Health = Morality = Nothing New

Last updated on: February 25, 2012 at 6:00 am By Rachel Marie Stone

I LOVE this article by the Princeton University Classics Professor Brooke Holmes, which appeared in yesterday’s Huffington Post— “The moralization of obesity is all too familiar these days. As America has gotten heavier, blame has become something of a national sport. Yet the ancient roots of Warren’s Plan are a reminder that the association between health and morality is nothing new…” “…ancient authors are clear-eyed about the relationship between health and wealth. The author of a handbook on diet that... Read more

Guest Post! A Food Lover on the Grace of Taste

Last updated on: February 24, 2012 at 6:00 am By Rachel Marie Stone

{Welcome to the blog, Tim!} I love the way food tastes, how it feels, the sight of it; the smell of a cooking kitchen. I’ll try just about anything that is standard fare somewhere on the planet, so I’ve tried a lot of foods, and almost always to my benefit. Even though I love good eats, I’m pretty indiscriminate. I can eat pizza every day for a week and still say yes if someone suggests it for the next meal.... Read more

That Sound of Your Own Voice Ringing in Your Ears…

Last updated on: February 23, 2012 at 6:00 am By Rachel Marie Stone

Hey! I was on the radio yesterday! And now there’s a whole 15 minutes of podcast! Martha Manikas-Foster and I had a conversation based on my post on the “New Domesticity” that appeared a while back on the Christianity Today women’s blog. It was, in Martha’s words, ” a conversation that ranges from the value of unpaid work to the call of God on our lives.” Check it out! And leave a comment, if you’re so inclined. {Click here.} Read more

Lenctening Days

Last updated on: February 22, 2012 at 6:00 am By Rachel Marie Stone

No, that’s not a typo. Recently I learned that the word “Lent” {today–Ash Wednesday–is the first day of Lent} comes from the Old English ‘lencten,’ which sounds a lot like “lengthen” and, not incidentally, was the Old English word for Spring–that time when the days, well, lengthen. Despite the admiration I’ve always had for traditional Lenten disciplines, this time of year–when I forget to start dinner on time because the growing evening light tricks me, when I’m drawn from sleep... Read more

Gruesome Pirates, Heroic Grandpas, and Graeme…

Last updated on: February 21, 2012 at 6:00 am By Rachel Marie Stone

One of the reasons my dad is great is because when my son Graeme asks him to draw a pirate, he grabs whatever paper and writing implement is to hand and effortlessly produces stuff like this: Or this: At this point I need to make a confession. “Forgive me, Parents who have been Parenting Longer than I, for I have sinned. Before I had children, I was inclined to Judge Thee In My Heart Without Knowing What the Heck Your... Read more

Lenting Fasting; Easter Feasting

Last updated on: February 20, 2012 at 6:00 am By Rachel Marie Stone

I’m not sure what the actual stats were, but it sure seemed like most of the kids in my high school were Catholic. When I started going there as an eighth grader, everyone (it seemed) was busy making their confirmations. On Ash Wednesday, lots of people went around looking like this: And while I’m pretty sure it wasn’t constitutional or whatever, somehow it seems that the school lunches on Fridays during Lent tended toward the fish stick and pizza variety... Read more

President Obama’s Nazi Lunch Inspectors Confiscate Child’s Lunch

Last updated on: February 18, 2012 at 6:00 am By Rachel Marie Stone

Did you hear about the girl whose lunch was confiscated and whose mother was forced to pay for a school lunch of chicken nuggets that met government school lunch guidelines instead? I did, and I was properly outraged until I came across this blog post suggesting that what actually happened was merely this: “A child brought her lunch to school. The lunch consisted of a turkey and cheese sandwich on white whole wheat bread, a banana, potato chips and apple... Read more

@stickyJesus: loving your online neighbor

Last updated on: February 17, 2012 at 6:00 am By Rachel Marie Stone

Anyone who has spent much (or even little) time online knows that people can be tremendously mean on the Interwebz, and that there’s a lot of trash in them there Clouds. At the same time, though, the Internet can connect us to other people–whether that’s to people we know from “real life” or people we’ve ‘met’ virtually–and that can be a tremendous source of encouragement. I value greatly some of the friends I’ve gotten to know through writing and reading... Read more

Hard Travelin’

Last updated on: February 16, 2012 at 6:00 am By Rachel Marie Stone

Oh, it looks like I haven’t been gone, but in fact I’ve been doing some traveling, which, I am happy to report, included some very, very good eating at this restaurant. And I don’t care which side Kentucky was on in the Civil War (well, I do, but whatever), but any state in which people can rhyme “hard” with “tired” is Southern. Too bad we weren’t there in the right season for bourbon balls. Read more

Whining about Writing, Writing about Whining

Last updated on: February 15, 2012 at 6:00 am By Rachel Marie Stone

May I whine for a moment, please? I shouldn’t pay attention to my stats, I know that. I shouldn’t even look at them, because I will write what I’m going to write no matter how popular or unpopular that’s going to be. One of my favorite authors, Beverly Cleary (yes, the creator of Ramona!) early decided that she “would ignore all the trends…and would not let money influence any decisions about my books.” Sage advice from one of the most... Read more