About the blog


The name of this blog refers to the Hebrew creation story in Genesis 2, where humankind is created from the dust of the earth and God’s own breath. We humans are, and are meant to be, lively dust--equally, inseparably, and forever matter and spirit.

As material beings, we are born, grow up, find mates, build homes, have offspring, find and eat food, get sick, care for one another, and eventually die.

As spiritual beings, we ponder how to spend our lives, how the world is and how we wish it were, how people act and how they ought to act. We invent religions and politics and ethics. We imagine paintings and novels and music and recipes.

This blog is positioned where humans live, at the crossroads of body and spirit.


Homo sum; humani nil a me alienum puto. 
                                             - Terence, 163 BCE

As you can see from the topics list in the sidebar at the right, I blog about a wide range of topics. I'm especially interested in
  • food and wine
  • health and health care
  • public policy and social justice
  • animals
  • the news of the day
  • books of all sorts