Randy | November 7, 2012
Earlier this year, on the subject of The Book of Five Rings – The Definitive Interpretation of Musashi’s Classic Book by Stephen F. Kaufman, I wrote – Musashi was perhaps the greatest swordsman who ever lived, and yet it would be a mistake to approach the Book of Five Rings as a guide to learning […]
Randy | November 7, 2012
In addition to the immortal maxim that you must never knowingly sleep with anyone crazier than you are, there’s this to consider. Bed Time By LFM Neither a fight nor a conscience belong in your bed. Ask forgiveness instead of permissions. Eschew deep discussions too near to lights out, And avoid all nocturnal admissions.
Randy | November 1, 2012
As part of my professional life, I spent 17 years operating and working in the emergency services dispatch centre in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. I designed it, set it up, wrote the policies and procedures manual, personally selected and trained every person who ever worked there, and by the time I was finally able to get […]
Randy | October 30, 2012
In my life I have spent countless hours alone in what many would refer to as “wilderness”; or “lonely” places. Some people are horrified, and those are the people who have never learned the difference between being lonely and being alone. Likewise, when someone hears that I just came back from a reclusive week in […]
Randy | October 28, 2012
“Russian Roulette is not the same without a gun, And baby when it’s love if it’s not rough it isn’t fun …” ~ Lady Gaga, Poker Face The sudden upswing in popularity of such books as Fifty Shades of Grey is at once unsurprising and inexplicable to me. Unsurprising because the dark side of desire […]
Randy | October 26, 2012
If you’ve ever considered suicide, or ever knew someone who has done it, know that this is not to trivialize. I have a lot more to say on this subject, but this is not the day. Suicide By LFM It’s said that one who kills himself Just takes the coward’s way. I’ll grant this Truth […]
Randy | October 22, 2012
This poem came to me as Mrs. LFM and I were walking on a gravel beach deep within the presently deserted wilderness wonderland that is Kejimkujik National Park. To quote one of my earlier articles, “The Park, locally referred to simply as ‘Keji’, encompasses a vast area that has been inhabited by the Mi’kmaq People […]
Randy | October 20, 2012
It’s with thanks to the ever vigilant Jim Keating that I’m bringing you this today. I always start every year of Dark Sentiments with a surplus of material, and every year he throws me curves that are too good to miss. This is one of them. Born in Bogota, Columbia, raised in Miami Beach, Florida, […]
Randy | October 18, 2012
Last year’s Dark Sentiments profiled the work of Juan Cabana, and described him then as, “… a taxidermist of a different sort, who plies his trade mounting the remains of sea creatures that never were.” The world is too full of artists working in the dark and bizarre realm of creativity for me not to […]
Randy | October 17, 2012
Lately abbreviated to a trendy initialism – TEOTWAWKI – “The end of the world as we know it” is generally understood to be an extremely undesirable situation bringing about a catastrophically negative change in living conditions with no hope of ever getting back to the way things were. Events that would precipitate this, as well […]