Books
-
According to Wikipedia, in Wicca, standing inside a chalk circle can protect you from evil. It can even empower you. Wikipedia also says that Bertolt Brecht wrote a play called The Caucasian Chalk Circle: “The play is a parable about a peasant girl who rescues a baby and becomes a better mother than its natural parents.”…
-
If I were to put together a “Recommended Reading” list for dads, Fàbio Moon and Gabriel Bà’s Daytripper would definitely be on it. It’s tough for me to talk about it without spoiling it for those who haven’t read it yet. I suck at being coy with the details – especially when it comes to…
-
Now 30 years old, The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4 can still make you laugh as the main character, Adrian, relays the adolescent struggles of his daily life. In addition to the book retaining its relevance more than a score since its first publication, Adrian Mole also functions as a time capsule,…
-
I was always intimidated and self-conscious when I talked to her or was in her presence because she was like art. I mean, she was an object that had been very strongly, effectively created. (Robert Rauschenberg, Edie: An American Biography, 1982) George Plimpton did an excellent job editing all the interviews Jean Stein gathered for…
-
Reading Thad Rutkowski is like reading the lab journal written by the rat running the maze. His observations are just as emotionally sparse as those of the scientist conducting the experiment. You are presented with a circumstance (the experiment and the hypothesis being tested) and then you are given a series of actions and reactions.…
-
It was Baz Luhrmann’s movie adaptation of Romeo and Juliet that reignited my love of Shakespeare. Even before I read Romeo and Juliet, I had “read” it. The story is an interesting instance of when a book’s (or play’s) reputation precedes it. The longevity of Shakespeare’s works is not a result of their inclusion in…
-
There’s a curious lyric right after the famous opening lines of the Talking Heads song, “Once In A Lifetime.” Letting the days go by, let the water hold me down… It’s curious because when you think of “letting the days go by,” you think of “going with the flow,” you think of “floating.” This lyric…
Vincent Young 