Outflanked, beaten, and bewildered

Posted on February 5, 2026 by Winston Smith

“Always mystify, mislead, and surprise the enemy, if possible. And when you strike and overcome him, never let up in pursuit so long as your men have strength to follow; Continue Reading →

Tolkien Essentials

Posted on February 1, 2026 by Winston Smith

This is the very essence of language, and this is the very thing that our newest and most fashionable philosophy, Deconstructionism, denies: that the words, or the text, mean something Continue Reading →

AI and The American Dream©

Posted on January 31, 2026 by Winston Smith

And we are split like Hopper. We are alienated from the very country we have built. We have lost our innocence, our individualism, and our strict small-town morals to mechanization Continue Reading →

Weekend 661.0

Posted on January 31, 2026 by Winston Smith

We’re kicking off the weekend with some social media content. It fits a theme because, “everything is not only a thing, but a sign, full of significance.”¹ ¹C.S. Lewis for Continue Reading →

Weekend 660.1 (‘new patterns of old colours’)

Posted on January 26, 2026 by Winston Smith

“In order to bring light into their churches, to build them as if they were soaring traceries of stone meant to serve as delicate frames for stories told in color Continue Reading →

Weekend 660.0

Posted on January 24, 2026 by Winston Smith

“When you come to the end of the line, with a buddy who is more than a brother and a little less than a wife, getting blind drunk together is Continue Reading →

Weekend 659.0 (…limestone landscapes sounded echoes in me.)

Posted on January 17, 2026 by Winston Smith

It’s a cold Saturday and Merry Old England seems like a vanished memory. (1) A quote from The Accidental Garden by Richard Mabey: I’ve always relished the power of plants Continue Reading →

Weekend 658.0 (The Limestone Route)

Posted on January 10, 2026 by Winston Smith

“The barren wilderness has become a great city and the desolate places have been to blossom as the rose.” — Cambridge General Advertiser, July 30, 1845 “Railway termini are our Continue Reading →

2025 UK Christmas Trip

Posted on January 4, 2026 by Winston Smith

The trip started at the TWA Hotel and included London, Norwich, and Southampton. We had a couple of day trips to the Isle of Wight and Netley. The Saints escaped Continue Reading →

2025 Christmas Sabbatical

Posted on December 18, 2025 by Winston Smith

“The urn that covereth me shall bring forth a god.” — Fulvius “Whether his light reveals an easy path or a steep climb, whether the pilgrimage involves energetic activity or Continue Reading →