Animal House
Shuffling through the vaccination and microchip records, reading the myriad names, I sometimes smile with nostalgic fondness, but more often my eyes mist as I am reminded of the multitudes we have loved but lost.
Essays
Turtles All the Way Down
In a number of ancient traditions, the world is believed to rest on the back of a giant turtle, which leads to the epistemological question of what might be supporting that turtle.
Archtypes: Hook-Ups
"The Dogs' Office"
How Animals Teach Us to be Human
In some sense, animals may possess a more instinctive humanity than we do. The world is our classroom, and all its inhabitants are our teachers.
Minding Nemo
Our alienation from fishes stems from the fact that they have existed, both literally and figuratively, beneath the surface of our awareness. Gaze over a lake, a river, or an ocean, and while there may be legions of fishes carrying on with their lives within inches of the surface, we witness nothing of it.
Some Interesting Tales About Animals in the Human World
An incomplete listicle of how we think about animals.
Bulldogs, Gridirons, and Saturday Afternoons
Mascots in sports–especially animal mascots–create a vision that fans imagine as reality until it becomes tradition. A mascot is a stand-in for how we see ourselves, if only for three or four hours on a Saturday.
An Album While You Wait
Throughout her career thus far (it is hard to remember that she is just 33 years old), Esperanza Spalding has proven that hers is a unique voice in the music industry, easily crossing genre boundaries, yet continuously lauded by jazz musicians and audiences.
Glamorizing the Nightmare Trade
Netflix’s mega-popular Narcos series romanticizes Pablo Escobar’s Colombian cartel by effectively distancing the international drug trade in time and place. But like the narcotizing effect of the drug Escobar traded in, gripping television should not lure us from the drug problems of our here and now.
The Body in Question: Herbie Hancock in Concert
What happens to the body in technologically-mediated live performances, particularly those that continue to be defined as jazz by many audiences? The music of Herbie Hancock, in many ways, answers that question.