[NOTE: Today is Presidents’ Day or Washington’s Birthday – or both – and this is a repeat of a previous post.] I’m not that old, but pedagogical practices in my youth seem absolutely archaic compared to whatever passes for education … Continue reading →
This will not surprise you: The 250th anniversary of America’s founding provides an opportunity to reflect on—and fight over—the country’s extraordinary story. Unfortunately, many of the serious scholars who study America—its history, literature and culture—fail to provide a balanced and … Continue reading →
The number of Christian believers in Germany has been falling rapidly, and this presents a problem: what to do with all those empty churches? Maybe it’s time to re-purpose them as mosques – it’s certainly happened before; just ask the … Continue reading →
I’m extremely pleased to announce that Gerard Van der Leun’s poetry book, Into the Smoke of the World and other poems, is ready for purchase. Poetry was very dear to Gerard’s heart, and this beautiful book features almost all of … Continue reading →
Too many murders, both of the public political and jihadi type, and of the private. They signify different things and threaten different things, but there’s this quality to it: Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed … Continue reading →
I’m happy to report that I finally found a printer that can put out a version with which I’m satisfied, and I gave them the go-ahead. I originally thought the book would be available around Thanksgiving time, but that obviously … Continue reading →
I had originally thought Gerard’s poetry book would be ready for sale by November 1. Dream on. Then it seemed highly likely it would be ready by December 1. But then I ran into printer troubles. Trust me – you … Continue reading →
I’ve been making turkey soup with the leftovers from Thanksgiving, which this year in my case amounts to about 95% of a cooked turkey. Turkey soup always sounds so easy, and is one of the reasons I like to make … Continue reading →
I thought I was finished with my work on formatting the poetry book by Gerard. I sent the PDF to the printer a couple of days ago – hooray! – and got back a proof that alas, didn’t look quite … Continue reading →
This seemed like a most unusual spambot, with a rather elegant and “literary” sound to it: The landlady sobbing and wailing at her forlorn condition like a peasant woman. So I looked it up, and sure enough, it’s from this … Continue reading →
I’m finished editing Gerard’s poetry book, and the cover’s being designed as well. What’s left? Printing it and distributing it, and there are decisions to be made about those things, too. Last time a friend did the mailings, but that … Continue reading →
… and although I’m very close to finished, I recently hit an extremely frustrating formatting snag. Formatting the essay book wasn’t easy, but it was a piece of cake compared to formatting poetry. The settings that purport to be appropriate … Continue reading →