urbantrappistblogastery

I’ve been gloriously disconnected in the Great Lakes State for a couple weeks. Here are some things that have happened up here in years past. The usual ideological blathering (up next: bodies) will resume shortly, so enjoy this moment of respite. That’s what happens in Pure Michigan.
A Jan DeOrio Moment
We always feared [...]

I have this penchant for the high brow: modern paintings, strenuous books, Belgian beers.  I love these difficulties because I find treasure in the inaccessible.  Edmund Hillary, among many others of his sort, agreed. Anything with broad appeal tends to lack the potency and depth of the arduously crafted art which can only be [...]

Re-rising after yet another month-plus hiatus! But I repent of that and shall sin no more.
First, in narcissistic news, I’ve updated The Scriptorium with excerpts from some of my MFA Year 1 productions. The full versions are all freely available; simply remember that I always try to follow the word of the Lord. [...]

In any new city, it’s a personal imperative to explore. Through internet browsing, daylight runs, and nighttime wanderings, I work to find the places. Internal loci as well: the monastic rhythm during my retreat at Gethsemani, artistic inspiration in a trip to NYC, or the full pursuit of a new passion while returning [...]

Heckuva week at the UT monastery:
- Finished the work at Yelp, whence you can find bushels of reviews and teaspoons of value.
- Submitted a new film review for Pulse. Don’t wait to read it next Wednesday; skip the middle men and go see Starting Out in the Evening now.
- Got to do some of [...]

(things that are ruled)
In quintessential Catholicism, a nun at a college assembled a list of rules for her art department. But unlike indulgences or purgatory, these are good ideas. If you have any interest in creative production, you should read them.

Better yet, you should make them. For as much as I approve [...]

Life here has been quiet, but life in the real city has been in tumult. Between graduate school admissions (salute Alaska-Fairbanks and American) and pseudo-real jobs (salute Yelp and Pulse), I’ve had a lot to think and write, respectively. As those are the two primary engines of this site, I have no other [...]

This year’s Easter Email:
On this day of rising, I’m waiting for my hot cross buns to plump. Yeast takes time. So does resurrection. We call it Lent and now it is finished and he is risen. (Note that I’m glad my pastries don’t need 40 days of preparation.) It may [...]

In an aberrant moment of responsibility, I locked the door in my euphoria for buying materials for brewing. The only problem was that the items I so carefully secured in our apartment included my keys. So I could get neither the elements of beer nor into my residence. After some unsuccessful efforts [...]

I have a foolproof editing strategy that also happens to amplify my social life. It’s called the Hangover Test, and it works like this:
- Writer writes.
- Writer edits. And some more.
- Writer feels satisfied with work.
- Writer gets crunk.
- Writer revisits and revises the work the following morning.
Now, if that final rereading finds [...]