Definition: Human chess is the never-ending game in which people, seeking to fulfill their own needs and desires, work for, with and against others positioning themselves, others and the world around them in such a way that they have a better chance of reaching their goals than those who seek the same thing or things conflicting with their desires.
One day, many years ago, I met a warlock I admired greatly. His knowledge of the world and the people in it greatly exceeded my own and I was determined to learn from him. Luckily, he was very generous and spoke with me at length about magic and how it works.
I was walking down the street when a friend who I had not seen in some time passed me going the other way. We both stopped to talk but after I greeted her, she looked up, raised her hands up to the sky in pure frustration and screamed, “Please tell me I will have a better day!”
I had just published an essay on magical theory in a local weekly. It was making waves through the community and everyone was wanting to talk to me about it. That’s why it didn’t surprise me when that the first words I heard when I entered the cafeteria were, “Can I ask you a question about your essay?”
I was late to my science class when I was startled by the sound of books hitting the pavement. A girl walking the other way had slipped, dropped her entire load and was scrambling to pick them up. Without hesitation I started to help her gather them.
I was enjoying my lunch break at an outdoor café when a female student walked up beside the table where I was sitting.
It was a rare burst of social interaction that brought me to the party, a mingling session of the honors students on campus. It turned out to be just a bunch of students dressed nicely, roaming the university’s guest house munching on finger food while chatting the evening away.
After my incident with the reporter in the cafeteria, I was invited to appear on a local radio show. The invitation said that the show was “A lively forum for discussing relevant and interesting issues.” But I quickly discovered that the Barry Samuel show was nothing more than one person, Barry, berating his guests with the aid of his loud-mouthed cohort Dr. Scream.
It was a lovely day out and I had just checked out a new book from the library for some light reading. I decided to take it to a nearby bench and start rummaging through the pages.
One day, my fiancé and I realized that neither of us had ever seen the inside of a gentlemen’s club and were curious about what one was like. So we headed out that night to head out to a small club on the edge of town and sat down at a quiet table near the corner.
I needed to make a stop by my apartment late one morning last week and headed out on foot from work. There’s a section of the sidewalk that’s been torn up for construction and replaced temporarily by gravel.
A couple of months ago I was making the long drive to a family reunion when I saw the twinkle of blue lights in my rear-view mirror. My brother and I were late leaving and I was probably going faster than I should have been, but I didn’t think I was going unreasonably fast.
I was visiting a classmate’s dorm for a study session when someone outside started shouting down the hall, “There’s a girl on the roof who’s about to jump!” Within seconds almost all of the doors in the hallway opened as people piled toward the stairwell, heading down to get a better look.
One of my earliest “warlock” moments occurred when I was in high school. I had been set up on a date with a girl that was a horrible match for me. Even though she seemed enthralled with me, I had little interest in her but, since it was a favor to my family, the date went on.
I had just finished guest-lecturing for an introductory psychology class at a small local college, when I found myself grabbing a quick bite to eat in front of the school’s humanities building. Though the campus was gorgeous, the food at the small cafe was inadequate and I found myself stewing over a half-eaten sandwich and a handful of chips.
It was a brisk autumn afternoon and I was making my way through one of the parking lots on the outskirts of campus to fetch my car and run some errands. A few feet into the lot, I spotted a couple of campus police cruisers parked near a large oak tree in the center of the lot.
