"I looked up at the mass of signs and stars in the night sky and laid myself open for the first time to the benign indifference of the world."
L’Étranger
Or
N.B. The first section of Kierkegaard’s 1843 publication, Either/Or, is covered in a prior post titled “A Fragment of Life”, dated 01/20/2023. We move now to the second, and by far more uplifting, portion of Kierkegaard’s first great work. The scene is set to progress from the aesthetic to the ethical stage when our pseudonymous... Continue Reading →
Dive Into the Depths
The Passenger / Stella Maris Discussion Michael and David discuss Cormac McCarthy's new books: The Passenger and Stella Maris. This will be the last McCarthy review for the foreseeable future. The Passenger description (from publisher): 1980, PASS CHRISTIAN, MISSISSIPPI: It is three in the morning when Bobby Western zips the jacket of his wet suit... Continue Reading →
A Fragment of Life
“To forget – all men want to do that… but forgetting is an art that must be practiced beforehand. Being able to forget depends always on how one remembers, but how one remembers depends always on how one experiences reality. The person who sticks fast in it with the momentum of hope will remember in a way that makes him unable to forget.”
Turning Pages II: A Review of Books from 2022
Cal and I discuss the books we took down in 2022 and reflect on our lives as our twenties draw to a close. We also discuss goals for 2023. Thank you to all who have supported us over the years, we look forward to another year and opportunity to learn. Cal Wilkerson and Michael McPhail... Continue Reading →
Time and Memory
“Can it be that there was something evil in the matter from which he made the universe? When he shaped this matter and fitted it to do his purpose, did he leave in it some part which he did not convert to good? But why should he have done this? Are we to believe that, although he is omnipotent, he had not the power to convert the whole of this matter to good and change it so that no evil remained in it? Why, indeed, did he will to make anything of it at all? Why did he not instead, by this same omnipotence, destroy it utterly and entirely? Could it have existed against his will? If it had existed from eternity, why did he allow it to exist in that state through the infinite ages of the past and then, after so long a time, decide to make something of it?
Carry the Fire
They have nothing; just a pistol to defend themselves against the lawless bands that stalk the road, the clothes they are wearing, a cart of scavenged food—and each other.
Et In Arcadia Ego
"It makes no difference what men think of war, he said the judge. War endures. As well ask men what they think of stone. War was always here. Before man was, war waited for him. The ultimate trade awaiting its ultimate practitioner. That is the way it was and will be. That way and not some other way."
A Good Café: Hemingway in Paris
Paris in the 1920s sounded like such a picturesque place with cafés scattered around, the Luxembourg Garden, wine by the bottle, various writers such as Scott Fitzgerald making it their home at the time and the historical buildings in the backdrop created an ecosphere of creativity for the young Mr. Hemingway.
Alright, Alright, Alright
It would be hard to find a better representative in Hollywood that many men aspire to be like than Matthew McConaughey. Charming, well-spoken, good looking, sharp dresser and more than anything: original. From the Wild Turkey Bourbon commercials (one of my favorite bourbons) and the Lincoln car commercials to the infamous romantic comedy movies such... Continue Reading →
Brains and Brawn 