Author Archives: smellincoffee

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About smellincoffee

Citizen, librarian, reader with a boundless wonder for the world and a curiosity about all the beings inside it.

Turn off, tune out, and drop in

Posted on December 30, 2022 by smellincoffee

We can get rid of the television set. As soon as we see that the TV cord is a vacuum line, pumping life and meaning out of the household, we can unplug it. What a grand and neglected privilege it … Continue reading →

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A year’s end…

Posted on December 28, 2022 by smellincoffee

Welcome to the liminal space between  the years, as we all recover from Christmas and brace ourselves for a weekend full of fireworks.  Reading activity is definitely ebbing down for me,  and has been for much of December — I’ve … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , , , | 14 Comments

A Christmas Tease

Posted on December 27, 2022 by smellincoffee

It is Tuesday, isn’t it? Christmas and the holidays have me in a temporal mist. Teasing from Wendell Berry’s The World Ending Fire again, because I haven’t been reading anything else. (Definitely in siesta mode!) As a people, we have … Continue reading →

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Joyeux Noel

Posted on December 25, 2022 by smellincoffee

A favorite scene from a favorite movie, in which humanity and the prince of Peace overcame the State — at least for a night. The scene where the German singer grabs a Christmas tree and advances into no-man’s land singing … Continue reading →

Posted in General | 7 Comments

Teasin’ with W.B. again

Posted on December 20, 2022 by smellincoffee

The old bucket has hung there through many autumns, and the leaves have fallen around it and some have fallen into it. Rain and snow have fallen into it, and the fallen leaves have held the moisture and so have … Continue reading →

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Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell

Posted on December 19, 2022 by smellincoffee

Between Heaven and Hell: A Dialog Somewhere Beyond Death with John F. Kennedy, C.S. Lewis, and Aldous Huxley© Peter Kreeft 1982 182 pages The scene: ….well, we’re not sure. Somewhere out in the ether. The players: C.S. Lewis, Aldous Huxley, … Continue reading →

Posted in Religion and Philosophy, Reviews | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Postcards from Ed

Posted on December 18, 2022 by smellincoffee

Postcards from Ed: Dispatches and Salvos from an American Iconoclast© 2007 ed. David Petersen337 pages “Saving the world is only a hobby. Most of the time I do nothing.” Although I was first drawn to Ed Abbey by his nature … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics and Civic Interest, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Teasday Tuesing with W.B.

Posted on December 13, 2022 by smellincoffee

This morning’s tease comes from a Wendell Berry anthology, The World-Ending Fire. The idea was that when faced with abundance one should consume abundantly – an idea that has survived to become the basis of our present economy. It is … Continue reading →

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Lost on Purpose

Posted on December 12, 2022 by smellincoffee

Lost on Purpose: The Adventures of a 21st Century Mountain Man© 2015 Patrick Taylor187 pages The real adventure for me was letting go of everything I had defined as important and conducting another experiment with my life. Lost on Purpose … Continue reading →

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Unsettled

Posted on December 7, 2022 by smellincoffee

Unsettled: What Climate Science Tells Us, What It Doesn’t, and Why It Matters© 2021 Steve Koonin320 pages Over the last twenty years, ‘climate change’ has been subject to the same abuse as ‘terrorism’: it’s levied so often with such enthusiasm … Continue reading →

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