dennis scharnberg

off the grid

At some point, the right to the pursuit of happiness was superseded by the right to happiness.

Tyrone Sommer, Mediocre Authority Figures.

words with wings

It is worth reflecting on G. E. Moore’s quip that “socialism means that one never has to grow up.”

Pamela Hrothgar, No Stone Unturned.

something like clarity

It was stemware, golden retrievers, and smiles.  That’s all Hattie could remember.

Rhonda Carstairs, A Bad Case of the Whim-Whams and Other Stories.

depth of field

On the road, rolling along in the moonlight, he had worked it all out.  And indeed it had seemed so clear.  “This is compelling!  This must be so!”  he had nearly shouted.  But the next morning, when he actually presented the proposal to old man Godwin, it all fell out as pitiful nonsense.

Quentin Drabb, Ebenezer’s Untold Tales.

rules of perspective

Nietzsche was too clever by half.  At times, by more than half.

Daniel Brasso, The Infinite Regress.

yes to everything

—Have these people no sense of irony or self-awareness?

—If that were your self, would you want to be aware of it?

Philip Cavendish, Tilly’s Treasury of Colloquial Bits.

more or less

We do not present Roderick’s plea in its entirety, in all its miserable detail.  Instead—mercifully—we undertake to summarize it for our readers.  We provide the gist only.

Miles Everett Mander, Hard-Won Tales.

lying in wait

We set off on a path to disaster, as I see it, with the development of agriculture.  The internet?  Instantaneous annihilation.  No more, no less.

Roger Hedgecook, Stolen and Sold for Parts.

dull duller dullest

“OK, life is hard,” admitted Collins.  “But isn’t it the degeneracy that makes it so very hard?”

Rubina Malcolm, The Black Box.

pinching the pearls

“They don’t care about their grandchildren,” said Greta about the boomers.  “Even though their words say they do.”

Ruth Ledgerwood, Death by Logic.