1. This week was overall pretty miserable: I was strangely exhausted most of the time and my depression flared up badly. I want to say it’s some form of burnout, but you know what they say about self-diagnosis. In any case, I was able to get through by severely curtailing my activity and schedule to … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: Depression, Thrawn, and Lady (and the Tramp)
Re-Post: Bullying Yard Sale
Typically insightful piece from Joseph Moore of Yard Sale of the Mind: Question: how did we all get so inured to bullying so described, such that probably a good 70% of us just go along no matter what. How did we come to even try to put up with bullying, rather than fighting back at … Continue reading Re-Post: Bullying Yard Sale
The Problem with Boycotting Amazon
Those of us who sell things on Amazon are in a bit of a quandary these days. On the one hand, many people quite understandably don't want to support the great jungle of avarice and arrogance. Since it's become increasingly clear just how much power giant tech companies like this wield, a lot of people … Continue reading The Problem with Boycotting Amazon
Some Depression Thoughts
As I've said before, I'm not really sure what to call my particular mental burden. I generally go with 'depression' because that seems to be the closest and that's what my counselor calls it. In any case, it's been surfacing more often lately. Sometimes takes the form of rather severe mood swings, where I can … Continue reading Some Depression Thoughts
Poetry – ‘The Village Blacksmith’
Under a spreading chestnut-treeThe village smithy stands;The smith, a mighty man is he,With large and sinewy hands;And the muscles of his brawny armsAre strong as iron bands. His hair is crisp, and black, and long,His face is like the tan;His brow is wet with honest sweat,He earns whate'er he can,And looks the whole world in … Continue reading Poetry – ‘The Village Blacksmith’
Words of the Saints: St. John Henry Newman on Miracles
The below comes (now, try to stay with me) from one of the appendices of Cardinal Newman's Apologia pro Vita Sua, in which, to respond to the criticisms of Charles Kingsley, he quotes at length a passage in an earlier work of his discussing miracles. The words below are from that passage: "There is in … Continue reading Words of the Saints: St. John Henry Newman on Miracles
Pseudo-Leadership
This video of a tense moment of border patrol agents meeting with their commander has been making the rounds lately. I share it both because it’s yet-another encouraging sign that the stranglehold is unravelling and because it’s an example of something that I’ve been noticing lately. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIMORHoe_m8 The commander’s attitude is what I would call … Continue reading Pseudo-Leadership
Friday Flotsam: More Thrawn and Robin Hood
1. My neck of the woods was supposed to receive a snow storm, so I took some time off this week to avoid the hassle (I'm also currently in a borrowed car that doesn't do snow very well). Turned out to be not nearly as bad as advertised, but I got some time to think … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: More Thrawn and Robin Hood
‘Megamind’ at the Everyman
Got to do an essay on Megamind at last: There’s really a lot that could be said about this movie. I wouldn’t call it a great film: there are some gaps in the writing and not all the jokes land (though most of them do). But it is a very good film, with strong storytelling, … Continue reading ‘Megamind’ at the Everyman
Flotsam: Heir to the Empire and New Filmmaking
1. I'm dipping my toes into the 'Star Wars' expanded universe with Heir to the Empire. I'm about half-way through, and my impression so far is that it's a lot of fun and a genuinely pretty good extension of the story. There's a good sense that, yes, this is a logical scenario for 'what happens … Continue reading Flotsam: Heir to the Empire and New Filmmaking
Serpent's Den 