Copyright notice
All text and original images in this blog © 1990-2010 by William P. Coleman. Some rights reserved. You may reuse only as specified in the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License or by written permission.About me
If you'd like to know more about me, please see the About page. My qualifications for the scientific entries are in my CV.
I see no reason to segregate scientific and technical posts from humanistic ones. In my life, scientific concerns mix with ethical ones, and they shade into a philosophical interest in the nature of cognition and the nature of people. Doing science is as creative as writing fiction, and I get inspiration for both from the same gods.
You will find little here on current politics. I'm an activist, but not in symptoms. Experience in martial arts shows me that the sure way to lose is reactivity; but if you stay cool and remember your training and what you're there for then you achieve goals and, when conflict is unavoidable, you fight and win. The idea of the liberal arts I was brought up in is that broad understanding of cultures and ideas gives you deeper, better goals -- making success more likely and more satisfying. Negatively, the hysteria since 9/11 shows how a country frightened and reactive can destroy itself more than an enemy can. I'm trying to contribute by changing the terms of discourse. . . . As Allen Ginsberg wrote, "America, I'm putting my queer shoulder to the wheel."
One fact shouldn't require special mention, but it sometimes does: namely that I'm gay. This blog is not primarily about being gay, but the topic sometimes comes up. I'm proud of being gay and do not hide. Muse
Category Archives: New York City
Kai Wright’s “Drifting Toward Love”
Book Review Kai Wright, Drifting Toward Love: Black, Brown, Gay, and Coming of Age on the Streets of New York Beacon Press, Boston, 2008 ISBN 978-0-8070-7968-3 This is an important book. Why would I — a dead, white male, a … Continue reading
Shelter — pictures by Lucky Michaels of homeless LGBTQ youth at home
Untitled, 2007, Courtesy of Lucky Michaels (click picture to enlarge) The picture above was taken by Lucky Michaels, a photographer and also a counselor at Sylvia’s Place, located within the Metropolitan Community Church of New York. The shelter (named after … Continue reading
Snow in the Bronx and Manhattan
View the gallery containing this photo: Snow in the Bronx and Manhattan. “The walk when these pictures were taken started, after a winter snow storm, near the Jerome Park Reservoir in the Bronx. I walked down Jerome Avenue to the … Continue reading
The Battery, NYC — late afternoon
View the gallery containing this photo: The Battery, NYC — late afternoon. “One late afternoon in Battery Park at the lower tip of Manhattan in New York City. The people I saw there—a couple, some fishermen—and the buildings at the … Continue reading
William P. Coleman 