Monthly Archives: March 2009
The Two Languages of Unrest
For a couple of months I’ve been trying to get a handle on a wispy problem that seems to be clouding debates about the current economic crisis. Something feels deeply wrong about how these discussions function as discussions, and I’ve … Continue reading
C Notes
So this is my 100th post, folks. Huzzah! Writing duckanddrakes has been a rewarding pastime over the last year. During the next few weeks, I’ll be giving some thought to this blog and its future. For the time being, here’s … Continue reading
Filed under Found Phrases, Handwriting, Language, Names
Churston Ferrers
More handwriting: a gracious note from novelist Agatha Christie to filmmaker Billy Wilder. Christie praises Wilder’s successful adaptation of Christie’s Witness for the Prosecution, probably the strongest film version of her work that we’ll ever see. You can buy the … Continue reading
Filed under Found Phrases, Handwriting, Language
Crystal Clear
You can find a new article extolling the value of the humanities just about every day of the week. Scroll down on this very site, stranger, and you’ll find a pile of links to such articles, many of which I’ve … Continue reading
Filed under Found Phrases, Language, Teaching
Application
At Inside Higher Ed, Chad Aldeman explains that academic institutions just don’t have the resources to identify the most worthy student applications from within the colossal piles that they receive. “The myth of a meritocracy, on which the selective admissions … Continue reading
Claptrap
You! Drop what you’re doing and read Chris Mooney’s critique of George Will’s hissy little column on “global cooling.” Mooney’s article is everything that op-ed writing ought to be: polite, well-reasoned, utterly devastating. I wish that all writers cared so … Continue reading
Filed under Found Phrases, Language, Politics
The Silence of the Boo
Wall Street Journal theater critic Terry Teachout observes: I can’t recall ever hearing a single boo at a Broadway show, a classical concert, a dance performance or a nightclub gig. Teachout’s onto something about the way we live now – … Continue reading
Filed under Found Phrases, Language
