By Miranda R. Carter For some time, in an earlier America, the Sierra Nevada Mountains were viewed as the final brutal barrier to the American Dream, the skeleton key to the West. Though today’s modern passes—Carson, Spooner, etc.—are tightly wound, rimming a shale skyline, they are contrastingly travelable trails from the blue corazón of Lake … Continue reading The Nevada Side
Humidity
By Zary Fekete In July the air was thick enough to push back. You and I stood in it, early, before the sun arrived like a loud, brash fire. At dawn the corn leaves were still wet and sharp at the edges. Our shirts soaked through in a quiet, even kind of way…cold at first … Continue reading Humidity
Brighton Beach Daydreams
By Maria Odessky Rosen The usually pure solid tones of Deep Forest are adulterated in this 13th floor apartment of the Trump Village projects in Brighton Beach. The music is polluted, and so are my thoughts. The lyrics of “Martha’s Song” are distorted by the cacophonous clattering of a passing D train. I push in … Continue reading Brighton Beach Daydreams
The Hero Is The Problem
By Mary Murray Bartolomé The stories I read as a child were filled with heroes, but now I’m not so sure. They were tales, ancient and folkloric, of a singular strong man (yes, man) who bravely challenged his antagonisers; a man fearless beyond reason, who either alone or with paltry aid, became victorious; a man … Continue reading The Hero Is The Problem
Library Collections
By Benedicte Grima When I walk into a house, the first thing my eyes tune into is the presence or absence of books. I am immediately unsettled by the invisible volumes, and the space seems stark, lifeless. When I watch speakers on television talk from their homes and offices, I scour the bookshelves behind them, … Continue reading Library Collections
Sun Tzu and Entertainment: Dennis the Menace’s Garden Party
By Andrew Nickerson In military tactics/strategy, many names have risen to prominence, only to fall later. However, one name has remained prominent for millennia: Sun Tzu, ancient general/tactician/strategist and author of The Art of War. This masterpiece has been venerated by everyone from students to teachers to historians, not just for its commonsense approach to … Continue reading Sun Tzu and Entertainment: Dennis the Menace’s Garden Party
You Will Scream It At The Clouds If You Don’t Say It
By Heather Box I've been to what feels like too many whiskey-drenched nights, filled with shock, loud laughs, tears, subtle nods, and people collapsing in their grief. The way people work to create a silver lining so immediately after someone dies hurts so bad. In all the deaths I’ve seen, I have yet to find … Continue reading You Will Scream It At The Clouds If You Don’t Say It
“B is for Bath” : An Alphabetical Retelling of the Bath School Massacre and its Legacy
By Abbey Toner A: Alphabet During elementary school, kids are aged 5-11. All elementary schoolers should, in theory, know how to read. They should learn the alphabet in preschool, at the ages of 3-4. In the 1920s, schools often combined all grades. During elementary school, kids would have been aged 5-14. Psychologists would say that … Continue reading “B is for Bath” : An Alphabetical Retelling of the Bath School Massacre and its Legacy
Neomedievalism: The Contemporary Era in Medieval Reflections
By Antonio Ambrosino When history repeats itself, the Middle Ages return in 2025 In the silent flow of modern days, a strange echo rises — as if the past, long buried, were whispering through the cracks of our present. Despite scientific and technological advances, our society reveals unsettling similarities with the medieval past. From Berlin’s … Continue reading Neomedievalism: The Contemporary Era in Medieval Reflections
My Time As A Hermit
By Michael Barrington After ten years as a busy religious missionary priest in Africa, I was driven by an internal compulsion to spend some time in silence, prayer, and solitude. I had spent three of those years in Nigeria, witness to unspeakable horrors and atrocities during its civil war. Delivering aid was a matter of … Continue reading My Time As A Hermit
Academy of the Heart And Mind 