Entries Written By Tim
in Responses
Why Cormac McCarthy’s Novels Shouldn’t be Made into Films (or, at least, why the books are better)
While reading prose fiction, occasionally you encounter depictions of physical actions, performed by outsized characters, that come across as so richly visual that it’s natural to wonder whether this piece of prose fiction should in fact be a film or would be better as a film, seen on a giant screen instead of the printed …
in Briefs
Poem for Heather's birthday
This is one of the poems that prompted a classmate of mine at Notre Dame to proclaim that love poetry died with John Keats in 1821. This desperate vitality reminds me to be grateful you were born and encourages me to love you better: Bright star, would I were stedfast as thou art– Not in …
in Briefs
Sharing
Parents who bring their toddlers to public places like libraries and beaches tend to make a big show, when their child inevitably purloins another kid’s toy and starts playing with it, of encouraging their own child to share and be nice and let the kid who had been chewing, for example, on the plastic toy …
in Occasions
Pied Beauty
If you find yourself on Lake Lonely near Saratoga, you see two distinct shorelines, different in many ways. To the south lie the manicured lawns and square-cornered docks of lakefront properties, each separated neatly from the next, cultivated and carved into a perfect waterfront dream house like you see in magazines. Some aren’t yet complete, …
in Fictions
Saturday in Saratoga
S: Driving around today, I saw five or so blacks fishing off the bridge on the north side of the lake. The white people were, presumably, driving the boats on the lake itself. R: How many African-Americans, did you say? S: ‘bout five of them fishing, I’d say about five blacks. R: Imagine that. S: …
in Occasions
Moved to Sing
To prod students to think about why academic conversations tend to take place on the page, I ask them, toward the end of the semester, to reflect on the virtues of writing and explain what they believe writing can offer that other communicative mediums—e.g. television, film, music, etc—cannot. I believe this to be an important …
in Briefs
Worry = Sanity
Says one wise citizen to another after the death of Edward IV in Richard III: Truly, the hearts of men are full of fear. You cannot reason almost with a man That looks not heavily and full of dread.
in Briefs
Slowness
Each time I land at JFK, I’m amazed at what an incredibly ugly hurry everyone seems to be in. Perhaps my always coming from California, a much more dignified place, exacerbates my shock. Nevertheless, a question for New Yorkers: isn’t being in a hurry less attractive than composure and deliberateness? For the answer, one need …
in Responses
Fighting Fire With Arson: A Response to Yale Professor Robert J. Schiller’s misguided but not unexpected piece on the housing bubble, titled “Infectious Exuberance” and appearing in the July/August 2008 Atlantic.
Shiller believes our two recent “epidemics of financial optimism” (the dot-com and real estate bubbles) could be followed by a more disastrous financial epidemic if “irrational pessimism and mistrust” manage to spread from the lips and fingertips of sourpuss chicken-little financial pundits to the wider population. According to the author this third epidemic is easily …
in Occasions
The Pleasure of Despair
Two Russians approached in a spit-shined truck w/corporate logo. I didn’t yet know they were Russians but one look and I knew. The driver had a shiny and ruddy face and a pleasant smile. When he nodded hello, smoldering gray bits of cigarette ash tumbled down his chest. He didn’t seem to notice, expressing immediate …
Treating Classes Like Gatherings, Part Three: Ending Well(If you haven’t read part one, on establishing purpose, or part two, on facilitating well, I’d [keep reading...]
Treating Classes Like Gatherings, Part Two: Teaching With Generous Authority(If you haven’t read part one, about establishing purpose, consider starting there.) After [keep reading...]
Why Teachers Should Consider Their Classes “Gatherings”Priya Parker’s The Art of Gathering, a book that, as the subtitle suggests, takes up the subject of [keep reading...]