• Thoughts

    Do You Speak a Dead Language?

    “The source of life which you create lies in the power of the language which you have.” —Christopher Alexander, The Timeless Way of Building How many of us think about and analyze the language we have—the one we were given…

  • Thoughts

    Back to the Beginning

    Sexual Personae by Camille Paglia From the second paragraph on page one: “Society is an artificial construction, a defense against nature’s power.” Paglia is not wrong, but she is working from a biased position (as we all do; we each…

  • Thoughts

    Can You Be Honest With Yourself?

    Have you ever been long excited about a trip/vacation only to find yourself disappointed as soon as it begins? Did you brush off the disappointment with an excuse like, “I’m just tired from the travel”? Well, whatever the reason, that…

  • Thoughts

    What Do You Stand For?

    As I near the end of The Rape of the Mind, I look at the world I live in and think back over the past three years—and even over the last century—and I feel gratitude for the people in the…

  • Poetry

    A Story Told from Sanborn to Zusak

    (Bookcase Inspiration) Fools Crow about how they’re Educated, and it’swithin The Art of Possibility, but I wonder ifthey’ve merely been indoctrinated at The Devil’s Pleasure Palace.Might we be dealing with A Confederacy of Dunces, whosuspend Rules of Civility and build…

  • Thoughts

    Watch Your Language

    One of these days, I’ll get to It’s Not About Food by Carol Normandie and Laurelee Roark. It’s there on my shelf. If I stand up and take a few steps, I can have it in my hot little hand before you…

  • Thoughts

    Origins and Ends

    The golf lovers around here spent much of the weekend, when they weren’t out on one of the courses that just opened for the season, watching The Masters. Since they no longer have to put up with CBS Sports and…

  • Thoughts

    Sharing an Apple

    Poet Jane Hirshfield is new to me. Robert Bly is the one who introduced us, in his book, Looking for Dragon Smoke, and although I knew Bly’s name, I had paid it no attention (perhaps because none of my college…