Dean Robertson's Blog, page 5
January 28, 2017
My Authors; Myself. Influences on “Looking for Lydia”
I am republishing this as a partial answer to a question my friend, Mitzy, asked in her comment on my most recent blog, “No Book Reviews, Portraits, Elections, Inaugurations . . .” She wonders what I taught. The books mentioned here, first published in July of 2015, are a few I either taught or loved enough [...]
January 27, 2017
No Book Reviews, Portraits, Elections or Inaugurations; No Birthday Parties; No Holidays; No Weddings or Funerals; No Bursts of Deeply Felt Emotions
I woke up this morning without a single idea about what to write for this week’s blog. What can I write when I have nothing to write? Monday 23 January 2017 Early in my teaching career, I wrote a course I called “The Hebrew Bible as Literature.” I taught that course until the day [...]
January 21, 2017
The Morning After: A Story of Love and Sorrow and Hope
Thursday 19 January 2017 In one of my now fairly infrequent romps through Facebook, I saw this photograph of our president. It now looks out at me from my computer’s desktop. It is an image that fills me with both joy and deep sadness. It is an image whose [...]
January 7, 2017
Portrait + + Grace Harwood “I am a voice”
The painting featured at the top of this blog is 36″ x 48″, acrylic on white duck canvas. It is the second in the collection of three paintings that Grace Harwood calls “The Hiroshima Series.” The image arrived last week in an email in which Grace explained, “I’m attaching the Hiroshima painting that I would rather you [...]
December 31, 2016
“Ahh-Yoo-Yahh”
Today the editorial board of the New York Times published an article called, “Take a Bad Year and Make it Better.” It’s a long piece and it includes an impressive discussion of some very good things that happened in 2016. The one I liked the best was this. “West Virginia . . . a state [...]
December 25, 2016
The Holy Days of December: From Darkness Into Light
This morning, in an email from a dear friend, I found this: Do not be dismayed by the brokenness of the world. All things break. And all things can be mended. Not with time, as they say, but with intention. So go. Love intentionally, extravagantly, unconditionally. The broken world waits in darkness for the light [...]
December 19, 2016
Richard Rossi Is Making a Movie. “Canaan Land”: A Preview
Richard Rossi is making a movie. Richard Rossi is an evangelical preacher and faith healer. Richard Rossi is making a movie about evangelical preaching and faith healing as a con. Richard Rossi believes in faith healing and is a fine preacher. Richard Rossi is a stand-up comic and one of his routines is a parody [...]
December 14, 2016
Book Review~Wounded Healers. Barbara K. McNally’s “Wounded Warrior, Wounded Wife”
And a more unlikely group of healers you couldn’t ask for. There they are, laughing and lounging in the steam room at a luxury hotel in Southern California, where they have come from all over the country for a few days of rest and rejuvenation that they badly need and have certainly earned. Anoher photograph, [...]
December 12, 2016
Book Review~~Wounded Healers. Barbara K. McNally’s “Wounded Warrior, Wounded Wife”
And a more unlikely group of healers you couldn’t ask for. There they are, laughing and lounging in the steam room at a luxury hotel in Southern California, where they have come from all over the country for a few days of rest and rejuvenation that they badly need and have certainly earned. Anoher photograph, which [...]
December 2, 2016
“How terribly strange to be seventy” Is there life after old age?
“Old friends Sat on their park bench Like bookends A newspaper blown through the grass Falls on the round toes Of the high shoes Of the old friends Old friends Winter companions The old men Lost in their overcoats Waiting for the sunset The sounds of the city Sifting through the trees Settle like dust [...]
