Category Archives: Essays and Articles

“Shall I tell you the secret of the whole world? It is that we have only known the back of the world. We see everything from behind, and it looks brutal. That is not a tree, but the back of a tree. That is not a cloud, but the back of a cloud. Cannot youContinue reading “Spin Us Round”

CRAZYTALK – Mat Kearney When Mat Kearney gave us his fifth album, JUST KIDS, in February of 2015, it surprised me. I distinctly remember listening through the whole album on a long ride home from Pennsylvania in March. The sounds on that album were starkly different than what I was used to hearing from himContinue reading “CRAZYTALK”

*cover photo is not my own. Yesterday in English class our teacher asked us to think of a movie that we watched as a child and then re-watched later and interpreted differently. And no, she said, I don’t mean that you just watched it again and got all the jokes that went over your head.Continue reading “The Oil Rigs”

I’ve been listening to Stephen West’s podcast Philosophize This! some lately. In Western Civilization 101 we were tasked with writing a seven ish page essay describing our own picks for the seven wonders of the ancient world. I decided to pick seven important philosophers. *Pro tip: use block quotes. (photo by David Krabill) *Pick 7 wondersContinue reading “Seven Wonders of Ancient Ideology”

I don’t write very many stories. But the other day I was riding down the rode and thought of this one. So here it is, a long rambling parable about what I’m not entirely sure. 1/18/18 10:24 p.m. Westminster, SC “Jesus spoke all these things to the crowds in parables. He did not tell themContinue reading “The Girl From the Purple Hotel”

In a rather unmemorable scene of a fairly unremarkable movie called “Chasing Mavericks”, Frosty tells the young man he is training to surf about watermen. These surfers, he says, are deeply acquainted with the ocean; they know that when a wave comes at them they will be able to make something happen. It’s as ifContinue reading “Watermen”

Javen Bear Professor Boyter English Composition 9/29/17 The Island We all have certain places that draw us back time and time again, or at least we ought to. These are the things in life that call us out of the routine and beg to be experienced. And we answer the call by going back timeContinue reading “The Island”

This is a research essay I wrote for Ms. Boyter during the final days of my first semester. The picture was taken with a 35mm film camera and a self timer. Javen Bear Professor Boyter English Composition 101 12 December, 2017 Atop the Shoulders of the Man in Black The shoulders of Johnny Cash wereContinue reading “The Man in Black”

Ms. Boyter assigned us a cause and effect essay. Javen Bear Professor Boyter English Composition 1 10/11/17 Time Takes Its Toll On Us From essays to songs to cinematic dramatizations to social media, we are lovers of art and stories. It has been this way for a very long time. I’ll bet from the first dayContinue reading “Time Takes Its Toll On Us”