Rebellion is relative. For example, given what passes for “conventional” and status quo in our home, my 17-year-old’s rebellion takes the form of sympathy for the Republican party, a desire to major in business, and a passion for country music. He certainly knows how to push my buttons. I’ll admit that I can partly understand…
Well behind the curve, my wife and I began watching Mad Men this week. I’ve been underwhelmed: while Donald Draper’s suave, dapper character is drawn with a bit of mystery and complexity, the rest of the scenes are populated by cartoonish caricatures who are flat, predictable and–worst of all–unbelievable. And its propagandish attempt to shock…
Well, this one was a long time coming. But I just got my first copy of Desiring the Kingdom! The official release date is August 5. This book has been with me (and with our family, I’m afraid) for several years. In fact, it was just about a year ago that my wife headed up…
I did not grow up reading books. In fact, I avoided them like the plague as if not reading was some kind of badge of honor. This ridiculous code was absorbed from a combination of “jock” mentality and the “country boy” image we absorbed in my small-village upbringing that was rural in its essence. I…
I appreciate that the New York Times was even cognizant of Canada Day. In fact, their little collection of testimonies from Canadian emigrants reads like a hymnal that proves absence makes the heart grow fonder. I suppose this is the experience of most emigrants, particularly Canadians, for whom “Canada” doesn’t really appear as a definable…
“One of the reasons why so many academic scholars find it impossible to write effectively for general magazines is that they are not used to listening to their own voices as poets are. They find their happiness in approbation, not in the English language.” ~Alfred Kazin, “Writing for Magazines,” in Contemporaries, p. 473.