As the ice (or “iron rind”) starts dissolving from the ponds, we may dream of “ferns and flowers and new leaves unfolding.” But the transition from winter to spring is a much grittier affair, characterized less by sweetness and more by lurid smells emerging from chilling mud. The real harbinger of spring may not be the bluebird but the skunk cabbage, celebrated by Mary Oliver in a powerful poem.
Monthly Archives: March 2011
The Classics, Better than Business Guides
The Republic, The Art of War, The Social Contract, The Prince, and the Tao Te Ching gave me a way of understanding the broader implications of the business choices I was making. They helped me look beyond the immediate challenges to find a greater purpose. My individual efforts seemed part of a legacy of thinkers and doers who had come before.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Art of War, Business, Darien Bates, Education, Jean Jacques Rousseau, Liberal Arts, Machiavelli, Plato, Prince, Republic, Social Contract, Sun Tzu, Tao Te Ching Comments closed
Misery Loves Poetry
Yesterday a New York Times blog addressed an issue I have been wrestling with as well: whether literature is up to the string of disasters we are encountering. Sam Tanenhaus asserts that “one of the enduring paradoxes of great apocalyptic writing is that it consoles even as it alarms.” To my mind, Tanenhaus’s most interesting point is about why poetry seems to be better at responding to catastrophe than narrative prose.
Faulkner and a Love for the Liberal Arts
Dr. Joseph Urgo wove William Faulkner into his inauguration speech as the new president of St. Mary’s College. Above all, Urgo said, “St. Mary’s exists in the public trust, offering the love of liberal learning–an impassioned, dedicated, humanistic endeavor—to all segments of society.”
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Absolom Absolom, Education, Joseph Urgo, St. Mary's College of Maryland, William Faulkner Comments closed
March Madness and Then Some
Sports Saturday Even though it happened a week ago, I am still shaking my head at one of the most bizarre endings I have ever witnessed to a sports event. The University of Pittsburgh, ranked one in its region, and Butler University, last year’s tournament darling and eventual runner-up, were in the final seconds of […]
The Sexual Politics of Dexter
Film Friday Last Friday I wrote about my deep distress over the season 4 finale of Dexter. (Read no further if you want don’t want the suspense ruined for you.) My friend Rachel Kranz, who introduced me to the show, wrote me the following response examining why people, men especially, find the show so captivating. […]
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Dexter, Film, Jonah Who Will Be 25 in the Year 2000, Relationships, Sexual Politics, Television Comments closed
The Triangle Fire and the Face of Labor
Suddenly everyone is interested in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, and not only because tomorrow is the tragedy’s 100th anniversary. As the Wisconsin state legislature rolls back the collective bargaining rights of public sector workers, questions of worker protection are once again in headlines. The best poem I know that mentions the fire is “Shirt,” […]
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "Shirt", Labor history, politics, Robert Pinsky, Triangle Shirt Factory Fire Comments closed
Ah, the Stench of Spring
The news has been so grim recently that I offer up a bit of comic verse at midweek to give you a breather. Think of it as a celebration of the stench of spring—which is to say, of the fertilizer that the farmers are spreading on their fields as the season of growth begins. The […]
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "Spring", "The Noble Drop of Dung", comic verse, Scott Bates Comments closed
