Tending to My Own Garden

Last updated on: January 18, 2015 at 5:31 pm By Joseph Susanka

This piece from Mary DeTurris Poust (and her follow-up thoughts) has been making the rounds. It’s hit a real chord (or nerve, or home-run) with many, and produced a great deal of commentary that I find both timely and helpful. And it’s reminded me of my own frustrations over the question of how to respond to the shepherding deficiencies we see all around us. My parish experiences have been exasperatingly diverse — liturgies ranging from gloriously, soaringly beautiful to soul-crushingly mundane and everywhere in-between; preaching from the... Read more

Palate Cleansing with Cantus

Last updated on: November 24, 2015 at 3:58 pm By Joseph Susanka

After last week’s excitement, I feel like I could do with a bit of non-controversy. Something calming. Something straight-forward. Something like this: That’s Cantus, a Minneapolis-based, nine-member vocal group described by some as “the premiere men’s vocal ensemble in the United States.” I don’t know how to make a judgement on that particular claim — does anyone, really? — but I can say that they’re good. Darn good. NPR’s “Tiny Desk Concert” good. And they’re also a lot of fun to watch. (Large... Read more

REMINDER: “The Hollow Crown” Starts Tonight!

Last updated on: March 17, 2017 at 3:08 pm By Joseph Susanka

At last! Tonight at 9PM (check your local listings), PBS’ “Great Performances” will unleash the first part of the Beeb’s Sam Mendes-produced “The Hollow Crown.” Described as “a lavish new series of filmed adaptations of four of Shakespeare’s most gripping history plays; Richard II, Henry IV (Part 1), Henry IV (Part 2), and Henry V,” it is an event over which I have been obsessing ever since I accidentally stumbled across an unauthorized clip of Tom Hiddleston delivering the “St. Crispin’s Day Speech” some time back and was instantly hooked. (Here. See... Read more

The Laughter of Learning

Last updated on: January 16, 2015 at 1:37 pm By Joseph Susanka

Homeschooling a whole mess of boys is a huge challenge. And I say this knowing full-well that I can only grasp the reality of that statement tangentially; my beloved, patient wife bears the real brunt of its truth. Something that makes it measurably easier, however, is the willingness of the older boys to help their younger siblings with schoolwork. It’s easier because “many hands help make an enormous task lighter, even if the hands are pretty small.” And because of... Read more

Peter Bellerby, Globemaker

Last updated on: August 24, 2015 at 5:56 pm By Joseph Susanka

I’m fascinated by people who make things with their hands. Probably because I’m as bad at creating things with my hands as anyone ever, so successful hand-crafters seem like gods to me. Enter the godlike Peter Bellerby — a Londoner who really, really wanted to give his father a globe for his 80th birthday, but just couldn’t find one he liked: After a two year search for a globe for my father’s 80th birthday present I was faced with a choice of a modern... Read more

Leonard Cohen’s “Show Me The Place”

Last updated on: March 17, 2017 at 3:08 pm By Joseph Susanka

Thanks to Steven Greydanus’ musings on this Fred Stobaugh piece from a few weeks ago, I’ve been listening to Leonard Cohen’s “Show Me The Place” almost non-stop ever since. I love it. Absolutely love it. Though I’m not entirely sure why I love it so. Musically, it’s pretty straightforward (aka, plain). And I’m not at all sure what the words are getting at (aka, I have no idea what they’re saying, though I can’t escape the impression that they’re semi-profound). But I love... Read more

The Family That Views Together…

Last updated on: January 15, 2015 at 3:30 pm By Joseph Susanka

View image | gettyimages.com The weekend was insane. Again. Some day soon, I’ll come to the realization that all weekends spent with a family of seven boys are insane, but today is not that day. One upside of the aforementioned-and-ongoing insanity, however, is that it brings the highlight of the weekend into sharp-and-grateful relief: Watching the first few episodes of Season Two of Nickolodeon’s “The Legend of Korra.” I plan to write at length about the show in the near-future. It’s... Read more

Perlman and Zukerman Play Handel and Halvorsen

Last updated on: March 17, 2017 at 3:11 pm By Joseph Susanka

This is definitely one of those “made in Heaven” matches; on both counts, actually. Wonderful, wonderful stuff. (Also, a very nostalgic piece for me. I played it a great deal during my piano-lesson days, though perhaps not quite this well. And yes, legalists, I didn’t play the Handel-Halverson version, because that title refers to the specific arrangement for violin and viola.) This one’s for watching, not just listening. These two are incredibly fun to watch having fun, especially during the... Read more

And May Christ Be In Our Midst

Last updated on: March 17, 2017 at 3:11 pm By Joseph Susanka

Today is a day of powerful, overwhelming emotions for many of us — a day when words feel hopelessly inadequate. For me, that means today is a day for music. (For as long as I can remember, music has helped to guide me through moments just like this, when my thoughts and the words I would use to express them fail utterly in matching the intensity of my emotions.) Today, I have found myself drawn to Morten Lauridsen’s setting of the... Read more

“Frame by Frame” — PBS Studies the Art of Stop Motion

Last updated on: March 17, 2017 at 3:11 pm By Joseph Susanka

The art of stop-motion has fascinated me for nearly as long as I can remember. I think it has something to do with the enormous amount of patience required — a trait that I greatly respect, but sorely lack. As my long-time friend and college roommate used to say, “Yeah, yeah, patience! How long will that take?” (Interestingly and perhaps somewhat miraculously given my role in his genetic makeup, my 9-year-old, Mark — The Third Son — makes short stop-motion videos with my iPad and LEGOs.... Read more