I hope the designer of the t-shirt had the musicians of Bremen in mind. I like to believe we’re still cultured enough to remember our folk stories.
Stopping by the Woods: A Review of A Year in Weetamoo Woods
I’ve never written a poetry review before, so perhaps I’m doing this all wrong. Perhaps I should talk of meter and rhyme, cadence and word choice. But I’m not going to do that. I shall leave such things to those better versed in the criticism of poetry. Instead, I shall approach these verses as a reader. For, though I’ve studied […]
The End of All Our Exploring
It is hard for me to choose a favorite part of T.S. Eliot’s Four Quartets; ask me one day and I shall give you a different answer than the next. But one line consistently speaks my language. I’ve tried to capture it again and again in my thinking and writing. I’ve written a novel manuscript with major themes revolving around it. […]
Hogwarts and Higher Ed
The other night I hopped on to Twitter and saw this: @ayjay: Surely someone has done the McSweeney’s piece about adjuncting at Hogwarts, yes? It went uphill from there; a whole thread of conversation instigated by Alan Jacobs, Distinguished Professor of Literature at Baylor University. If you like Harry Potter, have worked in higher education, and generally enjoy funny-ness, go check […]
The Cry of the Artist
“Through all the world there goes one long cry from the heart of the artist: Give me leave to do my utmost!” –Babette’s Feast *** I came to Babette’s Feast eagerly. I’d seen it years before – multiple times. I’d studied it in a course and given a presentation on it. I’d read the short story by Isak Dinesen (Karen Blixen), perhaps […]
New Post at Greener Trees
I’ve been taking part in a great book discussion group this summer. We’re reading Jeffrey Overstreet’s book, Through a Screen Darkly. This week I wrote a guest post to host the conversation over at Greener Trees. Here’s a snippet: There is power in great beauty. Beauty heals, it soothes, it allures, it inspires. And when we see it, in a film, in […]
New Guest Post at Story Warren
Have you been introduced to Story Warren yet? It’s a delightful place, full of wonderful people who tell wonderful tales and recommend wonderful things. Y’all should head on over and check out one of those links in the previous sentence. Or all of them. S.D. Smith, who runs the place with his many allies, is a highly enjoyable human being […]
The Race That Knows Joseph
“They’re our kind of people,” Julie said. It’s the sort of phrase that could be cruel. It could be unkind, exclusive, evasive. But the way she used it, it was none of those things. “Couple on Two Benches” George Segal Source: Sculpture.org She was referring to what Anne Shirley, as a child, called “Kindred Spirits.” Later, when she grew up, […]
Hopkins, Kingfishers, and Identity
Photograph by Charlie Hamilton James Source: http://dailym.ai/14dMwTJ As kingfishers catch fire, dragonflies draw flame; As tumbled over rim in roundy wells Stones ring; like each tucked string tells, each hung bell’s Bow swung finds tongue to fling out broad its name; Each mortal thing does one thing and the same: Deals out that being indoors each one dwells; Selves — goes […]
Leaping
In less than two months, I will not be employed full time. It’s a slightly terrifying idea, but a step I’ve seen the Lord clearing the way for over and over as I’ve walked forward. I talked with a friend about it a few months ago. I said something like, “I’m going to take a leap and leave this job […]