1. Auto-play videos on web pages are one of the worst ideas of the internet age. Every single time you go to a web page you have to rush to pause the thing before it starts, as likely as not hearing the first second or so over and over and over. Even if I'm going … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: Complaints, Movies, and Alexander
Thoughts
Immediate Reaction to Seeing ‘Godzilla: Minus One’
So, my immediate reaction is "Go see this film. It's only getting a limited release in the US, but this deserves all the support it can get." Wow, it's been a long time since I've seen a film this good in a theater (that wasn't a re-release or special showing). I'm trying to make a … Continue reading Immediate Reaction to Seeing ‘Godzilla: Minus One’
Friday Flotsam: Thoughts On Turning 35
1. Today is my 35th birthday. If our allotment of years is three-score and ten, I'm halfway done. 2. I'm obliged to face up to the fact that I am not happy with the man I've become or with what I have to show for my years. If you'd asked me ten or five or … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: Thoughts On Turning 35
Quick Thoughts on ‘The Last Unicorn’
I'm up in Maine visiting the niece and nephew this week, and for movie night tonight we watched The Last Unicorn. The film has a very high reputation, but honestly, I wasn't impressed by it. Oh, it's interesting, and I think I'm glad I saw it, there are a lot of good ideas in it, … Continue reading Quick Thoughts on ‘The Last Unicorn’
Friday Flotsam: Federalist Papers Again (Sorry)
1. The past few months have felt strangely repetitive and empty. I seem to have fallen onto a psychological cycle wherein little is done, but the same patterns repeat. I haven't written much lately, though constantly intending to. I find myself unable to relax into any kind of work, that is, to let go of … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: Federalist Papers Again (Sorry)
Friday Flotsam: Teaching Stuff and a Couple Federalist Papers
1. I'm generally not very fond of the lesson plans I'm given, or the readings. That is, a lot of the readings are fine in themselves, but odd choices for the subject. In US History and Literature class, for instance, my students are reading a book about the Carmelite martyrs of Compiegne, written by a … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: Teaching Stuff and a Couple Federalist Papers
Friday Flotsam: O’Connor, FNAF, and History
1. This week's personal reading was largely Flannery O'Connor, in all her dense, opaquely-grotesque images of grace. She operates on a high, inaccessible plateau of authorship in which the reader is required to make a firm commitment to not only follow her often intense prose and plots, but also to take the time afterwards to … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: O’Connor, FNAF, and History
Friday Flotsam: Mostly Gun Control and Melancholy
1. Doing a little better than last week, though still struggling with melancholy and difficulty making myself be productive. 2. The shooting in Maine yesterday actually happened close to where my sister lives. She and all her friends are safe, thank God, but please pray for everyone involved and everyone in the area, who are … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: Mostly Gun Control and Melancholy
Sunday Thought: Toy God
The God of the deists is often described as a "watchmaker God," but I think a better appellation would be a clockwork God. That is, a God whom man can wind up and make go as he likes: a toy God, who will never tell you something you don't want to hear or ask anything … Continue reading Sunday Thought: Toy God
Quick Thoughts on ‘A Sound of Thunder’
This past week I read A Sound of Thunder by Ray Bradbury, a justly famous story, as all of Bradbury's works would be were they all so famous. It has, of course, his gorgeously lyrical prose linked with his vibrant imagination ("The jungle was high and the jungle was broad and the jungle was the … Continue reading Quick Thoughts on ‘A Sound of Thunder’
Serpent's Den 