The Blog of the Ancient Mariner
[This is a version of a post I originally wrote a while back about the reasons I took on my “A mind is a difficult thing to change” series. I thought I’d publish it again now that I’ve resumed the … Continue reading →
Category Archives: Literature and writing
Ah, those clever literary intellectuals!
For quite a while now I’ve been impressed by the fact that leading literary lights, for all their creativity and art, can be very dim bulbs indeed when dealing with certain other aspects of human endeavor. I suppose that shouldn’t … Continue reading →
Moving day: these I can unlearn to love
A while back I wrote about my plans to move. I put my house on the market in late spring, thinking—the current housing market being what it is (I seem to specialize in buying in a seller’s market and selling … Continue reading →
Predicting the blog clog: Kundera saw it all
There are an awful lot of blogs these days (and a lot of them, no doubt, are awful). Technorati tracks about 57 million blogs, with a little over half of them regarded as “active”—meaning that the bloggers post at least … Continue reading →
Borges was right: the perils of Funes
The laconic, elegant, deeply intellectual, and labyrinthine Jorge Luis Borges is one of my favorite authors, and “Funes, the Memorius” from his collection Ficciones is one of his best stories. Borges had a swell of popularity in the 60s. I … Continue reading →
Memorial Day: mourning the war dead, honoring the war dead
Before Memorial Day became a national three-day weekend in 1971 and the official kickoff to summer festivities, it was Decoration Day. I’m not all that ancient, but my earliest recollection of the holiday is of the latter name. It was … Continue reading →
Twanging, from Homer to Cohen and back: music and poetry
I’m still on a bit of a Leonard Cohen kick, as well as a YouTube fling. Stay with me here, though; this isn’t just about Cohen. As Gerard Vanderleun has noted, Cohen has an even darker side than the one … Continue reading →
Understanding (and misunderstanding) Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet
One of the most famous misunderstood lines in all of literature is Juliet’s balcony query: “Oh Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?” As most of you probably know, the archaic “wherefore” means “why.” But the misconception that the word means … Continue reading →
Making music: on playing the cello
I used to play the cello. Well, perhaps “play” is too strong a word. I was chosen for the instrument (no, that’s not a typo; I was chosen for it, rather than the reverse) in fifth grade, at the public … Continue reading →
Frost on poetry: “the happy discoverer of your ends”
Here’s a little relief from politics and its discontents–excerpts from a discussion by Robert Frost entitled “Conversations on the Craft of Poetry” (1959).” Any aspiring poets in the crowd, please listen to a guy who knows–who really knows. In response … Continue reading →
No surge, Dems urge: beware those helicopters!
You think I sing a repetitious dirge “Iraq, Vietnam; please let the two diverge!” But here’s some news: the Democrats they urge, “Oh Mr. Bush, don’t recommend a surge!” And why? They say we’re surely on the verge Of failure. … Continue reading →
‘Twas the Blogger’s Night Before Christmas
‘TWAS THE BLOGGER’S NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS ‘Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the ”˜sphere Bloggers were glad to see Christmas draw near. Their PCs were turned off and all put away The bloggers were swearing to take off … Continue reading →