There was a discussion in the comments section here a while back about just what type of tyrant Obama might end up being. Commenter “huxley” wrote: Stalin and Hitler were aware of how people approved of them, but no more … Continue reading →
One of the greatest things about the internet is the opportunity if affords us to revisit things we thought lost forever. A line from a poem runs through our heads, and we can’t place it. Before Google, it could drive … Continue reading →
I live in an area of the country lilacs love. This time of year when I take my walks, it seems that every few yards I pass tall lilac bushes loaded with blossoms. Their fragrance hits me before I even … Continue reading →
It’s always possible, of course, that this time it will be the terrible pandemic that is feared. But I wonder. When I did a search of this blog for “influenza,” for example, I came up with this post from the … Continue reading →
When writer John Updike died last January I wrote this tribute to him, as well as this discussion of his brave and well-articulated stance on the Vietnam War, a position that estranged him from many of his friends and the … Continue reading →
Much has been written about the fact that Frank Marshall Davis was a mentor to the young Barack Obama. But Davis was an unusual role model for a boy; not only may he have been a sometime pedophile, according to … Continue reading →
[NOTE: While we’re talking about Brazil (and why not? I’m tired of talking about Obama) let’s revisit an old post of mine with a Brazilian theme: “Lost in translation: the girl from Ipamema.”] A while back we had a discussion … Continue reading →
Sam Schulman offers an interesting notion of Obama as Hamlet. We differ on certain things; Schulman does not believe Obama to be a radical, whereas I currently strongly favor that interpretation. But the following sounds about right: [Obama] is a … Continue reading →
A few days ago a commenter here offered a link to this page of Lenin quotes. Some of them seem pretty apropos in light of recent developments, and so I offer them to you for your contemplation [I’ve emphasized some … Continue reading →
We sometimes speak of having a “good cry,” reflecting the common assumption that crying when upset can lead to a release of tension and make us feel better. This NY Times article reports on research that indicates that this is … Continue reading →
Yesterday I was browsing in a bookstore. I had gone to the mall for something else (pillowcases, to be exact) and had some extra time to spend wandering, and so I ambled into this particular mall’s only bookstore: B. Dalton, … Continue reading →
I first read John Updike’s Vietnam War essay “On Not Being a Dove” in 1989. That’s when his memoir Self-Consciousness, the book in which it was included, was first published. At the time the essay seemed to me to be … Continue reading →