Archive for the ‘Art & Literature’ Category
NaNoWriMo in Space?
Joi Weaver shares some thoughts on why you should consider writing a novel next month–and why you should be excited about space travel:
It’s always tempting, when talking of influencing culture, to buy into the “magic bullet” theory, the idea that a single cultural item will change...
October 20th, 2011 | Art & Literature, Blogging, Media, Other | Read More
All For One, Not One For All: Thoughts on Stieg Larsson’s Millennium Trilogy
“It is expedient for you that one man die for the people, and that the whole nation not perish.”
This age-old attitude is at the heart of the drama in Stieg Larsson’s Millennium Trilogy, which begins with the international best-seller, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.
A confession:...
October 11th, 2011 | Art & Literature, Book Reviews, Culture, Ethics, Human Rights, Media, Moral Philosophy, Social Justice | Read More
Because Beating the Russians Wasn’t Enough: Crafting A Martian Narrative
Joi Weaver proposes that space exploration, that boon of sci-fi fans and writers, lacks a compelling narrative outside the scientific community. It’s ironic that a subject that has served so many artists so well may itself suffer from poor storytelling, but the ongoing shut down of poorly-funded...
August 1st, 2011 | Art & Literature, Blogging, Creation Care, Culture, Media, Other, Science, Technology | Read More
Beauty Will Save the World
Jeffrey Overstreet writes like Vincent Van Gogh painted. I had the opportunity to see some of Van Gogh’s finest works earlier this year at an exhibit at San Francisco’s De Young Museum. It was like walking through an explosion of creative beauty. Van Gogh’s use of color, his bold, even violent...
March 14th, 2011 | Art & Literature, Book Reviews, Culture, Media | Read More
Life is work, Life is leisure
When I first started working, I promised myself that I’d never be “that person”—you know, the one who lived for the weekends. As time went by, however, I found myself increasingly looking forward Friday rituals—“TGIF!” emails, the Starbucks run to celebrate the end of the week, weekend...
November 29th, 2010 | Art & Literature, Book Reviews, Culture, Other, Philosophy, Religion, Worldviews | Read More
When Pop Art Gets Critical: Andy Warhol
I used to dismiss Andy Warhol as “shallow”–that is, until I dug a little deeper and discovered the underlying coherence of his work. Warhol’s two most famous pieces, the Marilyns and the Campbell’s Soup Cans, highlight the persistent theme of his body of work: the dehumanizing...
September 22nd, 2010 | Art & Literature, Media | Read More
A French Play and Facebook
Who would have thought that an old French play could have contemporary relevance? And yet, Edmund Rostand’s seminal play Cyrano de Bergerac bears directly on our use and abuse of social networking media like Facebook and Match.com, warning us of the ever-imminent peril of losing ourselves to the...
September 15th, 2010 | Art & Literature, Culture, Media, Technology | Read More
Listen! Ancient Stories and Modern Hearers
“Listen!”
It’s almost impossible not to sit up and pay attention when that word is shouted, spoken, or even whispered. It reminds us that what is coming is important, and worth heeding.
The great epic poem Beowulf begins with that phrase: “Listen!” While obviously a call to attention, to...
September 14th, 2010 | Art & Literature, Culture, History, Media, Music | Read More
Don’t Knock My Fictional Feelings!
The old man had been on the sea for days; the marlin pulled his small boat hour after hour. My mouth was dry, nearly salty. I felt the weight of isolation–the weight of being on a vast ocean that is void of another human form. Ernest Hemmingway tossed me into the skiff and sent it to sea.
Fiction...
July 20th, 2010 | Art & Literature, Education, Media, Philosophy | Read More
Learning Compassion from Story-Truth: Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried
Empathy is one of humanity’s best qualities. And it can also be the most neglected. When insurmountable obstacles confront a community, understanding and compassion from neighbors is often just enough to pull them through.
But what if the obstacle is something few can understand? What if it’s trauma...
June 30th, 2010 | Art & Literature, Culture | Read More
