Category: history

• Times Roman

  Jul 11

  Below are some of my photos from a recent trip to Rome. This collection is of architectural ruins and art/historical objects that I found compelling. Colosseo I Colosseo II Bernini’s… more ›

• Legend

  Feb 27

  I don’t remember a time in my life when I didn’t know of Van Cliburn. From small-town east Texas, he became a legend–and one of my heroes–of both classical music… more ›

• Gobbledygoo

  Jun 8

  “…Barely daring to breathe or Achoo.” – S. Plath Last night he found himself in an impromptu Plath-a-thon, reciting “Daddy” at a pub that served the worst version of a… more ›

• Mindful of the Date

  Jan 20

  Seventy years ago today a small group of people meet for ninety minutes at a lovely villa in a Berlin suburb to articulate how they would systematically murder another “group”… more ›

• Barabbas, Son of the Father (In Our Age)

  Dec 31

  It was unanimous: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John have the Jews calling out the name Barabbas, calling out for Barabbas’s release, calling for the crucifixion of Jesus, the other Son… more ›

• The Ruination and Salvation of Life/Writing, Part III

  Jul 15

  Maurice Blanchot’s own biography—the writing of his life—attests to the experience of life as, through, and by way of writing. We know almost nothing about the man, even when we… more ›

• Into the Past, Part II

  Jan 3

  Several months ago I signed up for an account on Ancestry.com, but I left everything but my most basic information empty knowing that I did not intend to return to… more ›

• 8:15

  Aug 6

  Nobel laureate Kenzaburo Oe writes about Hiroshima, moral responsibility, outrage, and aging in today’s The New York Times op-ed section. It’s an oblique essay about the travesty of Japanese policy… more ›

• At Once: A Second Word in Passing

  Jul 2

  In eins Dreizehnter Feber.  Im Herzmund erwachtes Schibboleth.  Mit dir, Peuple de Paris.  No pasarán. 5     Schäfchen zur Linken:  er, Abadias, der Greis aus Huesca, kam mit den Hunden über… more ›

• Password … Said in Passing

  Jun 25

  Schibboleth Mitsamt meinen Steinen, den großgeweinten hinter den Gittern, schleiften sie mich 5     in die Mitte des Marktes, dorthin, wo die Fahne sich aufrollt, der ich keinerlei Eid schwor. Flöte,… more ›