Ezra's Essays

Month: January 2017

  • HALLEY’S COMET

    It seems to this ancient essayist that it is his duty occasionally to present his readers with a new word – a neologism, if you will. There are politicians and preachers and television commentators who use the term “revert back” to refer to some event or condition that has happened before and is happening again.…

  • BITS & PIECES: GROWING OLDER IS OFTEN NOT MUCH FUN

    A couple of weeks ago, my car was heading westward on a cold, bleak December afternoon when the sun was low in the sky. There was almost no way to block out the sun and still see to drive. The thought occurred to me that driving like this is no fun. And growing older is…

  • A CZECH FAIRY STORY

    In Prague, there lived a wicked Queen named From No To. Her lovely daughter Princess To Yes From lived in a forest outside Olomouc. In a cave in downtown Brno lived another princess, Princess Two One Third. The wicked queen sold contraceptives and 10,000 old condoms. Princess To Yes From had warm feelings toward Princess…

  • THE MCGREEVEY AFFAIR

    On Friday, Miss Chicka called my attention to an Internet report that James E. McGreevey, the Governor of New Jersey, had resigned and had announced he was a “gay American.” My retirement took place a long time ago, so what is being said around water coolers is now largely unknown to me. However, using my…

  • INFIDELS AND APOSTATES

    This short essay is undertaken with a sense of fear and trembling since it involves religion. When one person or one sect or one country calls another infidels and apostates, it would almost always be a slur. Generally speaking, my religious involvement is minimal because this ancient non-believer would seem to have no dog in…

  • IS BUSH WIRED?

    Before we consider whether Bush is radioactive, there is a matter of a misspelling of a Hebrew name in a previous essay about “piling on.” And so we start this essay with an apology called: Correctimus Errata Mistakenismus The title of this apology is in Latin, of course. An apology like this has a two-fold…

  • A CASE OF GROSS DISAPPOINTMENT

    On Sunday, May 2, 2004, the New York Times reported on its front page, “Kerry Struggling to Find a Theme, Democrats Fear.” John Kerry has been planning to run for the presidency for years. For virtually all of 2003 and through the early part of this year, he has been engaged in the Democratic primary…

  • ELEPHANTS AND MORE CONUNDRUMS

    Today is my birthday. Ordinarily, my birthday happens only once a year, so it has always been my intention to be as charitable as possible on this sanctified occasion. It is very difficult to be charitable this year as we were told last Sunday, August 1st, that the terrorists planned to annihilate those of us…

  • BITS & PIECES: EUPHEMISMS ABOUT DEATH

    A euphemism is a Greek word which allows for substitution of an agreeable word or inoffensive expression for one that may offer something unpleasant. Death is almost always an unpleasant subject, so it is no surprise that euphemisms will be used, in fact, they abound. For the act of dying or being dead, we may…

  • AN IRISH EYE MAY POSSIBLY SMILE AGAIN

    Last April 25, an essay was produced here called, “Fading to Gray.” It had to do with the possibility of approaching blindness which is not an inspirational subject by any means. In the interest of full disclosure, there may be a development which accounts for the title of this little story. So far, so good.…