Uncategorized
-
Vocab 128 Part 2: B
Welcome back to my new weekly series, Vocab 128, in which I sit down with pen and paper and write 128 words beginning with the same letter, in more or less the order that I think of them, before scanning the page and posting it here. The result is a flex of my vocabulary muscles,… Continue reading
-
Two recent poems
It’s a package deal. Rituals of the mind Confessions, fantasies, and wishesscrawled on composition paper,stuffed in closets,contemplated,venerated,read and read and readwith eyes and hands,in a burning tankobliterated,ashes leaping from the coalsthat glow beneath the wind,obscenities erased,the words obliquelycommemorated. Enough already Whatever, write a poemabout the phonies dancingempty steps, pretendingplastic lasts forever;they’re never going to stopand… Continue reading
-
Vocab 128 Part 1: A
Introducing a new weekly series, Vocab 128, in which I sit down with pen and paper and write 128 words beginning with the same letter, in more or less the order that I think of them, before scanning the page and posting it here. The result is a flex of my vocabulary muscles, an exposure… Continue reading
-
I broke my Duolingo streak on purpose.
¿Por qué? It’s kind of complicated, actually. The short answer is “I hate their policy related to AI.” But you should understand my personal context. My Duolingo streak was, until Friday, something like 1575 days. I could check the exact number, but I also deleted the app from my phone, so it would be a… Continue reading
-
A fly in the ointment
I was having a lovely time at the Portland Opera last weekend. The show was Verdi’s Fallstaff, a widely-acknowledged comedic classic adapted from Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor. The leading man wonderfully embodied the rakish cavalier; the supporting cast sang beautifully and acted hilariously, and the orchestra was finely conducted from beginning to end.… Continue reading
-
Stopgap
There won’t be a significant post this weekend, except for this one. There are a couple of reasons for this, and I’ll start with the one that would seem to be the most important: my computer is in the shop! Recently I purchased a new computer to replace the one I’ve had since 2011 or… Continue reading
-
Thoughts of a Tutor on Structure
It should not be surprising to say that most high school students are not excellent writers. Most of them won’t have opportunities to get very much better at it when they aren’t students anymore, either. Many people tasked with writing anything of length seem to struggle with the organization of ideas into a logical progression.… Continue reading
-
The Squares of Squares
Counting by the squares of squares,an escalation:One idea, the exception;Sixteen strokes of a pento sign essential orders for security;Eighty one minutes of sleepdivided by exhausted nightmares;Two hundred and fifty six accounts takenof extenuating circumstances;Six hundred and twenty five descriptions pulledfrom all existing manuscripts in storage;A thousand hopes extinguished,two hundred and ninety six deferrals;Two thousand, four… Continue reading
-
Why I went to the trouble
Having just finished the second of two lengthy posts about the Beatles, I think a moment of self-reflection is in order. From a certain point of view, those posts were less about my longstanding obsession with history’s greatest band and more about the fact that two weeks ago, I was feeling really bad: bad enough… Continue reading
-
How to Listen to the Beatles: Part 2 of 2
Welcome back, readers from last week (and welcome anew, readers starting here). In my previous post about listening to the Beatles with intention, I wrote about the necessary context for understanding the band’s music. I discussed the way the Beatles functioned as a musical unit, the way their best-known compilation albums present their material and… Continue reading
Ink Tea Stone Leaf 