Hello all, I recently decided to move my blog to Substack. I'm finding the design of the site is cleaner and I think the email subscription system will be more straightforward/reliable. You can access my new blog at: https://agarwhale.substack.com/. For those of you who are subscribed via email, I'll be moving over your subscriptions to … Continue reading An update on my blog
On “A Thousand Splendid Suns”
1. I read A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini this week. Each review on the back of the book tries to capture the book in a theme or two. USA Today calls it a novel about “the dimmest rays of hope,” the Los Angeles Times says it’s about “the intimacy of family and village … Continue reading On “A Thousand Splendid Suns”
On “Good Arguments” (and Bad Ones)
1. "Arguments require us to disclose ourselves in a way that physical brawls or simple forbearance do not. In conflict with the world, we discover the boundaries of who we are and what we believe." Good Arguments is a book written recently by Bo Seo, a writer at the Australian Financial Review who debated for … Continue reading On “Good Arguments” (and Bad Ones)
Eelgrass and a Confucian Contradiction
Confucius once said that everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it. I was vaguely persuaded by this precept until I was recently attacked, upon leaving my house, by an intimidating flock of crows. I find crows uniquely repulsive — it’s some combination of their unpredictable fluttering, irritating shrillness, and also probably their near-daily attempts … Continue reading Eelgrass and a Confucian Contradiction
An Assortment of Silences
There’s a short story by Heinrich Böll that I like, titled “Murke’s Collected Silences.” Set in postwar Germany, it follows a radio editor named Dr. Murke, whose job is to sift through hours of audio tracks and trim them before broadcast. It’s a subtly satirical read: the radio station’s director has a religious awakening at … Continue reading An Assortment of Silences
On Pet Rocks, Halloween, and Growing Up
The other day, my Grade 11 advisor announced that our class would be spending last period on a Friday making pet rocks. It was a declaration I expected to be met with grumbling and mockery from a set of high schoolers usually insistent on proving their coolness. Instead, I was pleasantly surprised when our class—debate … Continue reading On Pet Rocks, Halloween, and Growing Up
An Ode to Frisbee Golf
For many years, I have detested frisbee golf with an intensity like no other. It is an amalgamation of my two least favourite activities—frisbee and golf—and the key requirement, basic athletic ability, is unfortunately far beyond me. In a horrible twist of fate, the school I now attend is home to an 18-hole disc golf … Continue reading An Ode to Frisbee Golf
Everyday Infinities
Infinity is a terrifying concept. Blaise Pascal once said: “When I consider the short duration of my life, swallowed up in an eternity before and after, the little space I fill engulfed in the infinite immensity of spaces whereof I know nothing, and which know nothing of me, I am terrified. The eternal silence of … Continue reading Everyday Infinities
On “Olympus Has Fallen”
This week, I watched the 2013 film Olympus Has Fallen, described somewhat aptly by one critic as “a lumpy version of Die Hard but with Gerard Butler instead of Bruce Willis.” In my opinion, it was a bit disappointing, even rating it on the exclusive criteria of a stock action movie. For one, the plot … Continue reading On “Olympus Has Fallen”
On “Capital and Ideology”
In her book Plutocrats, Chrysia Freeland writes: “In 2005, Bill Gates was worth $46.5 billion and Warren Buffet $44 billion. That year, the combined wealth of the 120 million people who made up the bottom 40 percent of the U.S. population was around $95 billion—barely more than the sum of the fortunes of these two men.” That is astounding, and by logical extension of this fact, if we were to hypothetically expropriate these two men of their wealth and redistribute it, we could double the material conditions of four in ten American citizens.
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