Welcome to Al-World, the very personal landscape of what interests me outside of what, strictly speaking, allows me to muddle my way through life. From time to time I will post my thoughts, for what they are worth, on a variety of subjects. Some of these entries are current; others date back a while (please peruse the archives). Some are adapted from correspondences and reviews; others are original.  As this forum is both a monologue and a dialogue, I invite your responses, and even your opinions, as outrageous and indefensible as they may be. However, by way of emphasizing my editorial ownership, I wish to point out that, while I am a benevolent dictator, I do have a few mild ground rules: I ask that posters use their real names, and that they refrain from what are, in my sole judgment, flames and attacks ad hominem. These will be summarily excised. Unless I change my mind (the whole enterprise is, after all, like life: both an experiment and a work in progress), pretty much anything else goes and is heartily encouraged.

Notebook and Journal