Last weekend I (hopefully) finished getting the yard ready for winter–raking leaves, cutting back various bushes, covering rose bush roots. While doing so I remembered the flip side of this activity, getting the yard ready for winter, and what I wrote about it last March. Soon it will be time to start getting the yard in shape—one of my favorite times of the year. I use the word “yard” broadly, since we live in the city and our available land... Read more
Regular or even occasional readers of this blog know that one of my guilty passions is various personality tests that are available on the Internet. Most recently I have found out that if I was a classical composer, I would be Johann Sebastian Bach (great news) and that my personality is most suited to living in Montana (total bullshit). A little while ago, thanks to my colleague Sandra who often shares these sorts of tests with her Facebook friends, I... Read more
One of my greatest joys as a philosophy professor is that I get to be bad on a regular basis. There were a number of people about whom I was told little growing up, other than that they are dangerous and to be avoided like the plague. I work out my rebellion against these restrictions now by ensuring that these thinkers make as many appearances on my syllabi as professional integrity will allow. So I teach Darwin with gusto in... Read more
Not long ago a friend and colleague told me, as we were having a beer or two (or three) at our favorite local watering hole, that my blog reminds him of Anne Lamott’s work. That was maybe the nicest thing anyone ever has said to me about my writing. In Bird by Bird, her excellent book about the writing process, Anne Lamott writes that aspiring writers should write what they would love to find. I remember a number of years... Read more
A conversation amongst a bunch of guys at a sports bar waiting for the big game to begin. “Dude, I’ve got one for you. There are these seven brothers named Aaron, Bill, Carl, Dave, Eric, Fred and George. Aaron’s the oldest one and he marries his high school girlfriend Paula. But he dies and Bill marries Paula because he thinks it’s the right thing to do.” “That’s kind of weird. Is Paula hot?” “What does that matter? “If I was... Read more
As has happened more often in the last 25 years than I could possibly recall, Jeanne dropped something unexpected into my consciousness during a phone conversation several months ago. I was in Minnesota getting ready for a week-long retreat and conference; she was driving to Vermont on business and planned to see some close friends who we have not seen in a long time. “They’ll be wondering how you are doing,” she said. “I think I’ll just say that you’re... Read more
The ancient Egyptians worshipped cats as deities. Cats have never forgotten this. “Morgan” is Welsh for “Man of the sea.” Kind of goes with my Viking ancestry. The author of Ecclesiastes writes “Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days.” Good advice, unless you don’t care for soggy and out-of-date bread. The older I get, the more Aristotelian I become. The older I get, the more I look like Plato. The author of Proverbs... Read more
Select your answer to see how you score.
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In