Archive for the ‘Reflections’ Category
Oh! We Like Poodles!
Behold the Poodle of God! We've talked about it enough, so here's a lovely example, spotted on our recent trip to Rome. This PoG is painted above a doorway in a courtyard from which one reaches the stairs to the entrance of Sant'Agnese fuori la Mura, the church of Saint Agnes outside the Walls, a […]
Calm Outside the Walls
On Friday morning we left our hotel a little earlier than usual, about 9:30, to catch a bus* that went northwest outside the ancient walls of Rome, through the Porta Pia and up Via Nomentana a way. We spotted out destination out the window and got off at the next stop to visit the basilica […]
Unexpected Delights in Rome
Planned sightseeing and famous points of interest on a trip are all well and good, but I find that what really gives a trip its spice and creates the finest lasting memories are the unexpected delights: places or events that one just trips across accidentally, spontaneous and unplanned. At lunch on Sunday we all talked […]
Team Chiesa
Rome has some 450 churches; it seems that one can't walk 50 meters without encountering yet another church. As we strolled we would sometimes point and exclaim: "Oh look! It's another church!" Some people find it odd that I, an atheist, should show an interest in visiting churches in Rome. Obviously, there's more to the […]
Count My Words
A couple of years ago a job recruiter asked me "What would be your perfect job?" With some wit, but unexpected precision, I responded: "One that requires a knowledge of partial differential equations." This does sum up pretty well the level of technical skill and experience that would have characterized a suitable position for me, […]
In: All, Reflections, The Art of Conversation
I Have an Idea
This is an essay about ideas: whence they come, in what form, how quickly they disappear, and why I always feel like I'm getting behind on things. I had this idea — to write this essay — nearly an hour ago, but it took me this long to finish what I was doing then, do […]
Liberal vs. Conservative, Again
The following I wrote in the first instance as a comment at SWAnderson's blog, in response to a comment by RightSaidFred that "You two [i.e., me and SW] seem to carry an unshakable faith that the human condition can be perfected by government action." Since it came out rather longer than the pithy epigram I […]
Spring-Time Azalea
Please welcome the newest addition to our household: Azalea. She is a 7-year-old red brindle ex-racing greyhound; in fact, all of our four-legged companions for the last eight years have been ex-racers because they make great companions. She arrived two days ago to take up the position recently vacated by Arlo, who died on 22 […]
Little Love Arrows
I am currently distracted by rehearsals every evening this week for our current musical production; we give our first public performance on Friday night, then four more shows that weekend and the next. This time: "Kiss Me, Kate", by Cole Porter. One amusing moment in the show is the dialog between the star, Fred Graham, […]
In: All, Faaabulosity, Reflections
The "Woodstock of Physics"
There has been lots of talk, relatively speaking, this week about a now-famous event that took place at the annual meeting of the American Physical Society 20 years ago. The first piece that I saw was in the New York Times (Kenneth Chang, "Physicists Remember When Superconductors Were Hot", 6 March 2007 — his piece […]
In: All, It's Only Rocket Science, Reflections
An Uncommon Woman
Just a few nights back I was part of a group conversation in which, through machinations now lost to my memory, the topic of playwright Wendy Wasserstein came up. She is apparently best known for her Heidi Chronicles, but I first knew her — and think of her most fondly — in connection with her […]
In: All, Music & Art, Reflections
Revising US History
I've finally gotten around to reading Jeff Sharlet's feature article for Harper's Magazine ("Through a Glass, Darkly : How the Christian right is reimagining U.S. history", December 2006) , and I thought it a very valuable contribution to furthering comprehension of the mostly inscrutable fundamentalist mind. It is an in-depth consideration of how fundamentalists look […]
In: All, Reflections, The Art of Conversation
Keeping Mixed Company
This is an excerpt from an interesting article about same-sex couples in Kansas — largely suburban Kansas City, Kansas, in fact, where I was born and raised. The article profiles several couples who were energized to come out by a referendum on the Kansas ballot to ban "gay marriage". Ms. Jambrosic is part of a […]
In: All, Faaabulosity, Reflections
Beard of the Week XXIV: Jolly Ol' Tom Nast
This week's beard is a double-header, if you'll pardon the expression: Thomas Nast (1840-1902), German-born American political cartoonist, and Santa Clause (unknown), as drawn by Thomas Nast in 1881 for Harper's Weekly. (The latter link is an interesting essay about how St. Nicholas was transformed in America into the red-suited Santa Clause that is so […]
In: All, Beard of the Week, Reflections
My First Year-End Appeal
Recently, with the news the Ars Hermeneutica, Limited is now a recognized 501(c)(3) tax-exempt corporation, I promised that I'd let my four regular readers know when I had an online option available for making tax-deductible [in the US] contributions. We're there, finally, and I know y'all have been holding your breath. I have a page […]
World Aids Day
I am reading blog articles about World AIDS Day, people taking the occasion to put forward facts and figures (nearly 50% of AIDS cases worldwide are women, >950 people a day die from AIDS complications in Africa each day) and talk about hope for the future. Here are some of the things I'm thinking about. […]
Procupines & Ear Accidents
Mark Liberman, in a piece* at Language Log, wrote with the title "Ear Accidents" about a visit to England and a discussion with one Jock McNaught, who kept talking about "Ear Accidents". Liberman wondered whether McNaught might be referring to something like ear piercings gone bad or some such, when he discovered that it was […]
In: All, Reflections, Such Language!
In the Public Interest
Our story thus far: Ars Hermeneutica, Limited is the nonprofit company that Isaac and I formed on 15 November, 2004 (the official date when the Articles of Incorporation were filed and stamped by the Maryland Department of Assessments and Taxation, at 11:11 AM to be precise). We formed the company for the purposes of pursing […]
In: All, Reflections, Speaking of Science
We Resume our Regular Programming
I'm back. Bearcastle.com and this blog have finished moving to the new server, and everything seems to be put back in order after the move. Even this brief hiatus seems to have left me at least elbow-deep in things to catch up on, although experience shows that I never will quite catch up. Ah well. […]
The Cusps of Warfare
I've been in a desultory sort of discussion at SW Anderson's blog (Oh!pinion) about how we, America, or even we, the targets of terrorists, should respond to terrorism. Tonight I worked out some of my frustrations at not seeing a path to a solution with any clarity by writing far more than I had intended […]