Tag: Reblogged

TBT: Chapel Lesson: Listening

The Portly Politico1 Comment

School’s back, and that means Chapel on Thursdays!  Today is one of the first chapels of the school year.  I always enjoy hearing the short little devotionals from our chaplain, and they’re quite beneficial for those students who choose to take them to heart.

There was a small chance that I might be asked to serve as chaplain this year—quite a responsibility!—but the school obtained someone more qualified for the job (in other words, someone with an actual degree in theology and practical experience in ministry).  I imagine I will still be called upon, at times, to provide a short homily or lesson when the new guy is absent.

Regardless, it seemed like an excellent time to look back at this little message I delivered to our students last year.  Listening is hard, and it’s even harder when we’re constantly engulfed in noise.  That makes it particularly hard to listen to God’s Still, Small Voice, much less the much louder voices of people around us.

With that, here is 30 August 2022’s “Chapel Lesson: Listening“:

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Lazy Sunday CXVII: Cinema

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The cinema is either making a major comeback, or it’s enjoying one last gasp of box office dominance before fading into obscurity.  Either way, it’s a great excuse to look back on some past posts about the movies!

  • “The Future of Cinema” – I wrote this bad boy back in October 2020, during The Age of The Virus.  Theaters had started to reopen, only to shutter again as the dreaded Delta variant scared journalists and schoolmarms everywhere.  I mused that the magic of seeing a flick on the big screen would, even in some altered form, triumph over streaming.
  • “Supporting Friends Friday: The Cinematic Compositions of Mason Sandifer” –  Robert Mason Sandifer is a young composer with whom I had the opportunity to work for a couple of years while he was in high school.  Since I wrote this post back in 2021, he’s gone on to compose a great deal more.
  • “The Return of the Cinema” – Is moviegoing back?  I certainly hope so.  It’s been a big summer for the movies, and it’s good to see theaters and lobbies full of the unwashed masses again.

Happy Sunday!

—TPP

Other Lazy Sunday Installments:

TBT^2: Rebuilding Civilization: The Hunter-Gatherer

The Portly Politico4 Comments

It’s interesting to come back to the question of the value of civilization from time to time.  For what it’s worth, I think civilization is definitely worth maintaining, even with the inevitable social ills that come with it.  Better to live a life abundant in not just material well-being, but also with opportunities for self-improvement and finer pursuits, like literature and art, than to be scrounging around for every meal.

Of course, the few remaining peoples that live the hunter-gatherer life would disagree—if they were even capable of conceiving of a different lifestyle.  As difficult as it is for us in the “civilized” world to imagine the hunter-gatherer’s life, how much more difficult must it for be for the hunter-gatherer to conceive of our life?

I doubt either one would trade places with the other, which is what makes the situation so intriguing.  Both ways of life have merits and pitfalls.  Beyond that, that human beings could live such vastly different lives is a testament to the incredible diversity of our own species.  It’s fascinating to consider that we have, essentially, living ancestors in the world today, people who live largely as all humans did in the remotest past of our time on this planet.

All interesting, conceptual things to consider.  Which life would you choose?

With that, here is 18 August 2022’s “TBT: Rebuilding Civilization: The Hunter-Gatherer“:

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Lazy Sunday CCXVI: Weird Piano Music

The Portly Politico2 Comments

There is little I love more than playing and singing my humorous original songs.  But a close second is subjecting my readers to my bizarre short piano compositions.  So, why not look at back at some of my weird piano music?

Happy Sunday!

—TPP

Other Lazy Sunday Installments:

TBT^16: Back to School with Richard Weaver

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The 2023-2024 school year commenced yesterday, which brings to mind this annual tradition of mine:  re-reading the introduction to Richard Weaver’s Ideas Have Consequences.

Unfortunately, I don’t always manage to dip back into this classic work every year, but I find that when I do, it helps to crystallize why it is I do what I do, and what is at stake.  I’m under no illusion—as some teachers are!—that I can “save the world” or any such messianic nonsense.  The crusading impulse that I possessed as a naïve young teacher is no longer there, beyond some vestigial bits of self-righteous fury that peak from behind the clouds of well-worn cynicism.

Still, we have much to be thankful for, even as the empire burns around us and the elites fiddle.  Life is sweet; the opportunity for an education is a privilege and joy.  I’m thankful to be a small part of that process.

With that, here is 25 August 2022’s “TBT^4: Back to School with Richard Weaver“:

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Lazy Sunday CCXV: TJC Deep Cuts

The Portly Politico4 Comments

It’s been the Summer of Deep Cuts for yours portly, as I’ve been digging deep into my songwriting book to play tunes that I rarely play live.  It’s been a fun experiment, as I can see how my songwriting has evolved (or not!) over the years.

That’s it for this quick, almost-back-to-school, musical edition of Lazy Sunday!

Happy Sunday—and Happy Listening!

—TPP

Other Lazy Sunday Installments:

TBT^2: Preserving Old Varieties

The Portly Politico6 Comments

Recently, I had the opportunity to catch up with an old friend of mine from college.  He has turned the backyard of his cookie-cutter suburban house into a veritable Garden of Eden—or, at least, an impressive little homestead.  He’s managed to grow everything from blueberries to squash to melons and more, to the point that he can substantially impact his grocery bill—and that’s with three energetic sons!  The boys have already stripped the blueberry bushes clean.

He takes great joy in being able to feed his sons and his wife from his garden.  Sure, they still have to buy groceries, but they enjoy delicious, fresh fruits and vegetables throughout the year.  My friend also takes particular care to save seeds for future plantings, and has an impressive compost pile in a dark corner of the yard.  He tells me that about once a year he’ll dig to the bottom of the pile and find pure, black, nutrient-rich soil.

He even raises his own worms!  He tells me it’s incredibly easy to do, a “low effort, high reward” project that helps to keep his garden’s soil rich and aerated.  His young sons also love helping out in the garden, and the worms are a fun, crawly project for them all.  They even have a dill plant with monarch butterfly caterpillars, which he has had to cover with netting so the birds don’t gobble up the beautiful larvae.

It’s truly inspiring seeing this kind of backyard agriculture first-hand, and my friend’s dedication to preserving heirloom varieties while also feeding his family is impressive.  He gave me some corn kernels for planting, which I’ll save for next spring.

I did not arrive empty-handed, though.  The broccoli plants that I so disgracefully let wither managed to survive!  I had one, impressive, beautiful plant return.  Rather than gobbling it up, I let it flower.  The little buds we see on supermarket broccoli will, if left to grow, blossom into gorgeous yellow flowers.  Over time, seed pods will develop after the petals fall; those pods and their stems turn brittle, and eventually fall to the earth.  Either the second broccoli I planted made a comeback, too, or I have had a new plant rise up from fallen seeds.

Regardless, broccoli produce tons of seeds, and I was able to take my friend a bag full of them.  As for my plant, I’m going to let nature take its course and see what happens next.

Here’s to letting a thousand broccoli flowers bloom!

With that, here is 11 August 2022’s “TBT: Preserving Old Varieties“:

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Offensive Poems: With Pictures Preview: “Cute But Offensive Extraterrestrial” & “Space Frog”

The Portly Politico10 Comments

The following is a re-posting of this past Sunday’s edition of Sunday Doodles (Sunday Doodles CXCV), which is normally a perk for $5 and up subscribers to my SubscribeStar Page.  The post serves as a preview, of sorts, to the kind of content that will make up (I hope!) my third book, tentatively entitled Offensive Poems: With Pictures.  I thought I’d bring it to the masses—you, my beloved free subscribers and daily readers—to get feedback—and to let you in on this new project.  —TPP

Typically, Sunday Doodles is reserved for the classy $5 and up subscribers, while $3 a month gets the first Sunday of the month to gawk at doodles.  However, I’m opening this post up to all subscribers.

That’s because this weekend’s edition of Sunday Doodles features a preview of my current book project, Offensive Poems: With Pictures.  This project started almost by accident—I was doodling at an open mic night on Tuesday, 18 July 2023, and started sketching people around me.  Two nights later—Thursday, 20 July 2023—at another open mic, I drew “Cute But Offensive Extraterrestrial”; he prompted me to write the haiku “Learn to Code.”

That got me thinking:  what if I wrote a red-pilled haiku for every doodle?  I was already toying with the idea of writing poems to accompany each doodle, but I wasn’t thinking of making them a satirical commentary on the strange times in which we find ourselves.  Now, I can’t stop coming up with pithy verses about the various sacred cows and empty bromides of our time.  It’s remarkable how many Leftist slogans are seven-syllables, which works great for that second line of each haiku.

Why haiku?  I like the challenge of stating a complex sets of ideas in seventeen syllables.  The structure of a haiku—five syllables in the first and third lines, seven syllables in the second/middle line—means I have to be extremely efficient with words.

And, to be totally honest, I just find haiku easier to work with than other poetic forms.  It offers enough flexibility in terms of rhythm, meter, etc., for a hedge-poet like myself to play around with.  Once I have to worry about iambic pentameter, for example, and stressed and unstressed syllables, it’s a bit too much for yours portly.

That said, I wanted some form, as I find most free verse to be too loose.  There is something to be said for structure, as it forces me to think intentionally about every word.  Also, I find that much free verse quickly becomes indistinguishable from prose.  Much of it seems like prose writing with random or mildly clever line breaks.

So!  Enough rambling.  Let’s get to the doodles!

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Lazy Sunday CCXIV: D.C., Part II

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I finally slapped together the concluding installments of my Washington, D.C. Trip series, which may or may not make it into a future collection of travel essays.  Based on sales of Arizonan Sojourn, South Carolinian Dreams: And Other Adventures, I’m not exactly hot to rush out another collection of such essays, but we’ll see after I have my book signing (rescheduled so I could deliver the baccalaureate sermon, but the date is still TBD), which should increase the book’s profile a smidge.  I do, however, have an idea for my third book, and it’s going to be something completely different from either of the first two.

Happy Sunday!

—TPP

Other Lazy Sunday Installments:

TBT^4: Back to the Grind 202[3]

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All things must come to an end.  That includes sleeping in, taking naps, and being well-rested.

Yes, it’s sad, but true:  the endless freedom and fun of summer is over, at least for yours portly.  Today, I am back at work.

I’ve noted before how the return date for teachers seems to inch earlier and earlier into August.  Last year, we went back on 5 August 2022—a Friday.  That seemed almost intentionally spiteful on the part of my administration:  “nope, you’re not going to have one full week left with fun weekend plans; you need to sit through the employee handbook again.”

Now it’s 3 August 2023, a Thursday.  That seems even more spiteful.  Why not give us one last, full week?

Readers might say, “Hey, you’ve been off for eight weeks; why are you complaining?”  Or, alternatively, “Well, if the start of school is imminent, maybe you need to go back today.”

Wrong—wrong!  Classes do not resume until Wednesday, 16 August 2023, almost two weeks from today.  Four days next week are tied up with student registration.  So we’ll have three days of mind-numbingly bureaucratic meetings—during which I’m sure we’ll learn of some new, onerous burden that we teachers are to bear—followed by a bunch of kids buying textbooks.

But I must adopt a positive attitude.  While I am not thrilled to be going back to work, the routine will certainly do me some good.  I am beginning to understand why people die six months after retirement.  Sometimes, the free time can be overwhelming.

I mean, not for me, but I can see how it could be for some people.  We get so used to working nonstop, it’s hard to slow down.  Fortunately, yours portly enjoys his afternoon naptime as much as the next octogenarian.

I digress.  The school year does bring with a pleasant rhythm—and more music lessons.  July is the leanest month of the year for those, and while teaching twenty-ish lessons a week in addition to my normal course load is grueling, it brings in the bacon.

Of course, my skin flint readers (that’s you!) could also pitch in a few bucks each month (thanks to those of you who do!), but I know budgets are tight.  Why send $5 a month to a cool dude you know and love when you can spend it at some soulless corporation that wants to use your corpse for dog food?

Goodness!  That escalated quickly.  Can you tell I’m a tad irate?

With that, here is “TBT^2: Back to the Grind 2020“:

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