My Sane Pen

I am treating myself to a fresh start. The rather disparate and infrequent series of entries I’ve put up here since 2013 have been hidden away and I’m relaunching the site with renewed focus and commitment. Indeed, I’m so confident and fired up at the moment that I’ve shaped out three separate but related blogging projects: one for the stories of Henry James , one for the songs of John Darnielle and this one for everything else: books, films and music mainly, I imagine, though food, golf and gardening may feature too. As I am no doubt talking mostly to (and for) myself here, I give myself permission to write about whatever takes my fancy.   Like everyone, I only have so much time and attention to give. And yet, like everyone, I have wasted so much of both these valuable commodities over the years. More and more, I am determined to part with them purposefully, spending them only on the things that matter to me most: my family and friends, of course, my work as a teacher, but also my c