Sunday, October 30, 2005



To watch King Lear is to approach the recognition that there is indeed no meaning to life and that there are limits to human understanding. So we lay down a heavy burden and are made humble. This is what Shakespearian tragedy accomplishes for us.
-Peter Ackroyd, Shakespeare: The Biography

Recently, less than humble, Lauren began to measure success by money, fame and power. The regular working world has built-in measures for success, however minor: regular paychecks, annual job reviews, thanks and kudos from supervisors and co-workers, etc. Writers have little of this. We work alone, and nobody ever says, Hey, six pages, great job today. Somehow writer’s relationship with his work is like a secret love affair, to be cherished and hidden from materialistic eyes ;-) The chains of habit are too weak to be felt until they are too strong to be broken ... Taking a hard look at my life

Art of Living & Literature Across Frontiers: Let There Be Light
Some know it as the diabolical secret organization of monk-assassins depicted in the The Da Vinci Code.

Others recall it in vague connection with Robert Hanssen, the FBI agent who spied for Russia. Those inside the beltway may be familiar with the role it played in the conversion to Catholicism of Sen. Sam Brownback, Robert Bork, and syndicated columnist Robert Novak—though apparently none of them numbers himself among the roughly 3,000 members the group claims to have in the United States. (Nor, despite rumors, do Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, former FBI director Louis Freeh, or Sen. Rick Santorum.)


• Opus Dei shows the way for ordinary people to become saints – not by renouncing the world, but by excelling in it Opus Dei [Legends aren’t supposed to be history; they are an understanding of what it means to be human. We forget them at our peril The myth of mythology ; Harold Bloom has only three criteria for whether a work should be read and taught: aesthetic splendor, cognitive power, and wisdom Breakfast with brontosaurus ]
• · Walking on Water ; The Man Behind the da Vinci Code
• · · The world of cinema makes it easy for the audience to be armchair travelers Top Ten Modern Foreign Movies You Should See ; If you're the type of guy who buys books just to look smart and appealing to the ladies, Jessa has some valuable advice for you Jessa Crispin Asks If The Boys Are Really So Smart
• · · · Trisha tells how she almost suicided after Troy; Yes, you need a credit card to order online, but last time I checked you needed a credit card to breathe in America Poor recognition ; As we live, we are transmitters of life
• · · · · Whatever makes you happy ; Rules of engagement, focussing on the performing arts Censorship battles once focused on books
• · · · · · Vanity book buying; Beware of the Blog, It Creeps; Developing a life-long love of reading and writing in young people I Need to Get Out More...