Signs of the Times: An Open Letter to Orlando Soria

Dear readers (gay or not), How much do symbolic protests — such as protests native to Facebook — matter? *** I think it’s fair to say that I have a robust immune system.… Read More →

this message will self-destruct: sherlock holmes and the adventure of the hapless interpreters

The most blatant example is human language, where people often attribute meaning to words in themselves, without being in the slightest aware of the very complex “isomorphism” that imbues them with meanings. This… Read More →

yeshe chölwa

At theology camp, it was important to seem busy, so we were — the days were just packed. We would have breakfast at seven, woken up by reggae versions of non-reggae songs. Breakfast… Read More →

Idiot Wind: Julia Glassman’s Other Life Forms

In “The American Scholar,” Ralph Waldo Emerson said: As no air-pump can by any means make a perfect vacuum, so neither can any artist entirely exclude the conventional, the local, the perishable from… Read More →

as a matter of fact it’s all dark: cyberpunk, language, and the two worlds

Emma Becciu, one of the most gifted interpreters I’ve ever known, has begun a language & translation blog. A lot of it is in Italian; if you can’t read that, turn on Chrome’s… Read More →

in case of emergency

(SCENE. Kugelmass and Nicholas Bourbaki are chatting via Skype. To Kugelmass’s right is a small, unkempt mattress, strewn with gummi bears and Walter Benjamin essay collections. To his left is a painting that… Read More →

R.I.P. “proto-modernism”

If you’ve ever taken a college-level English course on literature written before 1900, the odds are pretty good that you’ve encountered a strange beast known as “the proto-modernist text.” Very often, this is… Read More →

Yes, We (Shere) Khan: The Life of Pi, A Film About The Simple Bare Necessities

First, you have to watch this short video. Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. -Matthew 7:15 Why should you run? Can it… Read More →

No, sir, it’s a completely baked Alaska

What follows is the Google chat transcript of a knock-down, drag-out battle between myself and the ferocious Tristan Matthews on the subject of John Green, and more specifically his very Donna Tartt-like novel Looking… Read More →

The Terrible Ten: Modern Self-Help And A Lehrer Follow-Up

It’s extremely helpful when readers offer corrections; I can and do get the facts wrong sometimes, and I’m always happy to follow-up when there’s a reason to do so. My friend FM had… Read More →