It might be that if I had never read Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein that I would have marked this new film by Guillermo del Toro as one of my favorite films in recent memory. However, I have read Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, several times in fact, and because I have such a strong and endearing relationship withContinue reading “We Interrupt Our Regularly Scheduled Program to Review Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein”
Category Archives: Literature
Two Days Until National Poetry Writing Month: Ekphrastic Fest?
On this 30th day of March, we find ourselves only two days away from National Poetry Writing Month, during which we creative types are encouraged to compose a poem a day every day for the entire month of April. I can safely (but humbly) brag about the fact that I have completed this task ofContinue reading “Two Days Until National Poetry Writing Month: Ekphrastic Fest?”
On the Twenty-ninth Day of 2025…
…I discover that Jim in Percival Everett’s retelling of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is fully literate. He’s read Voltaire, Rousseau, and Locke when he’s alone in Judge Thatcher’s library, and on Jacksons Island, after he gets bit by a rattlesnake, he has conversations with these literary and philosophical giants in fever-induced hallucinations, and isContinue reading “On the Twenty-ninth Day of 2025…”
The Twenty-first Day of 2025…
…was unremarkable, at least in my personal sphere. I accomplished very little. I woke up late, meditated, scrambled an egg, walked the dogs, listened to a couple of albums, The Last Dinner Party and Father John Misty, respectively, culled through some Project MA demos for the next album, texted with my musical partner from thatContinue reading “The Twenty-first Day of 2025…”
On the Sixteenth Day of 2025…
…you replace the batteries in your blood pressure machine and almost first thing in the morning, as everything is pretty much chill, you get the highest reading you have seen since that New Year’s Eve gig seven years ago when, against all common sense, you took a reading while you were fuming about how yourContinue reading “On the Sixteenth Day of 2025…”
On the Twelfth Night of 2024: Nietzsche and Saltburn, In That Order
It’s not very often that I do research in order to write a song lyric, but on Friday I find myself digging around in Nietzsche expressly for that purpose. I had written this song with my friend Adam for our Project MA album, and the words I wrote, inspired by a title Adam had givenContinue reading “On the Twelfth Night of 2024: Nietzsche and Saltburn, In That Order”
On the Sixth Day of 2024: The Creative Impulse, or What the Hell Am I Doing?
I must say that the sixth day of 2024 has been a rough one. I slept in a little bit longer than I usually do, then, diverging from my usual practice of hitting the cushion before doing anything electronically, other than calling up my meditation timer, I read a text message. Needless to say, myContinue reading “On the Sixth Day of 2024: The Creative Impulse, or What the Hell Am I Doing?”
On the Fifth Day of 2024: Meditation Method
I like the silent church before the service begins, better than any preaching. Ralph Waldo Emerson Stuff coming out, stuff going in. I’m just a part of everything. Peter Gabriel My meditation practice, as I discovered it some twenty-three years ago now, has been to sit in silence, either alone or with a group. EvenContinue reading “On the Fifth Day of 2024: Meditation Method”
Mindfulness in 2023: A Reflection
It has been five years since I have written one of these end-of-the-year reflections. I’m coming into this one after rereading what I wrote in 2018. In the intervening half a decade, I must have been just too overwhelmed by COVID and the ending of a career in education to be bothered to do aContinue reading “Mindfulness in 2023: A Reflection”
The Book I Read: Groundhog Day Redux–Forever
Hey there! Welcome back to the Book I Read with Michael Jarmer Writer Guy, a podcast and blog series where I talk about books mostly, among other things: reading in general, writing fiction and poetry, some occasional diversions into music listening, teaching and learning. It is January, so, happy new year to you. I hopeContinue reading “The Book I Read: Groundhog Day Redux–Forever”
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