Author Archives: Tim Bryant

Today is a great time to pause and reflect on nonviolent protest and to look at the history of the idea of nonviolence. Years ago someone told me that Martin Luther King Jr. was influenced by Gandhi, and Gandhi was in turn influenced by Leo Tolstoy. Most likely that person was Jack McGuire, since heContinue reading “MLK Day, 2023:”

Some friends have been discussing how much they hated dance lessons in grade school or high school, but I liked some of the lessons – well, square dancing – and I used the same moves years later in contra dancing (New England Squares). Ballroom dancing was different – I couldn’t figure it out till yearsContinue reading “Joe Tex and Me”

I heard this piece of music last night, and it immediately flashed me to a really hip cat who had a radio talk show in New York City. The tune was his theme song. He was an older fellow with no apparent health issues. I discovered the gentleman’s name just now – Armand DiMele. HisContinue reading “A memory trick”

Tough question. Loneliness makes me feel incomplete – certainly drives me. Hey, that was a good question. What wards off evil? For one, cultivating deep friendships. Another is engaging in something in the void, or something right at hand. https://youtu.be/FdKeO3af364?list=OLAK5uy_kqARbIUPEfUycXlgtb0gQstYP7LWwHqOc

January 1, 2023 10:30 AM This following is based on the findings of Frank Martela, University Lecturer at Aalto University, Finland. This is just my little riff on his core ideas. 1. Look not to yourself for comfort, but rather help others in some way. An example is taking care of your kids, which takesContinue reading “How to find happiness, or maybe make the grief bearable”

I wrote this after listening to Marty Robbins sing “The Big Iron” from an album of cowboy tunes: Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs. Here’s the link: https://youtu.be/zzICMIu5zFY The Big Iron is, of course, a reference to the gun on Marty’s hip but also to the guy’s manhood, so to speak. And they were all roughContinue reading “American Legion Rodeo Bus Trip”

I was out at Ponca State Park in Nebraska some years ago, camping on a really cold night. It was early spring and early for camping too, but I was living life on the edge and whatnot, wanted to get out of town, so there I was. I positioned my small tent in a slightContinue reading “The Heaviest Cat That Ever Could Be”

Bloomington IL 61701February 23, 2020 Ambient ambiance: In the 50s and real sunny right in the virtual middle of the winter I was walking up the nearest moraine right through the nearby alley when I spotted a feller in a long coat doing something or other – smokin’, I reckon – and also talkin’ toContinue reading “Don’t know what”

Friday, April 22, 2022 I went out to Sugar Grove this afternoon and while I didn’t spend too much time out there, I got into the simple qualitative experience of it: I take great delight in appreciating the holy temple out there (Stubblefield Woods), and I could smell the smell of spring – I reallyContinue reading “The simple qualitative experience of it”

The question: Why is it awkward when another man walks into a public bathroom while you’re pooping? (Posed by someone on Quora online) That isn’t so awkward: everybody shits – you’re just another guy shitting. What’s awkward is having women come in while you’re shitting. Just such a scene happened to me when I wasContinue reading “Another Adventure in Religion”