A speculative mind

  When I was in school, I think I liked the idea of reading, more than actual reading. There were a number of books I read because I wanted to impress myself that I had read them. I read Frankenstein, Catch-22, The Lord of the Rings , and others. I am not a fast reader. I can’t zip through a book like some people, but I tried to with these books. The result was that I did not get much out of them (other than the naughty bits in Catch-22 ). I checked them off my list, impressed with myself. But what were they about? It wasn’t until I went to college and met my friend Vern, who instilled in me a love for reading, that my attitude changed. He introduced me to authors I had never read: Ursula K. LeGuin, Robert Heinlein, Walter M. Miller, James P. Hogan, and John Varley. His enthusiasm was infectious, and I found myself reading and actually enjoying the books. These books led me to new authors in the science fiction and fantasy realm.   Eventually I reread some of those earlier ...

  Despite both of us having science backgrounds, my wife and I share a leaning toward the artistic, though we may express it in different ways. In her life, my wife has been a painter, a poet, a singer, an actor, and a fiction writer. Not to mention a mother. I don’t remember what precipitated this event, but my wife, my son, and I were at home in the front room. My wife was responding to something my son said. She said, “remember, you get half your brains from me. If it wasn’t for me, you’d be a complete idiot.” To which my son started howling with laughter and said to me,” I think you have just been insulted.” Sometimes I feel like Rodney Dangerfield. I get no respect. But that is not an uncommon state of affairs for fatherhood. When my son was going to middle school and high school, my wife was always the one to go in with him to get him registered for classes. One time she was unable to go and I had to be the one to get him registered. “Ugh,” he said. “why can’t Mama do i...