Visualize a small pile of sand. A pile of sand is distinguishable from several grains of sand. Remove one grain at a time. At what point does the pile of sand become a few grains of sand? As you remove each grain, the pile remains a pile. Until it isn’t.
Alien encounters are said to follow a recurrent theme: bright lights, anesthesia, probing. Other nightmares include showing up without clothes to an exam for which you are unprepared. Being pursued by soldiers intent on inflicting grievous bodily harm is another. I had a bad dream last night worse than any
As anyone with a Ph.D. in physics can inform you, “dark matter is composed of particles that do not absorb, reflect, or emit light.” I mean, duh. What else would dark matter be? Admittedly, “dark matter is material that cannot be seen directly.” But there’s lots of stuff in that category. Neither
In round numbers it has been 40 years since my first half marathon, 40 days since my last. At some point, the definition of “last“ shifts. “Last“ always means “most recent“ until it doesn’t. Then “last“ means “final,” there was never another one. Absent actually dying on the course—an unpleasant
This just in: there is pot at every school in this country. Even ten years ago, there were day schools and boarding schools that were free of kids who use marijuana. Not anymore. Every school in this country has students who consider “weed” part of a good breakfast. Every school.
My buddy Michael can beat you at chess. You know the hyperbolic expression, “he’s so good he can beat you blindfolded“? In Michael’s case, the playground taut is totally true. He doesn’t even need to look at the chess board to stomp you. Blindfolded chess is a thing. And Michael
How many loving parents would encourage their children to smoke cigarettes? How many sensible moms and dads would recommend that their kids take recreational opioids? What about student loans? Would any rational parent recommend that their students be graduated with more debt than they are likely to earn in a
One of my mom’s favorite jokes was about the guy searching under the streetlamp for his lost silver dollar. “Where did you lose the coin?” his friend inquires. “I’ll help you look.” “I dropped it over there in the woods.” “Then why are you looking here under the streetlamp?” “Because
Having heard on the radio that The Irreducible Needs of Children had just been published, I emphatically sped across town. My flouting of conventional driving mores will be understood: Stanley Greenspan and T. Berry Brazelton are among our country’s most profound thinkers on child development. I didn’t want to arrive
A scant 40-something years ago, my friend Nina had a wicked crush on Brad, a hunky senior, two years older than we. Having determined from the “I-like-him-do-you-think-he-likes-me?” grapevine that Brad might not be averse to spending a Saturday evening with Nina, but still too shy to ask out a B-O-Y,
Copyright © David Altshuler 2019 | Miami, FL • Charlotte, NC | (305) 978-8917 | david@davidaltshuler.com
