Articles written by Northsage

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About me - Northsage

Having been born one of the very first Baby Boomers, and educated in Ann Arbor, Michigan, I have seen much and learned much about life. Life experience, education, and humor are valuable tools for any aspiring writer and I have reached the point in my life

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Creative Writing > Essays Essays: The human mind: 3 of 38
Have you ever wondered where jokes come from? Who writes them? I imagine a small percentage of jokes write themselves through naturally occurring human interactions and are simply polished and retold by gifted storytellers for people who appreciate human folly and the ridiculous situations we get ourselves into. This is one ... More..
Creative Writing > Humor Humor: English accents: 1 of 5
Is it also hard for others to believe that Great Britain was the country from which long-ago ancestors seeded our continent with pioneering emigrants from their "Old World" country, Great Britain? I have heard it said, that the United States and Great Britain are friendly, allied countries, separated only by an ocean and a c... More..
Society & Lifestyle > Lifestyles The positive and negative aspects of diversity: 7 of 31
In California, it is now legal for everyone but those who are polygamous, pedophiles and deviant animal-lovers to legally marry. As loudly as those on the far right will squeal about the California Supreme Court's ruling, I think that this is a step forward for the United States. Generally accepted figures on the number of p... More..
Creative Writing > Reflections Reflections: Family stories and memories: 47 of 204
A few days ago I must have gotten some kind of corrosive liquid on the top part of my thumbs and forefingers, without realizing that I had. A skin color change and an annoying itch made me think that I contracted poison ivy from our firewood. The itch didn't last long and the purplish color went away quickly, so it wasn't po... More..
Society & Lifestyle > Lifestyles Life-altering decisions: 7 of 26
Have you ever wondered if your life would have been different if you had been given another name? If your parents had named you Tiffany or Chad, instead of Myrtle or LeShawn, would people treat and think of you differently? I've met many people who virulently hate their given name but I wonder if they blame the fact that the... More..
Creative Writing > Reflections Reflections: Predicting major changes in culture and lifestyle: 3 of 11
I think that life today will be looked at as the apex of human existence by those who follow us. Our level of comfort, leisure, diverse employment opportunity, medical care, housing, education, disposable income, entertainment, etc. will slowly erode as our burgeoning worldwide population consumes diminishing resources, land... More..
Politics, News & Issues > People in the News Reflections on the death of Charlton Heston: 5 of 18
During the early part of the 1970's, I lived in Roscommon, Michigan a small town about ten or fifteen miles from St. Helen, Michigan, where Mr. Heston spent several of his early years. It was in Roscommon that I met a man in his late eighties or early nineties, named Elmer. We lived a bit more than a mile apart. I do not rec... More..
Creative Writing > Memoirs Memoirs: Cats that have changed our lives: 26 of 80
Over the last few years, there has probably been between fifteen and twenty resident outside cats that have claimed us as their own personal humans. Most of these are probably related, at least distantly to the original calico that showed up here desperately seeking asylum from constant hunger and rejection from her own kind... More..
Society & Lifestyle > Society & Lifestyle (Other) The perfect world: 13 of 40
The world will never be perfect, and to hope for one is an unrealistic goal. Indeed it is possible that the quality of our lives will degrade from what we experience now. Let me make a case that we may be living in the most nearly perfect possible world, right now. The sound of a ruffed grouse "drumming" up romantic interest... More..
Creative Writing > Humor Humor: Family: 62 of 169
Preliminary field notes and approximate definitions, of the utterances made by subject: Ivy Nicole Grandchamp, strange child from another planet. These will be in random order, as obtained, to be put in order, later. Definition : Skirted: What Ivy's rotten little brother did to her, with his bottle Skatched: What Gampa's nas... More..