The discussion today about Milton’s consideration of self-doubt and self-esteem really caught my attention.  Milton knows he has a gift, and he knows that God has given him this gift in order for him to use it; he sees that there’s no point in denying this.  Denying it would, in fact,  be a refutation of [...]

I actually waited to post this until right before class so it wouldn’t spoil the surprise.  Not like it’s a big surprise.
Anecdote first.  When my mother was young, her aunt (my great-aunt) made a batch of dog biscuits and cut them up and distributed them among the children.  My mom, believing that anything called “dog [...]

Intuition is useful for a lot of reasons.  Social cues are an easy example; we don’t consciously examine stance, facial expression, and so forth, we just intuit mood (and even thought, to some extent) from these hints.  Genre gives us these cues too, using lighting, setting, soundtrack, and of course content.  In some ways, intuition [...]

Riotous growth.

June 25, 2008 | 1 Comment

“The very act of restraining growth creates growth.”
We see this everywhere, from the pruning of a plant to damming water. Deny something and it’s liable to burst forth further, at least if it’s a true thing. From experience I can say that trying to squash something you’re worried of and scared of, if [...]

What do you do with an imagination that can bring a vision before your eyes that you cannot inhabit?
For reference, the five Milton fascinations: beginnings, loss, delay, ambition and choice.
We can all imagine things. Even the sadly unimaginative can see the ways the future might go. When you’re trying to figure out what [...]

Brownies.

June 23, 2008 | 4 Comments

This has absolutely nothing to do with Milton.
Ingredients:
-1 1/2 sticks butter
-4 oz. (4 squares) unsweetened chocolate
-2 cups sugar
-1 cup flour
-3 eggs
-1 tsp vanilla extract
-chocolate chips and/or nuts to taste
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and grease a baking pan. If you love yourself, do it right, use butter and not one of those nasty [...]

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