There is something almost magical about a display of humble, well-used tools, as a physical manifestation of a life and calling. It is evidence of the culling of what does not work, and the re-use of and care for what does. It reminds that the tool is not the knowledge, but that which permits knowledge to act; it shows a piety to craft, and a mastery like saintliness of an art.
The latest reading of "The Princess Bride," in support of Democratic victory in swing-state Wisconsin, was fun to watch but had its share of lags, unsynched voices, dead mics, pixellated video, and the tops of heads of people reading from texts. That is to say, it perfectly mimicked the Zoom meetings of our time.
Screenshot of YouTube video by News2Share in August. The title essay of Tatyana Tolstaya’s Pushkin’s Children: Writings on Russia and Russians is an account of the changes in feeling toward Russian writers, within Russia, over time. The essay questions the writer’s role, as artist and as citizen, and…
The new movie shows Bond has retired since we last saw him. I am interested in that narrative problem too. How does an untouchable retire, as if he had passed his career as a middle-school teacher? What does he do all day? Where? With whom? Can he sleep?
Donnie was sitting on his porch when we passed. It had been three days since the hurricane. His house was missing half its shingles, and the city had no power or water. Next door, workmen were ripping up the damaged rubber roof of a business, in order…
My son and I labored around our property. We got lucky; there was little damage to the house itself. But it was still hard work, in subtropical humidity, full sun, and heat indices over 100 degrees. I was the kind of exhausted where I was mouth-breathing, and when I bent over I drooled on my shoe. But cleanup is no joke, and reports of heart attacks and heat strokes are frequent.
Those in the Gulf South are realistic about hurricanes. Three days after Laura hit, cleanup is well underway. South Lake Charles. Groves of trees all over town are crushed. West Prien Lake Road. Tobacco Plus gas station, near the casinos. Vape shop, Ryan Street. Utility vehicles staged in supermarket lot…
Maybe it was being mistaken for that other young man that fixed the incident in my mind for 35 years. Maybe it was the helplessness of an army’s search at sea, on rivers, and in the jungle. Maybe I am predisposed to worry over everything turning away in time, calmly.
In a time of instant expectation, a hurricane is a lesson in waiting. I grew up in the Midwest, where tornadoes blossom quickly, and their effects are quickly known. A hurricane grinds its way from Africa, many times, its path uncertain. Even after forecast models converge, and its landfall spot…
Dave "Tuffy" Cabusora hopes that DeJoy’s recent claim, after being put on the spot, that he will authorize overtime as needed will get things back on track. Before DeJoy, postal trucks made two stops at Tuffy’s house, every day. That stopped a month ago.
The National Center for Education Statistics says there will be about 16.5 million students taking classes at undergraduate institutions this fall, which is down by six percent from a decade ago. Still, that is some four million freshmen, and by my calculation most of…
Recent daytrips with my sons made me recognize a category of historical monument I had not considered much: the overenthusiastic mea culpa. The first was in my hometown of Herrin, Illinois. A stone recently erected in the cemetery marks the graves of “scab” workers murdered in 1922, during a…