SEAN COLLINS’S REVIEW OF THREE SHADOWS. (My review.) Read more

THINGS I’M READING: The NY Sun retrospective at Culture11… anytime you namecheck J. Jonah Jameson you get my attention! Helen Rittelmeyer‘s senior essay: “Decadence, Christianity, And Oscar Wilde’s Conversion to Catholicism.” Profound and provocative. Your must-read for the day. Nicola Karras‘s reply to objections. PoMoCon praising Nalin Ranasinghe’s literary look at Plato. I must read this!!! Read more

THE DIAMOND MINES AGAIN: I was totally fascinated by this Slate piece on children’s books about poverty or “financial ruin.” I would recommend any Ramona book to anybody, but yeah, Ramona and Her Father is heart-rending and wonderful. Of course if ruin is what you’re looking for, A Little Princess is the best possible choice; I would also add all of the Blossom Culp books, with their scrappy protagonist whose momma boils roots to eat, and Jane Langston’s Transcendentalist tale... Read more

LADYBLOG LADYBLOG FLY AWAY HOME: The responses to my post asking for nominations for a he-Austen are really fascinating! Also, Judith and Hanukkah. Posted especially for my aunt Judy and for the Oksperson. Read more

“That squid is there for one reason, and that’s to push its right-wing conservative agenda,” Denver, CO viewer Mary Foley said.–The Onion, “900-lb. Giant Squid Joins Cast of ‘The View’“ Read more

COULD THERE BE A HE-AUSTEN? I ask the question, at Ladyblog. (I also talk more about archetypes and Project Runway.) Read more

AS TERRIBLE AS AN ARMY WITH BANNERS: You know, it’s kind of amazing to look at this week’s Project Runway and ask, “What does this show think a bride should be–or, at least, symbolize?” What does it mean to be a bride? My take: Leanne’s dress makes the bride a force of nature. She is carried forward by the tide. It’s an amazing, innovative dress whose ultimate symbology is nonetheless completely traditional–maybe even more gendered than I would want it... Read more

A NEEDLESS ALEXANDRINE: One of the many reasons I recommended that post from Helen about aesthetics and conservatism is that she not only describes but demonstrates how traditions can be performed well or poorly. There is a standard, which is outside of the tradition itself narrowly construed but might be understood as “the spirit of the tradition,” which neither disrupts or disavows the tradition nor performs it by rote. You can make the analogy to Vatican II yourself, I’m sure! Read more

A QUESTION WITH NO SATISFACTORY ANSWER: What does it mean that Nicola Karras’s how-I-turned-Right post doesn’t mention anything that might be called a “woman’s issue”? I’ll note that she posted it on an all-lady blog, which sort of complicates the situation. But I’m trying to imagine a black conservative’s similar “political autobiography” with no mention of race; or (I am nothing if not provincial!) a gay conservative’s etc etc. Even on an all-black or all-gay blog, I think the “identity”... Read more

I don’t want to be your tiger‘Cause tigers play too rough;I don’t want to be your lion‘Cause lions ain’t the kind you love enough;I just wanna beYour blogwatch bear… Project Rungay: Wow. OK, assuming they’re right about how it looks when it’s moving (my television has taken a vow of telebacy), Leanne’s wedding clothes are pretty amazing. You all know that I am for the most part a Korto fan (really a Jay fan–he changed the way I think about... Read more