Most of these notes I’ve put here because I had it in mind to link to them in an email to a friend or to just mention to someone that they can find out what I think about this or that by going to my website. I like the idea of letting folks choose to read/hear only as much as they want to.

Some, like the ones on Chris Hedges or Pix in email, are highly specific to a conversation I’ve had, and others, like the suicide-poem-song item, seem just to have caught me at a moment when I was near my computer... The NETWORK thing is here specifically so I can link to it from the boiler plate I attach (just at this moment) to my email.

Having someone to talk to in your old age is important for several reasons (which I jump right into above), only one of which is the need to express yourself on topics that interest you, but that is certainly one reason for writing these notes. Like Machiavelli, I imagine friends and students of years gone by as my patient, interested (and silent) interlocutors. This seems more than a harmless self-deception. Everyone tells us we need to keep our minds active as we age if we hope to push back at Mr. Alzheimer. And there is no doubt in my mind that, as English teachers constantly tell their students, writing about something is a great way to move your understanding beyond the usual superficial levels. Finally, another standard English teacher squib tells us that it helps a writer much, to keep her audience clearly in mind.