Monthly Archives: November 2011

Friction and Fog

Airports are actually wonderful places to think.  Unless you have a traveling companion, you are alone.  That sounds paradoxical, since there are typically human hordes surging through airports pulling their roller bags like Dante’s hoarders and wasters, rolling their giant … Continue reading

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Admit No Impediments

The car that I was driving, when I affixed Shakespeare’s Sonnet 116 to the dashboard, and over a week or so committed those lines to memory, has long since gone to the wrecking yard. Its steel has been crushed and … Continue reading

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A Fourth of July in the Fall

Patriotism, I’d argue, cannot safely be entrusted to its most obvious enthusiasts. Who’d give the direction of a professional sports team to the fans who call in to bloviate on big-city radio sports talk shows? Yet they too, we believe, … Continue reading

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Frailty, Thy Name is Memory

Lots and lots of people now know that the eponymous character in The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Lisbeth, has unusual cognitive abilities. She remembers everything. Most of us are not like that. Even if we have spent our lives … Continue reading

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