“Don’t You Forget About Me”: A Review of the Unforgettable Classic The Breakfast Club

By Julia Leonard The powerful opening chords of Simple Minds’ “Don’t You Forget About Me” welcome the viewer to a world of New Wave music, fingerless gloves, and John Hughes teen films. This is a world in which a silent Saturday detention is a form of discipline for high school students, shouting can shatter glass, and a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess, … Continue reading “Don’t You Forget About Me”: A Review of the Unforgettable Classic The Breakfast Club

The Mind as a Fractal: An Excerpt from a Thesis on Narrative and Suicide

By Rooks Russel Have you ever wondered what depression, neurotic symptoms, and funny shapes might have in common? No, it isn’t the coloring sheet that they’ll hand you after getting tossed in the psych ward. The common thread actually points toward a metaphorical understanding of the mind, a complex information processing system, as a fractal. The term psychological “disorders” implies chaotic and unstructured thinking, but … Continue reading The Mind as a Fractal: An Excerpt from a Thesis on Narrative and Suicide

A Harbor for the Winter: Art, Snow, and Suffering

By Campbell Collins “About suffering they were never wrong, / The Old Masters.”  I love these lines, the opening of W.H. Auden’s “Musée de Beaux Arts.” In the poem, Auden describes the paintings of the Brueghels, the Masters who understood suffering so well. He references their depictions of a Dutch Mary, head bowed beneath a blue robe, trudging ignored in the cold and almost hidden … Continue reading A Harbor for the Winter: Art, Snow, and Suffering

Catholicism and America: A New Consideration for Our Age

By Fred Woodward “America is the most democratic country in the world, and at the same time, according to reliable reports, it is the country in which the Roman Catholic religion is making the most progress…our grandchildren…will tend more and more to be divided clearly between those who have completely abandoned Christianity and those who have returned to the Church of Rome.” Thus wrote Alexis … Continue reading Catholicism and America: A New Consideration for Our Age

Letter from the Editor | Issue #47

Dear Reader,  My last venture off the beaten path of thematic Letters from the Editor into the world of coffee seemed to go okay. It was even enjoyable. Thence, I shall continue my journey into the wilderness and discuss another topic wholly unrelated to this issue’s content: reading.  You should not be ashamed of how few non-homework books you read in college.  My reading list … Continue reading Letter from the Editor | Issue #47

An Epic Trio

by Dr. Eric Hutchinson Aeneas There once was a hero, Aeneas.Nearly everyone said he was pius.He left Dido aloneSo that he could found Rome:Fate’s decree; it was not spontaneous. Ulysses There once was a drifter, Ulysses.He thought the Phaeacians were sissies.They knew nothing of war;It was rather a bore.He would not stay to wed Nausikissies. Achilles You’ve heard of swift-footed Achilles?He gave all the Trojans … Continue reading An Epic Trio

“House Pelopides”

by Dr. Eric Hutchinson Atreus There once was a man from Mycenae.His brother was such a big meanie.He fed him his kids,Put his life on the skids—Drama fit for a pulp magazine-y.  Agamemnon There once was a king, Agamemnon.He knifed his own child; it was no fun.Sure, it altered the wind,But his wife thought he sinned,So she ruined his bath—“Welcome home, hon!” Orestes There once … Continue reading “House Pelopides”

RFM!

by Dr. Charles Steele I’m an ultrarunner. “How do you run 50 miles? Why would you run 50 miles?” I will try to explain this, but you should understand at the outset that words really cannot explain. An ultramarathon, or ultra, is any footrace longer than the 26.2 mile marathon. My first ultra was Montana’s Le Grizz 50 mile Ultramarathon. It is aptly named. Its … Continue reading RFM!

Aristotelian Conceptions of the Good in “The Duck Song 5”

by Joseph P. Oldsboy, freshman | edited by Zachary Chen As every educated person everywhere knows, Aristotle once defined the concept of true happiness or eudaimonia as an activity of the soul in accordance with virtue. What most people don’t know, however, is that he could have also defined virtue in terms of “The Duck Song 5.” In what follows, I shall attempt to prove … Continue reading Aristotelian Conceptions of the Good in “The Duck Song 5”