Rear Window, Vertigo, and the battle for reality

Disclaimer and spoiler alert: Both of the movies which I am about to discuss are far too complex to be reduced to one theme. Books can and have been written to tease out all the layers in Hitchcock’s filmography, this little essay is a focused attempt to think about...

A Commonplace Book

What is a commonplace book? It’s an ancient tradition dating back to the Greek and Roman philosophers to keep a running record of thoughts and useful information. “a collection without order, drawn from many papers, which I have copied here, hoping to...

Wayne Alderson: the transformative power of respect

The battle in the workplace was fought by men and women who desperately wanted to be treated with value. This was key to settling the strike, and became a key to everything I have done since. I am not an arbitrator, a mediator, or a negotiator. I am a peacemaker.Wayne...

The Simple Pleasure of Peanuts

So, I am a little late to the party, but last week a major cultural phenomenon commemorated its 70th anniversary. It was on October 2, 1950 that the first ever Peanuts comic strip by Charles Schultz was published in a newspaper. Schultz’s comic has become one of...

A Walk in the Woods

The American essayist Hal Borland once wrote “If you would know strength and patience, welcome the company of trees.” Trees grow from tiny shoots into saplings, and then into mighty trees as old or older than the oldest humans. But even through all the...