Author Archives: davetcourt

I acknowledge that the majority of my friends and acquaintances find this weird. I also know I’m not the only one who feels this and thinks this. But whenever I find myself in discussions with others about an assumed and seemingly common and pervasive desire to escape or retreat back to nature and the outdoors,Continue reading “Reflections on the Nature of Building and the Building of Nature”

Some more thoughts on my journey through the book How To Read A Film by James Monaco. Thoughts relating to how we see, how we know. Monaco points out that a common artistic presence runs underneath all forms of art regardless of adaptations of technology and the subsequent  development of new technique. One can studyContinue reading “Film, Modernism, and the Relationship Between Function and Interpretation”

The subject of memory became crucially important to me following an experience I had some years ago during a particular dark night of the soul. I detailed that experience in this space before, and I also talk about it with the Fear of God Podcast in a conversation about the film The Never Ending Story (partContinue reading “Relic, Memory, and the Search For Identity (Part 2)”

Google the question “can we trust our memories”, and the answer that comes up is an emphatic no. Despite memory being the only tool we have to recollect the past, it is notoriously untrustworthy in the way it reconstructs facts and conceals the truth. My earliest memories reach back somewhere into the recesses of myContinue reading “Relic, Memory, And Searching For Identity (Part 1)”

A previous post in this space mentioned I was reading a book called How To Read A Film by James Monaco. Some of what I read yesterday has been inspiring more thoughts There’s a historical note that describes the formation of film as a specific artform that exists uniquely in relationship to the whole. FilmContinue reading “Film, Worldviews and The Art of Necessary Participation”

I have a confession Back in June I decided to join a number of facebook atheist debate/discussion groups. The words debate and discussion being contained to a necessary air quote variety of terminology. As a few of my friends noted upon vocalizing my confession- “everyone’s got a calling I guess.” I’m still trying to parseContinue reading “Discussion Groups, Christmas Gifts, and Some Thoughts About the Nature of Art”

What is Rosebud A few years ago I began a New Years Resolution Plan called Rosebud. I heard about it on one of the travel podcasts that I follow. The process essentially looks like this:Step 1: List Three Roses-This is the stuff that I would consider the greatest strengths, successes or accomplishments of the pastContinue reading “Rosebud 2024: A New Years Resolution Plan”

Travel My reading year started in a place of aspiration and hope. A chance to jump start some travel plans by diving in to a holiday purchase, Airplane Mode: An Irreverent History of Travel. Part philosophical and spiritual exercise, Airplane Mode is an unfiltered look at why we travel and the complicated  history of howContinue reading “My Reading Year: 2024”

It’s always fun looking through my Letterboxd Pro account around the end of the year. Some relevant data: My first watch of 2024: Humanist Vampire Seekjng Consenting Suicidal Person (Ariane Loius-Seize), a unique and inventive horror that explores a coming of age story surrounding an existential and moral crisis, unafraid to dig into the difficultContinue reading “My Top Films of 2024”

It’s been a while since I’ve posted in this space. I can’t point to any tragic reason or immediate reason that can explain why. Simply to say, it’s been a season, and if such matters (personal struggle) will always remain contextually relevant in comparison (there is always suffering that will categorize as greater), it isContinue reading “When Life Gets in the Way: Recovering the Stories That Move Me Forwards”