About

I have been a computer scientist, a software engineer, and a dementia caregiver.  I blog on many topics (often looking at things from an odd angle), without commitment to a fixed theme or schedule.  Inspiration is capricious.

My legal name (Barry K Rosen) was inflicted by my parents.  Online, I prefer to go by the deliberate oxymoron I chose for blogging (Mellow Curmudgeon).

I have been a computer scientist, a software engineer, and a dementia caregiver.  I live in the Hudson valley and try to age gracefully while opposing assaults by bigots and plutocrats on constitutional democracy and the habitability of the only available planet.  My blog posts consider a wide range of topics with images (mostly photos), poems (mostly haiku and tanka), and prose (mostly nonfiction).  I often try to be humorous w/o being too flippant and serious w/o being too solemn.

I often look at things from an odd angle.  Red trillium plants like shade, grow low, and have flowers that face downward.  Now is your chance to get a from-below view of a red trillium flower, in a mix of reflected and transmitted sunlight:

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Figuratively, I sometimes “look” at a neat little thing from an odd angle to shine some light on a messy big thing with a subtle similarity to the little thing.  For example, there is a parallel between the history of a little word puzzle’s instructions and the history of a big idea in economics.

My muse is capricious, and I am reluctant to repeat what has already been said well elsewhere.  So this blog is not committed to a fixed theme or schedule.  It is committed to clear writing and to defending Enlightenment values, in its own quirky way.

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Oscar Wilde made futility bearable by making it funny, as in his remark about the two great tragedies in life.  (One is not getting what one wants; the other is getting it.)  I made futility bearable by writing a few haiku about it.  Far from being as gloomy as those haiku may suggest, I see wisdom in Wilde’s observation that life is too important to be taken seriously.

Old software engineers never die;
they just stop getting upgrades.

– Gray button (upper left corner) reveals widgets, –
– above post (on phone) or beside it (on desktop). –

14 thoughts on “About”

  3. Hello Mellow!
    I am completely in favor of your aim to be “humorous w/o being too flippant and serious w/o being too solemn.” (I’m also an Oscar WIlde Fan.)
    Also love your line about wheels turning slowly but giving a nice ride. 🙂

    Liked by 3 people

    1. Thanks for your kind comment, which is a consolation as I nurse my worst head cold in years. But I keep the floor clean enough that after sneezing my brains out I can wipe them off and shove them back in w/o obvious ill effects.

      Yes, Wilde had a rare ability to balance being funny and being serious.

      Liked by 3 people

  4. Nice to meet you Mellow..
    I discovered you from a beautiful comment you made on Oglach’s blog.
    I like your mellow style and humor.
    I am looking forward to reading your posts as they come up.

    Liked by 3 people

  6. Pingback: Wondrous Weirdness — Why Am I Here? | Mellow  Curmudgeon

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