culture

Mar
03
The book report for February 2023

The book report for February 2023

Or, seriously, Tao Te Ching twice? Lingering covid-19 symptoms, plus a new cold and possibly bronchitis, provided Dr Essai with
2 min read
Feb
27
G-L-O-R-EYE-EYE-EYE

G-L-O-R-EYE-EYE-EYE

Coiled in the 2:37 of that track was all the explosive energy and carnal appetite and wild joy that the grownups in charge had been trying to tamp down since Plymouth Rock.
4 min read
Feb
14
Happy break-a-tooth-on-a-hard-candy-heart day

Happy break-a-tooth-on-a-hard-candy-heart day

A Christian martyr named Valentine was executed around 270 CE by Emperor Claudius II Gothicus, despite having healed his jailer’s daughter of blindness. Talk about ingratitude.
2 min read
Feb
07
In the Reactocene, no one can hear you scream

In the Reactocene, no one can hear you scream

Dr Essai observes that digital technology, plus the tireless and unselfish work of cynical opportunists in politics and business, has ushered in a new social epoch.
5 min read
Feb
01
“He always has his nose in a book,” said his mother

“He always has his nose in a book,” said his mother

Nothing increases one's literary consumption like a coronavirus.
3 min read
Jan
26
We have all been there before

We have all been there before

In his 60s and 70s, David Crosby stared himself down, squared up to what he had become, got clean and as healthy as he was going to get, and forged the most artistically productive years of his life.
6 min read
Dec
07
On Christopher Columbus's diary

On Christopher Columbus's diary

Or, somebody's mom just threw out history When wind and current and vague navigation brought Cristoforo Colombo to the shores
5 min read
Nov
27
On being a gentleman well unread

On being a gentleman well unread

Why have I read On the Road, twice, but not Jane Eyre or Don Quixote? Why The Thirty-Nine Steps and Three Men in a Boat but not David Copperfield or Pride and Prejudice? I’ve no idea.
3 min read
Nov
18
Could you speak a bit more slowly?

Could you speak a bit more slowly?

Cicero recognized the problem and charged Tiro with inventing a form of Latin shorthand. Tiro created a system of letters and symbols that was topped by Seneca to 5,000 symbols. Yes, 5,000.
4 min read