For a good year and a half I’ve had the editorial review of one of my manuscripts sitting on my desk. The editorial letter, which is pictured in the title image, is 9 pages long. (Hint: the manuscript has lots of problems.) The Developmental Edit of the manuscript itself is... read more
Beliefs have consequences. Actions have consequences. Like beliefs and actions, words have consequences. Words do things. What things? J.L. Austen maps them out in How To Do Things with Words (1962). Austen was an ordinary language philosopher who taught at Oxford. He was one of several language philosophers and linguists... read more
We all know what happened at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday this week. Over the past two days commentators have remarked repeatedly that the last time invaders stormed the Capitol was during the War of 1812. I was aware of this fact because of all the research I did for... read more
I’m taking my own advice for writers: Read. Read. Read. I recently got on a Polish writer kick. And began with Olga Tokarczuk. She won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2018. So a good place to start. Title Image: Olga Tokarczuk by Adrianna Bochenek/Agencja Gazeta/Reuters. No copyright infringement intended.... read more
To continue ringing in the New Year my theme today is alcohol. Particularly, in the context of watching various foreign language movies and series over the past 10 months. How strange it was for me to be watching a Norwegian series last week and to learn the name of my... read more
If I’m going to be counting blessings, I’ll start with the fact that I’m safe and sound. And I have nice views. Title image: my windows onto the world. Looking north and west over Durham, NC. Even though I’ve become a hermit, these vistas may be helping to keep my... read more
I first posted this blog about Lalibela on July 13, 2018, when I went to Ethiopia with my dear friend Phillip. I am reposting it because 60 Minutes aired a segment on the city today, on Christmas. 60 Minutes named their segment “Built by Angels.” According to Elias Alemayehu, our... read more
Title image: my physical notion of Covid comfort, namely a daily zoom yoga class. In an earlier blog, I made the point about how whatever we were doing before the pandemic, we’re doing the opposite now. Most all of my pre-pandemic routines have changed. My eating habits have certainly changed.... read more
We all know what to deck the hall with. That’s right, boughs of holly. Sure, we all know it because the song has an upbeat melody and lots of fun fa-la-las. But it’s also memorable because it sets the Yuletide scene so deftly. Along with all the fresh and fragrant... read more
Doctors come in many varieties. On Saturday the issue of who gets to call herself Doctor arose when the Wall Street Journal ran a pretty darned stupid opinion piece. As you have no doubt heard by now, the writer of the op-ed chastised Dr. Jill Biden for insisting people refer... read more
