Joram turned to writing following a successful career in science. To his surprise, the two have a lot in common. Joram's latest publication is a collection of short stories, Notes Going Underground. Additional publications include The Open Book and Other Tales of Love and Yearning (short stories), Jellyfish Have Eyes (novel), Gene Sharing and Evolution:
The Diversity of Protein Functions (non-fiction), and The Speed of Dark, a Memoir (non-fiction).
Clichés – stale phrases that have lost impact due to over-usage – are frowned upon and considered unimaginative and superficial, such as “a picture is worth a thousand words,” or “all that glitters is not gold.” Dull. Boring. Lazy. Banal. Sophisticated writers cringe...
I knew a man in his low 30s – single, of course – who said that he never wanted to own anything more than could fit in his car. He considered possessions as traps, a type of deceptive quicksand. “More possessions, less freedom,” he said. “Objects are anchors.”
Possessions sap space, need attention and if valuable, are laden with expenses, such as insurance and other protective measures. I even knew a man who refused to own a car and went everywhere by taxi (today he would use Uber). “It’s so much easier and cheaper,” he said. “No need to buy gasoline, make repairs or buy insurance. No charges for garage space or parking. No traffic violations or risk of accidents.” These were hard arguments to refute. …
Yet, while objects may burden us, our possessions also shine a light on our humanity, taste and values, provide insight on what drives our choices and…
When paging through an album of family snapshots, I reflect on my life as a chronological series of events, noting growth from seed to tree. My life appears as sequential notches on a measuring stick: I did this and then did that, and so forth.
Too simple, I say! Each notch is more like shrapnel from an exploding grenade. The photos are headlines, mere titles of first drafts of stories in progress that fail to capture the essence: feelings and conflicts.