The Nerdy, Wordy, Reading Life
I’ve dropped off the radar for a bit. Sorry about that. Life has been busy! Nothing in particular has been happening, but I’ve just been a bit wrapped up in the day to day. I was reminded to get back to posting today by a misguided pitch for a sponsored blog post in my email. [...]
He works hard six days a week. Up before the sun, even in summer. Building, crafting, perfecting, and managing. Every minute of his work day is packed full but he makes it home early every evening to play with our sons. He doesn’t mind being interrupted at work or at home. I text him and [...]
Many of the pensees are quotable. A few for your consideration: (Numbers are from the Penguin Classics edition. Bracketed numbers are AKAs) 212 [528]: Jesus Christ is a God whom we approach without pride and before whom we humble ourselves without despair. 252 [648]: Two errors: 1. To take everything literally. 2. To take everything spiritually. [...]
I found reading Pascal’s Wager, in context, in Pensees infinitely superior to the descriptions I had heard of it. I know that it is not generally considered the strongest argument for conversion to Christianity, however, I think that reading it should motivate one to take the time for the entirety of Pensees and further philosophical reading. Enjoy. [...]
“The Man with Two Left Feet” is the title story of a collection of early Wodehouse tales. The overall quality of the collection is lower than is usually for Pelham Grenville but a few are quite excellent. If you haven’t read “The Mixer” or “The Mixer II” then you simply must. Likewise, “Extricating Young Gussie” is [...]
I’ve been in a bit of a reading slump the last week and a half. I started Stranger in a Strange Land and Pascal’s Pensees around the same time. Pascal has been quite interesting and very good reading but slow going. Pensees is fragmentary and incomplete and so cannot be read quickly or with less than full attention. [...]
“Well, Diotallevi and I are planning a reform in higher education. A School of Comparative Irrelevance, where useless or impossibe courses are given. The school’s aim is to turn out scholars capable of endlessly increasing the number of unnecessary subjects.” ― Umberto Eco, Foucault’s Pendulum