Monthly Archives: November 2014
Song of Coleridge’s Sailor (4 of 7)
4. As the old man spoke of the dying of the crew, the young man’s face turned white. He jumped up and tried to step away. But the old man stayed him with a hand on his shoulder. Bony and gnarled and cold it seemed, the hand of a ghost returned from the sea. The […]
Song of Coleridge’s Sailor (3 of 7)
3. The old man spoke on. It was a weary time when our throats were parched and we watched with glazed eyes at the silent sea about us. Then, in the west I saw a shape: a speck, a distant ship that tacked and veered. Standing there on the sun-baked deck, I watched. I stared. And at […]
Song of Coleridge’s Sailor (2 of 7)
2. “The sun came up, and we sailed in a northerly direction. The day was all mist and fog, but there was wind in our sails. And in the evening the sun set in the west to our left. We were saved from the grinding ice.” “But alas, I had done that terrible thing. For now […]
Song of Coleridge’s Sailor (1 of 7)
1. There are three young men walking quickly along a road. They’re in a hurry. They’re going to a wedding. The music has already started. They pass an old man who reaches and out touches one of them on the shoulder. The young man stops but his friends don’t notice and continue on. “We are late, […]
Lawrence Lessig / Berlin Family Lectures
A remarkable series of lectures at the University of Chicago by Lawrence Lessig on the notion of legal, institutional corruption and how it relates to the problems and pathologies of today’s American political system. Long-form video to be sure but well worth the investment, IMHO. From the closing remarks to lecture one (in which he […]
Reading About Monsters (2)
1. I told you, didn’t I, about reading to the kids in the library? It was RIF day. The kids were all excited about getting to choose a book that they could keep. And since it was just before Halloween, the theme was monsters. I know I told you about that. But I didn’t tell […]
Reading About Monsters
1. The theme was monsters. After all, it was just before Halloween. The kids filed into the library and sat on a carpet at the far end of the room. Some of the kids were better at this that than others. The girls, of course, were consistently the best. But to be honest, the boys […]
Rothko Doggerel
Sent from my iPhone. As he does so often, my brother had sent me a picture he’d snapped. Were they still in California? Did they go to Houston to the Rothko chapel? Who knows. The note said nothing. It just included the picture. I love Rothko. I’d hang one in the living room if I […]
A New Month
Day 1 “It’s November first!” she exclaimed as she pulled a shirt over her head and raced out of the bedroom. I rolled over and closed my eyes. But it was for naught. Morning had come. I got out of bed and walked into the closet. But before I got there, I looked out the […]