The Corner Booth

A writer carries a pen. That is the way it is. For as long as I recall, that's how it has been. Moments have appeared, of course, where that vow failed. Where I did not have a pen to write with. Where the pen was in my hand, but it didn't write. Moments in history are marked by the written word. Journalists know and live this truth*.... ( yes, truth matters. Facts matter. Alternate versions of both do not **.) ... [ the fact that we have to emphasize this in 2020-21 is ridiculous, but the reality exists ]. I carry a pen. Because I'm a writer. Because the written word matters. Because facts and details matter. Context is everything. Painting a picture with my words is what I've done, professionally and personally, for so long. Words have painted a picture, opened a portal into the heart and mind. I've read what others have written with their own pens, even if those pens aren't physical but mental and those words have materialized from digital tools. The idea of w...

  Human beings look to the stars. We always have, always will. That becomes clear even more in a year like 2020, when the world is caught up in a pandemic that's reached global health crisis levels. We have what's dubbed "the great conjunction" of 2020 , when Jupiter and Saturn are closer than they usually are and can be seen by the human eye. While these large planets align and near each other every 20 years, they aren't often this close and even less often are they able to be viewed by the naked human eye. Sure, this happens every 20 years to some extent. But before 2020, the last time the two planets were this close was in 1623... and even then, that alignment wasn't visible to the human eye. It was way back in 1226 the last time this happened and could actually be seen. Think about that for a moment... almost 800 years. That's simply amazing. Think back eight centuries ago, to March 4, 1226. This was during the  High Middle Ages  period, about a decade...