Fred's Blog

Category: Personal

  • Confessions of Faith

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    Fred Rothganger
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    The biggest lesson my parents taught me was the love of truth. They were Christian missionaries, in the business of convincing other people to change their most fundamental beliefs about the world. They offered the one true Truth that stood above all others. There is such a thing as absolute reality. It’s worth knowing, even…

  • Eulogy for Mom

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    Fred Rothganger
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    Going through mom’s pictures, flipping through her pristinely-organized file drawers, I think, “Wow, mom was really smart … and pretty.” I’ve never seen her this way before. I wonder about that little girl growing up in Indonesia, who would jump into the ocean and swim out to arriving boats. Or the young woman standing there,…

  • Information Death

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    Fred Rothganger
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    My mother died this morning. She was on life-support for hours as we agonized about when to let her go. Was her brain already dead, or was there a chance she could wake? We decided that if her heart stopped again, they should not do another CPR. Then her EKG line gradually faded away. Did…

  • Pissing off mechanics

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    Fred Rothganger
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    I’ve recently gotten two different car service people angry with me. There must be something wrong with the way I communicate, and I feel bad about it. Incident 1 A few weeks ago, our 2012 VW Jetta died. We were coming home from a long road trip, passing through Oklahoma on the way to Albuquerque,…

  • Crystal’s Teaching Experience

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    Fred Rothganger
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    Crystal and I have been dealing with shock and anger all weekend. She has been in a student-teaching placement since the start of the fall term at a local high school. This last Monday her placement was terminated by her mentor teacher. That was totally unexpected, but in some way a relief, because Crystal has…

  • The Ultimate Cell Phone

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    Fred Rothganger
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    A couple of days ago, Crystal asked me to come check the clothes washer. It was making some unusual clacking sound. I told her not to worry about it, figuring that she’s was being oversensitive to every little possible problem. Finally went to investigate. Sounded like a rock was in with the clothes, so I…

  • You are precious

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    Fred Rothganger
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    I believe that individual human beings are the most valuable thing in the universe. Your mind, with the unique experiences that have formed your view of the world, and the well-being of the body that carries that mind, are very important to me. I won’t pretend to always live up to this principle. I’m a…

  • Bubonicon, the day after

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    Fred Rothganger
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    Bubonicon is over. Throughout the conference, successful authors sat on panels discussing various literary topics. Many of them were quite smart, the kind of people you would enjoy talking to as a friend. And some had a real warmth in their artistic outlook on life. I felt a bit jealous of their success. The truth…

  • SuSAn flyer for Bubonicon

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    Fred Rothganger
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    Next weekend is Bubonicon here in Albuquerque. In addition to skulking around in obscurity, I will put free copies of “SuSAn” on the book table and place a stack of fliers. A preview is attached.

  • Pulling the plug on a dream

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    Fred Rothganger
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    Today, after less than a year of marriage, Elizabeth becomes a widow. A gangly young woman, shy and self deprecating, she grew up in the intellectual safety of homeschooling and fundamental Judeo-Christian values. When she finally went off to the University of Arkansas to study Chemical Engineering, she wore a promise ring on her left…