I wrote recently about my initial experiences with The Confessions. Finished sometime around 400 AD, it’s an early version of the memoir, particularly the confessional and spiritual quest genres, though it doesn’t look like the ones published today. If I read it again, I’m going to research current or celebrated translations. If you are a … Continue reading Our Heart Is Restless: St Augustine’s Confessions
Andrei Tarkovsky’s Solaris (1971), a sci-fi film full of slow poetry, led me to the author Stanislaw Lem, whose book inspired it. Since I only had the film to go by, I was expecting something similar to Tarkovsky, but Lem is a different experience. More like the feeling after reading The Metamorphosis a few times … Continue reading An Artificial Certainty: Stanislaw Lem’s Hospital of the Transfiguration
While finishing the last week of the 2018 academic year, the family got some form of stomach virus that started last week. Since that cleared up, we’ve been able to do some much needed cleaning and organizing. We’re also planning our next academic year. The youngest got her cast cut off and she is healing. … Continue reading The Week That Was, or Emptiness, Eagles, and Snow
An overheard conversation between bath and bedtime: 6YO: “Ciao”…”Ciao” means…uh…”Ciao” means “hello” and “goodbye” in…in… Amy: Italian. 6YO: In Italian. 4YO: (clomps in on cast) ¡Hola, Big Dogs! Despite a nice plate of shrimp, peas, orzo, and fresh parmesan, our children decided to skip that and eat the lemons off the cutting board. One of … Continue reading The Week That Was, or This Is He Who Smells
Geese and ducks have returned with their young. We’ve been walking around the pond looking at greeny goslings, all fuzzy like they got stuck under a hair dryer. We’ve also seen ducklings swim behind their parents in those cute little lines that I don’t think I’ve ever seen in person–only on cartoons or in storybooks. … Continue reading The Week That Was, or Them Geeses
Remember last week and all that great weather and trips to the park? This week began in rain (and ended in rain) and a broken foot for our youngest who was just getting the hang of sliding down the “fire pole” by herself. She’s in a cast and a Franken-boot since it’s more dangerous for … Continue reading The Week That Was, or Brokefoot Poutin’
We’ve had great weather here, so when the kids get home we’ve been going to the park. I miss when the geese would waddle around us. Now there’s just screeching trees, but at least the insects and the heat haven’t taken over…yet. Mostly it’s just Spider-Man jumps and running around the playground. My oldest likes … Continue reading The Week That Was, or Red Planet Aligned
We celebrated our oldest daughter’s birthday. She was excited that she got to hear her name over the intercom at school. She is still young enough that everyone in her class brings in cards and treats. The youngest was stashing candy and wrappers everywhere, a chaotic flurry of plastic and chocolate. Demanding pizza. Drawing on … Continue reading The Week That Was, or The Shape of Pizza
This week included speeding tickets, stomach viruses, the stinkiest, and ultimately most inedible, Brussels sprouts ever, and a white-knuckled trip to work in rain, standing water, and without streetlights, among other slight disasters. My just-turned-four-year-old got a special present of pull-ups for her birthday because of the stomach virus. Taking care of sick children did … Continue reading The Week That Was, or I Wish the Shoe Fit
Stephen McClurg 