THE HOMILY ON SALIERI. From Amadeus, not in real life, don’t email me! I disagree with one sentence in this. Can you find it? The hint is that I’m still re-reading The Brothers Karamazov…. Read more

14 SURPRISING USES FOR YOUR MICROWAVE. Some of these are deeply unsurprising (you can bake potatoes in the machine which comes with a “baked potato” button!) and others sound a bit sketch (I’m dubious about the garlic-roasting idea, though I do plan to give it a try), but I’m definitely going to use the sponge tip and probably some of the others. Read more

GENDER AS GENRE: Twice in the past two weeks, while rooting through bins of children’s clothing to find the best things for the women we serve at the pregnancy center, I’ve found cute little t-shirts emblazoned with figure-skating logos. Cute, ruffly, pink, indisputably girly t-shirts. And I mean, I love Oksana Baiul as much as the next person, and this program makes me want a cigarette afterward, but my overall preference turns out to be for men’s singles skating. I... Read more

[O]ne should not so romanticize the process of moral and spiritual struggle that the Lukan depiction of Jesus as one who maintains apparent serenity and trust amidst suffering is downgraded; as though an anguished and in some ways vacillating struggle for faith is intrinsically superior to a steadily trusting faith; or as though a steadily trusting faith did not involve its own kind of moral and spiritual struggle.–Walter Moberly, The Bible, Theology, and Faith: A Study of Abraham and Jesus,... Read more

VALENTINE’S DAY-JOB: At MarriageDebate right now, links on: beyond marriage, gay covenant marriage?, was Chaucer a sentimentalist?, STDs and sexual culture, NPR guy defends the “no escape” aspect of marriage, can the working class be saved?, a whole passel of links on various aspects of birth control, “living alone means being social” (for some very thin definition of “social,” IMO), do mothers matter?, a divorced (and childless) couple caring for aging parents together, and the usual much-much-more. Why not subscribe... Read more

ENVISIONING A POST-CAMPUS AMERICA. Read more

“THE SELLING OF CHAPUT’S CHATEAU”: Philadelphia’s Archbishop Chaput made a brave, but not entirely unexpected, move when he announced that the Archdiocese would be selling its 13,000 square foot, 3-story stone mansion at 5400 City Line Avenue. The sixteen-room, six-car garage structure sits on slightly more than 8 acres of land and has been described as a “baronial home.” Purchased for $115,000 in 1935 by Cardinal Dennis Dougherty at a time when the idea of a mansion seemed appropriate for... Read more

UTOPIAN TURTLETOP: On October 19th of 1955, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, Marianne Moore, was approached by a Mr. Robert Young of the Ford Motor Company and asked to assist them in naming a new series of cars. Mongoose Civique! (via Dylan, I think) (Thunderblender!) Read more

DUBNER VS. DUBNER: …First, the Dubner story is a reminder of the critical importance of how we – as Christians, and as humans – understand death. For both Stephen and his mother, the spark that led to their respective rejections of their families’ religious views and their own conversions was the way in which death was dealt with by these families. As a child, Florence Greenglass wanted to understand why her family feared death so deeply that they never talked... Read more

MORE ON ZAGREB’S MUSEUM OF BROKEN RELATIONSHIPS: …The mementos — collected from all over the world — are random and varied, ranging from fake rubber breasts to a cast from a broken leg. Each item comes with dates and locations of the relationships, and notes by their anonymous donors. Some are funny. The note next to a garter belt says: “I never put them on. The relationship might have lasted longer if I had.” Some are bitter. The garden gnome... Read more