1. So, over last weekend I made the decision to quit my current job. I have enough money and do not have any dependents, so staying on for a paycheck just didn't seem worth it. What I'm going to do next is kind of undecided, except that I'm definitely going to be writing more. In … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: Mostly About Giving Notice
Thoughts
Thoughts on ‘G.K. Chesterton: A Criticism’
This is really one of the most valuable books on Chesterton that I think I have read. Coming from a loving, but clear-sighted brother, it avoids the two errors that many people fall into regarding GKC; that of overpraising him as an infallible or only semi-fallible prophet and of simply dismissing him as an out-of-date … Continue reading Thoughts on ‘G.K. Chesterton: A Criticism’
Friday Flotsam: Mental Health and Recent Reading
1. It’s been a rough week; at work we had one support person out on vacation and another got fired. Which meant it was just me and one other person on the phones. Working the phones is not at all my skill set. The long and the short is that I ended up with a … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: Mental Health and Recent Reading
Friday Flotsam: AI and Sentience, Goldfish, and More
1. I've never read Song of Ice and Fire or seen Game of Thrones, but I have to pay congratulations to George R.R. Martin: Well done, sir; you have become the new Duke Nukem: Forever. 2. Do people actually take what AI bots say seriously? I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, but still; you do … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: AI and Sentience, Goldfish, and More
More Thoughts On Dante
This is more or less what was supposed to be in Friday's post. In my reading of The Divine Comedy, the poets have reached Purgatory. It's really a relief to get out of Hell (I mean, you wouldn't think so, but...). I'd forgotten how effective Dante is at making the Inferno more and more unbearable … Continue reading More Thoughts On Dante
‘Death Note’ Quick Thoughts
I finally finished Death Note the other night. Overall, it's very good, and definitely a part of the modern canon, and the protagonist is the one of the more hateful, soulless characters I've encountered. However, I do think the first third-to-half of the show is by far the best part, and that it definitely falters … Continue reading ‘Death Note’ Quick Thoughts
Reviews: Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
On the surface, 1947’s Miracle on 34th Street is somewhat unlikely as an all-time classic. The story sounds like something you’d find in a cheesy, made-for-TV special, perhaps something from the Hallmark channel: a kindly old man working as a mall Santa Claus claims to be the real Santa Claus, spreads the Christmas spirit everywhere … Continue reading Reviews: Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
Feast of the Immaculate Conception
"For the honor of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, for the glory and adornment of the Virgin Mother of God, for the exaltation of the Catholic faith and the increase of the Christian religion, We declare, pronounce, and define, by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, of the blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, and … Continue reading Feast of the Immaculate Conception
Friday Flotsam: Grumpy Talk Mostly of Manners and Values
1. I've been oddly tired this week; it's been hard for me to make myself do any work or focus on anything. I don't know whether it's depression, low blood-sugar (I'm fasting for Advent), adverse spiritual influence, or some combo. Probably a combo. 2. There are ways to reach superficially similar effects through morally opposite … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: Grumpy Talk Mostly of Manners and Values
Brief Christ the King Thoughts
Instituted at a time when earthly monarchies were toppling or falling one-by-one, the Feast of Christ the King is meant to remind us that Our Lord does not only rule the 'spiritual' life and the Church, but all Earthly things as well. All nations are rightly subject to Him in all their affairs, not just … Continue reading Brief Christ the King Thoughts
Serpent's Den 