At this past residency in Vermont, a few faculty members were sitting around before a meeting, talking about nothing in particular, and then one of us, for whatever reason that made sense in the moment, was describing a scene in a Martin Scorsese movie. Maybe Casino; maybe Goodfellas. Doesn’t matter. What matters is what happens… Continue reading You Talking to Me in Annotations?
Author: Lisa Larivee
Snap! Crackle! Pow! [better word??]
I once met a newly-retired cereal executive who asked me what I did for a living. I said I was a writer. He said, hey, what a coincidence, he was thinking of becoming a writer. “Hey, what a coincidence,” I didn’t say, “I was thinking of becoming a cereal executive.” I’m sure he didn’t mean… Continue reading Snap! Crackle! Pow! [better word??]
Stand Up, Sit Down, Fight Fight Fight
I’ve long thought that the two most difficult parts of writing are sitting down and standing up. The reasons for the difficulty-in-getting-yourself-to-sit-down-to-write part are myriad, as anyone who has ever tried to write can attest. The standing-up part, though, might need some explanation. Most times, standing up from writing—that is, leaving the work behind in… Continue reading Stand Up, Sit Down, Fight Fight Fight
Quiet in There
A friend was becoming famous. He was, like most of my friends, a writer, and his writing was appearing in more and more prestigious places and gaining more and more attention. He deserved success. I can say that now. But I couldn’t say it then. What I could say instead—what I did say, to myself,… Continue reading Quiet in There
On Giving Thanks
Goddard College MFAW faculty Richard Panek: When I think about giving thanks, I don’t think about what or whom I’m thanking. The feeling is more a sense of general gratitude, even relief; it’s a reminder to myself to be aware of what’s good—an exercise that has become more poignant in recent days.
Parle français? Read English? ¿Una palabra a la vez? Oy.
When my younger son was in high school, my wife and I realized we would need to hire a tutor for his French class. Sometimes I would overhear their lesson, and I would think: He’s hopeless. I didn’t mean that word in a critical or disapproving way. If anything, I invoked it out of empathy. I had… Continue reading Parle français? Read English? ¿Una palabra a la vez? Oy.
Giving History the Finger
By Richard Panek The middle finger of Galileo’s right hand is a satisfying sight. Not because the resemblance to an obscene gesture is unmistakable (though that’s pretty amusing). And not because such a gesture might suggest that in the end a scientist who suffered persecution for the sin of being correct had gotten the last word—well, two words (though that… Continue reading Giving History the Finger
Love Story
By Richard Panek Two years ago I wrote an essay for another website, lastwordonnothing.com, that I called “Love Story,” and for the opening I paraphrased the opening of the novel of the same name: “What can you say about a fifty-seven-year-old book that has outlived its usefulness? That it was beautiful. And brilliant. And taking up valuable space… Continue reading Love Story
The Language of Myths
By Richard Panek You’d think a wall panel in the Galileo gallery in the Galileo wing of the Galileo Museum would be a good place to get an accurate context for Galileo’s historical significance. You’d be wrong: “These astronomical discoveries heralded a revolution destined to demolish an image of the universe that had lasted for… Continue reading The Language of Myths
Physician, Screw Thyself
By Richard Panek The doctor was sitting in a chair next to the window, gazing out. His features gave nothing away, save serious thought. I watched him from my hospital bed, trying to discern meaning in his own effort to discern meaning in my symptoms. Silence. Finally, he turned back to me and spoke: “Medicine… Continue reading Physician, Screw Thyself
I Dream of Wrigley
Tonight the 2015 Major League Baseball season opens at Chicago’s Wrigley Field with a game between the St. Louis Cardinals and the host Chicago Cubs. This essay originally appeared a year ago on The Last Word on Nothing, a science writers’ collective, in honor of both Wrigley Field’s 100th anniversary and one book’s indelible evocation of an era. By… Continue reading I Dream of Wrigley
Total Immersion: Museum as Narrative
By Richard Panek How could it happen? Was it the wrath of God or the malice of Poland? Was the crew drunk or was the Vasa wrongly built? The town was alive with rumours. I’ll bet it was. On August 10, 1628, the warship Vasa—the pride of Sweden, the talk of Stockholm—set sail on its maiden… Continue reading Total Immersion: Museum as Narrative
I Saw Them Standing There
(This essay was the author’s faculty reading at a recent MFAW-VT residency. It commemorates an event that happened 51 years ago this week.) By Richard Panek I was watching the Beatles on “Ed Sullivan” recently when I got to thinking about Galileo. “Ladies and gentlemen, here are The Beatles!” cried Ed, in his imitable style,… Continue reading I Saw Them Standing There
Of Heisenbergs and Beethovens
By Richard Panek The 16-year-old student has an idea, but she doesn’t have the maths to support it. She does, however, have a drawing. She submits it to her tutor. He examines it, then delivers his verdict. “This is not science,” he says. “This is story-telling.” He’s right: Through her art she has told a story.… Continue reading Of Heisenbergs and Beethovens
At the Residency… The Last Word on Nothing
What happens when the projector doesn’t work? The Haybarn Theater on the Plainfield campus has a beautiful new sound system, concert-worthy; state of the art lighting; a rich red velvet curtain; a podium that adjusts for height at the press of a button…but when the faculty are about to read and there is some kind of… Continue reading At the Residency… The Last Word on Nothing
Interstellar
From The Last Word on Nothing, by Richard Panek: If you haven’t seen the movie Interstellar, you might not recognize the image above. It’s the black hole that figures prominently in the climax. But even if you have seen the movie, chances are excellent you still don’t know what you’re looking at. I didn’t, anyway, at… Continue reading Interstellar