I want Dug to come to my house. But our cat might not appreciate a talking friend.
Lyrics as Literature
I normally steer away from controversial topics in this blog but the announcement that Bob Dylan, the popular musician, was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature gave me pause. My first thought was “What?” To place Dylan alongside previous Nobel laureates like Solzhenitsyn, Steinbeck, Kipling, Hemingway, Camus, Faulkner, T.S. Eliot, and Churchill? I wondered that if, upon hearing the …
An Alternative Candidate
Friday October 14th was Winnie the Pooh’s 90th birthday. (I wrote about his birthday a few years ago here.) Below is what greeted me at the dinner table on Friday night. It brought hilarity and sudden clarity. I think I know how I should vote… Winnie-the-Pooh for President Piglet for Vice President Tigger for Secretary of State. Winnie-the-Pooh promises “Honey in every …
Fun Fridays – October 14, 2016
I saw this photo and created the following poster for your “edification.”
Prayer is Not a Transaction
Recently I was teaching on Luke 18:1-5 (verses are below) about the parable of the persistent widow and developed some thoughts that might be pertinent for you today. In our world, commerce is based on the idea of a transaction. I give you something (like money) and you give me something in return (like a service or a product). We are immersed in this concept. Give=Get. The world treats prayer in …
The Unintentionally Funny Headline
I came across the following headline in a recent publisher-related newsletter: “Speculative Authors Fight Mental Illness” I thought to myself “I know what they meant by the headline, but could it also be interpreted that authors who write speculative fiction are mentally ill?” There are some who call science fiction and fantasy writers “weird” but this headline …
Fun Fridays – September 30, 2016
Watch this incredible impressionist perform Shakespeare in celebrity voices. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8PGBnNmPgk
The Bestseller Code: Decoded
Last week, to great fanfare, a new book analyzing bestselling books hit the market. In my opinion, The Bestseller Code: The Anatomy of the Blockbuster Novel by Jodie Archer and Matthew L. Jockers is intriguing and provocative, but ultimately an exercise in futility. Every author wants a short cut to achieve bestseller success. What if there is an algorithm that, if followed, will produce a …
Fun Fridays – September 23, 2016
For those of you who may not have heard, Karen Ball’s father passed away this past week. She has been providing in-home care for a long time. He was a former pastor and loved the old hymns of the faith. My father passed away four years ago this month. He too loved the old hymns and particularly liked to hear me sing “How Great Thou Art.” The lives of these two fathers are what …