - the loss of the father? Short answer: no. Father's Day is a commercial ploy to make money. These days, what isn't? Nevertheless, the father is important. Because without him none of us would be here. My father was both a complicated and simple man. Simple because he was basically what a … Continue reading Father’s Day: five years later
Mental Health
Mental health, what is it? I define it here. Briefly, it's only one element of your overall health. There are five other components. In short, mental health is how your brain functions. Or, how is your brain at problem solving? Dr. Melfi (Tony Soprano's psychiatrist) in the scene above, says out loud to her own, … Continue reading Mental Health
PROZAC diary
Lauren Slater has been on Prozac since it burst on the scene in 1988. PROZAC diary (1998) is her book recounting the first ten years of the drug and how it affected and saved her life. That's not an exaggeration. She was twenty-five and suffering debilitating OCD (Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder). Slater had been hospitalized five times beginning … Continue reading PROZAC diary
Joe Biden’s Revenge
"Joe Biden's revenge" is a phrase I lifted from Hunter Thompson's 1985-88 collection of essays chronicled in the book Generation of Swine. It refers to Biden heading a committee to vet Judge Robert Bork for nomination to the US Supreme Court. Biden, at the time, had just been "disgraced" for "cribbing a few lines on some obscure … Continue reading Joe Biden’s Revenge
The Perfect Storm
The Perfect Storm was a phrase made popular by journalist Sebastian Junger, with his 1997 novel and subsequent major motion picture. The subtitle is: A True Story Of Men Against The Sea. I think the phrase applies now as then. You can read my review of the book here. The perfect storm describes a confluence of circumstance … Continue reading The Perfect Storm
Totem and Taboo, 2020
Totem and Taboo was a book written by Sigmund Freud and published in 1915, about human neurosis, health, behavior, and survival. This post is also about those interactions; but in regard to the current crisis concerning the COVID-19 global pandemic. I am suggesting that there is a three factor model that can explain who is at … Continue reading Totem and Taboo, 2020
The biopsycosocial effect
The biopsychosocial model/effect is more important/relevant than ever ... and yet is ignored. In essence, the BPSE attempts to explain why humans (as individuals and collectively) behave the way we do. The model says that there is an interaction between one's biology, psychology, and social environment that determines behavior. (Think Freud.) I agree. I am … Continue reading The biopsycosocial effect