Author Archives: Joshua Gibbs

They’ve got more than one thing in common.

I highly recommend you read The Divine Comedy, though I don’t know that I would suggest you try to do so by yourself. If you start reading it, you really need to finish it. Dante himself issues this caution to readers in the middle of the poem. If you abandon the poem half way through,Continue reading “How to Read The Divine Comedy for the First Time”

There is always going to be room for a fresh round of cultural pundits who tell young men to “make their beds.” It strikes young ears as profound, invigorating. It’s simple. It’s doable. However, the make-your-bed people always marry that message with something else. It never stands entirely on its own. “Make your bed andContinue reading “The Make-Your-Bed People”

A skull tattoo A duck tattoo A dog urinating on a fire hydrant In the rain Inked images As invisible as words To the illiterate

“One of the reasons American Christians have lost any real concern for beauty is because they do not know how to connect beauty with salvation, and so they believe there is no connection. This belief is entirely quixotic, though, because very few Christians have ever heard a real proposal about what the connection might be.Continue reading “The Connection Between Good Taste And Salvation”

I’m slowly sampling Boise’s culinary scene. Yesterday, I went to The Basque Market and bought a bunch of conservas. The smoked sardines were quite good.

The Apotheosis of the Renaissance by Mihály Munkácsy (Hungarian, 1888) I find this astounding.

The fourth season of Stranger Things, but instead of “Running Up That Hill,” it’s “Like A Surgeon” by Weird Al.

“It’s my hope that A Parley with Youth will give parents a new perspective on the role that teachers can and should play for students, and that teachers also see this role as an agreeable possibility. Of all my accomplishments as a teacher, the one I’m most proud of is the significant number of former students withContinue reading “How Do You Talk To High School Students?”

“While the lines of competition are drawn between nations, watching the Olympic Games tends to produce a remarkable balance between love of one’s own people and love of others. The first sort of love seems to easily segue into the second. When watching, I intuitively pull for the United States, but I find myself easily won overContinue reading “Why I Love Watching The Olympics”