ALLEGATIONS: Thanks very much to everyone who wrote in about allegories! Your comments were really helpful. A few very scattered thoughts: 1. It’s very hard for me to think of allegories I’ve actually loved. But The Faerie Queene is phenomenal–I’m addicted to those stanzas, and I’m really glad I read (chunks of) TFQ before becoming Christian. I do think it played a small part in my conversion, insofar as it helped shatter my stereotypes of Christianity and Christian art. TFQ... Read more

Have some faithIn the love we shareIs it fate?Does blogwatch end in light? Guess the theme! Dreadnought: Dread, on the occasion of his two-thousandth hit, reminds me of one of my favorite Maggie Gallagher lines: “Freud was right in one sense. Civilization is sublimated eros. But then so is sex.” (from Enemies of Eros) ePiscoSours: A sweet, intelligent Jewish guy in the process of entering the Anglican Communion. Fun, moving, and honest. Go take a look. Sed Contra: An example... Read more

I have been here beforeBut when or how I cannot tell;I know the grass beyond the door,The sweet keen smell,The sighing sound, the lights around the shore.–Dante Rossetti, “Sudden Light” Read more

ALLEGORIES: THREAT OR MENACE? The Narnia movie (which I haven’t seen–never really got into the books) has prompted a bunch of people to comment on the difficulties of writing allegory. Now, I think Lewis said at some point (maybe?) that Narnia was never meant to be an allegory per se, but rather a story set within a Christian universe; but it’s pretty obvious that the Christian themes he wanted to draw out shaped his plots and characterizations in a way... Read more

HAROLD AND KUMAR GO TO WHITE CASTLE: So the first movie I saw in 2006 was awesome! It’s basically… what it says on the box: These two stoner guys, i-banker Harold and unwilling about-to-be-med-student Kumar, get baked and decide they need to go to White Castle. Hijinks, as hijinks are wont to do, ensue. I laughed so hard and so consistently that my face hurt by the end of the movie. It was totally, completely stellar. Now, okay: It earns... Read more

SUITCASE OF MEMORIES: So I’m not at all sorry to see the back of 2005. But here are some best-of lists from my year: Best books read (fiction, poetry, drama): Kathy Shaidle, Lobotomy MagnificatLouise Fitzhugh, Harriet the Spy (re-read)Caryl Churchill, The Skriker (re-read). The Song of Rolanduh… JK Rowling, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. This wasn’t a great year for me and fiction. (non-fiction): Jonathan Shay, Achilles in Vietnam: Combat Trauma and the Undoing of Character (…I really am... Read more

THE NORTHERN AMERICA FERTILITY DIVIDE: …Twenty-five years ago the population profiles of Canada and the United States were similar. Both were younger than their European allies, and their societies were more heterogeneous. In 1980 their populations had almost the same median age, fertility rates, and immigration rates. In the years since then, small changes in demographic variables have accumulated, ultimately creating two very different countries in North America by the end of the twentieth century. Canadians now have half a... Read more

ONE YEAR AFTER THE TSUNAMI: From Caritas Australia. Via Amy Welborn. Read more

BE NOT AFRAID: “Benotafraid.net is an online outreach to parents who have received a poor or difficult prenatal diagnosis. The family stories, articles, and links within this site are presented as a resource for those who may have been asked to choose between terminating a pregnancy or continuing on despite the diagnosis. The benotafraid.net families faced the same decision and chose not to terminate. By sharing our experiences, we hope to offer encouragement to those who may be afraid to... Read more

You say “Keep it blogwatch,”But when the beef come you’re the first to run… So, yeah, apparently I needed a two-week hiatus. Sorry about that. Back now…. Colby Cosh: “Where in the endless annals of nation-states has the ‘the workers-own-the-means-of-production school’ not led smack into the ‘state-owns-everything approach’? (Please try to cite examples covering more than 100 acres of territory and lasting longer than eight months.) [Hugo] Chavez’s use of state power to hassle commercial food producers out of the... Read more