Don’t Call Your Baby A “Baby”

Last updated on: May 1, 2018 at 6:54 am By Anne Kennedy

I received this ridiculous gorgeous gem from a friend–it’s not very long. The Guardian reports* that some couples, or human persons, or some sort of living creatures of some kind, are going about the increasingly tortured affair of producing offspring by leaving behind the word “baby” in favor of the much less pleasant “theyby.”** The Guardian does its best, There was of course nothing gender-specific about the “ba-“ part of “baby”, which is already a diminutive form of the original... Read more

Fundamentalism Podcast and Links

Last updated on: April 30, 2018 at 9:55 am By Anne Kennedy

It is a gray and tiresome day. The sky is threatening rain and snow and the work is piled up in apocalyptic proportions. To alleviate the deep gloom we gathered up our inner resources and talked about fundamentalism within Christianity–what it looks like and why it’s not helpful and why being Anglican is better. At the end we offer a singular gardening tip that you won’t be able to live without. Didn’t read nearly as much as I wanted to... Read more

If You Thought God Was Contradicting Himself

Last updated on: April 29, 2018 at 6:44 am By Anne Kennedy

I don’t really know how flipboard works–if it’s all algorithms and computers, or people and reading, or some strange combination of the two. But I like to flip through a category, like Happiness or Baking, and wonder about the nature of all things. I am sure there is no thoughtful curation, per se, but the way articles fall must occasionally mean something. Like when I flipped to Motherhood and the first thing to pop up was How To Have Plumper... Read more

7 Takes Away From Food Purity

Last updated on: April 27, 2018 at 9:14 am By Anne Kennedy

There used to be sun, but it’s gone now. Happy Friday. One Discovered something delectable. A lovely person occasionally bequeathes me large pieces of meat, flats of eggs, bacon, and other delicious food items, such as the soul craves, what with all the children I have to feed, and this week he pressed into my icy hand a precooked turkey breast. I had never been the recipient of something like this before. Like buying a chicken already cut into bits,... Read more

Measuring out a Table in the Wilderness

Last updated on: April 26, 2018 at 7:55 am By Anne Kennedy

I got to be on the Ride Home With John and Kathy yesterday, talking about hospitality and whether you can do it if you don’t have the hat and heels of Melania Trump–probably not, not even worth trying…just kidding, anyone can be hospitable. You can jump to the 35:40 mark but better yet listen to the whole program because John and Kathy are the best. I said this to a beloved friend, a little bit ago. ‘John and Kathy are... Read more

Compassion and Burnt Soubise

Last updated on: April 25, 2018 at 8:01 am By Anne Kennedy

Here is a glowing piece of reportage about Melania Trump’s organizing her (and of course Mr. Trump’s) first state dinner. This was her time to shine, they say. All the things she is good at came into focus. I was pretty surprised by how much they liked her. They think she is the perfect balance for her husband, It has truly been a spotlight week for the first lady, kicking off with her attendance at Barbara Bush’s funeral, the sole... Read more

The Orthopedic War On Women

Last updated on: April 24, 2018 at 7:11 am By Anne Kennedy

Paused in the middle of bashing my way around the garden yesterday, because, and I’m sort of afraid to say this aloud because I’m pretty sure it will cause a snowstorm, the sun came out. Totally did the northern thing of rushing out without sunscreen or hat, getting burned like a knave and a fool, and then wandering around looking for various creams to remedy my idiocy. Further persecuted myself by watching a young French person on youtube explaining how... Read more

Monday on the Illiterate Podcast and Links

Last updated on: April 23, 2018 at 10:10 am By Anne Kennedy

By illiterate, I’m not referring to myself, but to GQ’s beclowning of itself by publishing a list of 21 books you don’t have to read. If you were wondering whether the end times are here or not, spoiler alert, they are. Also, we talk about the funeral of Barbara Bush and funerals in general. It’s a podcast for the ages, don’t miss it. Here’s the funeral (skip to an hour thirty-five for the actual service). Here’s the GQ piece. And... Read more

Ecclesiastes For Earth Day

Last updated on: April 22, 2018 at 6:24 am By Anne Kennedy

Facebook reminded me just this moment that today is Earth Day, inviting me to share my wishes for a greener world. Fortunately for me, yesterday I Instagrammed all my seedlings that I will probably never be able to plant because of it’s being always winter and never anything else. All my virtue, I hope, has been appropriately signaled. Should have stopped there but, being a glutton for punishment, went over to Twitter. There leapt up a meme–a fluffy sort of... Read more

Notes from Home: Restoration

Last updated on: April 21, 2018 at 10:12 am By Anne Kennedy

I was going to write about Anthony Trollop’s The Warden but I’m going to delay that pleasure to rejoice over the fact that my duck has been restored to the familial nest after almost a decade of languishing in the church bat cave. In the terrible lonely days following the death of my grandmother, I requested, in the dividing up of her hundreds of wooden and stuffed giraffes, that as my inheritance I would get the big huge one from... Read more