I got sick again. I’d not been terribly sick in January or most of February, but then my number was up. First Adrienne brought home a severe head cold and a fever– the tests they swabbed for at the nurse’s office came up negative, so we’ve no reason to believe it was anything worse than that. She spent Monday drowsing at school and Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday sick in bed at home, then Friday at school far too tired.... Read more
Hey folks! Today, I’m honored to be writing over at “Where Peter Is” for the very first time. I know that a lot of my work at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has a paywall, but Where Peter Is is free. I am writing about an absolutely bonkers conspiracy theory website which seems to be in the process of taking over my old tabloid nemesis “Church Militant,” but possibly not. And in the process, I have discovered a truly awful documentary... Read more
Jimmy the mechanic got a new car. By which I mean, he got an old junk car that he knew he could resurrect. This was desperately needed, as they’d been without a vehicle for months. Somehow, as if by magic, he got that noisy beater up and running. This was good for us as well, because I stay up late writing and can’t usually be relied on to get Adrienne to school in the early morning. If she didn’t... Read more
I found out today that the notorious Catholic tabloid known as “Church Militant,” will be shutting down in April. This news comes after they lost a defamation lawsuit brought against them by Father Georges de Laire, whom they baselessly slandered, posting an article full of lies by an anonymous source that turned out to be a canon lawyer for the Saint Benedict Center. Today, the law firm representing Father de Laire put out a press release which has been circulating... Read more
The potholes were worse than they’d ever been. Steubenville has plenty of terrible potholes. We’re a small town in the hills of Northern Appalachia where the ground is always either muddy or frozen, and nobody ever has any money. You get used to it. But the potholes up near the mall were turning into a serious safety hazard. In Steubenville, we have an awful mall. I’m told it used to be good, back before they put in the Walmart, but... Read more
I had another post planned. It would have been a beautiful post. I’ll try and write that one later, I promise. First I’m going to be a grump about social media. You may have noticed that there are a lot of trolls on Twitter, which I still refuse to call X, lately. The place is inundated with trolls, so much so that I’ve started humming Edvard Grieg’s “Hall of the Mountain King” every time I log on. All of... Read more
Jesus took Peter, James, and John and led them up a high mountain apart by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no fuller on earth could bleach them. Then Elijah appeared to them along with Moses, and they were conversing with Jesus. Then Peter said to Jesus in reply, “Rabbi, it is good that we are here! Let us make three tents: one for you, one for Moses, and one... Read more
I didn’t wake up to the sound of my phone that morning. I was sleeping in, again. We have a routine now. Adrienne is very good about getting out the door herself, after Michael gets her breakfast; if she misses her bus, she leaves with Jimmy the mechanic when he drives his children to school. I can sleep in until ten or eleven and then get up to write. This accommodates my winter insomnia, and everyone is happy. But... Read more
The discourse on Catholic X/Twitter this weekend was about the priesthood. This conversation was started by an obvious troll account and nobody learned anything, but it got me thinking about the abuse crisis. On about Saturday or Sunday, a cutesy-looking Twitter account with an AI profile picture tweeted an obnoxious bit of piosity: “You should never attack a priest, even when he’s in error, rather you should pray and do penance that God grant him grace again. When a... Read more
It was Ash Wednesday, but I couldn’t stand to go to Mass, not yet. I wanted to go somewhere and pray, even if just for a few minutes. The car’s still not in good shape, so I didn’t go further than two miles. There is a chapel where the Eucharist is reposed, in the old Trinity East Medical Center on the south side of town. There wasn’t going to be a Mass there. It’s never crowded. I could go... Read more
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