Modern kids are raised with the understanding that people don’t spontaneously burst into song at crucial moments in their lives. And isn’t that a horrible thing, to remove such evidence of grace on earth from their belief system? Of course there are people who start tap-dancing at unexpected moments, or improvise a tune while plucking lyrics from the air. They’re called children, and if you spend any time with them, you’ll witness life as a musical forty times an hour.–Ty... Read more

TWO LINKS: Did the Catholic Church suppress dissection, stifling both medicine and the arts? You get three guesses, and the first two don’t count…. And make your own elegant moonshine! (Via Ratty.) Read more

It was a fine, clear, January day, wet under foot where the frost had melted, but cloudless overhead; and the Regent’s Park was full of winter chirrupings and sweet with spring odours. I sat in the sun on a bench; the animal within me licking the chops of memory; the spiritual side a little drowsed, promising subsequent penitence, but not yet moved to begin.—The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Read more

IN SEARCH OF LOST PANTS: Search requests bringing people to this ramshackle blog. In chronological order. george washington fanfiction [Richard Brookhiser says, “Oh score, this one’s a ‘Desperate Housewives’ crossover!”]How do people feel about bacon [Is OM NOM NOM NOM!!! a feeling?]human stain pilsner urquellfunny definition of a conservativetame gaywhat position is a bat in when his fingers make a hat above his headallan Bloom V for Vendettaare a lot of teens lazy worthless and immoralhow to make a light... Read more

I INTERVIEWED DAVID BLANKENHORN on his new book, The Future of Marriage. I highly recommend the book. It has flaws–I’d say the beginning and the end are the weakest parts, oddly enough–but it’s absolutely worth your time if you are at all interested in the nature of and controversy over marriage and family structure. Oh, and since I can, here’s what I think was the most interesting thing cut (for length reasons) from the version of the interview I submitted... Read more

GENERAL PETRAEUS WRITES: HEADQUARTERS Multi-National Force—Iraq Baghdad, Iraq APO AE 09342-140010 May 2007 Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, and Coast Guardsmen serving in Multi-National Force—Iraq: Our values and the laws governing warfare teach us to respect human dignity, maintain our integrity, and do what is right. Adherence to our values distinguishes us from our enemy. This fight depends on securing the population, which must understand that we—not our enemies—occupy the moral high ground. This strategy has shown results in recent months.... Read more

All very well for blogs to have their watch… GetReligion: This post makes me yearn to write a novel about American public life, in the style of The Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini. The Rat: I wasn’t as hard on the technical/length aspects of The Good Shepherd as Ratty was, but that’s largely because she’d already warned me about them. I thought it was surprisingly good. I agree with her that the wife and son lacked characterization; that this damaged the... Read more

The court was very cool and a little damp, and full of premature twilight, although the sky, high up overhead, was still bright with sunset. The middle one of the three windows was half-way open; and sitting close beside it, taking the air with an infinite sadness of mien, like some disconsolate prisoner, Utterson saw Dr. Jekyll.–Robert Louis Stevenson, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Read more

IS STUPID REALLY STUPID, OR A DIFFERENT KIND OF SMART?: Disputations, as usual, makes the necessary distinctions I didn’t: “Poe is kind of dumb, you know? He isn’t complex.” Are these two sentences supposed to say the same thing? “Kind of dumb” = “not complex”? In any case, I don’t think there’s any question that Poe the man was quite intelligent, and I think this comes out clearly enough in his writing. Without thinking it through, I wonder whether readers... Read more

BOXING CLEVER: In defense of stupid writers. One of the most cringe-inducing genres is the defense of a great writer on precisely the wrong terms. “Dickens is really a conservative!” “Eliot really liked the Jews!” And, for exactly the same reasons, “Keats is so complex!” No, he kind of desperately isn’t. This is not the way to defend him. You can defend Keats the way I defend Poe: When this guy hits a thing, it stays hit. Poe is a... Read more