FROM NOW ON I WILL LISTEN TO MY FRIENDS WHEN THEY TELL ME I NEED TO HEAR SOMETHING. Read more

NEW FAMILY SCHOLARS BLOG! Read more

BE CAREFUL–TODAY MAY BE THE FIRST DAY OF THE REST OF YOUR LIFE: A post about how every sin is like a child. [This post talks about other people. I’m 100% certain that no one, including both my best friend and the other people described, will be able to figure out what I’m talking about, which is the only reason I’m posting this. I’ve done a lot of awful stuff in public, because I’m awesome like that, so if you... Read more

AESTHETICS ENCOMPASSES BUT DOES NOT EXCLUDE REASON: Or, like the ads say about the ACLU, everybody needs a natural-lawyer sometime. Read more

“THE GLORY AND THE GRIME”: My Commonweal review of the National Gallery of Art’s exhibit of Spanish painting and painted sculpture (through May 31). The review is subscribers-only for now. I’ll let you know if that changes. I will say that if you have any interest in e.g. Zurbaran, or the bloody-mindedness of Spanish Catholic art, you need to see this. It is shockingly emotional–I had to talk myself into moving around the sculptures so I could see the Virgin’s... Read more

A GIANT SQUID. THE COLD WAR. And Nietzsche! Finally, the giant squid movie I deserve. Via DLB. Read more

Mrs. Anthony knew instinctively that Mrs. Pettigrew was a kindly woman. Her instinct was wrong.–I feel like people have been trying to make me read Muriel Spark for years. This thing, quoted in Commonweal from Spark’s novel Memento Mori, has finally succeeded. Read more

I CAN’T LET THE CLOCK STRIKE MIDNIGHT without noting that this is the feast of St. Job. I spent it at the pregnancy center, where I will also spend the Feast of the Visitation, because every day is self-parody day! Read more

BOSS LADY. Maggie Gallagher has a column on the whole red vs. blue families shtik. I generally think she’s better in books than in columns, but this one is really good, assuming she’s right about the numbers. More soonish. Read more

SAVE IT FOR THE MORNING AFTER. Immediate thoughts on Iron Man 2. Maybe more when I see it again. Abundant spoilers! Read more