John Derbyshire in his diary on NRO blogged this language observation earlier this month. Regardless of what you think of religion in general, or Christianity in particular, all those past centuries of widespread Bible reading were wonderfully enriching to our language. Now that is all slipping away, and our language is correspondingly poorer. I noticed [...]
How some historians tease out the secular in the first Thanksgiving celebration and why it isn’t really there.
A Circle of Quiet offers these helpful hints for when one might find time to read (with pictures). Did she leave anything out? I know that World Magazine editor Marvin Olasky reads many books while walking on a treadmill. I wish I could read while mowing the lawn. What about you?
“It is common to think the world is becoming increasingly illiterate and inattentive,” reports Leah Hoffmann in Forbes Magazine. “At the same time, truly interesting and original literature continues to be published–and not all of it is languishing in the sale bins.” Who are the ten authors dubbed “tastemakers,” that is, “writers whose work is [...]
Circulation figures for several popular newspapers are available. Subscriptions are down across the board, except for the NY Times which grew subscriptions less than half a percent. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and The Boston Globe scored lowest, over 8% down. [by way of Thinking Right] In related news, NY Times reporter Judith Miller has left the [...]
Can we learn a blogspheric zeitgeist through blog searching? Here are some numbers.
Here’s a winning headline, if I ever saw one: “Local author puts thoughts on page.” It’s for an article on Leslie Miklosy, who was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and lives in Fayetteville, NC. Maybe the headline writer thought this one would be a little funny. What the alternatives? “Author Pens Words on Screen.” “Man [...]
“I don’t write to be happy or to receive any sort of satisfaction, I write because I have to, because for me writing is like breathing.” — Mempo Giardinelli, Santo Oficio De La Memoria/the Memory’s Saint Job “Rationally persuasive writing is like house painting: it’s all in the preliminaries.” — Joel Jay Kassiola, San Francisco [...]
For gifts and all things jazz, turn to Jerry Jazz Musician. I was told of this site, online since 1998, when Brandywine Books was added to a page of literary and jazz blogs. Maybe Collected Misc. will be added too when you click through these links to read more. The site publishes music opinions in [...]
Alan of Thinklings points out some humorous statements by theologian Herbert McCabe: McCabe was a Dominican priest, theologian, and editor of New Blackfriars and author of God Matters. He lived from 1926-2001, and was shaped by the 1960′s, with its clashes over situation ethics and the rise of liberation theology. Unfortunately, he was much taken [...]