The earnest innocence with which an entirely impractical gift was offered has long made The Little Drummer Boy a favorite of mine. I can imagine it going something like this:
He had the look of every boy who’s been roused from play and made ‘presentable’, his hair hastily tamed with limited success. He carried with him a small drum – a scrap of sheepskin on a simple wooden frame.… Read the rest
I’m told that one of my paternal grandmother’s favorite Christmas carols was O Beautiful Star of Bethlehem. It was also a favorite of my mom. Why did they like it so much? That’s a question I’ve added to my file of things it’s too late to ask since both have passed.
In any case, it’s become somewhat customary to sing it at family Christmas gatherings, and has become one of my favorite carols, but not only for sentimental reasons.… Read the rest
Within the fiction and non-fiction categories, the books are listed in the order I finished them.
Fiction:
The Ultimate Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams
Prodigal Summer – Barbara Kingsolver
Kamchatka – Marcelo Figueras
The Known World – Edward P. Jones
Red Team Blues – Cory Doctorow
Slaughterhouse Five – Kurt Vonnegut
Undermajordomo Minor – Patrick DeWitt
Bagombo Snuffbox – Kurt Vonnegut
French Exit – Patrick DeWitt
Ablutions – Patrick DeWitt
The Lies of Locke Lamora – Scott Lynch
The Fellowship of the Ring – JRR Tolkien
The Two Towers – JRR Tolkien
The Return of the King – JRR Tolkien
The Enchantress of Florence – Salman Rushdie
The Color of Magic – Terry Pratchett
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms – George RR Martin
The Ocean at the End of the Lane – Neil Gaiman
Non-fiction:
Radical Roots – Gareth Brandt
Defining Love: A Philosophical, Scientific, and Theological Engagement – Thomas Jay Oord
Hearing and Knowing: Theological Reflections on Christianity in Africa – Mercy A.… Read the rest
I have the urge to write things (questions, observations, speculations, and such) and hopefully converse with the likes of you, dear reader, about these things. Thus I’ve done gone and started a blog (because the world needs more blogs).
Posting schedule will likely be stochastic – when I find myself at the centre of the Venn diagram of energy, time, and inspiration.… Read the rest