Songwriting can be a laborious process for me, and it’s usually spread out over enough time that I forget exactly how the whole thing came about. But I had a small revelation during the writing of one song that prompted me to record my process. The song is called “The Glorious Cause.” The Kernel I keep a large file full of lines that come to me. (It’s currently too large, about 14... Read More
Posted on August 19, 2017 at 9:39 am under Words & MusicIn 1998, the Modern Library published two lists of the 100 best novels in English. One list was chosen by the Modern Library board, the other by readers. The board’s list starts off predictably: Ulysses, The Great Gatsby, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Lolita. It goes on just as predictably, overwhelmingly white, male, and published by Modern Library. But that’s a separate essay;... Read More
Posted on May 15, 2017 at 12:51 pm under Words & MusicRecently Steven Pinker was on a podcast talking about grammar, the particular subject was comma splices. In short, he hates them, he thinks they are barbaric. A comma splice is the joining of two independent clauses with nothing more than a bare comma, as I have done in the two sentences above. I’m surprised that Pinker, who is modern in so many ways, is offended by something as innocuous as... Read More
Posted on March 8, 2017 at 11:34 am under Words & Music