Wandering outside of Reykjavik
Wander
in Inspiration
Contact With Mystery
On Cormac McCarthy, Flannery O’Connor, and what 'The Revenant' misses on purpose, over at Christianity Today.
Read MoreTaken As We Are
I wrote this reflection on rejection, resurrection, and Vincent Van Gogh for Mockingbird.
Read MoreWriting the Wound: Wim Wenders Narrates Grace
I wrote about Wim Wenders over at Mockingbird.
Read MoreHow to Eat Apple Pie
in Creative
Ingredients: 1 piece of apple pie (the kind with the apples still crisp and coated in only cinnamon, with the kind of crust that you imagine when you imagine baking a whole pie crust to eat by itself and by yourself. I prefer pie a day old, when the flavors have become friends and the warmth left is a result of the pie and not the other way around)
Read MoreThe New Art of Apple
The spirit of the respective times is undeniably captured in literature, music and the visual arts. But what about parts of culture that are not generally considered art? What about creativity that is hidden in algorithms and in the wiring beneath computer keyboards? Technology. What does technology say about us? What can we learn about our weaknesses and dreams from our cellphones and laptops? To find out, the viewers must take themselves away from the end goal and think about how they got there. Why buy MP3s instead of vinyls? Our artistic ends have not changed, but our ways of reaching those ends have evolved. What do these changes say about twenty-first century zeitgeist?
Read MoreFaith Not By Sight
in Criticism
What Picasso's blind man needs is something that cannot be seen. He is seeking more than physical sustenance as he reaches for the bread and wine. He is grasping for what is truly essential.
Read MoreSearch for Purpose: Fleet Foxes’ most recent album is also their most honest
in Criticism
While Sun Giant and Fleet Foxes were more like recitations of old legends – a subdued, peaceful collection of stories – Helplessness Blues is clearly a journey. It is a combination of deeper poetry and fuller sound. Pecknold’s voice is ethereal but also raw and hauntingly honest. Sun Giant and Fleet Foxes were closer to hymns, but Helplessness Blues is a supplication, a search for atonement and purpose.
Read MoreTrue Grit: Unlikely Redemption
in Criticism
The Coen Brothers like to redeem the most unlikely people.
Read MoreDownward Spiral: Dave Eggers’ Chilling Apocalypse
in Criticism
In an eerily familiar world, “unsubscribe” means betrayal, secrets are lies, alone time is escapism, leaving work after hours is treason, quality time is inefficient, tardy responses are attacks, and experiencing a moment but failing to live-document it is cheating humanity of information. “All that happens must be known” is The Circle’s mantra.
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