A few minutes ago a friend mentioned in passing that he intends to be absent from Starbucks for a few days. He plans to be on a cruise in the Caribbean, out of the country, anticipating the inauguration of the Trump administration on January 20th. Coincidentally I happened to be reading this text at…
A hangover is what this feels like. Perhaps you recall your last hangover? It is Thursday morning after Christmas day. You know, that day anticipated by everyone with the highest of expectation. For my adult self, reason/experience insists “that longing is fantasy, a shape shifting, media driven, ginned up illusion” so snap out of…
Christmas Eve and I begin the day at Starbucks… Why wouldn’t I? Beginning a day, any day with some reading, some contemplation, and pleasant conversation is agreeable to me. That is what I want. For the most part, on many occasions I have no idea about what I want. If you were to ask,…
There are, indeed, events, forms and oscillations which are only open to a long contemplative gaze, but remain hidden to the working gaze; things that are subtle, fleeting; inconspicuous things, minor things [das Geringe]; that hover or retreat, which evade any violent efforts at their capture. The Scent of Time by Byung-chul Han, trans….
Another day, and yet not just ‘another’ day. There has never been, or can there ever be a segment of space and time that mirrors, replicates this one. The “eternal return” as a rule-of-thumb is a safe bet. Patterns become familiar. We’ve seen them before. Would we expect anything else? Matter and the personalities…
With every day that passes, January 20, 2025 approaches. Inauguration day for the Trump administration draws near. Words written in 1881 describe the situation for many of us. Not for all Americans of course. Many stand with the captain, who by their ballot, is to command the helm of the ship of state. He…
Tuesday, the weather begins to slide toward the sub-freezing that we’d expect of a midwest winter. Luigi Mangione was arrested for the assassination of the United Health Care C.E.O., Brian Thompson. Mangione was eating lunch at a McDonald’s when he was questioned by police. Weather, murder and arrest, all are apparent of the day-to-day…
The quoted segment explores the labyrinthine, puzzle-like nature of art, – whether poetry or theater, or music, or perhaps of painting or of sculpture. Imagine yourself in a gallery, or in an artist’s studio and you are surrounded by an array of paintings, or perhaps by sculpture. Each work is a portal into the…
Tuesday morning is clear and chilled. At last fall envelops us. Hot coffee tastes especially delicious. Having discovered a collection of quotations relative to Religion and Unbelief, again I ponder my own journey. I do not think I’ve exercised choice at any point in the matter of religion. Prior to my birth infinite circumstances…
Reading Nietzsche ranks with the most difficult of duties within memory. I categorize my inclination, my taste for his fevered commentary, the excavation of language in the only way possible, with language, – as a duty. I am reminded of being taken as a sick child to the family doctor by my parents. Then…
