Dallin Malmgren

20 Feb
2012
Blog
1 Comments
By Dallin Malmgren
Old Texas Gravestone

Death is not the end…

… and how a dog taught me that. I am not a pet per­son.  Karen and I do not have a pet at this point, and that is by my pref­er­ence with her reluc­tant assent.  But I don’t expect it to last too long.  I have observed and rec­og­nized and even come to respect an undeniable […]

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12 Feb
2012
Blog
8 Comments
By Dallin Malmgren
Old Ford Pick-up truck

Losing things…

I lost my school keys last week­end.  I know, an unre­mark­able event…is it worth writ­ing about?  Yes, because most of us lose stuff, and I’m curi­ous to know if my expe­ri­ence of loss and recov­ery fol­lows a com­mon thread.  Feed­back is invit­ed. First off, it was a big deal.  Those keys unlock my job—the doors […]

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06 Feb
2012
Blog
5 Comments
By Dallin Malmgren
Wife and husband in conversation

Spousal arguments…

Karen and I had a fight on Fri­day.  I have the com­mon sense and the deco­rum not to use this blog as a sound­ing board (or soap­box) for the intri­ca­cies of our rela­tion­ship, but it did get me think­ing about mar­i­tal dis­cord.  I am pleased and relieved that as we get old­er, our fights are […]

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29 Jan
2012
Blog
9 Comments
By Dallin Malmgren
Water Lilies at the Getty Villa in Los Angeles

A good listener…

…is a joy to engage.  There is a com­fort to be found in the sym­pa­thet­ic ear and the atten­tive mind that tran­scends friend­ship or fel­low­ship or even ther­a­py.  Good lis­ten­ers are a hot com­mod­i­ty in the com­merce of inter­per­son­al rela­tions.  And they’re not that easy to find.  Become a good lis­ten­er and you are guaranteed […]

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22 Jan
2012
Blog
3 Comments
By Dallin Malmgren
Abstract grasses with digital effect

Shock treatments…

I have wit­nessed at least 20 elec­tric shock treat­ments in my life.  In my younger days I worked as a psy­chi­atric aide for six years at the Mid-Mis­­­souri Men­tal Health Cen­ter.  (When I tell my stu­dents this, some­one always comes up with the wiseguy ques­tion:  “Are you sure you worked there?”  My stock answer:  “There’s […]

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16 Jan
2012
Blog
4 Comments
By Dallin Malmgren
Peace Like a River Cover

A good book…

I just fin­ished read­ing a book, Peace like a Riv­er by Leif Enger, for the sec­ond time.  I hard­ly ever do that.  Life is too short, and there are too many books I want to read.  But I liked this book so well I select­ed it for my book group (we rotate choos­ing), and reading […]

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08 Jan
2012
Uncategorized
6 Comments
By Dallin Malmgren
Images from book Whatever You Are Doing is The Most Beautiful. . .

Whatever you are doing…

Is there a gene for cre­ativ­i­ty?  I have no idea.  I do have a col­lec­tion of my father’s short sto­ries, which he nev­er pub­lished although I think they are quite good.  And I see a cre­ative flair in all three of my chil­dren, but espe­cial­ly in my mid­dle child, Nathan (Silace Amaro).  I’d like to […]

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01 Jan
2012
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1 Comments
By Dallin Malmgren
Picture of Fireworks from Butte, MT

I do hereby resolve…

Yep, I believe.  I’ve been mak­ing New Year’s res­o­lu­tions for years and keep­ing them for months.  When my chil­dren were grow­ing up, we’d all sit down at the kitchen table on New Year’s Eve and make up a list of ten res­o­lu­tions.  (Was that my idea?)  Then we’d throw in two or three for each […]

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