The header is true! May is the month for all of that; it’s also the month for First Communions and weddings and graduations. And Mother’s Day. In May, everywhere you turn you are reminded that something is coming up for which you need a gift. That alone should keep you wanting to seek out prayer. Do you know who can help you out with all of those things? Our dear friends, the Dominican Nuns of the Monastery of Our Lady... Read more
“If you are what you should be, you will set the world on fire” – St. Catherine of Siena I’ve told this to my kids all their lives, even before I knew Catherine had said it: If you do the thing you’re born to do, you will excel, you will excite, you will change things. “But how do you know what you’re born to do?” they would ask, “If you do lots of things well, how do you know what... Read more
Recovered from the Wayback Machine, April 28, 2006 The prescient genius of Paddy Chayefsky’s “Network” Buster and I rented a 30-year old movie last night, Paddy Chayefsky’s astonishing satire, Network. Buster loved it, completely. What a script! You have the last remnants of the ruminating “Greatest Generation” being overtaken by their restless, busy children. You have a brittle, obsessed feminist television programmer — a boomer raised on television and unable to think outside the idiot box. (“you ARE television incarnate,”... Read more
When Maria Johnson invited me to come and chat with the gang at SPQN’s Catholic Weekend, I said “sure” without really knowing what to expect. I didn’t anticipate a party atmosphere at Google hangouts, and I was a little frightened at the idea of talking with four people at once. But when Maria greeted me with a tiara on her head and a tee shirt proclaiming herself “The Queen of Everything” I realized I could have retained my Donald Duck... Read more
Here is Yale alum Leah Libresco responding with vigor to Keli Goff’s recent article entitled “Female Ivy League graduates have a duty to stay in the workforce”: Goff assumes that women who leave the workforce will cease to use the education that they paid for, but there’s nowhere you can go that learning about beauty and citizenship and character and tradition aren’t relevant. The liberal arts are supposed to have taken up philosophy’s mantle as preparation for death — the... Read more
I am seriously of the opinion that there is not a single office-holder in Washington who deserves either our respect or our trust and yesterday they managed to win the trifecta of utter elitist shamelessness and privilege: 1) Washington DC Airports Spared Sequester Impacts. Our betters mustn’t be made to wait; delays for you but not for them. 2) Obama’s $3 Million Cap on Retirement Accounts Would Not Apply to Him. That would be your IRA. At some point you’ve... Read more
We’re still getting to know Pope Francis. To me he seems like the embodiment of Catholic universality, in that his words are thoughtful, reasoned and never kneejerk. Like his predecessor, Benedict XVI, he appears to be willing to discuss any idea, explore any topic because he knows that open dialogue and the ability to wonder about things allow reason to be fully deployed. And, again, like his predecessor, that indicates that Pope Francis is perfectly confident that such reasoning will... Read more
Holy smokes, and I thought Buster wanted to be independent, very early! “Worry about yourself. You drive! Go drive!” Kid kills me! Read more
I totally forgot that while taping this interview with Tony Rossi, I had completely revealed myself to be the harridan I try to hide from you, on a daily basis. It’s here at about 5:10 into the chat. Tony’s blog Christopher Closeup is one of the places I go when I need to decompress, because he always has a perspective-changer up there, lighting “one candle” against the darkness with heartening regularity. I’m not much of a light, but he generously... Read more
If you notice that your comments are disappearing or reappearing, do not be afraid! It is merely the housekeeping project I had promised threatened a few weeks ago. Given the work, though, I do believe I will be taking the evening off. Read more
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