1. In my judgment, when it comes to great men of American history, there is George Washington, there is Robert E. Lee, and there is everyone else. 2. My history class has finally gotten up to the Civil War (the second one), so I've been reading up on it to patch up my knowledge of … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: Mostly Civil War, Some Anime and Music
History
Saturday Flotsam: Teaching History, Kansas Context, and a Paradox
1. My history book for sixth grade starts off its survey of the men of the Middle Ages with an account of the Norse gods, paralleling previous entries in the same series which started with the Greek gods to set the stage for famous Greeks and so on. The trouble is that, from what I've … Continue reading Saturday Flotsam: Teaching History, Kansas Context, and a Paradox
Sunday Flotsam: More Teaching and Some Fire Thoughts
1. From today's sermon: St. Augustine said that, "Peace is the tranquility of Order." That's a line to build a frame of life on! And, as you can tell by the fact that this is going up two days late (again), I lack order in my life. Something I need to work on. 2. Back … Continue reading Sunday Flotsam: More Teaching and Some Fire Thoughts
Friday Flotsam: Christmas
1. When God comes among men, He comes not as a figure of awe and terror, but as an infant sleeping in His mother's arms. 2. I'm home in Michigan for Christmas; going back to Arizona for New Years'. It's nice to see rain again, though I wish it were snow (meanwhile, my sister in … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: Christmas
Noble Cobra Magazine Lives: ‘The Discarded Image’
My long-neglected Substack has at last been coaxed back into life with the first of a commentary series on C.S. Lewis's The Discarded Image: Lewis starts off with a lengthy illustration of a key and oft-neglected fact of the Medieval mind: Medieval man shared many ignorances with the savage, and some of his beliefs may … Continue reading Noble Cobra Magazine Lives: ‘The Discarded Image’
Friday Flotsam: In Which I Critique Both Walt Whitman and Muhammed, but Mostly the Former
1. If nothing else, it's a relief to actually have an election that ended 'clean'. No talk of cheating or collusion, no 'too close to call', just a clear outcome arrived at in the space of a single night. Seems to me that used to be the norm, once upon a time. 2. I really … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: In Which I Critique Both Walt Whitman and Muhammed, but Mostly the Former
Friday Flotsam: Miracles, Art, Anime, Etc.
1. The big takeaway from my history classes this week was the story of St. Patrick engaging in a battle of the miracles against the druids of Ireland, including a memorable incident where the chief druid levitated with the aid of devils, whereupon St. Patrick prayed and sent the guy plumetting to his death. In … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: Miracles, Art, Anime, Etc.
Friday Flotsam: 5th Century Italy, Manga, and Election Songs
1. Lately I've been learning some about the 5th-7th century in Italy, which is really a criminally under-discussed time period. Most popular histories more or less just jump from "sack of Rome" to "Dark Ages," as if nothing happened in between. But boy, did it ever! Like how we have a rare instance of one … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: 5th Century Italy, Manga, and Election Songs
Civil War Parallels at the Everyman
My first Everyman post in a while is now up. It's a foray into contemporary politics, looking for historical parallels. Specifically, I look at the likelihood of America dissolving into another civil war by comparing it to one of our previous ones: More and more the idea is in the air that the United States … Continue reading Civil War Parallels at the Everyman
Saturday Flotsam: More History and ‘Who Goes There?’
1. I had my first angry parent encounter this week: someone not happy with one of my assignment policies. Sample from the conversation: "I think you're being very unprofessional.""How so?""You have a very poor attitude.""Can you tell me how?""You're too terse." An unpleasant experience, but an inevitable one. In any case, the policy still stands … Continue reading Saturday Flotsam: More History and ‘Who Goes There?’
Serpent's Den 