 Thanksgiving. I’ve been wanting to write something Thanksgiving-themed all week but I got so busy with this and that that I just re-shared a cutesy old post from several years ago instead. This is my first chance to talk about my Thanksgiving, and here it seems to be a post that’s going along with the unofficial theme of the past week: Christians getting hysterical about things I dislike but feel compelled to defend against their fears. You may recall... Read more
Yesterday I had a blast from the past and found myself insisting that Harry Potter isn’t demonic. Also this week, I saw a post going the rounds on Facebook, claiming that a line of particularly unattractive unisex children’s clothing designed by Celine Dion is demonic. I’m transported back to the late nineties at the mention of Celine Dion as much as I am at Harry Potter– and as for the allegation that random things are demonic and will make you... Read more
They say that history repeats itself. As far as world events, we stand poised on the verge of cataclysms that call to mind the horrid 1930s or worse. I’m told that economically, we’re like the late 20s again and might be about to crash right into a hole. As far as things that Moms on the Internet get nervous about, however, we’re apparently in 1997 again, because moms are upset about Harry Potter. I just read an article put out... Read more
 Someone told me to try praying the Lord’s Prayer, and pausing to take a breath and reflect after every word. I thought I couldn’t do it, and I was right, but for the opposite reason I thought. I thought I wouldn’t be able to do it because some of those words wouldn’t be enough to fill a meditation. In fact I wasn’t able to do it, because I couldn’t even manage to get through the first line. There wasn’t... Read more
 I just saw a nightmare of a meme that had been widely shared on Facebook, giving terrible advice. The meme said: “HOW TO: CALM SOMEONE WHEN THEY’RE HAVING A PANIC ATTACK. Step one: wrap your arms tightly around them, kind of like a hug. It triggers a hormone in the brain and calms them. (Note: they may resist, but they will relax into your arms at some point.) Step two: if you hum or whisper softly, the vibrations against... Read more
 I had expected snow. It was supposed to snow all night and cover the ground in the morning. Early in the morning when I was lying awake, worrying, I’d heard the salt trucks humming up and down the street at regular intervals. In my mind, they didn’t look like trucks. They looked like drones, or flying saucers, or those little automatic vacuums I see cats riding in videos on Facebook. They skimmed a few inches off the ground, not... Read more
 This post is not a real post, this is only your periodic reminder that Steel Magnificat, and my family, are almost entirely run on gratuities. I work from home as a writer due to my chronic illness, churning out three to seven literary art projects per week here, my husband copyedits for me, and he’s also the homemaker who takes care of Rosie and does the housework since I’m so often too sick to get off the sofa or... Read more
An acquaintance once shared an uninspired meme on Facebook that said, “I want you to pay for your own food, housing and phone, not because I am mean but because I am a grown-up.” This was shared approvingly along with many such memes, praising the maturity of libertarianism and wanting less fortunate people to fend for themselves. I thought that was a strange definition of being grown up: that maturity means forgetting what it’s like to be helpless and assuming... Read more
 Have you ever found yourself in a museum, when you were terribly anxious? Anxiety is one of the two hundred possible symptoms of fibromyalgia. It’s something I live with from time to time. I wake up with a strong, heavy, nearly physical sense of impending doom gnawing at my stomach. It’s not that this day and age we live doesn’t give one enough reason to be anxious; it’s just that I know my anxiety would be here anyway. I... Read more
 I am about to leave for Pittsburgh for the Convivium Gathering, which promises to be tons of fun if any of my readers are in town. I’ll be giving one of the talks, at 2:45 tomorrow. But before I leave, I have here an urgent request for help from The Friendship Room in Steubenville. For those of you who don’t know, in addition to their hospitality house, the Friendship Room runs a safe house for vulnerable women and women... Read more
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