Mary Akers

Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

  • Climbing Bill Williams Mountain

    On the second day of our trip, we set out to hike Bill Williams Mountain. We were rested, well fed, happy to be away from cell phones and laptops, and generally psyched to get physical. In our pre-trip Internet research, this hike was billed as a moderate 2.75 mile hike. Cool, we thought. A few…

  • The Petrified Forest

    I’ve wanted to visit the petrified forest for as long as I can remember. My grandfather kept a chunk of petrified wood on his desk until he died, and my grandmother kept it there afterwards. To give that some context, these were people who travelled all over the world, lived in India, Ethiopia, climbed the…

  • STORIES IN THE OLD STYLE by Al Sim

    It took me several weeks to finish Al Sim’s most recent collection–Stories in the Old Style–but before you conclude that I didn’t enjoy it, let me explain. I, too, wondered why I had taken so long to finish reading these stories that–if asked casually, “Did you like them?”–I would have unequivocally said were wonderful. And…

  • Sisyphus and the Snow

    I’ve just spent an hour-and-a-half shoveling snow. Now, in general, I like to shovel snow. But today, a few things conspired to make the experience slightly less than wonderful. For starters, I miss my Old Faithful shovel. Its replacement is a mere shadow of the shovel that Old Faithful was before his demise. Also, my…

  • Quote

    “It seems in every interaction there is something to learn if we can only see ourselves as students. If we can humble ourselves, and allow ourselves to see the world without our own beliefs and dogmas, then we could see so much beauty awaiting us in each moment.” –Sukh Chugh

  • Bad Haircut

    Okay, so I’m not Sampson or anything, nor am I especially vain (most days), but I have a new and hideous haircut and it’s killing me. It was on a whim, yesterday, that I pulled into the grocery store parking lot with my almost 17-year-old daughter who has been having a rough couple of weeks.…

  • Brrr

    It is sooo cold in western New York. We are freezing our noonies off. (For those, that is–unlike my cats–who haven’t already had them surgically removed.) We are fortunate to have a warm house, reliable vehicles, well-insulated pipes, and plenty of food. When the wind whistles at my windows, and the edges of the door…

  • elimae

    The new issue of elimae is out, and Katrina Denza’s short-short When Alone is gutwrenching.

  • 3AM

    3AM Magazine is back and Alicia Gifford is in it!

  • Snow again!

    And I still like it. Shoveling snow is one of those things–like driving the car or showering–that allows me to focus my mind and compose words in my head. It also satisfies some Tetras-like need that I have to line things up and order the universe (preferably with an endless-loop techno-pop score playing through my…

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