YOUR MOM’S A MAMMAL!: So today I finally got to see the new(ish) Hall of Mammals at the Museum of Natural History. It’s so awesome!!! The old Hall was totally fun, but basically just stuffed animals in poses behind glass. I loved it, but I don’t think I ever learned much beyond, “Look! wolfs!” You needed more focus than a child can typically muster to not only read but also remember the wall captions. The new Hall is improved in... Read more

“IN PRAISE OF DISENCHANTMENT”: My Inside Catholic column, on superstition. I’ve got a four-leaf cloverAnd it ain’t done me a single lick of good —I’m still a drunk and I’m still a loserLiving in a lousy neighborhood— Old 97’s, “Four-Leaf Clover” Read more

Bioy Casares había cenado conmigo esa noche y nos demoró una vasta polémica sobre la ejecución de una novela in primera persona, cuyo narrador omitiera o desfigurara los hechos e incurriera en diversas contradicciones, que permitieran a unos pocos lectores–a muy pocos lectores–la adivinación de una realidad atroz o banal. Desde el fondo remoto del corredor, el espejo nos acechaba. Descubrimos (en la alta noche ese descubrimiento es inevitable) que los espejos tienen algo monstruoso. Entonces Bioy Casares recordó que... Read more

“NOTES ON THE MANAGEMENT OF SPOILED IDENTITY”: I’m at the First Things blog, talking about Cards of Identity. Read more

THOMAS A KEMPIS, ON THE PASSION OF CHRIST–includes an amazing reworking of the Song of Songs as a paean to the crucified Christ. Read more

FRANCISCO DE ZURBARAN, “AGNUS DEI.” Read more

“THE CONSCIENCE OF MANNERS”: My Inside Catholic book column, on Miss Manners…. Read more

GRAVES, AT MY COMMAND: The Cigarette Smoking Blogger replies to my post on Paglia; and “Blackadder” replies to my horror-anthology post with the awesomely-titled, “If Reanimating the Dead Is Wrong, I Don’t Wanna Be Right.” I don’t know that we necessarily disagree, although I need to ponder. My post was more about, “If you do a ‘came back wrong’ story, this is what I will need in order to feel satisfied by it.” Now, though, I really want to read... Read more

I JUST FOUND the page at Ave Maria Press where you can order Faith at the Edge: A New Generation of Catholic Writers Reflect on Life, Love, Sex, and Other Mysteries … a book I’m in. (I contributed a chapter on Gay Catholic Whatnot.) Read more

LEFT AND LEAVING: InsideCatholic has a whole raft (a big raft) of responses to or riffs on that Pew survey on Americans’ tumultuous religious lives. The whole megillah (…yeah, no) is here; my contribution is here; the one I liked best might be Mark Shea‘s, here. Amy Welborn is hosting a thread with some responses to my piece and to the entire feature–worth reading, including/especially the comments critical of my approach. Read more