Living in an Ex Machina World

Deus ex machina. Originally conceived as a writer’s plot device when he cannot think of a logical way to proceed with a narrative. He then pulls a figurative “rabbit out of a hat”. Either the Guy up in the sky (if you are a believer) or a machine (if you are secular) unexpectedly swoops in and solves the dilemma. So what, you say? I guess I’m just tired of looking at the stock market bouncing up and down from day to day. The world spends money like a teenage girl in an emotional crisis. Maybe we are living in an ex machina world waiting for that phone to ring and bring good fortune. Of course, when you answer the annoying tone, hang up if it is a machine-recorded sales pitch. Continue reading “Living in an Ex Machina World”

The Write Stuff

By Larry Teren

Some people just don’t have a sense of humor of any kind nor a talent for recognizing genius. Why, just the other day I contacted one of them fancy New York intellectual periodicals and suggested they check out my written material. I mentioned that I have written over 340 brief articles, usually of great wit, on various topics. Considering that these periodicals publish only once a month I have enough material to offer for years to come.

One of these alleged editors- at least that’s what she calls herself- writes back and wants to know if she can see some samples of my work. I respond in an email with my website address and suggest a few of the better quality postings. Let’s see now, this is about a week ago. I’ll give her a few more days- maybe even another week. I’m sure she’s a busy woman. Continue reading “The Write Stuff”