Author Archives: johnmood

John gets to Maverick’s

Posted on April 15, 2017 by johnmood

March 9, 2005 I flew to San Jose & drove a rented car to Maverick’s today (Wednesday, actually, now, yesterday) & was overwhelmed. Mav’s sent me an email 9:30 p.m. Tuesday night saying the buoys were the highest in 5 … Continue reading →

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The last Monday

Posted on March 10, 2017 by johnmood

Thinking about that last Monday evening, I remembered that I told John that I was going to teach my friend’s literature class the next day on Tuesday, that I wouldn’t be gone long, and that I would be back as … Continue reading →

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Rilke & Meteors

Posted on February 16, 2013 by johnmood

The cosmos is undoubtedly loving it!  Just before an asteroid comes closer to Earth than any yet known, the largest meteor in 105 years hits the Earth.  & the last one, in 1908, also hit eastern Russia.  Go figure!  I … Continue reading →

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Rilke on Music

Posted on February 10, 2013 by johnmood

For a long time, Rilke enjoyed music somewhat but at the same time tended to be suspicious of it because of the emotions it arouses.  He questioned emotions which weren’t directed to some specific phenomenon, natural or human.  But then, … Continue reading →

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Rilke on Murder

Posted on January 27, 2013 by johnmood

“Murderers are easy to understand,” bluntly says the German-language poet Rainer Maria Rilke in his 4th Elegy.  Then why do we spend so much time on them?  When another awful one happens, the news media go berserk & everyone spends … Continue reading →

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Xmas 2012 Atmospheric Display & Rilke

Posted on January 26, 2013 by johnmood

Most evenings, my wife Stephanie and I periodically go outside in front of our house in Ocean Beach, San Diego, (facing south) 3⁄4 mile from the ocean and look around, especially at the heavens. We like to see what, if … Continue reading →

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“Temple Grandin” (2010)

Posted on January 26, 2013 by johnmood

I don’t keep up.  A recent clear indication of this is that I’d never heard of Temple Grandin, autistic 65-year-old & revolutionary Ph.D. scientist in the gentle care of domestic animals, until I saw the movie of that name a … Continue reading →

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“Valley Girl” (1983)

Posted on January 26, 2013 by johnmood

I saw this movie, one of my all-time faves, again the other night on TV.  It’s one of those teenage romance movies which fill the theaters in the summers when all the kids are out of school  But unlike most, … Continue reading →

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Rilke & Chamovitz on Plants

Posted on January 26, 2013 by johnmood

A remarkable new book on plants has appeared.  Entitled What a Plant Knows:  A Field Guide to the Senses (NY: Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 2012), it is by Daniel Chamovitz, a leading research botanist.  His approach is clever.  He describes at … Continue reading →

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