THEY CLOSELY RESEMBLE THE THANKSGIVING BIRD: Kitchen adventures: leftover edition. First, my own contribution to the family Thanksgiving, because it is the easiest thing ever: Chocolate-Covered Strawberries. Step 1: Buy some fair-trade chocolate. Buy the same amount of strawberries. Step 2: Microwave the chocolate, stir, micro, until the stuff is a thick sludgy liquid. Seriously–everyone thinks you need a bain-marie for this, and you really really don’t. Step 3: Dip the strawberries in the chocolate. Step 4: Refrigerate, or let... Read more

LYDIA BENNET BECAME A FAN OF… OFFICERS. Austenbook! Absolutely adorable, even if you’re not an Austenite; probably via Overlawyered. Read more

I WANT TO DO EVERYTHING: In which Joan Jett is the Catholic Church, and I’m a reform-school girl (as is traditional). Read more

THE NEW THIRD ORDER IS HERE! And I’m in it! Third Order is a magazine of “faith, fiction, and the occasional extraterrestrial.” My story in this issue is the one I’ve sometimes summarized as “Catholicism = AIDS,” and other times as “Anthony Bourdain as a Vietnamese chick in space.” So if that sounds interesting to you, go read it–it’s short. I haven’t had a chance to read the other stories in this issue yet, but I can definitely recommend the... Read more

THE FUTURE OF CHILDREN. A new blog from serious scholars. One hundred percent worth your time… if not more. Read more

IT WAS CHRISTMAS EVE, BABE, IN THE DRUNK TANK: I have a thread up at Ladyblog for your favorite “nontraditional” Advent and Christmas music. Go and contribute! Read more

AND SUPERHEROES COME TO FEAST…: A great comics gift guide. There are obvious (and admitted) gaps–I’d probably promote the dearly departed X-Statix series for fans of both Marvel and ridiculousness, for example–but overall this is a fantastic gift guide. It’s already inspired both generosity (I really want to buy or make some of these things for others!) and covetousness (oh man, there’s stuff on here I want badly) in the breast of this little black duck. If you love comics,... Read more

NO EASTERN KINGS CAME BEARING GIFTS/INSTEAD, THE ORDER CAME TO SHIFT: If you’re in the DC area, I hope you’ll consider the Christmas concert being held to benefit the Capitol Hill Pregnancy Center: Date: Thursday, December 18Time: 7:30 pmLocation: Washington Community Fellowship Church at 907 Maryland Avenue, NE We will not be selling tickets, but will be accepting free-will donations at the concert. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Kristen Coulon ([email protected]) or Abby Huber ([email protected]).... Read more

Spender told Auden he wondered whether he, Spender, ought to write prose. But Auden put his foot down. ‘You must write nothing but poetry, we do not want to lose you for poetry.’ ‘But do you really think I’m any good?’ gulped Spender. ‘Of course,’ Auden frigidly replied. ‘But why?’ ‘Because you are so infinitely capable of being humiliated. Art is born of humiliation.’—oh yeah Read more

OTHER SPAGHETTI, DIFFERENT WALLS: In my NormBlog profile I mentioned that doing a blog is especially exciting now for those of us on the Right, as we try to renew and reexamine our beliefs, because on a blog you can throw a lot of spaghetti at the wall and see what sticks. A newly-launched blog, Secular Right, is attempting to do just that for the unbelievers among us. Walter Olson is involved, which bodes well. I will be especially interested... Read more