A Defense of College Football Rivalries as Local Culture
College football is a local endeavor that should be enacted by those with a connection to that place.
Do-able Simplicities: On Letter Writing and Fountain Pens
Holding the letters was a delicate experience, noting the brittle nature of the paper, being careful not to let them tear at the aged folds, and yet the blue ink, obviously done with a fountain pen, was as clear as if it had been written yesterday.
Shopping Local in a Storm
I mourn the storm. It’s far from over. But I also do not mourn without hope.
Two Cheers for E-Bikes
Automobiles shield you from the outside world, its sounds, its colors. But on my bike, I encounter my environment directly.
The Middle Ground of Wit and Insult, Considered Together With Their...
In other words, knowledge and reason are no match for our gargantuan vices. The giants passion and pride cannot be held at bay by the ignorance that prevails in public discourse and certainly not by the bluster it hides behind.
Figures of Death and Deathlessness
But our culture’s celebration of Halloween suggests that we know yet more. We sense not only that we are dust and will return to it; we also sense that life exists beyond death.
Boarding House at the End of the World
Zoning laws, housing codes, and a culture marked by suspicion and antisociality make it difficult to revive the boarding house, a living arrangement that once applied to nearly half of the population.
Unpacking My Library (Again)
Maybe, in the end, a home library does what a long-inhabited home does: charts a middle ground between the chaos of the world and the hyper-rationality of modernity.
