J.F. "Jeff" McCullers, Ed.D.

Painting showing nine men wearing standing in a semicircle behind a table. The men are wearing suits typical of the early 20th century. They are all facing the viewer, and they all have disfigured faces that resemble wounds suffered by soldiers in World War I. One man is wearing a bandage that covers most of his face. A young girl lies on the table before them, her bare feet and legs handing over one edge. She is wearing a clean dress that has a ruffle. Her head is facing the viewer but her eyes are closed.

Gottfried Helnwein. (1998). "Epiphany III (Presentation at the Temple)." Oil and acrylic on canvas.

Artist site: www.helnwein.com

Never mind the jobs you had, tell me five classes you took in college.

Science, Myth, & Value
War, Revolution, and Morality
Power, Violence, and the Individual
Politics, Ecology, and Energy
Modern Science Fiction

Today, the Presbyterian Church (USA) published this gentle lesson about the mighty power of faith.

Well, okay. There's a lot here that is in line with grim reality but even so the Mouse will want a bit of workshopping.

(1) Cutting out Ewoks might cut into merchandising.

(2) The Scrote Vader thing is plainly awesome, but Reddit will see it as a redo of Snoke.

(3) You're still freaking me out.

Not for the first time, but you're kind of freaking me out right now.

I'm sure it does! Cooking for family is one of the most joyous sacraments of all.

Photograph of 14 different kinds of collard leaves spread out on a plain surface.

Making the collards while standing in a kitchen in which the memories of my mother and my grandmothers are looking over my shoulder making polite but firm suggestions about getting all the stems and wondering if I'm using the right onions, and it makes me feel alive and blessed beyond words.

Night sky with a comet, probably Neowise. Photograph made in the summer of 2020 by Norbert L. Rühl.

The light winds its way round our darkened world, and shows us all the path we must take to set aside our quarrels, to lay down our swords, to quench our anger, to forgive those wrongs done unto us.

Come, friends, let us join the morning stars and sing together at last.

Thirty-three observations about life. (13/13)

32. Life involves both whispering and hollering, often to the same people.

33. Life is when you’re not looking.

Thirty-three observations about life. (12/13)

30. Life is when the tag inside your shirt is scratchy but you ignore it.

31. Life is how it good it feels to come inside and stand by the fire during the winter and how good it feels to go outside and jump in the water during the summer.

Thirty-three observations about life. (11/13)

28. Life knows what you did.

29. Life includes planets like this one where little bunny rabbits hop around in meadows that grow on rafts made of rock that are floating on giant pools of molten metal.

Thirty-three observations about life. (10/13)

26. Life is like a game of musical chairs but the chairs are made of papier-mâché and some of them are on fire a little.

27. Life picks up the “Hello My Name Is” sticker and writes its name in fancy script as if it’s happy to be there.

Thirty-three observations about life. (9/13)

24. Life includes planets like this one where apes wear shoes and dig basements and fly in hot air balloons.

25. Life involves encouraging generation after generation of children to play “Hot Cross Buns” on plastic recorders.

Thirty-three observations about life. (8/13)

21. Life involves soldiers standing post and either nothing happens or something happens.

22. Life borrows stuff from you and never intends to return it.

23. Life often involves poking the campfire with a really good stick.

Thirty-three observations about life. (7/13)

19. Life is a series of movies in which there is a close-up of some text we are supposed to read but it’s too small and too shaky and too fast and so to hell with it, whatever.

20. Life is waking up and doing stuff until we can go to sleep again.

Thirty-three observations about life. (6/13)

16. Life doesn’t rhyme but it just sort of vibes to the beat.

17. Life isn’t fair, and doesn’t pretend to be.

18. Life is trying to remember why people used to use so much ammonia and now hardly anyone even talks about ammonia anymore.

Thirty-three observations about life. (5/13)

13. Life is a long process of moving laundry from one room to another until we die.

14. Life is a series of hugs and kisses of a bewildering range of kinds, types, and purposes.

15. Life involves long stretches of not saying anything.

Thirty-three observations about life. (4/13)

11. Life has its little secrets.

12. Life includes planets like this one that has improbable objects like hymnals and fishing poles and rhubarb pie and wheelchairs and paper clips that are shaped kind of like hearts.

Thirty-three observations about life. (3/13)

8. Life is moments when someone you love smiled at you.

9. Life is what you make of it or what it makes of you or some awkward compromise thereof.

10. Life is a chemical chain reaction that often involves hydrogen, oxygen, and carbon.

Thirty-three observations about life. (2/13)

4. Life is looking for your keys again.

5. Life is feeling alive when we listen to songs by musicians who are now dead.

6. Life is a series of burps that remind us of what we ate.

7. Life wonders if it should get bangs, and it wonders this a lot.

Thirty-three observations about life. (1/13)

1. Life is a series of dropping something, cursing, and stooping over to pick it up.

2. Life is a series of moments in which we wonder what to eat.

3. Life includes intervals between meeting dogs and getting fur and/or slobber all over you.

Photograph of a trash bin in a kitchen. The lid is partially open to reveal a big tangle of Christmas lights that have been partially shoved into the bin.

Yeah, so you know the guy who invented these tangledy-dangley Christmas lights that look like light-up Spanish moss hanging from the drip edge? I’m going to fight that guy.

Photograph of two antique vending machines that dispense four five-cent U.S. postage stamps for a quarter.

The convergence of being retired and also being a homebody: It just occurred to me that I cannot recall using a vending machine of any kind since before COVID.

Hmm. I agree it doesn't snap, which is surprising because it is such a perverse image: The President happy that the White House has been completely gilded over and that the religious icon has been topped with a national-cum-political icon. No one celebrates with him and he seems unaware of it.

Precisely placing the bay leaves on what will become the hambone soup requires a careful balance of reverence and exuberance.

I was just in a gas station parking lot where I met a golden retriever named Dolly. She was radiating utter joy and she wanted me to let everyone to know that (1) She loves you with her whole entire heart, and (2) There's nothing wrong with a little slobber between friends.

Painting showing a dark featurless plain and a gloomy sky beyond. In the far distance, we a silhouette of a man who is holding a torch or flashlight. In the foreground, we see a standing figure who is completely consumed in flames. Their arms are outstretched. Smoke billows from this figure into the sky.

Zhiyong Jing. (2023). My sunshine sleeps in your darkness. [Acrylic on wood panel.]

Artist site: www.jingzhiyong.com

Till by turning, turning we come round right.

A ★★★★½ review of Frankenstein (2025) Notes on Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein (2025): 1. This is a visual triumph. Most everything in the picture is the color of ice or putrefying flesh with the spectacular exception of Mia Goth's gown...

My take on Guillermo del Toro's "Frankenstein" (2025) is up at Letterboxd.

letterboxd.com/floydwilbury...

A ★★★★½ review of The History of Sound (2025) Oliver Hermanus' "The History Of Sound" is a quiet meditation on love won and love lost, and a moving illustration of how deeply music can reach thoughts and feelings we can't quite express in other w...

Oliver Hermanus' "The History Of Sound" (2025) is a quiet meditation on love won and love lost, and a moving illustration of how deeply music can reach thoughts and feelings we can't quite express in other ways.

My review here: letterboxd.com/floydwilbury...