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Eric Scheske

New Catholic Journal is Lighting It Up

As long as I’m gushing about literary journals, I should mention The Lamp. This newcomer is smart, appears to be well-funded, and takes its Catholicism seriously without getting bogged down in it. Exhibit A: The review-essay from its current issue by Joseph Epstein that I wrote about

We Don't Know What Consciousness is Because We Don't Know What the Tao Is

Your consciousness is what it’s like to be you. It’s your experiences of color and sound and smell; your feelings of pain, joy, excitement or tiredness. It’s what makes you a thinking, sentient being rather than an unfeeling mechanism. Philip Goff, Scientific American Science is stumped: It

When Drunkenness is a Mortal Sin Redux

Aquinas appears to make it pretty hard to get so drunk that inebriation, by itself, is mortal A reader sent this link to me. Is getting drunk a sin? [https://www.catholiccompany.com/getfed/is-getting-drunk-a-sin/] The site’s conclusion: Yup, getting drunk is a serious sin.

Dorsey: Gudge Slayer? Hudge Crippler?

From the TDE Archives (early 2022)

A Narcissus at Christmas: Received: The Complete Guide to Middle Earth

Robert Foster: The Complete Guide to Middle Earth. My sons pooled their money to buy me this deluxe edition of Robert Foster’s classic Middle Earth reference book. I’m not even sure where they found it, but it’s a beautiful book. After opening it, I said, “Wow, I

A Narcissus at Christmas: Received: The Eighth Day Book Catalogue

The 23rd Eighth Day Books Catalogue. The retail price says “$7,” but the link says “$5.50.” It’s worth it either way. It came out in 2020, and my youngest daughter was pretty disgusted with Marie when it came in. “This is all I’m giving him?!?!” Marie assured

A Narcissus at Christmas: Received Jack Kerouac: Scattered Poems

Jack Kerouac: Scattered Poems

My Family Calls it "Exercise Bulimia"

People who work out regularly and are aerobically fit tend to guzzle a surprising amount of alcohol, according to a new study, well timed for the holidays, [https://journals.lww.com/acsm-msse/Abstract/2022/01000/Fit_and_Tipsy__The_Interrelationship_between.15.aspx] of the interplay between fitness, exercise

Weigel and the Celebration of Christmas

A massive, sixteen-volume Lives of the Saints, first published between 1872 and 1877, informs me that, here in the Eternal City, the feast of Christmas first became a celebration distinct from the ancient feast of the Epiphany in the mid-fourth century—and that St. John Chrysostom, one of

Miscellaneous: My First Written Words about McGilchrist. Plus: The Golden Hour and Abstinence

Written and published on December 19, 2021