Monthly Archives November 2011

What Makes a Home

Last week when leaving for work, I had to squeeze by a bunch of construction machinery on my street. As I got closer, I noticed a small crowd of people on the opposite side of the street, taking pictures or just huddled together staring in the early morning cold. Then I noticed what they were gaping at.

Tidy: Friend or Foe?

I like order.

Or, more precisely, I like order to the extent that it promotes effective use of time.

You may relate: when I have to spend seven minutes rummaging in studio classrooms on a mission of scissor reconnaissance, I’m convinced that’s seven minutes of unnecessary distraction.

Some Sacred Thread

Do you ever get a phone call during dinner and choose not to answer the phone? Has someone ever come to the door when you’re having sex with your spouse? Has a sick child awoken you from a wonderful dream?

Psalm four begins with a heartfelt plea for God to “answer when I call.” but He doesn’t always answer; why not?

The Garbage Eater: Poetry for the Digital Age

Brett Foster is an academic poet. By this I don’t simply mean his work is difficult—which sometimes it is—but that his poems are often concerned with academic interests. For example in his poem “Tea with Mr. Milton,” Foster imagines meeting John Milton and discussing such things as Milton’s pamphlet