(503): Pretty sure God shed a tear when I put 15 singles in the collection plate.—Texts from Last Night meets the Desert Fathers Read more

IF ANY HAVE TARRIED EVEN UNTIL THE ELEVENTH HOUR: As someone who made what I think might have been my only Lenten confession on Holy Thursday (I know, okay?), I was struck at least as much by the paragraph quoted from St John Chrysostom as by the actual, and amazing, story in this post. Go to Confession! The lines are long, but you can think of it as the Disneyland of Purgatory–eventually you’ll get on that rollercoaster! …Fr. George’s remarkable... Read more

NIETZSCHE PLAYS #OPERAPLOT. Via… I forget. One should never know whom exactly one has married. [Lohengrin.] Old corrupted females prefer to be redeemed by chaste youths. [Parsifal.] … It may have the direst consequences if one doesn’t go to bed at the right time. [Lohengrin again.] more Read more

POETRY OF WOMEN’S HAIR. Via TKB. Read more

[Frame 1]Linus. I guess it’s wrong always to be worrying about tomorrow [Frame 2]Linus. Maybe we should think only about today… [Frame 3]Charlie Brown. No, that’s giving up… [Frame 4]Charlie Brown. I’m still hoping that yesterday will get better–a Peanuts cartoon transcript, sent to me by Ratty Read more

AND BECAUSE YOUR LOVE IS MEASURED WITH A PROTRACTOR/I NOW PRONOUNCE YOU… SWAN AND TRACTOR. eta: Huh, for some reason I’d gotten it into my head that this was an English swan, when in fact it is German. Tags edited to reflect! Off to Pittsburgh! Read more

MOONLIGHT ENCORES: I checked out My Sergei, Ekaterina Gordeeva’s memoir of her brief, happy marriage to Sergei Grinkov, because I’d heard that it was a window on to life, marriage, and dating in the late days of the Soviet Union and especially the Soviet sports machine. The book is so focused and so simply, cleanly-written that it doesn’t actually illuminate the cultural context as much as I’d hoped, but it’s a limpid portrayal of true love and the journey toward... Read more

CLIP REEL: Quick notes on some movies I’ve seen recently. Brothers: This is the 2005, Danish version which got an American remake. When the responsible brother is missing, presumed dead, in Afghanistan, the layabout brother becomes a surrogate father to his kids–and maybe something more, to his wife. This is a brutal, heartbreaking story with incredible acting. Some kind of tragedy is inevitable from fairly early on, but the specific nature of it is the result of choices by the... Read more

I AM BOTH AUDIO AND VISUAL. I’m speaking in Pittsburgh this Saturday on Gay Catholic Whatnot. 6.30 pm, Doherty Hall at Carnegie-Mellon University, Room 1212. There will be food and drink! Sponsored by the CMU Newman Club; for more info contact [email protected] . Bring friends! Bring foes! Tell me what to do in Pittsburgh! Read more

IT GETS A LITTLE BOUNCY HERE SOMETIMES: ARGH SORRY. This was supposed to be a note telling you to check out Arena Stage’s production of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? But I didn’t pay attention to the closing date, which was Sunday. I’m sorry! You should check out the rest of the Albee festival though, since this production was absolutely stellar. They made the show their own (despite the commanding Taylor/Burton/Nichols movie) without resorting to strenuous directorial choices. (I don’t... Read more