Divorcing Your University | sebastianknowles.com

The University of Life

An occasional blog to encourage those who are considering retirement that the water is fine, and to reassure those who have already retired that it was worth it. To begin, start by clicking the book on the right.

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Scrabble: The Dark Arts

As in any 1-on-1 sport, you must start by wrong-footing your opponent. Don't let them think they can read you. If they seem impatient...

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Jan 410 min read

Floridation

To do list: Hug partner and tell them that you love them. Check. Make espresso. Check. Turn off phone. Check. Change book club reading...

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Nov 6, 20244 min read

10 Notable Books of 2023

You have to start with Claire Keegan. Small Things Like These was a revelation; Foster is the kind of book that gets passed around at...

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Nov 24, 20234 min read

The Moment of Psycho

It happened fast. The guy next to me put his head on the table next to his laptop and stopped moving. Small head, trimmed beard, face...

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Nov 20, 20233 min read

June Recital

"Hi, this is [name deleted]. I am a friend of [name deleted]. I was interest in having my daughter start prison lessons." It's...

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Feb 12, 20235 min read

Nursery Lane

It started as a bookshop. Janette needed me out of the house, and I had too many books. What better use of my time and talent than to...

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Dec 15, 20225 min read

Top Ten Treehouse Books 2022

The big news here is the treehouse is being taken over by Nursery Lane Studios, which is being slowly built behind it. When the new...

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Nov 15, 20222 min read

Travels in Hyperreality

The Vietnamese have a wicked sense of humor. But before I get to that, you have to see some images of Da Lat's Crazy House: We actually...

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Apr 14, 20225 min read

Russian Trash

Vietnam gets 84% of its arms imports from Russia. To avoid sanctions, Gazprom and Rosneft have been ramping up energy production in...

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Mar 12, 20226 min read

Saigon Is For The Swift

They come out at dusk every evening - hundreds of swifts flying in the reddening sky. At least I think they're swifts - someone in the...

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Feb 25, 20226 min read

New Year's Letter

In 1940, W. H. Auden wrote a "New Year Letter" that toasts the end of "a scrambling decade," which cannot guess "in what direction lies /...

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Feb 4, 20229 min read

Top Ten Treehouse Books 2021

Last year I was so horrified by the New York Times Christmas Book List that I offered an alternative list, which became my most-read blog...

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Nov 30, 20214 min read

The Trumpiness of Lake George

Seaside towns are the same the world over. Bumper cars, arcade games, neon lights, waves lapping against the shore. I love them. ...

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Oct 22, 20218 min read

Piano Camp

Piano Camp started inauspiciously this year. Alexa (a real three-year-old, not a pretend person) fell against a foosball machine and had...

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Sep 10, 20215 min read

Paris-Moscow

"All life is figure and ground." "But a wandering to find home." This immortal exchange takes place in Beckett's Murphy, where it neatly...

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Jun 17, 20214 min read

Debussy

The Preludes of Claude Debussy (1910) have always been just out of my reach. Exquisite recordings by Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli don't...

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May 4, 20213 min read

Call My Agent

Some of you know that for the past six months I've been writing a spy novel. I'm happy to say that it's now finished, and has been sent...

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Mar 20, 20214 min read

Memorial

This is a long introduction to an original piece of music. To skip to the music, go to the end of the blog post. My love affair with...

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Feb 23, 20217 min read

School without Tears

The book starts with a simple dedication: For the Pickley Wizards: Deborah, Rebecca, Jose, Sebbie, Catherine, Nicky, Isobel, Graham,...

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Jan 31, 20215 min read

His Last Wail

"Precious, precious, precious!" Gollum cried. "My Precious! O my Precious!" And with that, even as his eyes were lifted up to gloat...

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Jan 6, 20215 min read

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