Doubt the Experts

As I get older, I increasingly recognize the extent to which art is associated with social status. My Armenian great-grandfather lived in Bu...

One of the limitations of the property where I live is that, since the house is surrounded by trees, there isn't much of a view. But, wi...

I can't say that I enjoyed the remainder of the book, and I didn't spend much time on it, because I thought that Sapolsky was just r...

I am moving along more slowly than usual, because, besides Sapolsky's writing style, this is not an easy book to read and encompasses th...

I finally received this new book by Robert Sapolsky and have read about a third of it so far. That section is largely a restatement of infor...

I am still adjusting to my new neighborhood. Actually, in some respects I prefer it to Middlebury. I advocated Middlebury initially partly b...

Since moving to Vermont in 2011, I've spent a fair amount of time blocking mouse entrances to houses. In Middlebury, mice began to appea...

The most significant change in my life since June 10, besides the disappearance of William, has been an increase in quietness. I thought tha...

Winter is rapidly approaching here, and I'm already turning on the heat. This house is cooler than the one in Middlebury, because it is ...

This is a chapter by Sabin Roman in the new book, The Era of Global Risk: An Introduction to Existential Risk Studies , which can be downloa...

As with  Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are? , I found this more recent book by Frans de Waal somewhat informative, but, at t...

I finally finished this book by Peter Raby. It isn't very long, but I didn't find it very engrossing. I read it mainly to learn abou...

Passion too deep seems like none. While we drink, nothing shows but the smile which will     not come. The wax candles feel, suffer at parti...

The art of losing isn't hard to master; so many things seem filled with the intent to be lost that their loss is no disaster. Lose somet...

Beethoven remained relatively productive until his death at the age of fifty-six in 1827 as a result of various maladies. I don't partic...

After Beethoven's relationship with Bettina Brentano collapsed, he apparently gave up on ever getting married. His personal life shifted...

In 1806, Beethoven engaged in a serious row with Lichnowsky, and they had a major falling-out. They were later partially reconciled, but he ...

Beethoven remained phenomenally productive during the early 1800's. At that point, he admired Napoleon, who had essentially become a dic...

As time passes, more descriptions of Beethoven are emerging from his contemporaries. Carl Friedrich, Baron Kübeck von Kübau, wrote: He was a...

During the remaining years of Beethoven's youth, the University of Bonn was founded in 1786 and locally the popularity of music increase...

My distractions have been reduced a little, and I've started reading this book by Jan Swafford. As I prefer, it is quite long, and I can...

You may have noticed that I haven't been posting much lately. This isn't a permanent change but does reflect my recent lack of inter...

Because of the delay this year to the start of winter, I have yet to begin reading much. While the tomato plants in the garden have died fro...

Come, words, away to miracle More natural than written art. You are surely somewhat devils, But I know a way to soothe The whirl of you when...

As I've suggested, I get burnt out with serious topics over time. This is why I return to fiction, poetry or art periodically. Of course...