Stories & Soliloquies

I’m taking a little break from Philosopher Fridays this week to celebrate an exciting event – my 100th blog post. I’m very excited to have come this far, and even more excited to continue into the future. Blogging has helped me become a more focused, more determined, and more receptive writer, and it’s also introduced me to a wonderful community of thoughtful, unique bloggers. I’ve learned so much from reading other blogs, and from the comments on my own posts. I can’t say thank you enough to everyone who has participated in the conversation I’m building here.

To celebrate, I’m going to highlight some of my own favorite posts thus far.

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1. To Tell a Story

This was my very first blog post. I started writing it on a whim when I got a sudden rush of inspiration, and using it to start a blog just seemed like the next, most natural step.

2. Professionalism

At first, I didn’t really take blogging too seriously, spending my efforts on idyl commentary and links, as well as little updates on my writing progress. This was my first “controversial” post where I took a stance on something. However innocuous that stance was, it was still scary for me. But it also felt pretty good.

3. The Ephemerality of Gingerbread Houses

I love this post because it speaks to a recurring question in my head. I think a lot about permanence, reality, and ephemerality (in fact, I’ve got a post coming up that deals with this topics directly), and because it taps into my homier, cozier side. Sometimes my life can get a little academic with all the grading, reading, teaching, researching, and writing, so I like to keep a nice balance between theory and real life.

4. The Magic of Santa Claus

I’m a big believer in the power of words and stories, and I think that Santa Claus is one our culture’s best examples of it. Plus, I’m just a complete fool for Christmastime.

5. Incantations and Language in Harry Potter

I’m also a fool for Harry Potter, and I’ve spent way too much time trying to rationalize magic spells. I think that magic is a great metaphor through which to understand the relationship between language and the power of thought.

6. Philosopher Fridays: Averroes

I’m really excited about this whole series, but I’m still struggling to find the right tone and scope. In some installments, I’m a bit too flippant, and in others, too heavily academic. I think I got Averroes jus right, though.

7. BIRDSEED: A Short Story

I don’t often love my own attempts at fiction and poetry, but I love this piece. I feel like it explains me, if that makes sense.

8. A Story in the Smallest Details

I wanted to highlight this post on my visit to the Pompeii exhibit at the Franklin Institute because too often we think of stories strictly in terms of fiction. I actually mostly read non-fiction, but the best non-fiction still tells amazing stories (Adam Hochschild’s King Leopold’s Ghost is a phenomenal example of this – a post on that coming in the future as well!). I think that story is how we understand things. Some think that intelligibility is only to be found in concepts, but I think narrative is what makes those concepts real to us.

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And there you have it. Some of those weren’t terribly popular, but they’re all pieces I’m proud of. I’m looking forward to writing the next 100!