May 2012
21 posts
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“Life is short and we do not have much time to gladden the hearts of those who...”
– Unknown. (Blessing from Celtic Service.)
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Singles in Church (Duke Divinity Call & Response... →
Great points on all fronts in this article. I wish I’d written something like this first.
It’s hard to be single and not feel like an intruder, so it’s nice to find a niche where there’s a standing arrangement to meet, or where others have reached out and made a point to invite me to be part. Organic relationships and communities like the one’s described in this...
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The Pleasures of the Audiobook (New Yorker) →
Great article on the benefits of listening to books. Yes, there are potential downsides, but for the “average” read of books for pleasure rather than study and criticism, listening to a book can provide insights into the text that would be otherwise missed in usual reading. I’ve experienced many of the benefits the author speaks of, including being able to listen to books that...
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Irene Adler in Sherlock
My two cents. Warning about spoilers if you haven’t watched episode one of season two of Sherlock.
Full disclosure: I like Sherlock Holmes, but I don’t have an encyclopedic knowledge of his escapades. I read all of them in junior high and high school, but have only periodically returned to read any of them since that time. Since the first time I read “Scandal in...
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“The kernel, the soul — let us go further and say the substance, the bulk, the...”
– Mark Twain, as quoted here.
Letters of Note: DO NOT be so bloody vulnerable →
I love this letter on so many levels.
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“One’s entire vocation is an option, an answer to a call that has been heard. It...”
– Paul Evdokimov. (via wesleyhill)
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“These days most of us know someone—a parent, grandparent, neighbor, or...”
– Eric Klinenberg, in Going Solo.
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“[W]omen’s tendency to make and sustain social connections makes them less...”
– Eric Klinenberg, Going Solo.
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“Friends play a special role in the lives of women who move into a place of their...”
– Eric Klinenberg, in Going Solo.
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“Women who live alone in their thirties and forties face far more social pressure...”
– Eric Klinenberg, in Going Solo: The Extraordinary Rise and Surprising Appeal of Living Alone.
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How to Muddy Your Tracks on the Internet →
“It’s probably impossible to cloak your online activities fully, but there are steps you can take to make them harder to follow.”
All of which take time and effort … but I’m still on my way to becoming as super-diligent as I can be without spending money to do so (yet).
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Op-Ed re: Jack Welch on Women in the Workplace and... →
Insightful, and I generally agree. Men and women cannot have it all. Choices necessarily mean that something was “not chosen.” That doesn’t mean that it was a bad choice. Or the best one for yourself and your family. But it was a choice. Be wise enough to realize the consequences and consider whether they’re worth it.
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The Image of a President.
This made me wonder—what do you think the chances are that a 5’4” male who weighs 100 pounds would be elected president in this day and age?
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“AND NOW, this 25th day of April, 2012, upon consideration of the pervasive...”
– Thomas K. Kistler, President Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Centre County, Pa. (via officialssay)
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“[O]ne of the great things about writing, as opposed to other media, is that it...”
– Will Self, in an article interesting for other reasons as well as this gem of a quote, In Defence of Obscure Words.
April 2012
12 posts
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Trying to Shed Student Debt (WSJ article) →
“In the past decade student debt has surged as tuition and enrollment climbed. At the same time, college graduates’ earnings have declined. The average debt load of all new graduates rose 24%, adjusted for inflation, from 2000 through 2010, to $16,932, says the Progressive Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank in Washington. Over the same period, the average earnings of full-time...
Is Facebook Making Us Lonely? - The Atlantic →
A thought-provoking article. I hate to give away the conclusion, but it’s the best reflection after several posited specific examples:
“What Facebook has revealed about human nature—and this is not a minor revelation—is that a connection is not the same thing as a bond, and that instant and total connection is no salvation, no ticket to a happier, better world or a more liberated...
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“My own definition of confidence is ‘being there.’ This means being...”
– James Victore in Confidence versus Shyness. I don’t necessarily recommend the article, but I did like this definition of confidence. Makes it almost seem attainable.
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“Reading fiction is important. It is a vital means of imagining a life other than...”
– Ann Patchett, here.
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“As we revisit the objects of our reading, like recognizable but weathered...”
– Bharat Tandon, here.
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The Downside of Cohabiting Before Marriage →
An interesting article regarding the “cohabitation effect” and how to ward against it. The gist:
“Couples who cohabit before marriage (and especially before an engagement or an otherwise clear commitment) tend to be less satisfied with their marriages — and more likely to divorce — than couples who do not.”
“… what researchers call ‘sliding, not...
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“Technology may help us to feel less lonely, but it doesn’t really make us any...”
– Nathan Heller, in “Why are So Many Americans Single?” (New Yorker)
The Bleaker Sex →
“The new HBO show “Girls” suggests that some realities of modern life have made the bedroom even more befuddling.”
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Some basic cultural commentary containing truths and cautions, told simply and well.
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“What do I like about living alone? The greatest blessing is the number of...”
– Carmen Callil, in the same article mentioned below.
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“Living alone and being alone are hardly the same, yet the two are routinely...”
– E. Klinenberg, in I want to be alone: the rise and rise of solo living.
March 2012
19 posts
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Your Brain on Fiction →
“Stories, [scientific] research is showing, stimulate the brain and even change how we act in life.”
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Why Bilinguals Are Smarter →
Recap: Being bilingual makes you smarter and can have a profound effect on your brain.
More reasons to raise your kids bilingual, if at all possible!
Why Finish Books? by Tim Parks | NYRblog | The New... →
A few thought-provoking excerpts—
“It seems obvious that any serious reader will have learned long ago how much time to give a book before choosing to shut it. It’s only the young, still attached to that sense of achievement inculcated by anxious parents, who hang on doggedly when there is no enjoyment.”
“[T]he more bad books you finish, the fewer good ones...
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"I like words." →
The back story to the letter is available by clicking the link. But check out this cover letter—
Dear Sir: I like words. I like fat buttery words, such as ooze, turpitude, glutinous, toady. I like solemn, angular, creaky words, such as straitlaced, cantankerous, pecunious, valedictory. I like spurious, black-is-white words, such as mortician, liquidate, tonsorial, demi-monde. I like suave...
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Washington Post: "Esteemed lawyer Paul Clement's... →
Excellent article profiling one of the most esteemed appellate attorneys in the United States, Paul Clement.
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Lent's Road to Eternity →
“Our nostalgia is a painful reminder of how fleeting this world is, and we yearn for something permanent, something that will never die.”
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The 'lost' cell phone project, and the dark things... →
Testing human nature (verdict: we’re not very temptation resistant).
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“When sensitive people are in environments that nurture their authenticity, they...”
– quoted by Susan Cain, in Quiet. (The majority of sensitive people are introverts, but not all of them are, and some extroverts are. ”Sensitive” people are those who are high reactives, meaning individuals whose bodies react strongly to new sights, sounds, smells, people, experiences,...
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“Enjoyment appears at the boundary between boredom and anxiety, when the...”
– Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
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and the hours after that: “Writing as a form of... →
hours:
“Writing as a form of prayer does something no other form of prayer can do: it makes visible the invisible. We have lots of mental clutter, and underneath that clutter are the images, memories, stories, and thoughts that form our spiritual core. In writing, we get a chance to see the clutter, deal…
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“You once said that you would like to sit beside me while I write. Listen, in...”
– Franz Kafka, to his fiancee, when she wanted to be near him as he wrote.
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“Studies have shown that … introverts are more likely than extroverts to...”
– Susan Cain, in Quiet.