This is a bad use of tithing

 

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Right now, if you make an event on a calnedar hosted by churchofjesuschrist.org, and you click the "public event" box (meaning people can see the event without logging in as a church member), and then you start typing a description, a troubling thing pops up on your screen:

I have so many issues with AI and each of them is amplified when placed in a church setting.

First, no matter where you stand on AI, except for people who imagine they can make money from it, the average person fumbles along in this direction:

(Incidentally, I found that observation via Anne Lutz Fernandez's solid three-parter on why AI should keep out of schools to which I amen loudly and with enthusiasm.)

But hey, you ask a large-language model something and it gives you what sounds like a reasonable answer and that's really neat! But if you stick with them long enough, one of two things will happen. You will either grow skeptical of AI's ability to give you anything worth having. Or you will lose the ability to recognize when such skepticism is warranted. Which makes sense. A"I"-generated writing has only two uses that I can see: To do things that shouldn't be bothered with anyway. To embrace laziness.

I have a friend who works for OpenAI and he was suggesting that AI would be terrific for teachers, a huge time saver. To which I can only answer, how? I suppose I could make it do things for me but to what end? I honestly cannot think of a single use case that wouldn't damage my credibility, my relationship with my students, the quality of the work i assign, the quality of work I receive back, and/or the quality of the grading. The only way AI could do any of those things as well as I can do them is if I'm already not doing them well. Yes, LLMs can do rote crap fine if you don't care much about the outputs, but if a teacher is teaching students to provide rote crap that does not require much attention to grade, I would propose that that sounds like a crappy education.

Anyway, AI companies are desperately looking for ways to make money and school districts are suckers who delight in wasting money on magical fixes, so I'm sure I'll be getting access to free crap soon enough. People who don't teach always know how to make our jobs better. (My district went over $40,000,000 overbudget on consultants last year. That's fun. And exactly why they'll be excited to pay for AI. Why not pay less for crappy work that never needed to be done?)

Speaking of, it's worth mentioning that these companies are far from profitable as of today. For instnace, OpenAI, which is doing better than most, loses $2.50 for every $1 it makes. That's overall, but they're even losing money on their highest-priced corporate accounts. The new version of their question-answering bot? The one they say that is a huge leap forward and will blow our minds and that they haven't let any reporters check out yet? The cost in computing and energy for every single answer it produces is $10,000.

$10,000.

No matter how good those answers are, I don't see anyone paying OpenAI $10,001 per answer so they can turn a profit. Do you?

Anyway, I was borderline rude in my outrage a couple months ago during stake council. I'd volunteered to choose some pullquotes from the recent stake conference for use in the stake's social media. Somebody said I could just have an AI do this and I was shocked at the suggestion. How hard is it to read some talks and pull out some choice quotes? How could an LLM do that better than I can? And once it gave me quotes, unless I'm grossly irresponsible, I would have to check they were even in the talk! And if I'm the least bit concerned with doing a good job, I would either have to get it to give me multiple options to choose from (each of which I'd have to check) or compare it against the talk myself. How does an LLM save me any time here? How?

It only saves me time if I don't care about doing a good job. What I said at the time was something like, "If it's worth doing, it's worth doing," and I stand my that. (Although my tone of voice should probably be rescinded.) Even granting that this kind of task is very much in my, Theric's, wordsmith roundhouse, it's not a hard task. So if it's worth doing, I should do it. Even if I let an AI take a crack, if it's worth doing, I'll still have to do it.

And that gets to why I'm so distressed that the Church is apparently paying for AI services. This is church. How can we rely on the Spirit if we're relying on an artificial intelligence?

The best argument I can come up with here is some people are intimidated by writing; it's hard for them. And an AI-written calendar item lets them succeed at their calling.

It's an argument. But is it a good one?

Besides, giving tithing money to companies that plagiarize and pollute while we believe in honesty and environmental stewardship is troubling.

(Incidentally, if you want something in-depth about the waste and nonsense that is the modern AI business, check out this newsletter.)

I appreciate that the Church isn't trapped in a moribund past, but while this always upsets me—

—in a living faith, it also depresses me.

Are we shoving God into the machine?

Get Educated

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I started off the month right, slipping those two movies into a narrow window of time I had available to me. Sadly, it meant I had to leave during the credits of both (I wanted to honor the craftmen of Ochi and enjoy more Sinners music, but regardless: I like credits.)

UPDATE: I apparently missed a post-credits scene in Sinners. Boo.

Also worth mentioning: this is the month I begin my Writing About Film class. So some curated goodies in here. That probably I'll say nothing about because I'm all talked out.

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THEATER
Cinemark Century Hilltop 16

The Legend of Ochi (2025)

I really liked this movie even though it has a bunch of flaws of the type I associate with "family" movies. But the creatures are so cool and the actors are good and the scenery is incredible and the beats are so familiar that who even cares about the flaws? We're having a freaking blast. So who cares if Finn Wolfhard's character is an afterthought and Emily Watson looks like a hobbit?

This is the sort of movie that would have terrified me as a kid while all the other kids loved it and couldn't believed I hadn't seen it yet. Related, I wanted to take the 8yrold but I had a chance now, it was the only showing all day, and I was the only one in the theater. I'll betcha this was my only chance.

Plus, she's like me. I'm not sure I'm a good dad if I make her sit through the scary/gross parts.

Incidentally, some of the aesthetics are less 80s-kid-movie and more Willy Wonka vs Wes Anderson. But my favorite stuff is the outdoors stuff.

THEATER
Cinemark Century Hilltop 16

Sinners (2025)

I loved this movie. It's so well written and beautifully paced. It takes its time to build out the place and the people so when the vampires finally show up, the stakes are real. I suppose there are a couple possible inconsistencies in terms of how the vampires work, but the innovative aspects are terrific. These are new and interesting vampires, yall.

But more than that, the twins are terrific creations, the epilogues definitely add to the story. Hailee Steinberg is great in her first true adult role (that I've seen). The music is awesome. The details are consistently evocative and true. Everything about this movie feels honest. Even though it's a vampire movie, a pure piece of popular entertainment.

I haven't enjoyed a movie this much in a while. If you still have a chance, try and see it with a packed house. I'll wish I was with you.

And don't walk out during the closing credits. The music's too good.

ELSEWHERE
our dvd

Mean Girls (2004)

The parallels to Julius Caesar are more and more the more you look (here's someone to start you off). I'm trying to turn it into a writing assignment this time.

What I'm thinking about now though it how so much the movie is told through Cady's point of view. The animals, the hit-by-bus moments. Much of what occurs in the film is entirely filtered through her memory, as emphasized by the occasional narration. Which raises questions about how much of the film is in her p-o-v. When the camera suddenly tilts as she confesses to Aaron, is that Cady? When we see moments where she is not present, is that her recreations or are the some additional source of narrative besides her own mind?

It'll probably be years before I watch it again, but I hope I think of these questions before hitting play.

HOME
friend's dvd

Jiro Dreams of Sushi (2011)

I remember when this movie came out. It appeared at the Albany Twin (rip) and played forever, like a Woody Allen movie. (Ah, those were the days.)

Anyway, only finally getting around to seeing it now. It's everything I assumed: the tale of a great craftsman, excellently staged visuals of food. But it's hard to watch without thinking about all the unintended consequences. Luckily we decided to watch it on our friend's dvd rather than Kanopy because there's about as much footage in the film once again, including expansive discussions filling in some of the gaps about training and overfishing and the various masters (tuna, rice) Jiro works with. I've watched about half that extra footage and intend to watch the other half.

As someone who has never been impressed by sushi (admittedly, I've never had Jiro-level sushi) I'm not persuaded to spend real money to see if I can come around, but I did enjoy seeing someone with true passion excel at a true craft.

We need more stories like that. I'm not sure we remember excellence is possible

ELSEWHERE
our dvd

Do the Right Thing (1989)

It's that wonderful time of the year where I teach film. This is the first feature for the earlier class. And it's a terrific way to start because it is provocative thematically and aesthetically. And, darn it, provocation is exactly what we need.

(And yes, I do skip a certain 90 seconds.)

ELSEWHERE
our dvd

It's a Wonderful Life (1946)

It's always great to introduce students to the new favorite thing. Whether it's a book or a movie, to see someone actively take something into their heart and make it their own—it's just beautiful.

It's also great to watch someone dismiss something as an old thing they suffered through as a kid only to discover a new version of themselves through a revisitation.

I like both those.

THEATER
Cinemark Century Hilltop 16

Thunderbolts* (2025)

I liked this movie more than any Marvel movie since at least Captain Marvel six years ago. Spoilers, many irritatingly vague, from here on out.

I'm so glad that they didn't kill the supervillain. And although it wasn't that deep, I'm glad they explored the issues with him that they did. And I like where it seems to be headed.

Geraldine Viswanathan looked so different than she did in Drive-Away Dolls, but her facial expressions are unmistakable.

I hadn't read a lot about the movie before going in, but I did hear that most of the cast was great and Julia Louis-Dreyfus was lazy and bad. I'm not sure was people mean. The cast did range from good to great, but Julia Louis-Dreyfus got almost nothing to work with. I wonder if people just wanted something amazing from her. I'm not sure we can blame this on her.

I'm intrigued by competing Avengers teams. I have low expectations, but the ceiling's high here.

I really want to know if Bucky's still in Congress. It doesn't see like it but I think it's strange if he is not. I mean—Congree and Avenger are both big jobs and I don't know how you do both, but these are the movies, man.

I wish Marvel luck at maintaining their mojo.

ELSEWHERE
our dvd

Rushmore (1995)

Gen Z strikes again! Our conversation about this movie ended up being almost half about Max trying to kiss Miss Cross and thus the need to cancel him and doubt any personal growth he may yet experience in life. When I called this out they denied that's what they were doing, but I wonder.

I've always done Rushmore because I think it's maybe the best Wes Anderson movie to see first. But I wonder. It's been almost thirty years since it drops which means we've had two generations of filmmakers who have been, to a greater or lesser extent, whether delightedly or through deliberate rejection, Wesified.

In other words, I wonder if I would be better off picking one of his later films. Moonrise Kingdom is still accessible but much more stylized. Asteroid City is superweird but something I would show in school. But . . . the more stylized they get, the harder they are to get (especially for a rookie audience) on just one viewing.

ELSEWHERE
Hoopla

Clueless (1995)

I think I'm taking this off the list. The problem is that it's playing with same set of tools that students are used to movies using. It's an older and nicer Mean Girls. My accompanying readings are more conceptual thanfilmmakery which doesn't help. That was intentional because even young women tend to assume things about young women are de facto less important. But if I want movies about high-school girls it's easier to talk about them AS A FILM if I'm choosing Heathers or Lady Bird because the filmmaking itself is less obviously pure–pop culture and sometimes even flashy. So that's the way to go.

THEATER
our dvd
littlehill theater

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2001)

We have a state-of-the-art theater at the high school; professional ballet troupes have used it, for instance. But the movie screen, given the setting, is comically small. Still way bigger than anything I can do in my classroom but it feels smaller than it is. Anyway, I could only get the theater for two days and so one class is doing this film and another 2001. (The top choice was very clear in both votes.

But if I get the theater back, Crouching Tiger will not be back. Apparently the fire code doesn't allow all the lights to be off during the school day with students inside and so . . . it was not as dark as one might like. And, therefore, the night scenes, expecially the fight scenes, were nearly impossible to read. Which was upsetting, to be sure.

THEATER
our dvd
littlehill theater

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

Always nervous showing this to students and even thought there are (and will be) some who hate it, overall everyone had a real experience and for many that experience was excellent.

The nature of the school day forced us to split the viewing in half but it sounds like that might be a net positive. Day one they're bored and confused but day two they come in knowing what to expect.

Even though I don't embrase all of Kubrick's catalogue, I do love this movie.

HOME
Wikipedia

The Ten Commandments (1923)

This is a really cool and pretty dumb and very silly movie. Although it dragged, I loved the Mosaic prologue. (Yes! In DeMille's first version, Moses is only the prologue!) The sets and effects were very cool. The use of color was fun. It was great.

Then it transitions to the modern melodrama that took up the bulk of the runtime. It's, um, very obvious. The bad guys say things like

Clearly, this man is a sinner.

Anyway, can we talk about those cool letterforms? This has all my favorites except capital W, but just imagine that lower-case w could be even cooler and you'll get the idea.

Anyway, this is the sort of movie that allows you to tut-tut the wicked while simultaneously getting to see the wicked's beautiful flesh. Isn't that just how the wicked are, showing off their beautiful flesh. How horrible that we get to see it in all its sexy glory. Tut tut.

I also learned from this movie that most lepers are beautiful women with excellent hair and that it's easy to get psychosomatic leprosy if you develop a conscience.

Also, using crappy cement when building nineteen-story cathedrals will bring the wrath of God upon in the form of your mom dying.

Oh, that's another thing. It's bad to be a sinner but it's also bad to have sourpuss piety. Don't do that either.

In short, this is a ridiculous movie and more often dumb than not. But hugely entertaining. No wonder it was a huge hit.

ELSEWHERE
our dvd

Bambi (1942)

Who knows how many times I've seen this movie now. That I adore showing it to high-school seniors means I'm piling on the views, but the film is so strange and beautiful there is always more to discover.

This time I discovered something not new to me per se, but I discovered how large an elements of the film it actually is. I didn't start thinking about it on minute one so perhaps I missed something, but there is zero foley work in this movie. Or, rather, all the foley is performed by the orchestra. Besides vocalizations, the only other sounds are made my instruments. And it's so truthful to this film that it took me this long to realize that it is exclusively so. Amazing.

ELSEWHERE
our dvd

Duck Soup (1933)

Is there any greater pleasure than listening to teenagers laughing at (with) something older than their grandparents?

THEATER
Cinemark Century Hilltop 16

Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning (2025)

Just checked and I basically made this joke at the last one, but I have to wonder if this film set a new record for number of macguffins.

Lady Steed and I disagree as to which of these films has the worst technobabble (I say the previous one) and Luther is essentially a Marvel-movie genius and almost any piece of these story falls apart if you look at it too long, etc etc, but I loved it. It's exciting and fun and it let us know what happened to a fellow we've been worried about for thirty years.

I know they advertized this like it's the last one but I'm curious what the betting markets have to say about that.

HOME
Disney+

Anastasia (1997)

It's pretty clear that my memories of watching Anastasia in the theater and confused with my memories of watching Ferngully in the theater. Although the memory still has inaccuracies built into it as I remember watching it three years before either of them arrived. So much for my credibility on the witness stand.

From a visual perspective, it's interesting how it's employing some digital techniques much as Beauty and the Beast or Aladdin did, but it's also quite obviously rotoscoped. It's a mix of animation styles from perhaps a fifty-year period.

My memory is that Rasputin was scarier than he needed to me and that was about it. I did not remember that we knew Anastasia was Anastasia all along, for instance. I am happy, however, that this revisiting led to me liking the movie much more, as opposed to my recent viewing of The Secret of NIMH, which didn't really lead to a happier experience. Which isn't a claim that Anastasia is some kind of masterwork—I have my complaints—just that it was much better than my memories (lousy as they are) suggested.

HOME
library dvd

Instant Family (2018)

Because of the film unit, a student who watched this film got excited about a scene transition and recommended the movie to me based on that cut. It was certainly the most interesting cut in the movie but of itself, perhaps not enough to watch the movie.

Luckily, the movie was good. This sort of family drama isn't a usual part of my film diet and it was nice to watch one for a change. It's good to see people be good, to grow together, to earn a happy ending.

ELSEWHERE
our dvd

It's Such a Beautiful Day (2012)

Almost no laughs this time.

Concluding in stunned silence.

All reactions appropriate, thank you.

ELSEWHERE
YouTube

Sherlock, Jr. (1924)

Do to me being dumb, I failed to play the ragtimey soundtrack and we had absolute silence. It won them over eventually but we had more complaining upfront.

THEATER
Premier Theater at One Letterman

The Phoenician Scheme (2025)

Our neighbor invited us to this early showing which was followed by her interviewing Roman Coppola, Wes Anderson's longtime writing partner. Obviously we were planning to see this in theaters when it arrived (and will again regardless), but pretty fun to see it early and get some dirt on the side. But in some ways the real thrill was being inside Lucasfilm's theater. When people spoke without a microphone it was almost as if they weren't speaking at all. Their voice was perfectly clear but with zero echo which made it feel disappearingly small. I touched the walls on the way out and whatever that funky fabric they carpeted them in really works.

This was the biggest screen I've ever seen Wes Anderson on and that was lovely as well. I did feel slightly stressed, trying to read all the text I feared i would never get to read again.

The sound thing makes me hopeful that one element of my experience was simply wrong: It felt like, once again, Lady Steed and i were the only people laughing in the theater. Gosh I hope that was not so. Surely this crowd gets it!

Anyway, I don't want to spoil anything. I will say the structure is straightforward compared to the delicious madness of French Dispatch or Asteroid City. Michael Cera fits in well. Benedict Cumberbatch's hair (by which I mean beard and brow) is insane. The production design is perfect as always. Those are the actual paintings you see on the walls. And while I already cannot remember whether the scheme worked or not, the film has a happy ending. Not one I saw coming but one I was glad to experience.

I'll see you in a lesser theater two weeks from now.

ELSEWHERE
our dvd

Casablanca (1942)

I was really locked in on Ilsa this time. Totally changed when I cried and how I cried.

ELSEWHERE
SOURCERY

Get Out (2017)

I have to make this an option every year. Not just because everyone loves it and because it's a blast to watch in a rool full of friends, but because once you start looking, the film is PACKED with new stuff to see. Everytime there's something new. Did you know the gazebo Rose walkes Chris to is black with a white cupola? I didn't until a student noticed and pointed it out.

Criticism & Comics

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041) Arts and Inspiration: Mormon Perspectives, edited by Steven P. Sondrup, finished May 18

In the early days of the pandemic, I cleaned off an unused back porch and set it up as a nice little reading nook for myself. For a while, when I went out there, I was completely invisible, disappeared to my family. (You can see it here.) But then it was discovered and I went to school to teach and the oldest son took over that area for his going-to-school and now it is completely packed with junk again.

Anyway, when that was my space, I read an essay or more from Arts and Inspiration every Sunday. I didn't love ever essay equally but certainly they are all fascinating. This 1980 volume might not hold up as stop-the-presses criticism, but it does succeed as a timecapsule and it often succeeds as a call to action. The authors include some names still remembered well today (Wayne Booth, Merrill Bradshaw, Reid Nibley, Richard Oman, Boyd Packer, Trevor Southey), as well as some we probably should. One cannot fail but note that some of these less remembered people (Yoshie Akimoto Eldredge, Johann Wondra) are either not white or not male or not American. I might also note that the exciting-sounding Native American artists Oman discusses were utterly unknown to me and largely difficult to find in-depth information on in 2025. But that's not what my review is about. In fact, if it were to be about this, I would have to commend it for seeking across the world and finding artists and thinkers in all media, all of whom are articulate and intelligent and worth listening to.

The book is here, if you want to read it:

The nature of reading a series of distinct essays over five years is that I have no idea what to say about this book now. Except it's under 200 pages and still worthy of your time. I'm glad I read it. And the final essay, the one I read today, is a provocative argument for how today's LDS artists should should move forward and what we should aspire to. Pep talks still welcome.

a hair over five years

 

042) The Waiting by Keum Suk Gendry-Kim, finished May 19

I read Gendy-Kim's Grass, a stunning book about comfort women. This one takes place a bit later, during Korea's partition, as families were separated in the desperate run to the south. The story contains a lengthy flashback set at that time but largely takes place in the last ten years, the story of a daughter and her mother who longs for her three-year-old son who was lost on the trail.

 It's a solid piece of work.

perhaps a week

 

043) Odessa by Jonathan Hill, finished May 22

Disappointed to learn this is a volume-one sorta deal but that's how it goes sometime. I did like what was here. It's a postapocalyptic West Coast with enough details to feel real but not bogged down. I appreciated a note Hill left at the end of the book:

I think two-tone or a limited palette fits comics better. Comics exist and function in the in-between places. In comics, we're given some information, but the reader is required to participate in bringing it to life.... Two-color works in the same way. There is generally enough information there to help create things like form, shadows, and atmosphere, but the reader is still an active participant in filling out those details.

Wise words. 

one day

 

044) Barnstormers: A Ballad of Love and Murder by Tula Lotay and Scott Snyder, finished May 22

The first point I wanted to make is how similar the art was to Somna and, whaddaya know, it's the same artist. So a very insightful observation. Thank you, Theric.

But then I was going to talk about what made this art feel so different from that art. 

In both cases the lead characters are stunningly beautiful women, the skin seemingly lit from within. They are composed of perfect lines filled with flesh begging to be touched. These are women impossible to turn away from.

But Somna's protagonist, while a reasonably interesting character, never possessed an internal life real and compelling enough to overcome the fact that her entire purpose was ultimately to be lusted after. The story and character were mere scaffolding propping up a series of pornographic images.

Tillie of Barnstormers however is more incidentally beautiful. No doubt her adventures could not have been rolled out as they did had she not been such a perfect specimen, but the story has it's own drive and her character has its own backing and momentum. The purpose of the book is more than just look at the pretty lady. And thus it also grants her her privacy (or, if you prefer, modesty).

The story's pretty simple and straightforward but it does have some clever and compelling twists on what could have been a tired genre piece. The first time a robot appeared I was shocked and wondering just what this book actually was. In the end, yes, it's a story about crime and the lam and mental health and class struggle and domestic abuse, but the actual core is what it is like to fall in love and what falling in love demands of the participants. And the nature of paying that bill.

It's a lovely little tale. Whether they actually die in the end or not.

three days

 

045) Bingo Baby, finished May 26

This is a curious one. Initially improvised according to the rules of a role-playing game and then assemlylined into a comic. It's . . . fine. I liked it okay. I would call it more a worthy experiment than a great success, but, you know, definitely a worthy experiment.

one day

 

 

earlier this year..........

 

Bro! Tell me we still know how to speak of kings!

001) Beowulf translated by Maria Dahvana Headley, finished January 1
002) Cthulhu Is Hard to Spell: Volume Three, finished January 1
003) Fever Dream by Samanta Schweblin (translated by Megan McDowell), finished January 8
004) My Favorite Thing Is Monsters by Emil Ferris, finished January 11
005) You're a Good Sport, Charlie Brown, finished January 12
005) Into the Headwinds: Why Belief Has Always Been Hard—and Still Is by Terryl Givens and Nathaniel Givens, finished January 24
006) My Favorite Thing Is Monsters: Book Two by Emil Ferris, finished January 25

Maybe we should just pretend this set begins and ends with Wednesday Addams

007) Chas. Addams Half-Baked Cookbook, finished January 29
008) Monica by Daniel Clowes, finished February 3
009) The Unexpurgated French Edition of Fanny Hill: Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure by John Cleland, finished February 19
010) Peach and the Isle of Monsters by Franco Aureliani and Agnes Garbowska, finished February 20
011) Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro, finished February 28
012) Comic Poems edited by Peter Washington, finished March 7

Love, Beauty, and a complete lack of sasquatch 

013) Love that Dog by Sharon Creech, finished March 11
014) Beauty by Sheri S. Tepper, finished March 21
015) Antelope Spring by John Bennion, finished March 24
016) Shelley Frankenstein by Colleen Madden, finished March 28
017) Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew #21: Double Take, finished April 5
018) The Wood at Midwinter by Susanna Clark, finshed April 8
019) Rave by Jessica Campbell, finished April 13
020) The Creeps: A Deep Dark Fears Collection by Fran Krause, finished April 14

Do not ask what she does with the babies.

027) Victorian Psycho by Virginia Feito, finished April 21
028) Somna: A Bedtime Story by Becky Cloonan and Tula Lotay, finished April 23
029) Shadow Life by Hiromi Goto and Ann Xu, finished April 24
030&031) The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde, finished April 25
032) Raised by Ghosts by Briana Loewinsohn, finished April 26
033) Ephemera by Briana Loewinsohn, finished April 26

Brighter and brighter until we all get our heads lopped off 

034) Brighter and Brighter until the Perfect Day by Sharlee Mullins Glenn, finished April 27
035) Lords and Ladies by Terry Pratchett, finished May 3
036) The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, finished May 5
037) Equus by Peter Shaffer
038) Travesties by Tom Stoppard, finished May 8
039) The Art of Intimacy: The Space Between by Stacey D'Erasmo, finished May 10
040) A Man for All Seasons by Robert Bolt, finished May 16

 

PREVIOUS OTHER YEARS IN BOOKS

2007 = 2008 = 2009 = 2010 = 2011 = 2012 = 2013 = 2014 = 2015
2016 = 2017 = 2018 = 2019 = 2020 = 2021 = 2022 = 2023 = 2024

 

 

“The Baptism of Sister Kim”

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Jeanine Bee is the current fiction editor of Wayfare and she was terrific to work with. This story was already worked into a publishable shape and if it had gone to press as I sent it to her, that would have been just fine.

But the thing about working with editors (Jeanna Stay also chimed in) is this: no piece of writing is ever perfect. It can always improve. And so in the first pass we refined a few things. We fiddled with commas and paragraph breaks. And then because we were working on it, we discovered that we could slice off the opening. While there’s a lovely bit of poetry about temperature that disappeared, the story is stronger. And that’s the sort of discovery that can only come through multiple eyes working together over multiple moments.

Here’s the story:

 

Brighter and brighter until we all get our heads lopped off

.

All the world’s a stage,

And all the men and women merely players;

They have their exits and their entrances;

And each of us play many parts,

Our acts being seven stories. At first in heaven,

Mewling and puking in heavenly arms;

And then the whining Lancreans, with their dances

And shining would-be witches, staring like dopes

Into the sun. And then comes Caesar,

Whining like a warrior, with bad luck promised

By his mistress’ dreamscapes. Then horse,

With bleeding eyes, and roaring like a god,

Jealous of human lovers, quick in quarrel,

Seeking nothing for god already

Even if only to the young. And then the clever men,

In youthful nonsense with cucumber sandwiches,

He plays his part. The sixth age shifts

In to the intimacies of love and violence,

With absence as powerful a tool as touch,

The words on page turning toward trembling,

And whistles in our minds. Last scene of all,

That ends this strange eventful history,

Is greatness doomed to undeserved oblivion;

Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything

But his holy soul intact upon the perfect day.

.

034) Brighter and Brighter until the Perfect Day by Sharlee Mullins Glenn, finished April 27

It's a funny thing to read a book so quickly to remember all its typos (a misturned apostrophe and, hilariously, a 0 instead of a -, a simple misplaced finger suddenly creating, in the acknowledgements a chapter 107 of Moses.

But those are obviously minor things. Especially when we are speaking of a new epic poem covering much the same ground as Paradises both Lost and Regained in a fraction of the space. And it's a deeply Latter-day Saint rendering. For the endowed reader, it will be impossible to read without constant internal crossreferencing.

Largely, I think it is successful as a story, as a work of verse, and as a work of speculative theology. Some commonly proposed solutions to uncertain identity (eg, what if the heavenly Mother is the Holy Ghost?) are part of this story; the most talked-about aspect of the book (or, for me at least, the most heard-about aspect) is its feminism. Specifically that Elohim is plural (as, you know, it is), interpreted as the Gods male and female both (which, in my [unaskedfor] opinion, is proper interpretation), and that more premortal characters beside Michael (viz., including women) are given names and responsibilities.

All that is great, but it also leads into my sole problem with this book. I've no issue with any of the speculation—I don't agree with it all equally but it's all valid and reasonable and exciting and decidedly noncrazy—but I do take issue with one character: Ora.

Ora is one of the more advanced premortal spirits. It's not stated so, but I get the sense she was probably #3 behind Jehovah and Lucifer. And she independently comes up with the concept of the Holy Ghost and offers to do it herself before the Parents reveal that Mother will lay down her body for a time to play this role herself. I found this aspect interesting but unsettling. But then Ora is foreordained to be the prophet to restore knowledge of Heavenly Mother in the latter days. This of itself is fine but it was impossible not to read this without considering the possibility that the author of the text, the inventor of Ora, was setting herself up as Ora. Now, given what I know of Sharlee Mullins Glenn (incidentally, I read another fine book of hers about a week ago), I think a better reading would be an impassioned plea for this prophet's arrival, but there's something about Ora's presentation that really feels like a lot of arrows pointing straight back at themselves. I found it kinda weird and offputting. But, as I said, otherwise, in my opinion, this poem is excellent, perhaps even vital. Poe said a poem can only be a good poem if read in one sitting. I read this in two with a break of perhaps two hours inbetween and I was still able to experience the "totality, or unity, of effect" that Brighter and Brighter has to offer. Her wielding of blank verse is wonderfully adept and, in short, this poem must by any reasonable standard be considered a great success.

Props also to the BCC Press team for a lovely book. The cover art by J. Kirk Richards and interior illos by Sara Forbush support the text wonderfully.

This is a slender volume and, I think, approachable. Not that I'm expecting it to be a blank-verse bestseller or anything, but I suspect anyone who might give it a shot will find their way in and be able to have an experience.

Let them who have ears to hear, etc etc.

Anyway, I liked it.

one day for the pre-stuff and one for the epic itself

 

035) Lords and Ladies by Terry Pratchett, finished May 3

This was kind of a strange experience. About a 130 pages in or something I started to think maybe I'd read it before. In terms of theme and character and plot, it shares much with other Discworld novels, particularly the Tiffany Aching books. One might see this as a rough draft of what he'd pull off later. And while much of the book was new to me, I couldn't be sure I hadn't read it. I've been reading Pratchett since 2002 and only logging what I read since 2007, so I suppose it's possible I did read it in that window (though I don't think so). I kind of hope so because it's evidence that I can reread books and enjoy them afresh which is something I often cannot do.

Anyway, Margrat is getting married, the elves are seeking entrance, the other witches won't allow for it, and some wizards are coming to town.

Does this sound like something you have read before?

Yes or no, it's delightful.

months

036) The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, finished May 5

Technically I missed most of act iv scene ii which is a long and important one when I was called out on union business, but I'm claiming it anyway. Even if I never got to be with a student as they read Caesar's ghost.

over a week

 

037) Equus by Peter Shaffer

This is one of the most famous plays of the 20th century. Besides Shakespeare and Shaw, I find free copies of Equus more than any other play by any other writer. But all I really know about it is is involves violence to horses and an opportunity for a young actor trying to prove his seriousness an opportunity to get naked onstage. Given those two facts I'd always nervously assumed this was a play about bestiality. Not so. I mean, what does happen ain't great, but it also ain't bestiality. If you call that a win, call that a win.

The play is deliberately unrealistic, with the cast sitting in a circle around the stage, standing and joining the action when called for and sitting back down to observe when not.  The horses are actors on stilts and wearing wire horse heads which they put on ritualistically when the time comes to play horses.

The film is deeply religious in the sense that it is about a deeply religious character and how that form of religion may or can or may not or cannot fit into the modern world. It's about the many failed ways we have to interact with one another in this life we're building. From psychiatry to pornography. We need a bit more self-reflection.

So it's an impressive bit of writing. Makes me want to watch and see more Shaffer. Perhaps I should start with Amadeus. It's easily accessible.

maybe three weeks

 

038) Travesties by Tom Stoppard, finished May 8

Having just read The Importance of Being Earnest and then learning Stoppard had written a play that played on that play, I knew I had to read it. I love or at least admire all the Stoppard I read and this one, recreating Earnest in WWI-era Zurich and starring folks who were actually there (Lenin! Joyce! Tzara!), well it sounded delightful. (And the intro in which Stoppard tells us that the other real person in the play, an obscure figure he could learn nearly nothing about, had a wife who sent him a letter after the play's premiere, is wonderful.)

I guess it was.

I imagine it's better on stage, but it's hard to see on the page how this would even work. Or even how many of the jokes a person can get if they haven't just watched an Earnest or were reasonably up on the Lenin/Joyce/Tzara. This is a play for overeducated people and the best way to enjoy it would be in a room filled with them.

So it's okay.

perhaps a week

 

039) The Art of Intimacy: The Space Between by Stacey D'Erasmo, finished May 10

Back to reading something from this The Art of series. I wasn't instantly enamored of it, but her method of discussing books I haven't (with two exceptions) read ended up working for me by the end. She has a keen observational sense and he plucks apart the magic of what books do, how they create intimacy between writer and reader, how they discern all kinds of possible intimacies between characters.

Ultimately, I think it is not as accessible as others in the series—and more a work of criticism than a piece of instruction—but ultimately a fascinating work that pushed the edges of my thinking.

under a week

040) A Man for All Seasons by Robert Bolt, finished May 16

Two tangents.

I said above that Equus is the most-found non-Shakes/Shaw play. Probably. It might be this one. (Or Death of a Salesman. Or are we counting multiple Ibsens in a single volume?)

I only took one class from him, but Royal Skousen is a brilliant and decent person I'm glad I got to know, however slightly. But one thing he said which makes me roll my eyes to this day is that he does not like movies; they are an inferior artform; they are not worth his time. But the film A Man for All Seasons, the last movie he had seen (almost 40 years old at that point and, iIrc, the only film he had a firm memory of), was a masterpiece, a work of genius, one of the most important achievements in human artistry. I've never understood how, even given the small sample size, a 100% genius rate leads to an it's-all-crap conclusion.

It occurs to me now that perhaps he was curious if any of us would call him on it.

Royal Skousen is not the kind of person you call things on.

Anyway, the play is a terrific read. Easily the most entertaining of the three in this set. The characters are written such that instantly you know them. More is a wily man but a good man, trapped in an impossible situation given he has actual intergrity. Rich is a tragic fool. Cromwell is Iago-like in his villainy. And Henry is a coward as proven by his disappearance from events.

In a world with no integrity, putting this story before people must count as holy rebellion.

Anyway. Long live the king.

a week 

earlier this year..........

Bro! Tell me we still know how to speak of kings!

001) Beowulf translated by Maria Dahvana Headley, finished January 1
002) Cthulhu Is Hard to Spell: Volume Three, finished January 1
003) Fever Dream by Samanta Schweblin (translated by Megan McDowell), finished January 8
004) My Favorite Thing Is Monsters by Emil Ferris, finished January 11
005) You're a Good Sport, Charlie Brown, finished January 12
005) Into the Headwinds: Why Belief Has Always Been Hard—and Still Is by Terryl Givens and Nathaniel Givens, finished January 24
006) My Favorite Thing Is Monsters: Book Two by Emil Ferris, finished January 25

Maybe we should just pretend this set begins and ends with Wednesday Addams

007) Chas. Addams Half-Baked Cookbook, finished January 29
008) Monica by Daniel Clowes, finished February 3
009) The Unexpurgated French Edition of Fanny Hill: Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure by John Cleland, finished February 19
010) Peach and the Isle of Monsters by Franco Aureliani and Agnes Garbowska, finished February 20
011) Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro, finished February 28
012) Comic Poems edited by Peter Washington, finished March 7

Love, Beauty, and a complete lack of sasquatch 

013) Love that Dog by Sharon Creech, finished March 11
014) Beauty by Sheri S. Tepper, finished March 21
015) Antelope Spring by John Bennion, finished March 24
016) Shelley Frankenstein by Colleen Madden, finished March 28
017) Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew #21: Double Take, finished April 5
018) The Wood at Midwinter by Susanna Clark, finshed April 8
019) Rave by Jessica Campbell, finished April 13
020) The Creeps: A Deep Dark Fears Collection by Fran Krause, finished April 14

Do not ask what she does with the babies.

027) Victorian Psycho by Virginia Feito, finished April 21
028) Somna: A Bedtime Story by Becky Cloonan and Tula Lotay, finished April 23
029) Shadow Life by Hiromi Goto and Ann Xu, finished April 24
030&031) The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde, finished April 25
032) Raised by Ghosts by Briana Loewinsohn, finished April 26
033) Ephemera by Briana Loewinsohn, finished April 26

PREVIOUS OTHER YEARS IN BOOKS

2007 = 2008 = 2009 = 2010 = 2011 = 2012 = 2013 = 2014 = 2015
2016 = 2017 = 2018 = 2019 = 2020 = 2021 = 2022 = 2023 = 2024

 

Bells: or, what I'm listening to these days

 

For perhaps a month now, the vast majority of the music I have been listening to when I am on my laptop is Thayer Sarrano’s new album Bells.

I love it.

She lets you buy her entire collection in one go—currently it’s $26.60, a terrific price. (So ignore me when I tell you I bought her first seven for a mere $3.50 back in 2022. I don’t know what she was thinking.)

Although nothing about her new album is out of place with her prior work (which, though a coherent oeuvre, does many different things), this is the first longer work of hers I’ve gotten addicted to. Perhaps because it slots in nicely with much of my favorite sounds from my late teens and early twenties. It gives, in other words, a ‘90s vibe. Like early Heather Nova or Mazzy Star or (and I know this isn’t ‘90s) Jenny Lewis.

Anyway. I don’t have much interesting to say about this album other than I love it and I want to share it with you. I hope you’ll like it as well.

Incidentally, the last album I suddenly got this into has an entirely different manner of walking through this world:

I say April, you say movieApril!

.

If you spent April with the movies I spent April with, you had a very fine April indeed.

But I refuse to tell you whether you should like Taxi Driver or A Minecraft Movie more.

.

ELSEWHERE
Disney+

Isle of Dogs (2008)

My third time watching this film, first time with a class. I've been offering it as a dystopian option for a few years now but this is the first time students voted it in. They enjoyed it; I enjoyed it. I still don't think it's top-tier Wes Anderson, but I do like it.

The thing I can't get over is how it's a film designed to be experienced differently by different audiences. The obvious example is Japanese speakers vs English speakers, but that's not it.

As I write this, a day after finishing the film, the students are writing about the film. This is a new writing assignment. Last semester it went gangbusters as I got some of the best writing of the year on Alphaville and Strawberry Mansion (writing was weaker on Minority Report, for some reason, but still well above the pathetic in-class conversation we had on that film).

Wish them luck!

ELSEWHERE
Disney+

WALL·E (2008)

High-school students who have fond memories of a film from long ago find a movie so much more rich and moving and generally excellent than they imagined it might be. Plus, the film offers plenty of fodder for conversation. This is the first time I put WALL·E on the list and I'm nervous to leave it on because, like The Matrix I suspect if I do I'll have to watch it every semester. Which is fine except then I'll never get a class to choose Modern Times or Neptune Frost. So we'll see.

But WALL·E absolutely holds up. And it's hard to imagine it won't always hold up.

THEATER
Cinemark Century Hilltop 16

A Minecraft Movie (2025)

Man, what is WRONG with critics? If you look at Rotten Tomatoes, the only Jared Hess movie marked Fresh is Napoleon Dynamite. And that's not because critics loved it—or even understood it. It's because the movie was beloved by Sundance audiences and they didn't want to seem square and so they contorted themselves to try and figure out why. Then they gave grudgingly positive reviews. But they never really understood it. I mean—look at Gentlemen Broncos's 20%. Critics that were around in 2003 are getting back at Napoloeon Dynamite for confusing themselves and the top tier of movie reviewers are still coming from a place where they can't understand Hess's deliberately uncool sensibilities. Top critics weren't raised in Idaho. And if you find me one who was, I'll wager they have a deep-seated need to prove they've pulled all the Idaho out.

Anyway, this is a great Jared Hess film. Not tippy-top but that's like me saying I don't think Goodfellas is tippy-top Scorsese. Reasonable people may disagree. It's great to see some of his onetimers back (Jack Black! Jennifer Coolidge! Jemaine Clement!) and he makes great use of the new staff. I think we all needed this version of Jason Momoa. Somehow, I feel it might be a bit more honest.

And props for letting Jack Black go fully Jack Black. It's what the kids want and it's totally delightful. Not many people can go that far and still have it work. So let him do his thing.

I'm also really intrigued by Emma Myers. We saw her first in Wednesday, but she's a) great and b) otherworldly sort of like Sophia Lillis and Lia McHugh are. They're beautiful but strange. And honestly that's what I want from my movie stars. Give her more roles.

I also appreciate that Jared gave us lots of flashbacks to his previous films, easter eggs, really. Mostly to Napoleon, but there's more there if you have eyes to see.

Also, great to hear Rachel House who seems to be turning into everyone's favorite Very Serious Woman. She's most tightly associated with Taika Waititi, but I have to believe Taika and Jared appreciate each other's work. They share a sensibility. And they share decent ground with Wes Anderson too, though somehow he's been assigned the High Art label. I think we can see critical opinion correlate pretty tightly among these three with box-office receipts. Taika was the new Wes until he started doing Marvel movies. Jared hasn't really directed a hit in twenty years. Now look at Rotten Tomatoes.

Anyway, even if you don't think you'll like it, take your kids. Read this to see why, then go.

HOME
library dvd

Taxi Driver (1976)

Honestly, I don't know.

It does everything I was promised and it did it all well, but.

I'm not sure what to make of it. Which may be part of the point.

I'll spend all day tomorrow watching special features and reading criticism. We'll see where I land.

Ask me next year.

UPDATE FROM THE NEXT MORNING

Spoilers now, we warned.

As far as I can tell from my minimal research, the first person to put in print the idea that the hero stuff and meeting-Betsy-again stuff could be a dream of Bickle's dying mind was Roger Ebert. Maybe it was. Regardless, it's a compelling interpretive option. Sure, everyone involved in making the movie has denied it, but who cares what they think? Movies belong to the viewers. I've also read this: "The epilogue’s revelation that the media and community have praised Travis’ misanthropy and violence as heroic still horrifies (more than the actual massacre – the film’s great achievement, in my view)."

Both of these are valid readings, but I want to propose a third that I haven't found yet in print anywhere. (Although I haven't started that promised reading yet.)

I guess part of my interpretation is that I find a redemptive quality in Scorsese's worldview that not everyone else sees. Although I'm not deep in his fimography, I suspect the flashy violence and other evils hide his world of second chances.

Anyway, that sounds like a full essay for another time after I've checked a half dozen more boxes.

The thing is, I think Travis Bickle is a hero. Iris is back home. Iris is doing well in school. Iris has been traumatized in a thousand different ways but she's now an adult in many ways and she sees the value of second chances. Things could still go to hell for her, but she knows how to hustle. I see her escaping Pittsburgh poverty and going to jail. She's been given the gift of a miraculous redemption and she knows it. She might have survived to twenty. She might have survived to thirty. But not with all her teeth. And every day, heroin or, later, AIDS might have taken her out. She's the found lost sheep and she's fully aware of the fact. She knows.

Whether Bickle will be redeemed by his ner heroism is less certain. He still has all the same mentla issues. He's still socially awkward and hasn't built any deeper relationships. He may well go off the deep end again.

But maybe not. Maybe he'll be a quieter lose now, one without anything to prove. Maybe he'll make a better friend. Maybe rather than guns and assassinations he'll take up reading or knitting or arguing over baseball. Maybe he'll make it through the next testosterone-laden decade and then mind a nice divorced mom who thinks he's cute and whose kid also thinks he's a hero.

Or maybe none of that stuff will happen. Maybe he'll jump off a bridge. But he has a chance. Because now he's a hero.

"Hero" isn't a thing you make yourself. You can do the right thing for the wrong reasons and people applaud you. You can try to do the right thing for the right reasons yet everyone misinterprets and boos. You can't control how the world sees you.

But when a moment of bad timing changes you from famous villain to famous hero, you get to decide what you do with that gift. Maybe you blow it off and just go back to driving taxi. That's okay. It's probably better than trying to get everyone to buy you a drink because it's more honest.

But you get that second chance.

HOME
library dvd

Making Taxi Driver (1999)

Thought-provoking. And lots of cool information on the research, ancillary people, camerawork, and effects.

Mostly watched it sped up and it was totally worth fifty minutes or however long I spent. Recommended.

HOME
ok.ru

Libeled Lady (1936)

Lots of laughs in this thing but the conclusion's kinda unsettling. I don't see happy endings for any of these people. The men don't deserve it and the women could do so much better.

Also, I'm a little surprised that breasts were allowed so much freedom under the Hays Code.

Wildly, I think this is the first non–Thin Man film we've seen starring Powell and Loy. I like it better when they're honest with each other.

Anyway, this film goes in the category of fun to watch but upsetting to think about afterwards. Like a nonsweet Sturges film.

ELSEWHERE
Alexander Street

Julius Caesar (2017)

Easy to tell this would have been thrilling live. It's cool staging and a skilled cast. But filmed plays cannot rise to the levels of either drama or film. It's a sad hybrid. And it doesn't help that the sound mix is so terrible. Sound effects and music blare while dialogue is much quieter, sometimes effectively illegible even with the volume cranked up.

And at three hours long, debatable whether it's the best choice for a classroom watch.

ELSEWHERE
YouTube

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) (2000)

Not every moment has aged perfectly (no kid'll get the Hillary joke) but as a whole still utterly brilliant. I need to start showing it again!

ELSEWHERE
Prime Video

My Old Ass (2024)

Not exactly what I expected, but it was much funnier than I'd hoped and more moving than I'd imagined. It was fun to watch with a bunch of 18yrolds, although they did NOT like Chad. I was skeptical of him too, but I think mostly because the actor who plays him, notwithstanding his development as a romantic lead, looks a great deal like one of cinema's recent go-to monsters. Casting directors be trippin.

It was a very interactive viewing. Lost of audience participation. Which was terrific. But I'm the only one who cried.

HOME
Prime Video

Conclave (2024)

This is a terrific movie. Great cast, solid story, twists that somehow never got ruined for me (I didn't even know there WERE twists) (sorry for ruining that fact for you). They had a lot of fun planning cool shots, many of which were juuuuust barely in slomo. This is a film that takes itself enormously seriously, but with performances this good, hey, take yourself seriously. Ralph Fiennes is excellent and holds the whole thing together. A character I hadn't even heard of is played by a guy who just got into acting in 2020 and whose first feature is this one. He did a bangup job. (Hey—he was my age in 2020 . . . . )

I am required to take a stand on whether the film is ultimately pro- or anti-faith. I don't think the question is that simple. But if you demand the binary, I would lean pro-. But I can see how a person who feels their life of faith is shaped by already knowing all the right answers, they would find this tale distressing.

I'm also pro-distress. Faith cannot grow without some.

ELSEWHERE
our dvd

The Importance of Being Earnest (2004)

Lady Steed and I loved loved loved this movie upon first discovering it when it was new. Watching it now is to rediscover lines we had quoted for year, once upon a time. I'm glad they swiped scenes from the four-act version of the play (Wilde's preferred version, though most seem to disagree) which works better in the more-locations vibe Oliver Parker is going for.

The film is chockfilled with excellent performances, but most of the leads are people you expect to be great. This film was my introduction to Tom Wilkinson, for instance. But let me shoutout Anna Massey as Miss Prism who's brilliant in a performance that's easy overlook given the chaos all around her.

There are a couple wonky things I might take issue. This could have been more screwbally just by leaving in more of the jokes, but I think as an adaptation for a 21st-century film audience, the cuts make sense. But the changes to the story that means Jack's proposal to Gwendolyn happens three of four days before she says it was yesterday is weird. Also, am I right that I have never noticed this before?

Anyway, my students liked it more than I thought while we were watching it. Although they didn't love that the film aged the men up a decade, doubling the age differences. Gotta admit. Peculiar choice. Even if you feel obliged to cast Colin Firth and Rupert Everett in the leads.

It's a shame it's never been given a decent poster.

THEATER
AMC Bay Street 16

Pride & Prejudice (2005)

I was excited when the 20th-anniversary rerelease was announced. I did not see P&P in theaters back in 2005 (it was baby times). But Lady Steed seemed to think it was a silly thing to do . . . until she went with a bunch of friends. Then a bunch of my students said they wanted to go and asked me to join them in an unofficial sort of way and I said yes and I talked my beloved into rescheduling a meeting so she could go again, this time with me. I'm so glad. First, because it was less weird rendezvousing with a bunch of teenager girls and, second, because we had so much to talk about afterwards! The decisions made by the filmmakers in terms of what to keep and what to leave out and how to signify what's going on with efficiency, and the differences between the 1995 BBC and, of course, the original novel. Rich conversation was had all the way home.

Anyway, I love this movie. It is wild how different it is from the book in its details while being so true to the book in overall effect, but I accept that adaptations are new creations.

Love each as itself.