Monthly Archives: December 2022

The Indo-Europeans

Posted on December 28, 2022 by Joel D. Hirst

Philology is the study of languages, their etymology and development and history. It is a sort of linguistic archeological anthropology; and while everyday anthropology is sort of an act of accident (you stumble upon something buried in a hole), philology … Continue reading →

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Invitation to a Beheading

Posted on December 26, 2022 by Joel D. Hirst

Vladimir Nabokov said “Invitation to a Beheading” was his best work; he evidently wrote it in the period of two weeks. Nabokov was of course a Russian writer and intellectual who was exiled by the Bolsheviks to Germany and who … Continue reading →

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The Blind Traveler

Posted on December 26, 2022 by Joel D. Hirst

About two-hundred years ago, during the golden age of the British Empire and exploration, there lived a man named James Holman. Holman was born into the new English merchant class; his father was a pharmacist. During those days, there were … Continue reading →

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Iran Frozen in Time

Posted on December 14, 2022 by Joel D. Hirst

I started reading “Reading Lolita in Tehran” by Azar Nafisi because now, right now, Iranians are again trying to be free. They rise up, every once in a while to attempt to throw off the oppressive reign of the Mullahs, … Continue reading →

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Reflections on Evil

Posted on December 14, 2022 by Joel D. Hirst

Yesterday I had breakfast with a family victim of a tremendous wrong. I won’t go much into details – it’s not my story to tell and it hasn’t been told yet. Maybe someday. What struck me about the discussion was … Continue reading →

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Fear

Posted on December 10, 2022 by Joel D. Hirst

Originally posted on Joel D. Hirst's Blog:
Nothing easier than to say ‘have no fear! Nothing more difficult. How does one kill fear, I wonder? How do you shoot a specter through the heart, slash off its spectral head,…

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Our Unbalanced World

Posted on December 4, 2022 by Joel D. Hirst

I’m old enough now to have some life experience to look back upon. I’m disciplined enough to have not wasted the first ‘phase’ of my grown life (that is, the post-school period) on debt, drugs, alcohol, immoral living or other … Continue reading →

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