There were positive aspects to all the drugs I had been administered since my admission to the hospital. Given my jolly nature, I chuckled. This was a rousing good time. The neuro wore a long, serious face as he sat down. There probably is a course in medical school: "How to Deliver REALLY BAD News to Patients." Given how many MDs lack traces of personality, the course would about have to be required. If this neuro had enrolled in such a course, he had done so years ago and not received a…

   On May 4, 2013, I shall walk in my fifteenth consecutive 500 Festival MiniMarathon®. This is the part four of a series about MS and my vehemence about the Mini.®

   I want to note that, each year as we gather in our "stalls" near (or not so near) the start line, I glance up at the rooftop lines. Always the 500 Festival has personnel lined up and alert. As an American, in the "land of the free,"  I have mixed emotions about those folks on station. I feel safer than if they were not…

   What does my 1994 diagnosis with MS have to do with "civil discourse"? Any why do these posts seem out of order?

   There are a lot of pressing issues that we face today. Currently we have people who demand some sort of "action" after two idiots set off bombs that killed three and seriously wounded 180 people at the finish line of the Boston Marathon in an act many consider one of "terrorism." Yet we also have 90 percent of the American people who want some controls placed on…

   On May 4, 2013, I shall walk in my fifteenth consecutive 500 Festival MiniMarathon®.  This is the second part of a series about MS and my vehemence about the Mini.® I would not "kid" about the MS-squared thing, although I try to be light-hearted about it. Some people become very somber about MS. I understand, as I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 1994. I ran these blogs (I walk the Mini) last year in the weeks that led up to the event.

   To pick up from…

   from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. today we shall stream "live" from the former estate of the late alleged serial killer Herb Baumeister. Guest panelists will include Detective Cary Mulligan and intuitive researcher Marilene Isaacs. You may call 317.489.9219 with questions.

   I will preface the questions I have about the case to say "serial killers," or however one wants to label that category of murderers of more than one person in separate incidents with similar aspects as to victims and/or…

 On May 4, 2013, I shall walk in my fifteenth consecutive 500 Festival MiniMarathon®. After I completed my first Mini in 1999, I swore to myself I never would miss a Mini—unless I was dead or the MS finally had beaten me.   

   MS? Why the vehemence about the Mini? You need to know the story.

   In January, 1994, I began to experience numbness below my left knee cap. My left foot was nearly completely numb. Above that and to just below the knee, my leg tingled. I thought there…

   As previously stated, this week's Show will "live" stream from the former Baumeister estate. Guest panelists will include Detective Cary Mullligan, who left the investigation from the Hamilton County Sheriff's Department, and Marilene Isaacs, a researcher and intuitive who has visited the estate. I highly would recommend Dan Hall's film, "The Haunting of Fox Hollow Farm," which addresses the case. Dan might also appear on Saturday's Show.

   The following is in anticipation of the…

   On Saturday, April 20, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., we shall stream "live" from what once was the farm/estate of Herbert R. Baumeister. In the early 1990s, after investigators suspected a link between the disappearances of young men in Indianapolis and Baumeister, police eventually were able, with Baumeister's by then estranged wife, to search the property. Eventually the search uncovered the remains of 11 people who had been strangled. While police searched, Baumeister traveled to Canada and…

   In the early 1990s, people disappeared in Indianapolis. The people who disappeared had several similar aspects to their lives. They were male. They were relatively young. They were gay or believed to be gay. People with the same characteristics had disappeared on or near I-70 between Indianapolis and Columbus, Ohio. 

   Eventually, police were led to believe that the founder of the Indianapolis store chain Sav-A-Lot, Herbert Baumeister, was involved in the disappearances.…

   Spring was fresh and everything was alive.

   The ants had wakened from their months of slumber. Immediately they began to work. They scurried about. They grabbed pieces of food. Some pieces they ate. The rest were carried down the hole at the top of their hill, to the chambers beneath the ground.

   A few yards away, a grasshopper flitted about. He made merry with a fiddle. He entertained his friends. He and his companions seemed amused by the labors of the ants.

  …

   I have written this week about writing. Then Lynn Swayze Wilson blogs yesterday about the subject ad sort of caught me flat-footed, or flat-handed, or something. What she wrote is really good. I will not try to one-up her, because I do not believe it would be possible. Go to the "blogs" on the Civil Discourse Now website and read her blog "On Being a Writer." It is very well done.

   We will stream "live" today from the Indiana Writers' Center, 812 East 67th Street, from 11 am to 1…

You know how adults always like to ask school-age children what they want to be when they grow up? Well for me, the answer was always to be a writer. Once I learned that people could write books for a living, I decided that's what I wanted to do. It helped that I have always been adept at reading and writing. That is to say, it has always come naturally to me. [That isn't to say that my writing is perfect - far from it!] I was even teased for using "big words" in elementary school. I was a…

   The Indiana Writers Center is located at 812 East 67th Street in Broad Ripple. The building is located a short distance behind the Art Center. The lane to reach it is between the apartments on the corner of 67th and College and the Art Center. Guest panelist Barbara Shoup is the author of seven novels, including "Night Watch," "Wish You Were Here," "Stranded in Harmony," "Faithful Women," "Vermeer's Daughter," "Everything You Want," and "An American Tune. She co-authored "Novel Ideas:…

   Saturday's Show will stream live from the Indiana Writers Center, 812 East 67th Street, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Guest panelists will include Barbara Shoup of the Writers Center, who has published seven novels and has taught creative writing, and Lynn Swayze Wilson, who is involved in the process of getting a novel published.

   My first experience with publishing had a few "ups." What now is called a "launch party," but we called a "signing party," went well. I hired a local…

   I take a break from this week's series about how the internet has affected writing and publishing to comment on Senate Bill 621, a legislative effort that largely would remove "checks and balances"---important concepts to the Framers of the United States Constitution as well as every civics textbook, American history lesson, college intro to poly sci courses, etc.---from the operations of the Mayor of the City of Indianapolis.

   Why would Republican Mayor Greg Ballard, who seems…

   We shall podcast/live-stream from the Indiana Writers Center on Saturday, April 13, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.  Our guest panelists will be Barbara Shoup of the Indiana Writers Center and Lynn Swayze Wilson, a local writer. Barbara has published seven novels and has taught creating writing. Lynn has written a great deal, but has yet to achieve publication.

    I understand how difficult it can be to get published. I will pick up where I left off yesterday.

   I had sent out 186…

   On Saturday, April 13, "Civil Discourse Now" will stream live from the Indiana Writers Center, 812 East 67^th Street. Our guest panelists will be Barbara Shoup of the Indiana Writers Center, and Lynn Swayze Wilson and writer and blogger.  The focal topic of The Show will be how the internet has affected writing and publishing.

   My major at DePauw ended up as political science. However, my last year of school I had decided I wanted to write. I began to write in a…

   Today at 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. we shall stream "live" from the main library downtown. Ask at the Information Desk where we are. Our guest panelists will be Sheila Suess Kennedy and Karen Celestino-Horseman. Our topic will be Jurisprudential philosophy and the Constitution. (The phrase "jurisdictional philosophy" is redundant. "Jurisprudence" is the philosophy of law.)

   How does one go about construing the Constitution? All of our participants on The Show today are lawyers. The…

   We shall stream "live" from Big Hat Books on Saturday, April 6, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. as we discuss jurisprudence and the Constitution with guest panelists Sheila Suess Kennedy and Karen Celestino-Horseman.

   Paul Ogden and I have traded shots this week on the topic. The discussion should prove to be fun and enlightening. I even will bring a copy of the Constitution along so Paul can point out to me where he finds some of the concepts---such as "originalism"---that he…