Dymphna at Gates of Vienna has posted a very personal and utterly heartrending essay on the loss of her daughter. It’s couched as a letter to Cindy Sheehan from one child-bereaved mother to another, and demonstrates great compassion. I urge … Continue reading →
I think it may be a lost pedagogical device, but when I was in grade school, we were forced by our teachers (mostly elderly women, as it happens) to memorize poetry. Lots of poetry. Most of it doggeral, but not … Continue reading →
We here at neo-neocon (that’s me!) wish to officially welcome the first day of spring. It’s today, in case you didn’t know–I didn’t, myself, till I heard it on the radio this morning. I’ve lived in New England for over … Continue reading →
When I turned on the news today, first thing I heard was that there had been another car-bombing of a police station in Iraq, with the death of 15 brave policemen. It seems the bomber got past the guard at … Continue reading →
I find I have still more to say about Frost’s poem “Reluctance.” The theme of the poem is the difficulty of letting go, so I guess it’s fitting and proper that I’m loathe to leave it alone after posting the … Continue reading →
There’s a trend I’ve noticed in the comments section here and also in some of the emails I’ve been getting: quite a few people admonishing me that I should shut up like a good apparatchik and take one for the … Continue reading →
Or maybe ever. They will remain my Roads Not Taken. I’m sure the scenery is lovely for the most part. But I’ll watch the videos instead: General rule of thumb: stay away from roads designated “highway of death” or with … Continue reading →
Here’s a poignant photo of a man named Greg Cook hugging his dog Coco after his East Limestone, Alabama home was destroyed by a recent tornado and Coco was found inside the ruins: It’s one of many photos in this … Continue reading →
I recently read Savage Beauty, a biography of American poet Edna St. Vincent Millay. There are several passages in the book that describe the power of Millay’s voice and its remarkable ability to transfix and even seduce (in Millay’s case, … Continue reading →
We can talk all we want about the power of the blogosphere and the talk shows. But the fact is that most people’s view of facts—and their interpretation thereof—is shaped largely by the MSM. For young people, the ground has … Continue reading →
A recent commenter, a teacher, asked for my recommendations for poems for 6th-8th graders to memorize. The thought appealed to me. But when I tried to tackle it, I realized it’s harder than it sounds. Poems with cadence and rhyme … Continue reading →
It’s a sign of the weariness of our times that
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