It was bedtime, but five-year-old Rose wasn’t at all sleepy. “Let’s talk about the first Star Wars movie!” she said, meaning A New Hope. ‘Okay,” I said, propping my eyes open. “Let’s talk about the first Star Wars movie. It starts with a battle–” “No! It starts–” she made spittle-laced drumroll noises with her mouth, in imitation of the 20th Century Fox fanfare. “And then there’s music and lots and lots of letters.” “Ah,” I said. “The Opening Expository... Read more
I admit I haven’t followed Dan Rather’s career or politics, nor read any of his books. I think of Mr. Rather as “that fellow I used to see when my mother watched the evening news while I was growing up.” I recently started following his public Facebook page and I have found his remarks sensible– I think he has decent reasons for what he says and that he helps the national conversation. I entirely agree with Mr. Rather’s post a few... Read more
This just happened: Here we have Richard Spencer of the Alt Right, which I wrote about last week, leading a crowd of white nationalists sieg-heiling our president-elect Donald Trump, referring to the media by the Nazi term “Lügenpresse” questioning if some people are people at all, and calling fellow human beings “the most despicable creatures ever to populate the planet.” This happened on November 19th. You can read all about it in The Atlantic. Now, to be fair, President-elect Trump was not... Read more
When I was a teenager, for a couple of years, my mother forced me to attend meetings of the ECYD, the youth branch of Regnum Christi. Regnum Christi was the lay branch of the Legionaries of Christ, and the Legionaries of Christ had yet to be exposed as a cultlike organization founded by a voracious pedophile. At the time, all my mother knew was that the rich and conservative homeschoolers sent their daughters to ECYD meetings, so I was sent to the... Read more
It may have come to your attention that Vice President-Elect Mike Pence went to see Hamilton on Broadway last night. It may have also come to your attention that after the curtain call, Mike Pence was booed by some of the audience, but the cast stopped the booing and addressed Mr. Pence in an extremely mildly-worded and courteous plea that the coming administration would “uphold American values.” Here is the plea in its entirety: Very staid, in my opinion. Now,... Read more
October is the most colorful month in the Ohio Valley. The trees blaze up before the summer flowers die; we still have roses and geraniums, more and more raggedy from the chilly nights but still alive. All the way up until the end, there’s a dotting of pink and red against the orange and gold patchwork. And just in the last gasp of warmth, the spring wildflowers bloom a little, one last time. Whoever said purple and green don’t grow together has never seen violets... Read more
Take a look at this video: I know, I know. It’s a commercial. It’s meant to make you feel sentimental so you’ll buy stuff. And, by gosh, it worked. I feel sentimental and ready to purchase a knee brace. Two old friends loving one another and giving each other gifts they truly need to help them worship God in the way they believe right, using Amazon Prime. Sweet. It’s like O. Henry’s “The Gift of the Magi” only with computers, and... Read more
It seems that: “A 150 year-old convent has four dead boilers and a chapel that needs major heating repairs. The Sisters are elderly (105 is the oldest) and are in need of funds to have heat for the winter. We have been told NOT to turn the Chapel heat on as the floor is in danger of collapsing. Chapel repairs should be around $60,000 and the boilers around $50,000 each. Water from the back porch has leaked into our Records... Read more
A very good man has asked me why my participation on Facebook has recently been focused on race in politics. Our conversation was fruitful. Here are various points I made during our exchanges. = = = = My father came to the U.S. in the early 1950’s, a few years before I was born. Both my parents and I have experienced racism here. I’ve come across it from both liberals and conservatives. This latest presidential election campaign brought to the... Read more
We really needed a new bed. We had twin mattresses and twin box springs that some rich person had placed outside for Bulk Trash even though they were perfectly good. We got them inside before the rain, and we were thankful. But nobody had thrown out any bed frames, so we just put them on the floor. I pushed together two mattresses and box springs to try to make a king-sized bed, but since one was a good four inches... Read more
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