Words cannot express how much I dislike writing about abortion. As a Catholic, I believe that the fetus has personhood from the moment of conception. That’s something that cannot be taken lightly. We ought to do everything we can to protect unborn children– and we have to do the same for their parents, and for children already born, for the disabled, for the poor, for people of color and anybody else who is vulnerable to violence in our society. That’s... Read more
We’re still going to liturgy via video livestream right now. Now that I’m driving, if we can just get a car and get me used to driving on the freeway, we’ll go over to the diocese of Pittsburgh where they have parking lot Masses and indoor Masses enforcing masks and strict low numbers, which they don’t do around here. Here, the lax standards make Mass very dangerous for Michael with his asthma, and I don’t want to know what COVID-19... Read more
I cast my ballot for president. It wasn’t nearly as satisfying as you might think. I have made no secret of the fact that I can’t stand President Trump, but I don’t like Biden either. I viewed myself as voting for the outcome with the lowest death toll– yes, including unborn deaths. Nobody gets an abortion on a whim because it’s legal, and Trump is not actually going to work to make it illegal anyway. Women get abortions for actual... Read more
Hello everyone, This isn’t a real blog post, this is just my monthly reminder that Steel Magnificat, and my family, run almost entirely on gratuities. I get a very small paycheck from Patheos for clicks in the United States, and the rest of my family’s income is tips from readers who like my work and want to see more of it. With that money I can keep paying my rent so I have a place to write in and... Read more
We went for a walk in the woods. I’ve been reading about how volunteers were cleaning up the hiking trails to and from Beatty Park here in Steubenville. When I’d moved here we were sternly warned not to hike on the hiking trails around town, because we’d surely be murdered by drug dealers. But I’ve hiked on a couple of trails around town with no trouble. I wanted to try a new one. I saw the sign for the entrance... Read more
I once wrote a story called “Mary the Brave.” It’s not much of a title, but to be fair, I was in the first grade. I knew how to spell all those words. I wrote them on a speckled black and white notebook and I colored in full-page illustrations, with a badly spelled caption under each. They concerned a stick figure in a skirt with shoulder-length yellow hair, having adventures. Mary went to space and traveled among the planets.... Read more
It got cold last week. It was going to frost, or get close to it. Time to bring in the garden. I have some vegetables that will keep in a light frost. Kale will live right up until a hard freeze, and it’s pleasant to eat if it’s frozen and then picked. My autumn peas haven’t even blossomed yet. The broccoli doesn’t seem to be bothered. But this was the end of peppers, the eggplant and the fresh herbs. This... Read more
Have you ever played a gong? I got to play a gong once. It was even sillier than you’d think. I was a bookish, brown-nosing homeschooled high schooler who loved the arts and whose only desire was to be an actress in a Shakespeare company. I ended up passing an audition to attend a very highbrow “Summer Institute for the Gifted and Talented” and take BFA theater classes with guest artists at the Ohio State University for two weeks–... Read more
I met a gentleman in the combox the other day, a Charismatic. He was angry with me. He explained that my trauma from the Charismatic renewal is self-inflicted and not real, because the Charismatic Renewal is actually nothing but a good thing. Being in a “community” and submitting yourself obediently to a spiritual director is unproblematic and genuinely good, the only way to be a Christian. He went on and on about what a terrible person I was, so unlike... Read more
Last night I live-tweeted the first presidential debate. I still don’t know why I did it. Here are the cliff notes in case you missed it: Biden is a poor speaker and his ideas are a little better than mediocre. His position on racism is not adequate. He gets frustrated and says “shut up, will ya?” but is otherwise a personable old codger. He seems to genuinely love his wife and children. Trump, on the other hand, is an overt... Read more
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