This is yet another post touched off by a post by Eric Schliesser on the NewApps philosophy blog … He discusses a two-part article in the New York Review of books by Mark Lilla about several films and books on the Holocaust, and considers Lilla’s contention that “Every advance in research that adds a new complicationContinue reading “Some Things a Former Soldier of the Third Reich Told Me”
Category Archives: Pain
Is the Tea Party Irrational?
A philosophy professor acquaintance of mine recently wrote an interesting blog post defending the Tea Party’s rationality, and then Salon.com came out with an article, Tea Party Radicalism is Misunderstood, echoing some of those points and differing on others. I appreciated the attempts at de-simplifying people’s views of the Tea Party’s tactics, and I haveContinue reading “Is the Tea Party Irrational?”
A Shutdown Poem
A Congress of my past selves convenes Hotly debating how to appropriate The dull foul-smelling coins That make more jingling sound than they can buy — An outmoded currency, this rage. They argue from all the times I’ve switched selves That beliefs aren’t immutable. They stand me before a murder board As if I wereContinue reading “A Shutdown Poem”
May Concussions Bring, Um … Publishing Discussions?
It’s been an eventful spring and summer in some ways, so I thought I’d do another catch-up post. May: Concussion In mid-May I had an odd experience. I was coming home from a dinner with friends at restaurant downtown around 11:00 at night, and took the American University shuttle bus from the Tenleytown metro station,Continue reading “May Concussions Bring, Um … Publishing Discussions?”
Authenticity
After my marriage ended about a year ago, I had no real intention of dating, at least not through my own efforts. As it happened, I ended up doing a surprising amount of dating that just sort of happened without my feeling like I’d gone much out of my way to cause it. In thisContinue reading “Authenticity”
Postcard from Tucson #2
Amandine and I are in Tucson on vacation again. We left on Tuesday and it was kind of an eventful day. Shortly before getting in the car to head for the airport, I got an e-mail from a literary agent I’d queried about the new novel, requesting the full manscript. That was exciting, because I’ve onlyContinue reading “Postcard from Tucson #2”
Steroids and Stigmata
This week, retired baseball player Mark McGwire finally confessed to steroid use, and it got me thinking about the relationship between social stigmas and lying. Although I normally have no interest in or awareness of anything baseball-related, I feel a personal connection to this story, because I happened to be there in the same roomContinue reading “Steroids and Stigmata”
Ups, Downs, and Qualifiers All Around
I’ll start with the bad news. I’ve now come to the part in the novel I’m currently working on where my heroine gets her heart broken. Up to now, the book has been mostly ironic philosophical humor mixed with giddy teenage infatuation, and it has been really fun to write. But now it’s going toContinue reading “Ups, Downs, and Qualifiers All Around”
Cool Quote from Cormac McCarthy
I don’t know about you all, but I loved The Road and can’t wait to see the movie. Just read the recent interview with Cormac McCarthy in the Wall Street Journal. McCarthy says: Creative work is often driven by pain. It may be that if you don’t have something in the back of your headContinue reading “Cool Quote from Cormac McCarthy”
Therese Doucet 