Category: articles
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Sufferers Remain Unlike
“Even when the sufferings are alike, the sufferers remain unlike; and even when virtue and vice undergo the same torment, they are not themselves the same. In one and the same fire, gold glows red but chaff smokes; and under one and the same flail, straw is broken up but grain is separated out; nor…
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the slavery of dominion
“The earthly city, when it seeks dominion, even though whole peoples are its slaves, is itself under the dominion of its very lust for dominion.” —St. Augustine
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The Gunslinger in a Pharmacy
“For a moment the gunslinger merely stood inside the door, first amazed, then ironically amused. Here he was in a world which struck him dumb with fresh wonders seemingly at every step, a world where carriages flew through the air and paper seemed as cheap as sand. And the newest wonder was simply that for these…
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Poets Philosophers and Wonder
“Because philosophy arises from awe, a philosopher is bound in his way to be a lover of myths and poetic fables. Poets and philosophers are alike in being big with wonder… Wonder is the desire of knowledge.” — St. Thomas Aquinas
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No Music that Fits Our Brokenness?
I tried to jog and could not. It was too life-affirming. I rode along with friends to go swimming and found myself paralyzed. I tried music. But why is this music all so affirmative? Has it always been like that? Perhaps a requiem, that glorious German Requiem of Brahams. I have to turn it off.…
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The Ballad of the Morning of the Writer
with deference to Stephen Pressfield Before she opened eyes, she heard Alarms — her shouting clock. She’d set it for her pre-dawn words. Her dry-mouth-taste: a sock? The children soon would rise from bunks And writing time would end But blank pages await. Tales trunked— They whispered, “Sleep again.” Children took out the pep from her…
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Comments on Privilege
The next time you post Internet comments on privilage or post to accuse someone of making their own Internet comment or post from out of their own privilege, just remember: 4 Billion people have zero Internet access. Privilege, like all barriers to virtue, comes in degrees. Deal with the big hurdles first.
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Sitting at the Feet of Diabetic Art
Right now, as you read this, a black market thrives and it’s not a black market of diabetic art. They don’t trade guns or bombs or sex slaves or heroin. The Type One DiabetesBlack Market vs. Diabetic Art They trade one another test strips for insulin, sensors for infusion sets, diabetic to diabetic. They do…
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The Prettiest Woman
Interviewing my Grandpa every Tuesday morning for this new novel. I thought he was ornery. I thought my brother and I were ornery. I thought my father was ornery. But apparently we’re in the minor leagues beside my great-great grandpa who once told a widower he could order a new wife out of…
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Cliché Vindicated: Concessions to Ms. Eberhardt
Two kinds of people argue with themselves: maniacs and metaphysicists. The maniac argues with himself the way a divorced couple argues: hashing up old arguments that lead nowhere simply because he’s in the habit of doing so. In that endless cycle, he becomes unsure of how he exactly he lost his way. The metaphysicist — the…
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My Writing Toolkit
What should you charge? The number one resource I’ve created that other writers ask to see is my personal spreadsheet that lays out what I charge for different classes and categories of writing projects. It’s comprehensive, it’s easy to read, and it gives a middle-of-the-road estimate for virtually every project you could work on as a writer,…