Creation Has No Understudy

"We are here to abet creation and to witness it, to notice each thing so each thing gets noticed. Together we notice not only each mountain shadow and each stone on the beach, but we notice each other's beautiful face and complex nature so that creation need not play to an empty house" (emphasis added) … Continue reading Creation Has No Understudy →

Dreaming Lee Israel

(On seeing a former lover for the first time in years) "I thought I told you to wait in the car." Tallulah Bankhead Dreaming Lee Israel I watched the terrific movie Can You Ever Forgive Me? starring the terrific Melissa McCarthy with my sister. The character is a nasty drunk who is a writer. It … Continue reading Dreaming Lee Israel →

The Torture of Writing

"I hate writing. I love having written." Dorothy Parker The Torture of Writing Dorothy Parker said that she couldn't write five words without changing seven. Writing as a process is a tough one because you want to get your message out there but you have to find the right words. Lord have mercy, there are … Continue reading The Torture of Writing →

The Facts of Aging

"If someone can watch an entire season of a TV series in one day, doesn't that show an incredible attention span?" Kevin Spacey The Facts of Aging I'm getting old. There was a bit of a panic or anxiety that I'm loaded with a ton of information that won't be passed along. Maybe I should … Continue reading The Facts of Aging →

Hayride

Hayride. Grandparents’ farm. Kansas. Fall. Hot? Maybe still, during the heat of day but cool, crisp-as-astringent this night. Smell of hay. Tractor, not horse, pulling. Going from farm to farm to farm. P/u kids. Yes, the fall air is sharp. A blanket welcome. Stars are huge all over the sky. City life in Wichita never … Continue reading Hayride →

The Arrogance of A Little Knowledge – My God Is Too Small.

(Sometimes we here at The Profound Bartender share some material that is not original, but that we think folks might find interesting or useful. This is an essay I wrote from the Profound Living site. I hope you find it thought provoking and worth a scan.) The Arrogance of a Little Knowledge

I Voted

"Nobody will ever deprive the American people of the right to vote except the American people themselves and the only way they could do this is by not voting." Franklin D. Roosevelt I Voted Like a good senior citizen, I voted early. Civic duty and all that. It felt good. Mess with health care and … Continue reading I Voted →

The College Blues

There's no excuse for the young people not knowing who the heroes and heroines are or were. Nina Simone The College Blues Here at the Profound Bartender, we know the value of music. It keeps the toes tapping and the glasses clinking. It is hard to listen to music now. Harder than ever before. One … Continue reading The College Blues →

Barbarella 1968

"The important thing in writing is the capacity to astonish. Not shock - shock is a worn-out word - but astonish." Terry Southern Barbarella 1968 Aware of this movie but never having seen it, lets take a chance now that it is on cable for free. I was delighted in many ways to see this … Continue reading Barbarella 1968 →

The Unfinished Man

"A young lady is a female child who has just done something dreadful." Judith Martin (Miss Manners) The Unfinished Man Being male, I would never have attended a Finishing School. One guesses that men must be impossibly boorish by nature and have no need to learn manners. The Finishing Schools were popular from the mid-1800s … Continue reading The Unfinished Man →