As I've mentioned before, I spent the summer reading Madame Bovary in French, trying to make up for not reading it when I was supposed to in college, along with boosting my language skills. I was very happy to have some company on this challenge, notably Emma of Words and Peace, a native speaker and … Continue reading How To Be Unhappy: Madame Bovary
I forgot to celebrate the occasion, but the 1st of January marked 10 years since I started my first book blog, The Emerald City Book Review. Though the Emerald City has morphed into the Enchanted Castle, I've been blogging for a whole decade now. I've gotten so much out of this hobby, and I am … Continue reading Celebrating 10 Years of Blogging
Authors Publish Magazine has just posted an essay of mine that mused on the question: "Is an unpublishable book worth writing?" This came up in connection with my personal experience of writing an entire book I didn't feel able to submit for publication. Was that a waste of time? As I looked into the experiences … Continue reading Over at Authors Publish: Is an unpublishable book worth writing?
This poem was written after a retreat at the Alcyon Center in Maine some years ago. Walking their outdoor labyrinth brought me this experience of how confusion and disintegration can be transformed when we simply focus on our next step, one at a time. As we enter into the turning point of the year, in … Continue reading Labyrinth
The lovely folks at Braided Way: Faces and Voices of Spiritual Practice have posted my essay "Relearning the Alphabet," originally published in Parabola. I'm happy to have this long-ago creation now available online. Each time we speak, we give birth. Something of our soul goes forth into the world, embodied in air. It is remarkable … Continue reading Over at Braided Way: Relearning the Alphabet
I'm very pleased that I finished reading Krabat by Otfried Preußler this summer. Taking it slowly, one part per month, helped me get through and feel that I'd made a real step in German fluency. Here follows my summary of the third part in German and English, and some final thoughts in English. Nach Michals … Continue reading Krabat: The Third Year
This year for my Summer in Other Languages self-challenge, I am reading the novel Krabat by Otfreid Preußler. As I did with my reading of Die Kleine Hexe two years ago, I’m posting a summary in German and English, plus some thoughts in English. I’ll focus at first on my impressions from reading the book … Continue reading Krabat: The Second Year
So far, my blog newsletter has been merely a summary of recent posts (which I just noticed has not been sending since December of 2022 -- I need to fix that this month!) I've decided to start something new and send out a newsletter that is not merely a repetition of blog content, but will … Continue reading Would you like to join the Enchanted Circle?
My Summer in Other Languages project for 2022 is now over. I didn't do much, basically just reading one book in French ... but every little bit helps. I'd really like to get back to working on German now. I've actually been quite surprised and pleased that my conversational skills seem to have improved quite … Continue reading A poem in translation: The Rockface by Conrad Ferdinand Meyer
I met my Summer in Other Languages goal of reading Le Grand Meaulnes, the classic novel by Alain-Fournier, in French. I'd read it some years ago in English, but I forgot most of the plot and it was like reading it for the first time! As with previous French reads, it was great to participate … Continue reading Summer in Other Languages: Le Grand Meaulnes
