Steveawiggins

LATEST ARTICLES ( 4561 )

• Recalling the Story

  

  Remembering how a story goes. That’s one of a book’s functions, particularly if a tale’s complex. Running a season behind, I was one of those enamored of... Read more

  Posted on 06 March 2023 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Foresight

  

  God wasn’t thinking of search engine optimization (SEO) when he was writing the Bible.  First of all, he doesn’t seem to have considered that all the nice, shor... Read more

  Posted on 05 March 2023 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Fostering Euro-Horror

  

  In another example of Euro-Horror, Hatching is a remarkably effective monster movie. Filmed in Finnish, and set in Finland, it’s a remarkable parable about... Read more

  Posted on 04 March 2023 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Just Being

  

  You know, I sometimes resent being forced to be something I’m not.  In these days of tolerance and letting people be themselves, the bullies have taken over,... Read more

  Posted on 03 March 2023 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• More Dark Academia

  

  It could be that I’m not smart or sophisticated enough. Or maybe I’ve just lived a sheltered existence, although I grew up with an alcoholic parent and among a... Read more

  Posted on 02 March 2023 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Weathering the Winter

  

  Although it’s been cold out, in many ways this feels like the year without a winter.  Around here we’ve had no real measurable snowfall and temperatures have... Read more

  Posted on 01 March 2023 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Creepy

  

  There’s some symbolism here that I haven’t had time to sort out. (Some of us need time to just sit and think—time that work won’t allow. Read more

  Posted on 28 February 2023 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• What People Like

  

  It must be like showing up at a party wearing a flashy shirt that somebody else is also wearing.  Embarrassing, no?  A few years back I read Brian Jay Jones’... Read more

  Posted on 27 February 2023 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Pentagrams

  

  Not to dwell on Satanism, but the morning after my last post on the topic, while out on my morning jog, I came across a pentagram incised in the pea gravel of... Read more

  Posted on 26 February 2023 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Something I Said?

  

  I’m very aware of my own insignificance.  I know that I’ll die and be forgotten, just like everybody else.  Even if I manage to survive by some “Kilroy was here... Read more

  Posted on 25 February 2023 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Bad Movies

  

  I watch bad movies so you don’t have to. Maybe that’s my ticket to retirement (it certainly isn’t working the usual way). In any case, my habit of trying to fin... Read more

  Posted on 24 February 2023 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Satanic Struggle

  

  Around these parts folks are in an uproar about an after-school Satan Club.  The idea is an action to get Evangelical undies in a bunch, and it’s only proposed... Read more

  Posted on 23 February 2023 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Internet of Nothings

  

  I don’t suppose it’s actually a confession, since my background’s available publicly on my CV, but I do admit to not being a media expert. Read more

  Posted on 22 February 2023 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Young and Headless

  

  Young adult literature is sometimes fun to read as an adult. In addition to going swiftly, compared to much “adult” literary literature, it has a way of... Read more

  Posted on 21 February 2023 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Learning English

  

  English is a difficult language to learn.  Growing up monolingual, I was able to pick up German, Greek, and Hebrew (and other semitic languages) without too muc... Read more

  Posted on 20 February 2023 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Have a Little Hope

  

  Optimism is a rare commodity these days. Reading Scott Edwin Williams’ new book, Lightbulb Moments in Human History: From Cave to Colosseum, served to remind... Read more

  Posted on 19 February 2023 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Expiration Date

  

  One of the perils of trying to understand others—something that is vitally necessary for a humane and civil world—is facing difficult truths. Sometimes horror... Read more

  Posted on 18 February 2023 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Local Haunts

  

  Local color. It’s what makes travel so much fun, even if not to someplace exotic. I’ve lived in five different states and two different countries and one thing... Read more

  Posted on 17 February 2023 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• In Praise of Cardboard

  

  There’s an irony to it.  Using single-use plastic bags to ship books.  Now I know better than to stereotype book lovers, but I suspect it’s safe to say that... Read more

  Posted on 16 February 2023 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Valentines and Bombs

  

  So what was I thinking, posting about bombs on Valentine’s Day?  Regular readers know my fascination with holidays.  Valentine’s Day is another one of those tha... Read more

  Posted on 15 February 2023 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY