Monthly Archives: July 2011

A Bit of Irony…

“I just want to be clean.” — Jim Carroll, from The Basketball Diaries. A facebook friend (and former classmate) of mine posted the following as her status a few minutes ago, with regard to the debt ceiling debates: Text, tweet, … Continue reading

Posted in Politics | 19 Comments

In Which the Prof Is Reminded that Rock and Roll Is a Young Man’s Game (If You Don’t Have Roadies)

Played a gig down on the town square last night, as part of a summer community concert series. We’ve played this a few times before over the years, to generally elderly and indifferent crowds (as a friend of mine once … Continue reading

Posted in Family, Music, Why I Do What I Do | 9 Comments

A Question of Ownership

Although our attention is focused on other things these days, I continue to oppose the Obama administration’s efforts to manipulate the health-care system, and a column by A. Barton Hinkle at Reason gets to the heart of much of my … Continue reading

Posted in Politics | 2 Comments

What? More Heinlein?

In one of his first “Future History” stories, “The Roads Must Roll“, RAH posits a rebellion of transportation workers who proclaim the “functionalist” revolution. As wiki observes, the rebellion “advances the idea that one’s status and level of material reward … Continue reading

Posted in Literature, Politics | 1 Comment

Heard This on the Morning News…

… and Jonah picked it up too, so I might as well pass it along. From Business Insider: According to the latest daily statement from the U.S. Treasury, the government had an operating cash balance of $73.8 billion at the … Continue reading

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From a Skylark (and Not the Buick Sort)

OK, this is probably pathetic, but I tend to save the evaluations and letters of recommendation people have written for me over the years, and I go back and reread them on days when I’m feeling particularly futile, to remind … Continue reading

Posted in Education, Music, Why I Do What I Do | Leave a comment

In Which the Prof Juxtaposes Some Quotes (A Long Post)

Some decades back, Robert Heinlein decided to take a look at where he thought trends were carrying his (and my) beloved nation. He offered two scenarios, closing with an optimistic one. But it’s the first, darker one that has stuck … Continue reading

Posted in Literature, Politics | 3 Comments

A Thought on Amateurism…

Arethusa considers the decline of what she calls amateurism in intellectual endeavor in recent decades — what we also might think of as the work of “independent scholars”, outside the traditional, orthodox academic setting (think Schliemann or the backyard astronomer … Continue reading

Posted in Culture, Education, Politics | 6 Comments

How Twigs Get Bent: Strangers

A while back, I reviewed Megan Abbott’s novel, The End of Everything. At Abbott’s blog, she discusses what appear to be unconscious connections between her novel (which deals with a missing child) and similar cases that took place during her … Continue reading

Posted in Culture, Faith, Family, Why I Do What I Do | 1 Comment

Levelling Down

As I was in the cafeteria at Mondoville today, I was chatting with the Angel’s’ Legal Aid (as I serve the role of Devil’s Advocate, so…), and the topic of egalitarianism somehow crept into the conversation, which reminded me of … Continue reading

Posted in Education, Literature, Politics | 1 Comment