Category Archives: Reflections

Thoughts for a Fish part 2: What’s Good about Conversation? Plenty.

Posted on 2009/12/03 by ngilmour

I promised a few days ago that I’d follow up on my critique of hipness with a post that’s more affirmative, and although I’m still going to be asking questions as I go, I’m nonetheless going to shoot for an … Continue reading →

Posted in Other Blogs, Reflections | 5 Comments

Some Thoughts for a Fish, Part 1: What’s Wrong with Hip? Plenty.

Posted on 2009/11/30 by ngilmour

I wish I had the video-editing aptitude and the comfort in front of a camera that Callid Keefe-Perry does, but his thoughtful vlog entry (I haven’t used that neologism for years–it feels good to type it) warrants a thoughtful response, … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections, The Christian Humanist | 2 Comments

Picking up the Gauntlet part 2: Dialectic, not Metanarrative

Posted on 2009/10/19 by ngilmour

First an explanation of my long delay between posts: as a first-year teacher in Emmanuel College’s system, and for the first time teaching when my home life has no bedtime and no wake-up time, I planned poorly.? Midterms took more … Continue reading →

Posted in Other Blogs, Reflections | 2 Comments

Picking up the Gauntlet part 1: Problems with a Particular Pluralism

Posted on 2009/10/07 by ngilmour

In a comment to a recent book review post, Tripp Fuller asked me what my basic take was on religious pluralism, a theological question that drives much of his own theological reflections.? I answered briefly in a comment of my … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections | 4 Comments

My Puerile Office Stunt

Posted on 2009/09/15 by ngilmour

I thought I’d become immune to such things, but looking back, I realize now that some parts of me have not outgrown my Milligan petulance. I’ve liked Picasso’s Guernica ever since I became aware of it in college, and the … Continue reading →

Posted in Emmanuel College, Reflections | 5 Comments

Grandma Gilmour

Posted on 2009/08/12 by ngilmour

I know it’s not great poetry, but I miss you, Grandma. Because I knew when Death would stop My eyes refused to see Now days can pass without a thought But with no warning, misery Will sweep into a crowded … Continue reading →

Posted in Family, Reflections | 1 Comment

Myth-Making at the Science Museum

Posted on 2009/07/22 by ngilmour

Day one of our in-state vacation is in the bag.? In the morning we visited the Fernbank Museum of Natural History, and after a late lunch, we spent the afternoon swimming in the hotel’s pool, ordered pizza to the hotel … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections, Travel | 6 Comments

If it’s Proprietary, Don’t Monkey with it

Posted on 2009/05/17 by ngilmour

I learned that lesson a few days ago–I downloaded a third-party utility that was supposed to be able to convert .rtf files into .lrf files (the native format for the Sony Reader), and I got visions of turning Early English … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Reflections | Leave a comment

Ability and Work, this time from Brooks

Posted on 2009/05/01 by ngilmour

Genius: The Modern View I first ran into David Brooks when I got Bobos In Paradise from QPB.? Those were the days before he became the “Red State, Blue State” guy, before he became one of the Republican pundits who … Continue reading →

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Pray for Athens

Posted on 2009/04/25 by ngilmour

Three reported slain at theater One of the three was Ben Teague, husband to my dissertation director Fran Teague and friend to many of my friends. If you pray, pray now.

Posted in Reflections | 2 Comments

History and Proselytizing

Posted on 2009/04/22 by ngilmour

I wrote this post back on December 22 originally, but I figured it might bear a quick revision and a repost while most of my readers aren’t on Christmas break.? So here it goes! El Ick’s blog recently had quite … Continue reading →

Posted in Church stuff, Reflections | Leave a comment

Why I’ll Take the Room Full of Professors

Posted on 2009/02/23 by ngilmour

I’m aware that I could just be getting overly sensitive as I get closer to completing the Ph.D, but I’ve been thinking lately about all the folksy sayings there are disparaging teachers and comparing us to children.? Ten-year-olds on their … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections, teaching | Leave a comment

25 Beliefs and Un-Beliefs

Posted on 2009/02/13 by ngilmour

Twenty-Five Sortof Random Things I Do and Don’t Believe I found this little not-meme on Internet Monk’s site, and since I participated in the less-interesting “25 Random Things About Me” meme on Facebook, I figured there wasn’t any reason not … Continue reading →

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In Praise of Small-Town Post Offices

Posted on 2009/01/26 by ngilmour

I think that the Heidegger podcast saved me from the grumpiness that I could hear over the lecture around me. Yes, I’m listening to a Berkeley course on Heidegger’s Being and Time?as I read through it with Michial Farmer. ?It’s … Continue reading →

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Like Christmas, but Every Week

Posted on 2009/01/04 by ngilmour

Sundays not the Same Today Normally I don’t get halfway through Darrell Huckaby’s weekly column before I roll my eyes and give up.? That’s alright; he probably doesn’t read this blog either.? Darrell is one of many local columnists in … Continue reading →

Posted in Church stuff, Reflections | 5 Comments

Proselytizing and the Character of History

Posted on 2008/12/22 by ngilmour

El Ick’s blog recently had quite an interesting conversation about differences between proselytizing (a word for which I always need spell check) and conversation, and rather than write long paragraphs? in his comments bar, I figured I’d write this here … Continue reading →

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Me? A Humanist?

Posted on 2008/12/18 by ngilmour

Folks write all the time about the bizarre ads that gmail pops up alongside their messages, and this post is going to be another instance of the same.? I was reading my emails this afternoon when, glancing over to the … Continue reading →

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Educating for Questions

Posted on 2008/10/04 by ngilmour

Listening to Berkley’s podcasted Introduction to Astronomy course the other day (I’m up to the midpoint of the semester and as far out as Jupiter), I finally started to understand Neil Postman’s more common riffs about education, namely that question-asking … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections, teaching | 2 Comments

The Last Polite Bigotry

Posted on 2008/08/08 by ngilmour

I really did have high hopes for Bill Maher’s podcast. I started downloading podcasts a couple weeks ago, and when I discovered that HBO offered the audio of Maher’s show for free, I downloaded the last bits of last season.? … Continue reading →

Posted in Gripes, pop culture, Reflections | 2 Comments

Time to Think

Posted on 2008/08/02 by ngilmour

No time to think? I was reading around as the library day wound down, and I stumbled upon this little piece on Arts and Letters Daily. (You didn’t think I found these little Internet nuggets on my own, did you?) … Continue reading →

Posted in Read it on ALDaily, Reflections | Leave a comment