Yogapants; Or, Why We Should Culturally Appropriate
My favorite Seattle restaurant.
My most recent piece at The Imaginative Conservative.
I was also extremely hungry….
About a block from the hotel, I spied an Asian restaurant, Bahn Thai. I trepidatiously crossed the street and walked up the stairs to the entrance. For some strange reason, I was the only customer. The owner—who spoke almost no English and who was as kind as could be—treated me as royalty, and I still regard this as the most memorable meal I have ever had. I had never eaten anything like it. Excellence resided in every aspect of the meal, but my mouth was especially partial to the melding of various spices in ways I had never imagined.
My Thoughts on the Draft and Virtue–11 Years ago
For what they’re worth, my thoughts on the draft and republican virtue. 11 years ago. If anything, I’m even more of a curmudgeon now.
Frank Sheed Interviews Christopher Dawson, 1958
Christopher Dawson, 1889-1970
Excellent interview. Two of the finest Christian humanists of the 20th century. Enjoy.
No Safe Spaces: My Ancestors Arrive in Kansas, 1876
An actual description of my great, great, great grandparents arriving in Hays, Kansas:
“Their presence is unmistakable; for where they are there is also something else, – a smell so pungent and potent as to make a strong man weak.”–Hays City SENTINEL, August 16, 1876.
The surrounding community despised them. My ancestors did not scream “privilege” or demand a “safe space.”
They worked like mad, and I am here because they did.
C.S. Lewis, “Christianity and Culture,” 1940
Borrowed from Christianity Today
An excellent article. But, of course!
Today Only: Cronin’s PASSAGE is $1.99
One of my favorite sci-fi books, THE PASSAGE by Justin Cronin. Thoughtful and a page 
turner. Enjoy.
Christopher Dawson’s Dark Mirror
Another favorite Christian Humanist article–“The Dark Mirror” by Christopher Dawson. Note especially the “postscript” on intuition and imagination. This is certainly Dawson’s most explicit examination of such.
Unicorns at Oxford (Inklings), 1956
Great article about the Inklings from the second half of the 1950s. Apologies for the terrible pdf quality. Still readable.
Enjoy.
David Gergen on Ronald Reagan’s Character
Our 40th President
Working for him, I saw he was no dullard, as his critics claimed. From his eight years as governor and his many other years of writing and speaking out, he had thought his way through most domestic issues and knew how to make a complex governmental structure work in his favor. In the first year of his presidency, I also saw him dive into the details of the federal revenue code and become an authority as he negotiated with Congress. When he wanted to focus, he had keen powers of concentration and could digest large bodies of information. He was also one of the most disciplined men I have seen in the presidency (much more so than Clinton, for example), sot that he worked straight through the day, reading papers and checking off meetings on his list. At day’s end, headed off for a workout and would plow through more papers in the evening in the upstairs residence. He made the presidency look easy in part by keeping a strict regimen. He also had a retentive mind. After years of memorizing scripts in Hollywood, he would recall verbatim a lot of what he had read. He recited Robert Service poems as well as he did jokes. [David Gergen, Eyewitness to Power, 197]
A Voegelin Primer
Eric Voegelin (1901-1985)
Over at The Imaginative Conservative, I had the great privilege of writing a three-part essay on one of the most important forgotten thinkers of the past century, Eric Voegelin.
Here’s part I: http://www.theimaginativeconservative.org/2016/02/eric-voegelin-a-primer.html
Audio Lecture 2: Founding of the American Republic
Bernard Bailyn’s classic.
A lecture on the seven schools of thought in historiography dealing with the American revolution.
Carl Olson Reviews RUSSELL KIRK: AMERICAN CONSERVATIVE
The Glory Shot!
A great review by my friend, Carl, at CHRONICLES magazine, edited by another man I greatly respect, Scott Richert.
http://www.chroniclesmagazine.org/2016/February/40/2/magazine/article/10829933/
Stormfields 