Recent Entries
Laying Down My Bed and Running
Closing out a summer of heck on wheels, I’ve just arisen, miracle-like, from my deathbed. (Already I am reminded of Thoreau’s saying: “Jesus to... read more
Pretty Dang Ecstatic
Briefly detained by Homeland Security, Herzog has a new classification to enter the country: “alien with extraordinary abilities.” ...Film & Video... read more
It Gets Weirder
The best-selling greeting card in the world says “Things are getting worse.” Inside it says, “Please send chocolate.”Not that you should send... read more
What the Devil Cannot Touch
It seems as though happiness should make a difference only in one’s mind, but that’s not true: increasingly researchers are finding that it makes ... read more
Remarkable Purple of Imperishable Light
Twenty-four years ago (!), one of my teachers mentioned a certain detail in an apocryphal infancy gospel, meaning one of the texts written after the f... read more
Truth, Ecstatic, Redux
If We Are Paying Attention About Facts.Q. There have been some accusations that you've taken liberties with facts in some of your documentaries and in... read more
Simplicity
I have a lot to say about monomania, Lee Child, and what happens if you don’t prune your rosebush. But first a note on simplicity.So the Simplicity... read more
Monomania
Back in graduate school, I lived in a series of unusual houses. For a while I shared a very small sixteenth-century cottage (this was in England) wit... read more
Will They Never Stop?
Here’s what arrived in my inbox today. (Some details changed to avoid my tenure being revoked.)Dear [Severely Underpaid Professor],In the last few ... read more
Fartyng and Other Forbidden Words
The words I'm using aren't real words, according to my new 21st-century version of Word. Clearly Microsoft needs to invent a version of Word for tran... read more
