SPINELESS SAMURAI

SPINELESS SAMURAI

BY KIERAN LINDSEY, PhD When the annual cicadas emerge each summer their tymbals vibrate at arboreal drumming circles all over town.  The beats bounce and reverberate against hard city surfaces; during a crescendo, I swear I can feel the buildings and sidewalks pulsing...
TANGLED UP IN BLUE

TANGLED UP IN BLUE

BY KIERAN LINDSEY, PhD Happiness is a shy little bird. Hiding from sight in life’s nooks and crannies, impossible to find if you look but then it darts out and lands on your shoulder just when you least expect it. It sidles up beside you like a pickpocket on a crowded...
TREEHUGGERS

TREEHUGGERS

BY KIERAN LINDSEY, PhD I’ve been called a treehugger more than once in my life, and while I know the comments weren’t intended as such, I always take them as compliments. As a sobriquet it’s both true and false: true, because I do spontaneously hug exceptionally...
WINGSUIT

WINGSUIT

BY KIERAN LINDSEY, PhD Is there any non-human skill people covet more passionately than the ability to fly? Understandably, early aviation experiments centered around mimicry of birds, complete with flapping arms that were usually covered in feathers. The Greek legend...
FLAT AS A PANCAKE

FLAT AS A PANCAKE

BY KIERAN LINDSEY, PhD Ever notice how many of the colloquialisms we use for comparisons aren’t all that apropos, or even true?  Like…      –  graceful as a swan (have you ever seen one on land?)      –  dull as ditchwater (believe me, that liquid is lively at the...