you are not a machine. you are more like a garden. you need different things on different days. a little sun today, a little less water tomorrow. you have fallow and fruitful seasons. it is not a design flaw. it is wiser than perpetual sameness. what does your garden need today?

NEW VIDEO ESSAY... You may not be able to see the stars, but you can definitely hear the awesome original music in this video created by an exceptionally talented student of mine, Reagan Marcus! Hats off to her for making this one extra unique! youtu.be/pkoobt-cxjY

If you've ever been to a game in Lane, you know...

The pursuit of science and technology without roots in the arts, ethics, literature is a Faustian bargain, displaying an eagerness for knowledge uncoupled from wisdom, and the great myths have shown us the tragic end of such a pursuit.

Hey, Brian Zahnd. Just wondering, on a scale of 1-10, what your excitement level is for the forthcoming Bob Dylan biopic starring Timothee Chalamet?

Tolkien was often asked if he "was" Gandalf. He responded to one reader, "I am not Gandalf ... As far as any character is 'like me' it is Faramir." Which makes Faramir's declaration about the Ring all the more important: "But fear no more! I would not take this thing, if it

The Mid-Cent generation kids will be rolling their eyes at this ____ excuse for poetic____. Why be the G.O.A.T. when you can be the ____. (Fashionable words TBD.) youtube.com/shorts/1b1x_1m…

If anyone's doubting Denzel Washington in Gladiator II, just remember what he did as Macbeth. youtu.be/Y2P_r3HfibE

Trying something new on the YouTube channel! But since I'm an English teacher, maybe it was just meant to be. Introducing Thought & Word book reviews! First up: 'Catch-22' by Joseph Heller. youtu.be/Nqv4Q4EA5a0

The prospect of students using AI to write essays should alarm everyone. The purpose of education isn’t to pass exams, it’s to become someone who can read deeply, who can communicate, who can think. We mustn’t farm out our minds to machines.

Blaming the loss on the Virginia Tech coaching staff when they weren’t even supposed to be competitive in the first place tonight is missing the plot in my opinion. Great effort, frustrating stuff, wasn’t perfect. Lot of good stuff. Play like that the rest of the schedule.

Andrew Garfield talks to Elmo about missing his mother after she recently passed away. “When I miss her I remember it’s because she made me so happy, I can celebrate her & miss her at the same time”

I'm so serious, if you stop using your creativity, imagination and thinking abilities you will LOSE them. Millions of people willingly giving up their intellects, the very thing that makes them human, is a nightmare straight out of our darkest science-fictions.

New video essay! For all you fans of 'The Bear' out there, this video dives into why you were hooked from the very first episode. youtu.be/wgBEKarrjEU

This may sound utopian but school would be much improved if it mostly consisted of reading books and having discussions. No exams, no grades, you just read a million books and chat about them. There is no better way to educate someone than to make them a voracious reader.

May visiting the cemetery invite us all to remember and to wait in hope. For we are not enclosed in the past or in sentimental tears of nostalgia. Neither are we sealed within the present, as in a tomb. May the familiar voice of Jesus reach everyone, because it is the only one

The great tragedy of our time is that people expect art without craft, writing without effort, relationships without friction. But that effort, that friction, shapes us and gives us dignity. The work of making something is what makes you.