Category: ESSAYS

I feel nihilism, the world truly closed and empty, then without warning nihilism gives way and blossoms into the aesthetic of a song, or a story, something finite but meaningful. Through nothing there is everything, even though everything is finite. I can think of no greater nihilism than the idea that art is greater than… Continue reading Thoughts Born of Depression; Some (nuanced) Nihilism and Neurosis

It is difficult for me to read philosophy. It is either pages upon pages of technical detail and nuance that amounts to some system which either makes sense or does not based on one’s aesthetic preferences, or it is one beautiful line which strikes me so powerfully that I must stand and absorb it. Reading… Continue reading Some Various Notions

 The brilliance of the moral themes of The Sopranos emerges most clearly in the scene where Tony Soprano murders Ralph Cifaretto. He believes Ralph killed a horse, a crime he never committed. A man who beat a stripper to death was finally put down for killing an animal. Tony Soprano loves ducks and horses, and… Continue reading On The Sopranos (Season 4 Spoilers)

I think, closest to the truth, is the analogy of the pirate (ISIS) and the emperor (the US). Yes, the pirate is despicable, but he is hanged for the same crimes that the emperor is hailed for. The pirate beheads, the emperor rains death from the sky. The emperor has more power, and has ravaged… Continue reading This Time, I Speak Some Words About ISIS

The brilliance of The Sopranos always strikes me in waves. It’s a story that cannot be underestimated. Think of Vito Sapatafore, killed by all his closest friends for being gay. All along he was alone. The same is true for Christopher Moltisanti, who shortly after breaking his sobriety with a person he feels safe with,… Continue reading Tony Soprano ate my Lunch (Spoilers)

The genius of The Sopranos (I know, again) is its deeply psychological writing. The quality of its portrayal of each characters’ psyche is the one thing that puts it above all other shows. It shows both the aggressive, violent destroyer and the screaming, terrified baby inside us all, and it shows that both these personas… Continue reading I Love The Sopranos

I am a creature of habit, and it is novelty, above all, that this universe seeks to produce. The Fullmetal Alchemist movie has a mature stroke of genius, where in an alternate universe a beloved character from the series is actually a Nazi. He is a great father, beloved friend, a wonderful man, but he… Continue reading Several Days’ Disparate Inspirations

It would be amusing to see conventionally-minded people, these New York Times kind of people, explain what is ethically wrong with the mafia. What is wrong with what they are doing? They are acting in the service of their own interests, regardless of who gets killed along the way. Is this not the credo of… Continue reading “Mafia”

Time is the elusive nature of the world, the thing that makes it possible for something to both be and not be. The tree bears fruit, and it is dead. The ground is covered in snow, and it is covered in shimmering grass. Both can be true, but time decides which is true at the… Continue reading “Time”

Our prisons are filled with people who committed no violent crime. Drugs. Addiction. We punish the indulgence of these patterns. We jail everyone. A prison state, a police state. But where is prosecution for those who kill thousands under the angelic wing of the state? God is immune from crime. God can commit no crime.… Continue reading “Law”