Monthly Archives: March 2016

Landscapes of the Heart

Landscapes of the Heart I hadn’t been to Manhattan (my home town) in over two years. But last week I went into town to meet my life-long friends, Frank and Ada, at the Neue Gallerie on 86th and Fifth. That’s … Continue reading

Posted in "Absolute Freedom and Terror", Action, Afterlife, Alienation, Anthropology, Art, Art of Living, Autonomy, beauty, Bible, Childhood, Christianity, Cities, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, Culture, Desire, dialectic, eighteenth century, Erotic Life, Eternity, Ethics, Evil, Existentialism, Faith, Fashion, Femininity, Feminism, Freedom, Friendship, Gender Balance, Guilt and Innocence, Health, hidden God, History, history of ideas, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Immortality, Jews, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Literature, Love, Memoir, memory, Modernism, Mortality, nineteenth-century, Oppression, Past and Future, Peace, Political Movements, Power, Propaganda, Psychology, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Roles, Romance, Seduction, Sex Appeal, Sexuality, Social Conventions, Spirituality, Suffering, Terror, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Men, The Problematic of Woman, Theism, Theology, Time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Final Proofs

Final Proofs This week, amid a flurry of barely-caught typos, fonts of the wrong shade and misplaced style cues, Jerry, I, and his priceless crew of teammates finished going over the final set of proofs that go to the printer. … Continue reading

Posted in Action, Alienation, Anthropology, Art of Living, Atheism, Autonomy, beauty, Bible, Childhood, Chivalry, Christianity, Cities, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, Courtship, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Eternity, Ethics, Faith, Femininity, Feminism, Films, Freedom, Friendship, Gender Balance, Guilt and Innocence, Health, Heroes, hidden God, history of ideas, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Literature, Love, Male Power, Masculinity, Memoir, memory, Mind Control, Modernism, Mortality, non-violence, Ontology, Past and Future, Peace, Philosophy, Poetry, Political, Power, Psychology, Public Intellectual, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Roles, Romance, Romantic Love, Romanticism, Seduction, Sex Appeal, Sexuality, Social Conventions, Sociobiology, Spirituality, Suffering, Terror, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Men, The Problematic of Woman, Theism, Theology, Time, twenty-first century, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Nostalgia and Yearning

Nostalgia and Yearning For most of my life, I’ve lived under a low-hanging cloud of yearning. The Germans call it Sehnsucht. It’s romantic longing for a fog-enshrouded, mystery-enfolded, beckoning future. It’s the kind of longing depicted in the movie, “Wuthering … Continue reading

Posted in Action, Afterlife, Alienation, Anthropology, Art, Art of Living, Autonomy, beauty, Bible, Childhood, Chivalry, Christianity, Cities, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, Courtship, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Eternity, Ethics, Evil, Existentialism, Faith, Fashion, Femininity, Feminism, Films, Freedom, Friendship, Gender Balance, Guilt and Innocence, Health, Heroes, hidden God, History, history of ideas, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Idolatry, Immortality, Institutional Power, Jews, life and death struggle, Literature, Love, Male Power, Martyrdom, Masculinity, master, Medieval, Memoir, memory, Mind Control, Modernism, Mortality, Mysticism, nineteenth-century, non-violence, Ontology, Oppression, Past and Future, Peace, Phenomenology of Mind, Philosophy, Poetry, Political, Political Movements, Power, Propaganda, Psychology, Public Intellectual, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Renaissance, Roles, Romanticism, Seduction, Sex Appeal, Sexuality, Social Conventions, Sociobiology, Spirituality, Suffering, Terror, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Men, The Problematic of Woman, Theism, Time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Utopia, Violence, War, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

“Birthday!”

“Birthday!”  The way you can tell that “I” don’t choose these topics (but respond – as if to an inner prompt) is instanced here: why would anyone (over twenty one) choose that one? My acupuncturist tells me that I’m 29 … Continue reading

Posted in Absurdism, Action, Alienation, Anthropology, Art, Art of Living, Autonomy, beauty, Childhood, Chivalry, Class, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, Courtship, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Eternity, Ethics, Evil, Faith, Fashion, Femininity, Feminism, Freedom, Friendship, Gender Balance, Guilt and Innocence, Health, Heroes, hidden God, History, history of ideas, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Institutional Power, life and death struggle, Literature, Love, Memoir, Mind Control, Modernism, Mortality, motherhood, nineteenth-century, non-violence, Oppression, Past and Future, Peace, Philosophy, Poetry, Political, Power, Psychology, Public Intellectual, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Roles, Seduction, Sex Appeal, Sexuality, Social Conventions, Sociobiology, Spirituality, Suffering, Terror, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Men, The Problematic of Woman, Theism, Time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

“The Well of Time”

“The Well of Time” “Very deep is the well of the past.” So, in Joseph and His Brothers, Thomas Mann begins his monumental recreation of the Biblical Book of Genesis. In early adolescence, Mann’s Joseph was my favorite book, together … Continue reading

Posted in Action, Alienation, Anthropology, Art, Art of Living, Atheism, Autonomy, Bible, Childhood, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, Courtship, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Eternity, Ethics, Evil, Existentialism, Faith, Fashion, Femininity, Feminism, Freedom, Friendship, Gender Balance, Guilt and Innocence, Health, Heroes, hidden God, History, history of ideas, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Idolatry, Immortality, Institutional Power, Jews, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Literature, Love, Memoir, Mind Control, Modernism, Mortality, Past and Future, Phenomenology of Mind, Philosophy, Poetry, Political, Political Movements, Power, Propaganda, Psychology, Public Intellectual, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Roles, Seduction, Sex Appeal, Sexuality, Social Conventions, Sociobiology, Spirituality, Suffering, Terror, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Men, The Problematic of Woman, Theism, Theology, Time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, War, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments