Author Archives: Barry Pomeroy

About Barry Pomeroy

I had an English teacher in high school many years ago who talked about writing as something that people do, rather than something that died with Shakespeare. I began writing soon after, maudlin poetry followed by short prose pieces, but finally, after years of academic training, I learned something about the magic of the manipulated word.

What I Learned in Graduate School

Posted on February 20, 2016 by Barry Pomeroy

By the time students enter university they are not limited to learning from their professors. They still find information in the classroom, and can mine the textbooks for still more, but much of the learning is done by discussing ideas … Continue reading →

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Neal Stephenson’s Snow Crash

Posted on February 6, 2016 by Barry Pomeroy

Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson My rating: 4 of 5 stars View all my reviews

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The Bible is Perfect. No Wait, It’s Not

Posted on February 6, 2016 by Barry Pomeroy

Many Christians trouble themselves over whether the bible, the book they rely on for so much of their understanding of both the physical and spiritual the world, is perfect and the writing of god, or whether it is flawed and … Continue reading →

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The Origin of Planeville

Posted on January 31, 2016 by Barry Pomeroy

The settlers of Planeville pulled a living from the south facing slope by planting apples trees on the bank, floated spruce and fir down the river to Jewet’s mill so the lumber could be sold in town, and scraped gardens … Continue reading →

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Prove How Smart You Are: Or, Are You Dumb Enough to Play?

Posted on January 24, 2016 by Barry Pomeroy

There are a number of short mental exercises or games on Facebook which ask the casual smartphone user to pause in their scrolling through hundreds of posts about their friends in order to prove something about their intellect to the … Continue reading →

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Donald Trump and the Conspiracy of Nonsense

Posted on January 16, 2016 by Barry Pomeroy

The internet is so effective at the promulgation of conspiracy theories we almost think it might have been made for that purpose. Marshall McLuhan suggests that each of our technologies simply extend our own abilities, just as a spear extends … Continue reading →

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Wonderful World of Disney

Posted on January 2, 2016 by Barry Pomeroy

When I was a child the opening credits of the Wonderful World of Disney TV show portrayed a world as far away as the moon. Rather appropriately, it seemed to my young mind, animated creatures shared the stage with live … Continue reading →

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The Locked Room at the Top of the Stairs

Posted on January 1, 2016 by Barry Pomeroy

What Leary took down with him was the central illusion of a whole life-style that he helped create…a generation of permanent cripples, failed seekers, who never understood the essential old-mystic fallacy of the Acid Culture: the desperate assumption that somebody … Continue reading →

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The Vast Edifice of Culture

Posted on January 1, 2016 by Barry Pomeroy

The vast edifice that is culture is as fragile as a butterfly’s wings. It is as beautiful and as tenuous. Over the many centuries of struggle since we first began to bang rocks together we have tried to build something … Continue reading →

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Fifty Shades and a Silo of the Publishing Industry

Posted on December 22, 2015 by Barry Pomeroy

The so-called vanity press has changed little in the public imagination until very recently. Traditionally, paying to have your book published was seen as synonymous with junk novels and sentimental and self-indulgent poetry. The only route to acceptance by the … Continue reading →

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