Plunging into the Work
Conversations with Christopher Isherwood Edited by James J. Berg and Chris Freeman University of Mississippi Press, 2001 One summer a few years ago I went on a binge of some of Christopher Isherwood’s books, particularly…
First Draft of a Translation
אָ מענטשהייט איך בין אײַער דאַנקבאַר זון יעדער מענטש מײַן טאַטע’ס עלטער איז מײַן טאַטע יעדער פרוי מײַן מאַמע’ס עלטער איז מײַן מאַמע אַלע די…
Dharma Sister
From the Cover of Amy Schmidt’s book on Dipa Ma Revision The poet W. H. Auden wrote “The funniest and kindest of mortals Are those who are most aware of the baffle of being” (A…
Wartime during Life/1
What Catches Our Attention (And What Doesn’t) Reshma observed About a group of doctors she works with “They talk all about Lady Gaga But nothing about the wars we’re in” For Robert To Whom It…
Share the Wealth –The War on Journalism: The Case of Julian Assange, A Film by Juan Passarelli
Journalists are under attack globally for doing their jobs. Julian Assange is facing a 175 year sentence for publishing if extradited to the United States. The Trump administration has gone from denigrating journalists as ‘enemies…
The Prophetic, the Socratic, and the Democratic
Cornel West, Democracy Matters: Winning the Fight against Imperialism Pat Geier, a dear friend in Louisville, once told me of one of her favorite adages that dated back to the civil right movement: “If you see…
L. K.Lapinski
She’s Had a Pretty Good Nocturnal Run At Dunkin’ Donuts She said matter-of-factly “I haven’t had a nightmare In 17 years” She’s 22 Share the Wealth with Laura Katherine Lapinski: The Films of Wes Anderson…
The Writing Life/1
At My Wake, Someone Will Hear Someone Else Say… “He was always telling me to share my writing…” “You, too? He said that to me, like… weekly!” “Weekly? He’d badger me daily for a fortnight…
Remembrancers
Just Another Night at Café Illumination After the talk on Operation Cast LeadCarla Nguyen and I headed over to Café IlluminationWhere we began processing what we heard We sat outside as it was a balmy…
Mentshes/2
“I Belong to Chomsky” Spring 1994 was blooming in the Bay Area. We participated in a Good Friday demonstration at the Lawrence Livermore nuclear laboratory with Steve Kelly and our Pax Christi friends. The following…