Early Frost and late
Here’s a very early poem by Robert Frost: “The Tuft of Flowers.” And by “very early” I mean very; Frost was probably about 22 when he wrote it (1896 or 1897). You can tell it’s early if you know anything … Continue reading →
Category Archives: Getting philosophical: life, love, the universe
On being a blogger these days: truth, Trump, and a whole lot of other things
I’m what you might call a mid-level blogger. I’ve been doing this for eleven years, and I’ve reached a certain level of readership that’s more than I ever thought it would be when I began but less than I later … Continue reading →
Lie, mistake—whatever
For many years, the question of whether the Iraq War was an error or not was discussed on this blog very regularly, and a lively discussion it was. There is no question that people on the right differed and still … Continue reading →
You will not regret watching this
…An aged man is but a paltry thing, A tattered coat upon a stick, unless Soul clap its hands and sing, and louder sing For every tatter in its mortal dress… O sages standing in God’s holy fire As in … Continue reading →
The dangers of political cynicism
Yesterday Cornhead reported the following conversation from his experience at Hillary’s Iowa appearance: I was talking to some old, rich, liberal white women in the line. It was freezing cold and they were talking about their winter vacations in the … Continue reading →
Post-debate ennui
I watched most (not all) of the debate last night. Regular readers may recall that I detest political debates in general, but this one bothered me especially much. Mulling over why that might be, I’ve come to the conclusion that—at … Continue reading →
Sympathy for terrorists
A reader sent me a link to this Cynthia Ozick piece in the Weekly Standard about having sympathy for terrorists: At bottom, an open-hearted willingness to understand “everyone” is an appalling distraction from the intrinsic depravity of the act of … Continue reading →
Zuckerberg’s gift
Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Dr. Priscilla Chan have announced a decision they’ve made on the birth of the daughter: Zuckerberg announced that his family will be giving away 99 percent of their shares in Facebook, which currently totals … Continue reading →
Trying times
It keeps hitting me that this coming election is the last one that matters. Actually, I felt that way last time. But this time the hour has gotten even later. But maybe it was always too late. When we play … Continue reading →
Leaving the light on
Now that we’ve turned the clocks back—boy, it’s getting dark earlier. And it will be getting dark even earlier before it starts reversing itself. That’s one of the things I dislike about this time of year, and here up north … Continue reading →
On Hillary’s mendacity: the performance is all that counts
Andrew McCarthy has written a National Review article entitled “Hillary’s Breathtaking Mendacity.” It describes the lies that were revealed and “made explicit” in Clinton’s testimony before the Benghazi committee on Thursday, and it’s well worth reading in its entirely. But … Continue reading →
Carrie Fisher on what happens to faces over time
The seventh Star Wars film is due to be released in two months, and I’m starting to see a lot of hype about it. Seven is an awful lot of Star Wars. Way too much for me. I’ve never been … Continue reading →