Advent II

Last updated on: December 4, 2011 at 5:00 am By Rachel Marie Stone

for Christ plays in ten thousand places, Lovely in limbs, and lovely in eyes not his As kingfishers catch fire, dragonflies dráw fláme; As tumbled over rim in roundy wells Stones ring; like each tucked string tells, each hung bell’s Bow swung finds tongue to fling out broad its name; Each mortal thing does one thing and the same: Deals out that being indoors each one dwells; Selves—goes itself; myself it speaks and spells, Crying Whát I do is me:... Read more

In Memory of Sam Hsu

Last updated on: December 3, 2011 at 5:00 am By Rachel Marie Stone

Yesterday, our dear friend and teacher Samuel Hsu died as a result of injuries he sustained as the victim of a car crash in Center City Philadelphia. He will be mourned by so very, very many people, because he was so very, very special–a brilliant pianist and musicologist, yes, but also a beautiful human being full of kindness, gentleness, wisdom, grace, and great, great love. He is at peace; he is with God, but we mourn him so. DEATH be... Read more

World AIDS Day

Last updated on: December 2, 2011 at 5:00 am By Rachel Marie Stone

I’m delighted to be attending a World Vision AIDS breakfast this morning, where I’m also meeting one of my fellow her.meneutics writers, Jennifer Grant (who is the author of this lovely adoption memoir) in person for the first time!Coincidentally, I happened to be reading Margaret Kim Peterson’s Sing Me to Heaven this week, which is a memoir of her marriage to Hyung Goo Kim, who died from AIDS just four years after they married. It is an unusual, beautifully told,... Read more

The Victoria’s Secret “Angel” Diet

Last updated on: December 1, 2011 at 5:00 am By Rachel Marie Stone

Recently, supermodel Adriana Lima talked to the UK newspaper, Telegraph, telling the paper what it takes to get ready for the Victoria’s Secret fashion show–including months of intense daily and sometimes twice-daily workouts and a gallon of water a day. The Telegraph reports: “She sees a nutritionist, who has measured her body’s muscle mass, fat ratio and levels of water retention. He prescribes protein shakes, vitamins and supplements to keep Lima’s energy levels up during this training period. Lima drinks... Read more

Breastfeeding Roundup

Last updated on: November 30, 2011 at 5:00 am By Rachel Marie Stone

At the top of the list for weirdness in breastfeeding news this week, the UK’s biggest restaurant, Cosmo, charged a woman 3 pounds for her exclusively breastfed 6 week son to “occupy space” in the restaurant. To their credit, the restaurant apologized, indicating that the employee who charged the fee was in error.Next up, protests were scheduled to be held in Paw Paw, Mich., yesterday, following the incident in which a woman, Natalie Hegedus, was called out by Judge Robert... Read more

Hungry NYC Children and an Advent Project

Last updated on: November 29, 2011 at 5:00 am By Rachel Marie Stone

The New York City Coalition Against Hunger released a report last week indicating that nearly a half million children living within the five boroughs of New York City (Manhattan, Staten Island, Bronx, Queens, and Brooklyn) are living in families that can’t afford an adequate supply of food. That is one quarter of all children in NYC. The report also noted that food pantries and soup kitchens have seen a 12% increase in the number of people served in the past... Read more

My New Favorite Cookbook

Last updated on: November 28, 2011 at 5:00 am By Rachel Marie Stone

Okay, so well before “buy nothing day” I bought myself a present: The Cook’s Illustrated Cookbook: 2,000 Recipes from 20 Years of America’s Most Trusted Food Magazine. I love Cook’s Illustrated (though I’ve never subscribed) and the previous cookbooks from America’s Test Kitchen, which also produces the magazine, although I don’t own any of them. There are a few reasons why the recipes, magazines, and books from America’s Test Kitchen appeal to me–first, I love how obsessively they test each... Read more

And So It Is Advent

Last updated on: November 27, 2011 at 5:00 am By Rachel Marie Stone

Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has dawned upon you. For behold, darkness covers the land; deep gloom enshrouds the peoples. But over you the Lord will rise, and his glory will appear upon you. Nations will stream to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawning. Your gates will always be open; by day or night they will never be shut. They will call you, The City of the Lord,... Read more

The Spirit of Food

Last updated on: November 26, 2011 at 5:00 am By Rachel Marie Stone

It’s been a while since I’ve featured a book for Weekend Eating Reading, so up this week for your consideration is Leslie Leyland Fields’ edited volume The Spirit of Food: 34 Writers on Feasting and Fasting Toward God. There are essays by Ann Voskamp, Lauren Winner, Kirstin Vander Giessen-Riestma, and LaVonne Neff, among many others. {LaVonne Neff’s–“My (Self-Righteous) Food-Stamp Fast,” which is about her 6-week experiment in living on a food-stamp budget, was one of my favorites; as was Kirstin... Read more

It’s Buy Nothing Day!

Last updated on: November 25, 2011 at 5:00 am By Rachel Marie Stone

I won’t be going shopping today, and not just because I live at the end of a long, skinny island whose two main roads will be crowded today with people going to and from the shopping area up west. (But I won’t lie–that’s part of it!) Today, instead, I’m choosing solidarity with the thousands of people worldwide who’ve pledged to “buy nothing.” It is, I think, largely symbolic–this refusal to shop on the “biggest shopping day of the year.” Here’s... Read more