Time to Hit One More Town While Still in Arkansas
Digest No. 19 - March 2025
On Commonplacing
For there are worlds beyond worlds, as Kull knows, and whether the wizard bewitched him by words or by mesmerism, vistas did open to the king’s gaze beyond that strange door, and Kull is less sure of reality since he gazed into the mirrors of Tuzun Thune.
Robert E. Howard, “The Mirrors of Tuzun Thune,” in King Kull, ed. Glenn Lord (London: SPhere Books, 1976). p. 179.
Great Ideas: Memory & Imagination, Metaphysics, Same & Other
After many years of putting it off, a well-argued piece from
encouraged me to finally dive into the world of Conan the Barbarian. I’m not entirely sure how, but I ended up by starting with the King Kull collection of stories, which serves as a prototype of sorts for the later Conan works. My only experiences before had been with film and TV adaptations, so I was not fully prepared for some of the depth that is evident in Howard’s writing. I might have the opportunity in the future to look more into this, but for now I’m grateful for the “vistas” that Howard’s work have opened for my own gaze. It is a fascinating with world with lots worth considering.On Reading & Writing & Publishing
There has been no shortage of work-related readings this month, with very little time allotted for personal reads. I wrote two presentations papers this month, but also had some other projects come due. I managed to complete three book reviews and send them off (with two of them already going through editing and off to publication). I’ll be sure to link them here when they are formally released. And I’ve had some other work begin the editing process, including an article that National Affairs has expressed interest in running. My writing schedule over the next month needs to be orderly if I’m going to wrap up as many projects as I hope.
On Traveling & Speaking
March has become one of my favorite months because it is when the Ciceronian Society holds its annual meeting. A couple of weeks back, I promoted the conference and shared a snippet of one of the talks I was going to give. This year’s event was a blast, with excellent presentations and enjoyable fellowship. The conference has grown to the point that I don’t get to chat with everyone anymore, but I am glad nonetheless to see the Ciceronian Society succeeding. I did get to catch up with many Faulkner folks as well as some Kirk Center friends.
Country Roads & Ciceronian Folks
I don’t normally share a lot of specifics from my own work outside of the monthly digest posts. I like to use this space for meanderings or one-offs that are fun for me to think about (and might even spark some conversation). But this week happens to be my favorite conference of the year, and I want to write a bit about that.
It’s unusual for me to give two talks at the same conference, but I was happy to help fill out panels for this year’s event in Harrisonburg. My talk on Classical Education and the Elective System (by way of the Seven Liberal Arts) has been optioned for publication. The talk was positively received and I have plans to keep digging into the overall concept. I remain convinced that if schools do not remain focused on the liberal arts which have characterized most of Christian educational history, they will inevitably fill the time with less worthy studies.
I also received a lot of positive feedback on my Plato / Aristotle paper. As I worked on that, it became clear to me that I’ve absorbed quite a bit of Hans-Georg Gadamer’s views on Platonic and Aristotelian philosophy, more than I had previously realized. I want to press further into how the ancients can help us reclaim a proper love of reading in the 21st century, though this is likely going to be a project placed on the back burner for now.
My lovely bride also presented this year at the conference. Her paper was on Dante’s De Vulgari Eloquentia, but it also covered some of her recent readings in Augustine’s Confessions with reflections on her experience as a graduate student and a homeschooling mom of four. Her panel of three turned out to have great harmony, with all three presentations on different topics that worked together well. She also received quite a bit of interest in her topic, which was great to see. I anticipate this has only whetted her appetite for such projects
Following the conference, Sarah and I returned home sans children for a few days to get some work done in Arkansas. We then hopped back in the car and drove to Florida for a weekend. A family member had passed after a battle with cancer, and it was a funeral where we both felt we needed to be present. Our whole family then loaded up and headed back to Fayetteville, completing a circuitous and busy two-week period. We’ll spend the month of April resting up before we turn into road warriors again in May.
On Listening
I came across this group by way of
’s The Honest Broker. Gioia always shares interesting music, though I consider myself too much of a Philistine in this regard to say anything meaningful in terms of a contribution. But this particular song captivated me to the point that I felt obliged to share it.