At face value, Richard Matheson’s What Dreams May Come embeds a romantic tale of soul mates at first rent apart, then rejoined. This occurs because one of the souls, Chris, is killed in a car accident and enters the afterlife—a fact which for the principal third of the novel he refuses to believe. Then, Chris’s… Continue reading What Dreams May Come and the acquiescence that is true love
Category: essays
On freedom and choice within the Matrix trilogy
Note: this post contains significant spoilers for not only the Matrix (1999), but also the Matrix Reloaded (2003) and Revolutions (2003). If you somehow haven’t seen these movies, go watch them! Then read this post. Neo meeting the Oracle in the original Matrix (1999) During the second act of the original Matrix film, the Oracle… Continue reading On freedom and choice within the Matrix trilogy
On the waxing and waning of symbolic meaning
Colorado College's Cutler Hall The morning after I graduated from Colorado College, I walked around campus and noticed that the buildings had changed. It wasn’t that new construction had taken place—rather, it was as though some symbolic layer of meaning had been removed from the buildings, their earthen reality revealed. Apart from the purpose the… Continue reading On the waxing and waning of symbolic meaning
The green 5.13
The "v4 rest" In the video, I begin climbing swiftly along a v5 boulder problem that travels from the right of the wall to the left. Along the way, I piston myself up on a coiled leg and snatch a moderate sloper, then transition along several less forgiving crimps and into the corner of the… Continue reading The green 5.13
Alex Honnold’s “Free Solo” as aesthetic experience
While with my father over Thanksgiving, a mutual friend came forward with a strong opinion about a certain brand of professional athletics: “I am sick of seeing wealthy white men throwing their lives away and calling it brave.” Surprising myself, I volunteered Alex Honnold as a counter-example, saying that to me there was something about… Continue reading Alex Honnold’s “Free Solo” as aesthetic experience
Jackson Holzberg Buckley 