A few weeks ago, my friend Julie asked if I’d be willing to listen to Jenny Youngman’s new album, The Girl with Good Intentions (released August 1, 2013 on iTunes and for sale on her site) and write about it somewhere. I agreed, and then ran into some existential angst and general busyness that delayed my doing so. A note […]
Rabbit Room Listening Party – Andy Gullahorn
There’s a listening party going on over at The Rabbit Room today for Andy Gullahorn’s new album, Beyond the Frame. I heard the song that inspired the title almost a year ago – “Grand Canyon,” the first thing I ever heard from Andy – and it has remained with me since. If the rest of the album is half as good […]
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 […]