It is not a story I have often told, but I suppose a few readers of this blog may be familiar with “the bird story.” This week on Proverbial, though, I have made a record of it.
Lest We Depend On False Leverage
The term “social construct” is a social construct.
The Hiddenness Of God
It would be impossible to ‘love’ anyone or anything one knew completely. Love is directed towards what lies hidden in its object.
-Valery
Dressed For The Virginia Regency Ball

This is what I want my children to think of when they think of dancing.
Gwyneth Who?
For as chic as the 90s are once again, the line, “What’s in the box?” was uttered during Dune and absolutely no one in the theater laughed.
Only Comes Around Every So Often

The new Grouper record is out today. Late October was an ideal release date.
Quit Taking Notes
After an epiphany over the summer, I began my in-person classes this year with an exercise (or an experiment) wherein I aimed to prove to my literature students and theology students that they were better off not taking notes during class. In the last six weeks of school, I have often required students to put their notes away during class and simply read along with me. I have also occasionally required them to put their books aside, as well, and to only listen while I read. Consequently, I have found my students far more invested in class and enjoying remarkable retention of what they read and hear.
I want to explain to you what I am doing, why it works, why it is classical, and why measuring the diligence of students by note-taking is profoundly counterproductive.
On Monday, October 25th, at 8:00pm EST, I am offering Rethinking Notes, a free webinar. Recordings of this lecture will only be available for current Gibbs Classical students. Registration is now open for Spring 2022 classes including The Divine Comedy for Beginners and Modern Romance: The Cult of Courtly Love in Theory, Literature, and Film. Students registered for Spring 2022 classes will have access to this webinar recording.
If you would like a link to this free Webinar, sign up for the Gibbs Classical mailing list.
When Anger Is Sin, Blindness
When a father is in such a state of mind to speak of “my table,” or, “my car,” or, “my house,” when chastising a member of his family, he is too angry to see the situation properly.
Beatrice Playing Taboo
Last night, in a round of Taboo, Beatrice had to get Camilla to guess the word “bath,” and the clue she gave was, “It’s the resort town in England where everyone goes in Northanger Abbey.” I was impressed. However, five minutes later, she had to get Camilla to guess “sorcery” and this was how she opened her clues…
Beatrice: It’s something forbidden in the Bible.
Camilla: Uh… Killing… Uh…
Beatrice: (aggravated) THINK! THINK, CAMILLA!
