Through the Threshold
Bob Dylan in Barcelona – Hernández – CC 2.0 So my post about Dylan and tradition is up at The American Conservative. You might enjoy it: http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/bob-dylan-troubadour/ Read more
Bob Dylan in Barcelona – Hernández – CC 2.0 So my post about Dylan and tradition is up at The American Conservative. You might enjoy it: http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/bob-dylan-troubadour/ Read more
Of course I’m picking a Dylan tune for this Friday Jam. Here’s my controversial opinion: I think 1989-2003 Bob Dylan is just as good, IF NOT BETTER, than 1963-1969 Dylan. I’ll be defending this bewildering position in a future post for The American Conservative…will post after it’s live. Read more
Brueghel: The Seven Virtues – Bibliothèque Royale, Cabinet Estampes, Brüssel – Public Domain It almost seems foolish to present something as a “summary” of a Thomist idea. My months long exploration of acedia, profoundly punctuated by a self-introduction to Thomism, has been in large part a lesson in intellectual humility. Thomistic thought seems so fully integrated into itself that, if not impervious to dissection, it feels best understood used rather than explained – showing the thought in action rather than discussing the... Read more
My bride and I slow danced to this song as our first dance at our wedding reception. A beautiful tune with profound lyrics. Read more
“Rosary” – Daniel Tibi – Public Domain I’m a private person. I’m much more comfortable summarizing what I’ve been learning about Aquinas than relating a direct experience or sketching a feeling. I worry sometimes that it’s a detriment to this blog specifically, but I trust readers to sense the depth of my emotional engagement in the seriousness of my pursuits and the joy in sharing my discoveries. All that said, I was recently married. It wasn’t a Catholic ceremony (I’m... Read more
Today is John Coltrane’s birthday. In high school I kept pictures of Thoreau, Coltrane, and Kerouac over my desk with a notecard below them that said “head, hands, heart”. If you think this man wasn’t reaching for something spiritual, you need to take another listen. Read more
“St. Augustine” – Joos van Wasserhove – Public Domain All apologies. Because of a sort of perfect storm of professional and personal activity, t’s been a while since I’ve posted anything. I still want to write a sort of recap of my Aquinas/acedia posts (that aspect of acedia alone deserves its own summary) and a thing on Ockham and his take on acedia – so all of that is coming soon. In the meantime, I’ve finally finally finally gotten around to... Read more
Polski: A simple example of graphic vaporwave – Kazachstanski nygus – CC BY-SA 4.0 So my big piece on vaporwave, the entirely internet-based post-consumerist electronic music genre, finally ran on Esquire recently. If you’re not familiar with the genre you should really check it out – I think it’s important. It could be my generation’s punk music. Hopefully soon (within the next few months) I’ll finally be able to write about how I think vaporwave is a clever (if sometimes overly... Read more
Dettaglio dell’Arca di San Pietro Martire nella Cappella Portinari della Chiesa di Sant’Eustorgio a Milano. Sotto: Statue delle Virtù. Sopra: Formelle con storie della vita del santo. Foto di Giovanni Dall’Orto, 1-3-2007. Picking up where we left off last week, we’ve come to understand why Saint Thomas considers a hatred of activity an impediment to beatitude. But to fully understand this aspect of acedia, it’s necessary to acknowledge that to Saint Thomas activity also carries the virtue of charity. But... Read more
“Croix du mont Royal” – L’aventure de l’électrictié 1880-1963, Archives de la Ville de Montréal, VM6,D1903.7-4 – Public Domain I took a long weekend trip to Montréal this week, my first visit to the city and (shockingly?) to Canada, which turned out to be even more delightful than I could have anticipated. In the mid 1600’s, right around the time that the city was formally founded and incorporated by French settlers, my ancestors traveled there from Le Havre and stayed for... Read more
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