A Certain Point of View: Writing, Film and Stuff

“Hate is the complement of fear and narcissists like being feared. It imbues them with an intoxicating sensation of omnipotence.”   ―  Sam Vaknin ,  Malignant Self Love: Narcissism Revisited People - mainly those individuals who are blissfully unaware of my family history - often ask me, "Why can't you get along with your sister? She's your closest relative now that your mom is gone, and she's so nice/generous/loving. Can't you try and be her friend?" While it is true that my half-sister is my closest family member and, as far as I know, my only living relative in the United States, I have to say that as much as I'd like to be Vicky's friend, I can't. She is a seriously disturbed narcissist who has done me (and our mother) much more emotional harm than she had done good. She (and her small retinue of vocal supporters) will deny it, of course. Like many narcissists, Vicky has an uncanny talent for cleverly projecting a self-image of being an a...

Hi there, Constant Reader. It’s 4:21 p.m. on a chilly Monday afternoon in the Sunshine State. As I write this, it’s 66 degrees Fahrenheit under partly sunny skies. Though it’s not as cold as it was earlier today, the temperature is low enough for it to be a hot-chocolate-with-warm donuts day, at least for me! I’ve lived in (or visited) several cities (Bogota, New York City, and Seville) where it gets awfully cold, and chilly weather tends to make me want to bundle up in bed with a good book. I was going to write a movie review earlier today, but my eyeglasses broke; I’m nearsighted, and although I can see most of what’s on the big television screen, my eyes get awfully tired without my glasses. Worse, if I want to read the “news ticker” at the bottom of the screen when perusing CNN or the local news channels, I have to mosey up close to the TV to see the lettering. My spectacles are irreparably damaged and I need new ones, so my mission of the day has been to try and call Visionwo...