: We can judge whether or not our study of Scripture is authentic based on the number of tears we shed …
: claim: we seriously underuse the plain text editor that came with our computer.
: People in our town love to express their views through flags. Driving home today we passed, in quick …
: I came across and liked a suggestion to schedule all my day’s emails to be sent the following …
: After reading Ted Gioia’s latest, you might think about flushing streamed music out of your …
: I’m back in that situation where I’m reading (and liking) 4 books concurrently. More …
: Self (in bucket hat) at the eclipse viewing at our diocesan camp on Oneida Lake NY. Cloud cover …
: Driving home today I was playing “Green Onions” and felt as if I ought to be wearing …
: Seeing a partial eclipse bears the same relation to seeing a total eclipse as kissing a man does to …
: gadgets: after a romance with a flip phone, I’m back to my light phone. My family all …
: I was glad to see this detailed takedown of the best-selling, bigoted White Rural Rage.
: I got a nice, very late Christmas letter (printed) from some old friends, and replied with a letter …
: We went on an outing to Ithaca today that included a visit to Barnes & Noble. I realized that I …
: My copy of Marilynne Robinson’s Reading Genesis arrived, and I’m looking forward to …
: The wonderful Christine Emba writes on limitarianism, the view that great wealth is harmful and …
: A post that passes along L M Sacasas’ 41 Questions about Technology.
: The timeless allure of blackboards. To do real math, you need chalk and a blackboard. (Thanks, as so …
: I subscribed to the print (!!) version of The Lamp. The content is very RC, and in a sort of …
: Song lyrics getting simpler, more repetitive, angry and self-obsessed – study. Didn’t read the …
: Listened to the Cowboy Junkies’ “Misguided Angel” today. It’s odd that …
: Finished reading Nicholson Baker, The Mezzanine. Really delightful. The plot: the narrator buys …
: The film fans who refuse to surrender to streaming. Your favorite movie can vanish without a trace.
: Now we’re talking!! Austin Kleon: [Mary]Ruefle doesn’t do Zoom interviews or use a computer, …
: “She only knows what it is to be herself,” they kept repeating to each other. The rest …
: Video games for parrots. A fun read. It’s for science!
: Finished reading Patricia Lockwood, No One is Talking About This. A knockout. I’m shaken.
: On April 8th we plan to drive a couple of hours to the ZONE OF TOTALITY of the upcoming solar …
: Ross Douthat said a while ago: “If you don’t like the religious right, wait till you …
: I’m not much of a self-help reader, but I appreciated this Raptitude post. Basic idea: there …
: It’s the Equinox! For reasons I don’t understand, day and night lengths actually …
: I’ve been thinking about a critique of blog posts as “performative” and looking at …
: Very worthwhile review/consideration of A Web of Our Own Making. Whoever first called it “the …
: Would like to read: Food in a Just World. Learned about it on Marion Nestle’s always-good …
: “Peace is not made between angels and demons but between human beings.”
: Three new family members. Amazing to see them walking around so alertly and realize they’re …
: De-Appification! I just cancelled two online subscriptions: (1) TeuxDeux, which I expect to replace …
: I’m trying (again) to move my to-dos, appointments, etc. to pure pen & paper. Will …
: So, can Jason Palmer turn this thing around?
: Good, detailed history of the new rise of Jew-hatred in the US.
: We’ve watched Sound of Metal a couple of times and recommended/loaned it to others. Brilliant …
: They’re always listening: My daughter-in-law and I were talking about raw milk, and she said …
: We’ve been feeding the neighbor’s guinea pigs, and I love the way that our vegetable …
: Nate Silver: “Gemini is easy to pick on because what it’s doing is so clumsy and the kinks …
: I dislike drinking milk and used to jokingly call it “cow venom.” (I like cheese, yogurt …
: I searched on Amazon for a specific book title by a specific author. Even I was surprised at how far …
: After a long, long wait, I just received my invite to Arc Browser for Windows. During the wait, I …
: After reading another article on the ways that new tech enables the emerging surveillance state, I …
: I got this from a seminary press that I use, and thought it was worth passing along. It’s …
: Very interested, but the hardback is expensive: Limitarianism: The Case Against Extreme Wealth. I …
: I just discovered A. R. Ammons and will be looking up a lot more of his poetry. Small Song by A. R. …
: If you cook much, be sure to read Tamar Adler’s An Everlasting Meal! Not exactly a cookbook, …
: We’re big Bob’s Red Mill customers, so I especially appreciated this story of the …
: Kraft Mac & Cheese sales suffer since SNAP benefits were cut. As Marion Nestle says, …
: An interesting claim that Islam is declining in Iran, especially Shia Islam, the state religion. …
: Ted Gioia, The state of the culture. He has a follow-up image with “addiction” …
: Missing you, @odd . Be well.
: Fr Stephen Freeman nails it again. “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with …
: A Paper Manifesto. Right up our alley, @annahavron. And here I am again, going on about paper in an …
: I’m doing one of my occasional frettings about veganism, prompted by this. We eat almost …
: A little reminder: the “cloud” is physical! It depends on data centers that consume a …
: I’ve begun a little project of setting my alarm to the time of sunrise. Right now, this means …
: The importance of escaping the recommendations. >There is a way to avoid this dystopian future, …
: Getting ready to re-read The City & the City. The concept is the story. The nominal story is …
: I had fun with Brad East’s 11-term tech-attitude taxonomy. I suppose that I aspire to position …
: Oy Oy Oy Department: The USDA has a “specialty crops” program. “Specialty …
: She: You’re staring into space. Me: I’m watchin’ the whole thing come down in …
: St Nikolai of Zicha: For all the sins of men I repent before You, Most Merciful Lord. Indeed, the …
: Like father, like son. Blessing candles at the Feast of the Meeting of the Lord (sometimes called …
: It is thus apt that the English title of Han’s breakthrough book is The Burnout Society. Han insists …
: Latest book that I once culled from my bookshelf but now feel the need to re-buy: The Gary Snyder …
: We had a small outbreak of mosquitos in our house. Mysterious, since it’s the dead of winter …
: We watched Sound of Metal a couple of nights ago and I’m still thinking about it. Sometimes it …
: I’m happily settled into Linux and, frankly, feel a bit like one of the cool kids. When you …
: I think my sourdough starter is dead. SAD! The loaf has been sitting for 4 hours without doing much …
: It is worth thinking which kinds of “small steps toward a much better world” do not produce such …
: Finished Dune. It does pick up quite a bit in the second half, and balances suspense against a sense …
: Drawing with the grandkids on a cold snowy day. After a short sledding expedition, we all got cold …
: Reactivated a Hello page, a good idea that I first came across here on micro.blog.
: Post: Blessing the Waters. That’s me in the red coat.
: RIP Fr Moses Berry A replay of a post I did a while ago, linking to some powerful words of his that …
: I went to the dentist today. The office has a resident cat who wanders around the place freely, …
: From a little essay by @ayjay: …human beings perfectly well understand legalism, which they …
: I’m re-reading Dune for the first time in 50+ years. The earlier part is a political intrigue …
: Some trivia for you vinyl fans: >When determining the album’s track order, (Peter) Gabriel …
: Snow day! It’s nice to look out at the Winter Wonderland, but I think it will be the first …
: Feeling an odd desire to read some Hermann Hesse, something I’ve never done. Please talk me …
: New Year’s post: Let us lift up our hearts!
: I’ve been introduced to a great term: the cozynet. I think it’s meant to be pejorative, …
: Revisiting the Tassajara Cookbook with great pleasure. “With practice you can make yourself at …
: This year the grandchildren got to choose the menu for Christmas dinner, so of course we had hot …
: Still here, @annahavron ? Missing your sanity and wishing you a blessed Christmas!
: Today the Virgin gives birth to the Transcendent One and the earth offers a cave to the …
: Read Taniguchi, The Walking Man, a wonderful ode to looking around. My first Manga-style book, so …
: In former times the day was divided into 12 hours, from sunrise to sunset, which of course means …
: The venerable Christianity Today has decided that I’m in a “religious tradition outside …
: I finished Harrison Scott Keys’ How to Stay Married. Really harrowing: I choked up a number of …
: But closer to town, stone walls give way to walls made of concrete, which has largely replaced stone …
: We’ve got a stomach (and other systems) bug, so I’m making my first batch of congee with …
: This weekend we were at St Tikhon’s Monastery in PA, whose cemetery hosts our grave plots and …
: I had a doctor’s appointment today, realized that I’d never before seen my doctor …
: I’m thinking of going 100% sourdough for my (limited) bread making. It’s not that I …
: “The giving of thanks is not a moral activity: like communion, it is a mode of …
: I enjoyed this Swiftian piece proposing that Harvard, the endowment fund, sell off its increasingly …
: Attn @Miraz et al.: Foreign interference in NZ bird election. On the rigged election of the …
: Uh oh, six books requested from the library. If they all show up at once…
: The importance of physical media: If you own a DVD copy of Martin Scorsese’s fine Kundun, …
: We just updated our wills. Very simple, a couple of pages. As for bequests, donations, etc. we try …
: I’m reading The Stories of Breece D’J Pancake. Yes, that was his real name. He’s …
: Post about a newly-recognized American saint
: Craig Mod reflects on peace in his current “pop up newsletter”. Intense. I was moved. I …
: Kevin Williamson lets loose with “Atheism needs better defenders.” I stopped reading …
: Do you have a “filler book”? I often have a long novel going, one that I’m happy …
: Our low-FODMAP adventure has us consuming a lot more corn. Made arepas for the first time. Tasty!
: From @ayjay on kids and social media: My guess is that parents who continue to provide smartphones …
: From @ayjay on kids and social media: My guess is that parents who continue to provide smartphones …
: I’d welcome recommendations of a good tabletop Bluetooth non-smart speaker. My new …
: In 2021 Google spent $26 billion to be the default search engine on various platforms; of that, $18 …
: A little post with a caution about “online Orthodoxy”, and online religion in general. …
: One of us was prescribed a FODMAP diet, so things are pretty different in the kitchen. We eat mostly …
: Finished Privacy is Power by Carissa Veliz. Glad I don’t own any “smart” devices …
: Q: If you were donating a Windows laptop, would you just follow the instructions to wipe the hard …
: We watched Asteroid City. More than with other Wes Anderson movies, we came away feeling that we …
: The social pressure to have a skeleton in my front yard is intense.
: The national alert test led to some Amish men being shunned when it revealed them to be carrying …
: Improvised an avocado (!) sauce for the pasta. It was very good. I don’t know how many …
: We’re thinking of moving to a new apartment with much higher rent. (location, location, …
: I’ve been feeling pleased with myself for my flip phone. Yesterday I learned that a friend …
: I liked this piece on Jon Fosse, who just won the Nobel Prize for literature. His Septology is the …
: Writer Lydia Davis will not let her books be sold on Amazon. Now I want to buy and read all her …
: Listening to, of all things, the Hooters’ “All You Zombies.” Still gives me …
: I’m re-reading Fielding’s Tom Jones, a favorite, after many years. What a fun book! I …
: Why are you still using Google search?! Google alters your search queries without telling you.
: “If a man builds a machine and that machine conspires with another machine built by another …
: Pancakes with rhubarb jam and sour cream for breakfast. Now we’re ready for almost anything. …
: Not only are the days getting shorter, but they’re getting shorter faster: Rate of change …
: The bathroom scale somehow got messed up and gave me my weight in stone. I felt English.
: Post: former times & the pace of change.
: We re-watched Blade Runner last night. (Only watch the “Final Cut” edition!). Great as …
: Discovered today that the story of the genie/djinn who offers three wishes is fascinating to little …
: Help us, Taylor Swift, you’re our only hope! Ted Gioia’s Open Letter on the desperate …
: Two recent blog posts: on money and salvation; and the bridge and the internet. (I quote Robert van …
: Yesterday I walked outside and could smell autumn in the air. Interesting that it’s a definite …
: Finished reading A. S. Byatt, Possession. Beautiful and fun.
: A snippet from Robin Sloan’s always-good newsletter: Too often… the creative cover …
: Finished!! Proust, In Search of Lost Time. So that’s over with.
: We got some Red Delicious apples at a food give-away. Why do these things still exist?
: An interesting moment in the no-alcohol journey. About a year ago I stopped drinking almost …
: Beginning Robert Graves, Selected Poems.
: Major thirds guitar tuning is starting to click. I figure that in a year I’ll be fairly …
: buildup: There used to be an old-time band in my town called Big Bill Dupp & the Letdowns.
: Oh yeah, I did two recent posts, on the Dormition and Tolkien.
: On TV at a doctor’s office, I saw Brad Pitt doing an ad for a coffee maker. Apparently anyone …
: We just received our printed set of World Book Encyclopedia (2021) for the grandkids. I think UPS …
: Rabbit Hole Department: I read a piece in which Stephen King noted that you could tell ChatGPT to …
: Supper: Clean out all those little containers of odds & ends in the fridge, put them in a …
: The numbers don’t lie. The institutions where enrollment has been growing over the past few years …
: we just ordered a printed World Book Encyclopedia for the grandchildren! It’s a 2021, less …
: I just received this photo, which makes me happy/sad. Both of the priests in the photo (Frs George …
: Culture and tradition are dead as soon as they become objects unto themselves. For culture is only …
: Setting out to re-read Neil Postman’s Amusing Ourselves to Death & Technopoly.
: See this bowl? I’ve found that I can sustain myself comfortably with three bowls-full of …
: At Cayuga Lake yesterday we watched an osprey catch a fish. Beautiful & amazing.
: I’ve been experimenting with major thirds tuning on my guitar. It’s much like taking up …
: How Ted Gioia takes notes. I’ve never known anyone else to do this. I taught myself how to …
: Nostalgia. I read Lord of the Rings in high school, in the venerable Ballantine paperback edition. …
: Air Fryer. A while ago I overcame my aversion to household gadgets and got an air fryer. Trendy! I …
: An annoyance of getting fresh corn is the big pile of corn husks that you’re left with. But we …
: I’m reading a book that often describes houses in the traditional Japanese way: 6-mat, 8-mat, …
: I’m remembering that there used to be a debate among audiophiles about tubes vs transistors. I …
: Turns out people are a lot more generous than we, or economists anyway, might think. Interesting use …
: Next up: cutting way back on coffee. Giving up alcohol was nothing compared to this!
: I’ve been talking with a friend I hadn’t seen in a while, who seems to have been sucked …
: post: rice, water, respect. (Thanks to @jabel for pointing me to the book.)
: I made a little pocket for the back of this book, like the pockets for library cards in ancient …
: A post: The gardener and the withered vine.
: extreme non-foodiness : I had small quantities of loose green and black tea, so I – dare I say …
: Just looked through my list of about 100 people I’m “following,” surprised how …
: We watched Ozu’s Tokyo Story for the Nth time last night. Surprised at the new understandings …
: Words that might have been addressed directly to this old person: In the Christian East… we love …
: We found ourselves with a glut of Romaine lettuce, so I’ve been making lettuce stir-fries. …
: heritage. I thought about a recent conversation (thanks @patrickrhone ) on “race” & …
: Dialect. Today I remembered a usage I heard all the time in Southern Ohio and some of Indiana: …
: I’ve read countless times over the years that eating sparingly has spiritual benefits. What do …
: Our grandson, and we, have been having a tremendously good time at “Firefighter Camp” …
: It just hit me that in the Sermon on the Mount, the bit everyone likes, the “golden …
: Bored. Ian Bogost asks “What did people do before smartphones?”, and answers, basically, …
: Recommended: Tamar Adler’s Everlasting Meal Cookbook. For one thing, she can really write. …
: On my walk (hot!) I met a Green Heron. It even posed by the creek so I could enjoy it for a while. …
: This article on the mobile industry’s increased attention to reusing/recycling some of the …
: I’m re-reading Annie Dillard’s Pilgrim at Tinker Creek after an interval of almost 50 …
: I enjoyed this on mindfulness apps: “Using them turns the amorphous, slightly unaccountable …
: Why did I love learning this? The most significant cause of utility pole degradation in the United …
: At coffee hour on Sunday a family brought spanakopita made with home-made phyllo dough. I …
: Reading (for the first time) Less is More and re-reading (for the third time) The Abundance of Less. …
: I changed my username, which has been @JMaxB. Hope it doesn’t mess anything up. I’ve …
: What fool reads all of Finnegans Wake out loud? I am that fool. Ted Goia, My Lifetime Reading Plan
: We re-watched her, twice. Amazing that it’s 10 years old. Poetic and thought-provoking.
: Doing little things with dignity. Made me think; among other things, that dignity and humility are …
: My instrument: Low-end Telecaster. I removed the tone and volume controls and rewired the pickups in …
: Uh-oh. Started reading Only Revolutions.
: The promised letter from @BestofTimes arrived, seal intact, from Scotland. Not quickly, though: …
: Flooding the zone with silliness. Well, nothing else has worked, so it might be worth a try.
: -8 degrees Fahrenheit outside. Inside, this reminds us that better (or at least warmer) days are …
: Now I see why streaming took away everything good.
: My sometime newsletter is morphing into a blog. You can see current posts, and subscribe if you …
: “A Dutch supermarket chain introduced slow checkouts for people who enjoy chatting, helping …
: Why Not Mars?, a long takedown of the idea of putting humans on Mars, is the most entertaining piece …
: Streaming media can disappear with a snap of the fingers: Specifically, many of the series WBD has …
: I got a letter. When I set up my hello page, I decided to include my mailing address in the contact …
: As usual I forgot to announce my last newsletter. It’s mostly about the Orthodox Church, with …
: letter writers: Ireland has introduced a clever digital stamp system: On their app, you buy a …
: “Let me get through this thing I don’t especially enjoy so I can do another thing just like …
: “The Hubriscene” as the aptest name for our time. (thanks @ReaderJohn)
: A useful verb: to boogeyman. “if you have a completely partisan take on a contentious issue — …
: Watched and greatly enjoyed Three Thousand Years of Longing.
: I just read that Truth Social runs on Mastodon.
: Question for myself and a friend: are there still decent point & shoot cameras out there? I get …
: I read The Last Samurai by Helen DeWitt. Very mixed reaction. It seemed to me more brilliant than, …
: Covid enters the mainstream. This week I saw two signs that Covid is coming to be seen as one of …
: electronic surveillance by the “good guys”. I don’t think we’re being …
: I tried some Feldenkrais exercises to deal with back issues. I try a lot of alt-med things, mostly …
: High-end Robusta coffee? Interesting.
: I just ordered the first book of my post-Amazon reading regime: Falk, The Light Ages. (Bookshop, …
: “But in a sense, these worries miss the point: In 2022, Twitter is small fry.” …
: Waiting for the first “Quit Mastodon!” exhortation.
: I appreciated this calming look at the upcoming elections. Forecast: not the end of the world as we …
: email minimalism. It’s odd, for a long time my policy was to save every email forever. Never …
: omg.lol just announced a price increase from the absurdly low $5/year to a moderate $20/year. The …
: Ongoing FBI raid at our house!!! They’re not after us, thankfully, but a neighbor (and fellow …
: I’m in the midst of one book, have two on order at the library, and just put in an order for …
: Our 5 year old grandson saw his parents taking COVID tests and insisted on taking one too. The gear …
: We just joined the COVID club! Basically cold/flu symptoms at this point.
: A doctor writes: “The trouble with virtual visits, by contrast, is the gnostic quality …
: From Amazon and the Rise of ‘Luxury Surveillance’ (that’s when you pay to be the …
: Lost contexts. My wife and I were listening to a recording of Driving Wheel, and realized that the …
: The green jelly bean problem!. When you read about a p-value, run the other way.
: A view of our town, taken virtually in front of our house, but more than 100 years ago. The brick …
: RIngs of Power: Ok, the final episode settled “Who is Sauron?” and, pretty much …
: I did another newsletter. And I probably forgot to announce the last one.
: More Mo Perry wisdom: “Your edge is your business.” That’s from the last …
: I appreciated some zingy comments on “Christian Nationalism” in Russell Moore’s …
: It’s the season for campaign ads. So far I’ve learned that every candidate is a menace …
: In Search of Lost Time progress: Swann’s Way completed, only six more volumes to go. In …
: Morton Feldman, Triadic Memories, a piece that keeps drawing me back for another listen. …
: Novelistic infrastucture: Reading novels from other times I like to take note of the social and …
: We went to the local garage to get our car inspected. The young woman who I assumed was working the …
: I enjoyed Ed West’s The Rational Case for Monarchy just because it made me think in unexpected …
: Charming interview with “the last man standing” in the floppy disk business (which was …
: I broke character and watched the first two episodes of the Rings of Power series. I will say that …
: Does anyone buy Altoids except to acquire one of those great metal boxes?
: Continuing technological downward mobility: I got a flip phone! Re-learning how to text with the …
: My wife is in the San Francisco area for a family memorial service. Water shortages, wildfires (none …
: Whither Substack? Not long ago it seemed as if every journalist I found interesting was migrating to …
: Embarking on the Sea of Proust. Wish me luck.
: “But I understand why the others have always had the upper hand. Loving and looking after …
: Has anyone here used Pony Messenger? It feels like one of those good ideas that could only succeed …
: I was looking up “Heaven’s Gate” the movie (part of a reflection on popular and …
: I subscribed to Dracula Daily. Got Dracula out of the library and am now caught up to the …
: “And now, we wake, as at the end of a long nap, to realize that we have not only used …
: I’m working myself up to re-reading Proust’s Remembrance of Things Past / In Search of …
: Kundun. We watched Scorsese’s beautiful Kundun. Some resonances with Russia’s ongoing effort to …
: Enjoying the ongoing discussion of The Arsenios Option. Talking my language!
: Our county just drastically cut back its bus schedule because they can’t get enough bus …
: I learned that we’ve been misspelling the name of Dr. Oz, the celebrity quack who is somehow …
: Under-policed?? This article struck me because it’s so contrary to the general wisdom (including mine). The US …
: White nationalism and the growth of “unchurched christianity”.
: very good advice from @ayjay, advice that could free up a lot of our time.
: Bears are returning to our Finger Lakes region (Reforestation of the state through the last century …
: After some searching I found what used to be (still is?) called a hippy shirt, and am wearing it …
: A sentence for me to ponder: The internet has made all information feel like a flow of the same …
: I did another newsletter. Don’t think of it as late, think of it as a July letter with bonus …
: a story about opening our eyes Long ago, sometime in the late 1970s, I listened to a talk by Zen student Stephen Mitchell. He later …
: RIP Ron Sider. We could use more like him. I appreciated Russell Moore’s reminiscences in his …
: Don’t tempt me! 6 of the best countries for Americans to retire to. Now if we can just …
: I recently started cooking rice (we eat a lot of rice) using the lots-of-water method, and I’m …
: “like lemmings with opinions about python.” www.smbc-comics.com/comic/eng…
: Revisiting a question: If/when there’s a Wordle6, should there be more chances to keep the …
: Cooling. Interesting advice on using AC effectively in Heat-Wave World.
: Shortages. This, from an essay on the meaning of the “supply chain” issues that are becoming part …
: Superb: “Buddhism has found a new institutional home in the West: the corporation.”. Long ago I was …
: Driving this morning, we narrowly avoided hitting a bobcat that ran across the road in front of us. …
: We (re)watched Nebraska, a beautiful movie that’s on my short list of those I’m happy to …
: Getting old: Hear: “Fire all of your guns at once and explode into space!” Think: …
: We watched this recently. Tempted to purchase this yard sign.
: OK, I decided to use omg.lol for a landing page. Simple setup, and the price is right.
: Finished Emily St John Mandel’s Sea of Tranquility. For me, a let-down after Station Eleven …
: Reading Sertillanges, The Intellectual Life. Very different from what the off-putting title would …
: I looked through an Amish cookbook in my daughter-in-law’s kitchen. I think the Amish must be …
: Anyone: If you wanted to persuade me to try Hey rather than my current Fastmail, what would you say?
: Roe & me. I won’t get into any statements about the ruling or its pros and cons, just reflect on where …
: A great, rambling rant: Caitlin Flanagan takes on Sheryl “Lean In” Sandberg, who, having …
: Vonnegut: “We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to …
: Finished reading Hannah Coulter, my first Wendell Berry novel, though I’ve read many of his …
: Today I passed a sign downtown: “Wine is cheaper than gas. Choose wisely.” I smiled, …
: We watched The French Dispatch. Maybe Wes Anderson’s most Wes Anderson movie ever. What you …
: When Wordle6® appears (6-letter words), what will be the right number of allowed guesses?
: The Machine is collecting all your voice data. No surprise there. People even put devices in their …
: “Living through the collapse of a civilization is nothing new in history, but it’s new …
: “It is the fruit of a culture of death.” A grim piece by the great E. Bruenig.
: Against Good Habits. “The trouble is that “developing good habits” all too easily gets in the …
: Hot! It’s due to hit 90°F today in formerly-temperate NY state. There are “Deadly Heat …
: Uh oh, I don’t like the sound of this. I’ve counted on The Week for an actual range of …
: Summer of Soul Last night we watched Summer of Soul. Quite an experience, with the Buffalo shooting fresh in our …
: The mass shooting that’s been in the news was in our state, and we shop at Tops Market (not …
: social media as "deliberation-themed video games." In fact, you might say that Twitter is, to rational deliberation, very much like what Grand Theft …
: I’m celebrating our first really warm day (NY, USA), sitting on the front porch with a book …
: It seems I missed out on the Great Wordle Fetus Scandal.
: Exploring a creek in our village I heard, then saw, a belted kingfisher. Gorgeous and loud. …
: Chris Arnade’s blog might be my favorite single thing on the internet. Photo-essays of walks …
: Happy 92nd birthday to Gary Snyder, whose writings have been faithful companions since college more …
: Toddler grandson grabbed the electric fence, for the first and probably the last time. Ow.
: The real dictionary. New practice: when I come across a word I don’t know, look it up in my real dictionary, the …
: Improvised a tasty black bean soup, part of my ongoing quest to work without recipes. Easy with …
: Vodolazkin’s novels do for Time what Wendell Berry does for Space: We can’t just live where we are, …
: The "public interest." The next time someone lectures you about the common good, try this experiment: Ask them to name four …
: Sheep & Big Meat We’re fortunate to live in a rural area (upstate NY USA) where many people are experimenting …
: Driving this morning (around 7:30) we saw a bald eagle perched in a tree by the roadside. …
: Kulichi, Phase 1! Now they get wrapped in cheesecloth soaked in brandy, then wrapped in foil, then …
: Twitter is tiny! but with an outsized reputation. With all the conversations about Twitter, I was intrigued to read this today: Taken together, these …
: rags of light letter #10. and i probably forgot to announce #9 last time.
: power over morality Russell Moore reflects on how war crimes happen, and connects the process to events closer to home …
: norway and literary eruptions. Without planning to, I’ve read a surprising number of books by Norwegian novelists in the past …
: EMRs are evil. Powerful article by a doctor in East Africa who forbids the use of Electronic Medical Records in his …
: pocket flute! I’ve been immersed in learning the Coda EDC flute, a fully functional instrument smaller than …
: We watched a limited-release movie in a theater (!). The director says it will soon be released …
: insoluble? Within a couple of days I read about how Russian users are flocking to Telegram to create private …
: RIP Christopher Alexander. His A Pattern Language is I think a must read, even if you never plan to …
: We watched Coppola’s The Conversation (1974). Masterful, creepy.
: Not crazy? A happy reminder: 75% of Americans never tweet. On an average weeknight, only 1% of American adults …
: Written on a file card so somewhat feathered but still OK. Looks very nice on good paper. @petebrown
: for all the slayers... St Nikolai of Zicha: I repent for all the slayers of men, who take the life of another to preserve …
: You can't get there from here. I’ve been trying to subscribe to the fascinating Hoot Review. It appears that there’s …
: war, forgiveness Today at church we began Lent as always with the rite of mutual forgiveness. Everyone present …
: Holy Smokes. There’s a 2019 Ukrainian “science fiction” movie about the aftermath …
: A note on the Russian church The long-suffering Orthodox Church in Russia is the parent of my own American body, which, I’m …
: We watched Frances Ha, one of the most visually lovely films of our time. When it was over I asked …
: Sad to say, we’re seeing defacement of small businesses for being “Russian”, …
: Compression and the news The Ukraine crisis is huge: it may end us all. Naturally it’s all over the news. But …
: Thinking about the handful of games I play every day on my phone (yes, Wordle is one). Thinking back …
: Enjoying Theodore Roethke’s poems. I’d never read him before somehow.
: I have a map of Ukraine up on my computer and boy is it interesting. The context was a discussion of …
: I just realized that the fourth of Richard Linklater’s great Before movies is due this year, …
: local entrepreneurship: Here in Ithaca NY, it’s illegal to sell marijuana, but there are a …
: Today I learned that crypto does share at least a couple of properties with real money: it can be …
: Today I mourn my first Wordle fail. Got four of the letters and their positions quickly, but the …
: You can buy a Wendell Berry NFT. Out on the road today, I saw a Deadhead sticker on a …
: Chris Arnade’s newsletter is my favorite internet thing these days. In two successive posts, …
: Finished reading Klara and the Sun. Wow. It’s science fiction, I guess, but the voice you may …
: Buy CDs Instead. On request I’ll also tell you why we should go back to DVDs.
: Flat Baguette Syndrome finally resolved.
: Here’s a silly question: If you use a laptop as a laptop – that is, actually working …
: Apple & Me. My first home computer was a Macintosh, a beautiful, innovative little machine. I still miss some of …
: A parishioner is receiving Holy Baptism this weekend. Talking about it with my wife, I said …
: Pony Messenger looks really appealing, but like many such ideas seems to require a critical mass of …
: “a strange unity of confusion is emerging, a common inability to decipher conflicting advice …
: Micro.blog appreciation: without my really trying, my M.B. cast of characters covers the world, from …
: Omicron has swept like wildfire through our whole extended family & nearby friends. Interesting. …
: Gadget psychology. There are guitarists known for favoring that one guitar: B. B. King, Eric Clapton. And there are …
: Today is Theophany, with a pretty full schedule of church services, including a Blessing of Waters …
: Attracted to all things minimalist, I’m trying out the Min Browser. Intriguing so far. Sadly …
: In one day I went from being short on reading material to strategizing how I’m going to read 6 …
: I’m exploring OpenStreetMap with enjoyment. Google Maps is my last tie to the Googleplex, and …
: interview with the ZuckerBot
: RIP E. O. Wilson, a hero of mine. “Destroying a rainforest for economic gain is like burning a …
: ban plea bargaining. (I only back hopeless causes).
: Ethiopian icon of the Nativity.
: Deep? I loved this story, which opens Jonah Goldberg’s weekly Dispatch newsletter. Not only did I …
: Tip: don't set your head on fire. After church today I was blowing out various candles and lamps, and noticed flames engulfing one …
: In the winter, we keep our dishwater in the sink and our bathwater in the tub until they’ve …
: Hoping this goes mainstream. I think it’s already happening.
: Our local academy, Cornell, has made the national news by shutting down almost completely, due to …
: capacity. Amid all the COVID ups and downs, I’m surprised that I’ve only ever read one article …
: The chief allure of social media has always been its promise to allow us to curate our own …
: Musicality. Prompted by my concerns about developing a decent church choir: I have the strong impression that …
: emojis. According to this, the “tears of joy” emoji is most popular. For a long time I …
: Why I still sort of like the internet: Well-researched essay on hobby tunneling.
: A temptation of mine... Some of us have become the kind of people whose first instinct, upon deciding to break loose from …
: When we reach the Omega Variant, will we be done?
: simply one example For society as a whole, if such a thing exists anymore, there are benefits as well as costs to legal …
: Little Monsters. My son and his family had a small flock of 5 sheep that went off to the slaughterhouse today. Our …
: First a plastic lens in my eyeball, now hearing aids. I have become a cyborg.
: I do all kinds of gourmet-y things with coffee: hand grind the beans, use an AeroPress, etc. …
: Andrew Yang (remember him?): >I realized that our two-party system is not designed to actually …
: Icelandverse, the answer to Meta.
: Reading Eggers’ “The Circle” to prep for his new “The Every”.
: “neuro rights”. important to think about, but if tech can invade our brains, it will, …
: the pesky denominator. A certain widely read blogger, who likes to cast an atmosphere of intellectuality around himself, …
: do not touch! I had an annual checkup recently. I’ve noticed that the physical exam (where you get stripped, …
: Want to read: *100 Things We’ve Lost to the Internet.
: Covid booster acquired. Waiting to see how sick I get in the next 24 hours.
: Facebook, it’s now widely accepted, has been a calamity for the world. The obvious solution, most …
: Prompted by Paul Kingsnorth’s latest, I’m re-reading E. M. Forster’s The Machine …
: The problem with using today’s social media is that you still maintain an iota of awareness of …
: here is a fun reminiscence of the good old days of photography: waiting a week for prints from your …
: The "metaverse": If those dreams become realized, you’ll probably end up buying crap and yelling at people through a …
: If I had to keep one newsletter from Substack World, it would be Paul Kingsnorth’s. If I were …
: A somewhat paranoid guide to deleting your Facebook account. (It suggests changing your email,phone …
: good reflection on the awfulness of covid numbers reporting.
: simple disagreements? One of the unloveliest and least enlightening aspects of contemporary discourse is the tendency to …
: rags of light newsletter #4. (oops, forgot to post this when i first published it.)
: Yikes. So, today I suddenly went blind in one eye. It lasted about 10 minutes. Happily I was able to get it …
: digital transience. In a nice essay, “Why Print?” Fr. Michael Hill explains why St Tikhon’s Monastery …
: frontiers of biblical interpretation. Our grandkids were looking at the story of David & Goliath in one of those Bible Stories picture …
: Russell Moore: “No cover-ups can outlast the eschaton.”
: chips, resource use, toxic waste. Keep that phone a while longer.
: The amazing story of the An0m phone. phone & privacy buffs, enjoy! marketing: >An0m could not …
: strange thought: i’m more than 70 years old and i’ve never seen a dead person outside a …
: covid, partisanship, etc. Vaccines help a great deal. That much we know. Beyond that, though, the coverage of the virus has …
: The Dead Internet theory: obviously crazy but pretty cool.
: rags of light newsletter #3.
: changes in scolding etiquette.
: RIP Charlie Watts. Key quote: “I don’t like drum solos.”
: RIP Chuck Close RIP Chuck Close, one of my favorite artists. From childhood, he suffered from face blindness: he …
: sustainable things. wrathofgnon’s newsletter features the tokyo canal, built around 1610, still in fine condition. …
: Behind the “not enough ICU beds” headlines: a hospital system increasingly designed to …
: review-bombing and extortion on Goodreads. a sad story. it occurred to me that just eliminating star …
: Reading: A Time of Gifts by Patrick Leigh Fermor. Not what I usually think of as my kind of book, …
: Two little things that have made reading work much better for me over the years: * don’t be …
: Fairly often (most often at the grocery store), i’m in a checkout line and see someone in …
: rags of light newsletter #2.
: Of course i can build a piano. great story of pluck triumphing over common sense: Here I discovered the most interesting sound and …
: arepas and macrobiotics? For lunch today i made my first batch of arepas. tasty! they were a bit doughier on the inside than …
: Soldering! I installed a new pickup in my lap steel and am very pleased with myself. I wasn’t sure if I …
: An extremely niche complaint: I don’t see why there can’t be a high-quality music …
: covid and “immunity debt.” Don’t avoid all the germs.
: Zoom, covid, & class. From an interesting discussion, looking back on our response to the pandemic: The last thing I …
: Internet information rot. The Internet is Rotting. Interesting and disturbing: a lot of the modern world’s important …
: The things you learn! Since gps appeared, Australia has moved 1.8 meters due to plate tectonics.
: residential segregation & racial inequality. interesting things here. but “the report does …
: best first line of a review that i’ve read in a long time: If HP Lovecraft had joined …
: rags of light newsletter #1.
: I just wrote two letters using a dip pen. The Butlerian Jihad (or maybe just Butlerian perestroika?) …
: I’m still enjoying the Marian Schwartz translation of Anna Karenina. I’d forgotten that …
: XKCD, “Base Rate”. So, so many examples of this.
: I received a product with this label : “WARNING: This product can expose you to nickel, which …
: The Day the World Stops Shopping. I’m reading The Day the World Stops Shopping: How Ending Consumerism Saves the Environment and …
: one thing i always liked about samuel beckett is that he looked just the way i thought samuel …
: Domes! Transfiguration Church on Kizhi Island in Russia will fully reopen this year. Good news for …
: Links: Somehow the newsletter of Russell Moore, former big person among the Southern Baptists, led …
: A beautiful morning included the baptism of our grandson by his father and our son, his and our …
: It seems that my leaving Facebook didn’t have a huge impact…
: How the pandemic really “ends”: Normal means we’ve reached a risk-of-illness-or-death …
: Smiles. This morning we went grocery shopping unmasked! (In accord with new state regulations). You …
: collectives. Here’s @ayjay on pluralities: The tragedy of social media is this: Each given social-media …
: boredom. We are less bored than our ancestors were, but we are more afraid of boredom. We have come to know, …
: “a sansdemic, … that’s been building for decades.” The population bust is already …
: They never really end a war.
: human snails. Memorable phrase: Smartphone users have become “human snails carrying our homes in our pockets” …
: “Eat well, move more, worry less” is a great slogan to live by. I’d do well to …
: Fear is the product. A good reflection on the online outrage drug.
: Why do Americans die earlier than Europeans? From the Guardian: There have been many efforts to account for the US mortality disadvantage. There …
: The “Any Benefit” mindset: if I can find some benefit to acquiring one more thing, get …
: A real way forward? Maybe because I’m old, I stick to the idea that the only way forward from our racial history …
: Glowing white like fire. Nick Cave wrote his very sad “Skeleton Tree” in the context of his teenaged son’s …
: Today’s phrase to live by: “fighting for what I love and not against what I …
: Invisible victory. God’s grace always assists those who struggle, but this does not mean that a struggler is always in …
: Caves within caves. A story about St. Silouan of Mt Athos (+1938): …toward the end of St. Silouan’s life, …
: The "lazy" path to salvation. Today (March 30) the Church’s calendar includes a wonderful, eccentric commemoration: The …
: Would St. Benedict Zoom? Good reflections on monastic life and the technopoly in which we live and breathe. The monks are …
: From the Desert Fathers: A demon once came to a monk as he prayed in his cell. Robed in light, the demon said, “I am …
: March 25 trivia. The Feast of the Annunciation, called “Lady Day” in England, was the date of the New …
: They changed the Bible again! My wife and I have a running joke: when we come across something in scripture that we’d never …
: True things. A phrase from @ayjay that stuck with me: people who make their money from encouraging us to hate …
: Listen to the crazies, sometimes. This from an amazing talk by Philip K. Dick. Now I’m going to read more of his stuff. He was …
: What's in the cup? You are holding a cup of coffee when someone comes and bumps you, making you spill your coffee …
: Reading a story book to the 3-year-old grandson this morning involved an attempt to explain wealth …
: For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. – 2 …
: Means-to-an-end Christianity is always popular because it appeals to what seems immediate and …
: Let us resolve... “All right, wise guy. If our disorder can’t be cured by politics, what’s your big idea?” I haven’t …
: Am I a stone, and not a sheep? Good Friday Christina Rossetti Am I a stone, and not a sheep, That I can stand, O Christ, beneath …
: Feeling like victims makes us more selfish.
: The Machine Stops This morning we remembered E. M. Forster’s The Machine Stops. It was first published in 1909! …
: There is a natural human tendency, when things go wrong, to want to go back to the way things were …
: One Thing. Instead of asking yourself whether you believe or not, ask yourself whether you have this day done …
: Bombs into knives. I found this oddly inspiring. It reminded me of some church bells I once saw, …
: Today we celebrate the Meeting (Presentation) of the Lord, sometimes called Candlemas. The snow is …
: The beautiful signal fire sequence is by far my favorite part of the Lord of the Rings movies: it …
: "maybe that’s the calling of the hour, for all of us, to say what should be obvious and is tragically not." From Russell Moore’s newsletter: “If you ever find yourself somewhere in a crowd, and …
: Unplanned rewilding. For years now I’ve been oddly fascinated by falling global fertility, which will before long …
: A little aphorism that I return to regularly: The Church’s function is not to adapt Christianity to …
: The Gell-Mann Amnesia effect I loved this quote from Michael Crichton: Media carries with it a credibility that is totally …
: Today we commemorate the (fairly obscure) St Maximos the Hut-Burner, a personal favorite. We talk …
: Pray Now. Via email, I just read some bad news about an acquaintance, and remembered something I’ve …
: A dry run? A few strands of conversation today led to my wondering if God, in his mercy, has sent us this mild …
: Stimulate someone. It seems that, here in the US, we’ll all be getting “stimulus” checks of $600 or …
: Rise of the Nominals. This: So, Why is Evangelicalism Not Declining? Because Non-Attenders Are Taking On the Label. …
: Somehow, being angry makes people feel good. I mean, makes people feel that they are good. Hard to …
: Labyrinths. Shirley du Boulay’s The Road to Canterbury has a section on medieval mazes/labyrinths as …
: Blogging, email newsletter? Not enough! Start a printed magazine not available online. This article …
: The Sower. The many homilies that I’ve heard about Christ’s Parable of the Sower usually focus on …
: Angels. I came across this amazing painting, Angels Appearing before the Shepherds, on Gracy …
: "Christianity is not an intellectual system, a moral code, or a political stance." Here are perhaps the three most widely held interpretations of Christianity: Christ as the spokesman …
: Stuff From this interesting collection of statistics on how much stuff we own, I’ve picked out a …
: A sizable portion of the American public appears to crave enemies. – Damon Linker, …
: Just plain harmful. Despite its conveniences, the internet is catastrophically harmful. We’d be much better off if …
: I need to get over being furious whenever some media source misuses “exponential.” It …
: First snow. We have a family tradition of reading James Joyce’s beautiful story “The Dead” on …
: The temperate techie. In my long-ago techie days, the name of Edsger Dijkstra (d. 2002) was familiar to anyone who was at …
: Found by the wife on FB. Couldn’t resist posting it.
: Phones! I’m part of an online community that gets very excited about new phones. All these phones make …
: Hoping for the collapse of the attention economy Reflections on how the sale of identities to advertisers has molded our whole conception of online …
: How to walk across a parking lot. I enjoyed this. I always aim for an area with few other cars. …
: Reading now. Great cover image.
: My Blue State’s presidential vote map. The rural-urban divide as always. Every blue county …
: Surveillance begging. I graduated from college almost 50 years ago, have moved many times, and have …
: Remembering Metropolitan Maximos Metropolitan Maximos of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America reposed yesterday, and I want to …
: Vileness and regular people. An installment of Nick Cave’s fine newsletter (read it, even in you don’t especially …
: C. S. Lewis on the news. ‘It is one of the evils of rapid diffusion of news that the sorrows of all the world come to …
: The Blues and the Greens, revisited. Factions that aren’t really firm about what they believe, shift positions, but are dead-set in …
: Vanity Fair improvements... Many passengers stop to take their pleasure or make their profit in the Fair, instead of going …
: “On its world, the people are people. The leaders are lizards. The people hate the lizards and …
: Sports viewership is way down across the board. This discussion offers a few possible reasons, …
: Entrance Requirement. [At] the Moscow Seminary in the seventies… The young man at the opening interview was not …
: The local political campaigns are ramping up, and so far I’ve seen nothing but attack ads. The …
: Cookbook Peeves. I got a new (old, really, ordered a used copy) cookbook that I’m enjoying very much. One of …
: Against Originality. From maybe my favorite cookbook, Viana LaPlace’s Unplugged Kitchen: In my family we basically …
: Reflections on "dialect" and "language". I’m reading Elena Ferrante’s truly great Neapolitan Novels, which follow the lives of a …
: Began the day with the Epistle reading about “the wisdom of this age… the rulers of …
: A big day in music. Today (Sept. 5 2020), the ongoing Halberstadt performance of John Cage’s As Slow as Possible …
: On the folly of political endorsements by church leaders. Recognizing the eschatological nature of the Church and that her citizenship is in heaven …
: Human Protection. Two verses from our services that I especially appreciate these days: Put not your trust in princes, …
: marriage & faith: ecstasy, discipline, bondage, freedom. Many misconceive religious life in the same way they misunderstand married life: They expect …
: The Rise and Fall of the Corporate R&D Lab. I link to this article because it brings back many memories. I grew up in New Jersey, and my dad was …
: The Non-Voter. The Non-voter. Each election there are three choices and the winner is always not voting. In 2016 …
: Two Thousand Years. “I have thought very much about the effectiveness of nonviolent action — how it is that one …
: Listening to Morton Feldman, For John Cage. Have you ever listened to that interval? Let’s …
: China's War on Religion China’s War on Religion. A very good (grim) summary of where things stand. “First they …
: Difficult books aren’t out to manipulate us. Writing that grabs your attention, is accessibly …
: Are you voting for the War Party, or the War Party? The Anti-war Wing of Both Parties is Dead. Not that either had much power or influence to start …
: “When we start to speak what the world wants to hear, the critiques of the Church will …
: Happy birthday to Charles Bukowski. Here’s his poem “Nirvana”.
: How to deface a book. I’ve gotten more into marking up the books I read, with lots of underlining and notes in the …
: The Gandalf Option From an interview with Alan Jacobs (aka @ayjay): (edited a bit) Question: In the midst of our …
: Medieval Death Pits, continued... …in which I find support in this piece in The Nation: It’s time to abolish nursing …
: The good that lies at hand. We turn to Christ and wonder, “What should we do?” The answer, I think, is simple and immediate: Do …
: Faith, Death, Pandemic. A remarkable reflection by a priest’s widow.
: Ethiopia's Church Forests. Ethiopia’s Church Forests. Beautiful & encouraging. The video is part of a long essay with …
: 68 Life Lessons. I liked some of these 68 Life Lessons from Kevin Kelly. (Thanks Rebeccah Toh) Snippets: Trust me: …
: What would be cool: Today the Turkish state reconverted the Great Church (Agia Sophia) in Istanbul into a mosque, and …
: Medieval Death Pits, continued. Again: If COVID19 does one good thing, it will be to make us look at the state of elder care, …
: Holy Bees. Our friends at Holy Cross Monastery in the wilds of WV have a bee-keeping business that includes …
: Outside the Box. I love this tiny record player. It drives around on the surface of the record like …
: Confusing religious liberty and religious power. Good thoughts.
: War. A statue of Emperor Haile Selassie was torn down in London. I thought this might be an especially …
: Here is a review of books entirely about the ampersand. Image: the 62 distinct ampersands included …
: Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, 1969: The Church will become small. Beautiful.
: Found in a pocket notebook from last year. All I know is that I must have been sitting in a meeting.
: The art of speaking Don’t speak unnecessarily. When speaking, think carefully and be concise. Be …
: An allegorical approach to life. This fully Christian way of living requires a kind of allegorical approach to life and to people: …
: Samuel Johnson, anti-racist pioneer His life (1709-1784) was more or less bookended by the beginning and end of the British …
: The world is a burning bush of God’s energies. – St. Gregory Palamas
: Surrender playlist. Today I was musing about some of my favorite “Spirituals,” – a word I’m using …
: Silence is a mystery of the age to come, but words are instruments of this world. – St Isaac …
: Pentecost O Heavenly King, the Comforter, the Spirit of Truth, who art everywhere present and fillest all …
: Here’s an excerpt from an essay by Fr Stephen Freeman, The Violence of Modernity The whole …
: In my reading today (Epistle of St James, it happens) I was struck again by how often, and how …
: On Giving. This C S Lewis Quote was on my mind for a couple of days. I tracked it down to his Mere …
: On Systematic Theology: Such reasoning is rare in the Fathers. They did not think of theological …
: Peace. Peace is the integrity and health of the soul; to lose peace is to lose spiritual health. …
: Grace apart from Faith. (For the Sunday of the Blind Man)
: On the Unreality of Money: A reflection on the fact that one American will soon be …
: Rule of Thumb: When a recipe calls for a “clove of garlic,” obviously that’s a …
: In this present time of verbal inflation that only aggravates loneliness, only the man of prayerful …
: RIP Little Richard, aged 87, which, boy does that make me feel old. The link will take you to his …
: Happy Birthday to Gary Snyder, who is 90 today. “Changing the filter, wiping noses, going to …
: Some powerful words, I thought, on grief and bereavement, from someone who’s been there. We …
: Here’s a powerful testament to writing actual letters, from a plain-text advocate: Q: Is …
: Alan Jacobs, Against the Common Good: Wendell Berry once wrote, “Community is a concept, like …
: P. D. James’ Children of Men is set in 2021! I read the book after being impressed by the …
: The Amish Health Care System. Fascinating, subversive. Things could be really different in a society …
: Pet peeves (one in an ongoing series): Confusing “Axiomatic” with …
: Very strange times. No political or sociological commentary here. But I wonder if there’s been …
: Here in Orthodoxy, it’s Palm Sunday. As I heard one of our bishops say today (on video of …
: No place like home. I’ve been realizing how much, spiritually, the Church – the physical …
: Anger vs. Hatred, along with other good observations. Really to reject hate is a job most of us do …
: I listened with gratitude to Queen Elizabeth II’s address to her nation on the coronavirus …
: Choral singing for our new Lockdown Life: Down in the River to Pray. 36 voices, recorded at …
: Politicos. I loved this bit from an appreciation of recently departed Senator Tom Coburn: Both …
: I enjoyed Tom Standage’s The Victorian Internet, a short, engaging history of the development …
: Kitchen reform. This from the good Roden Newsletter moved me to take a hard look at the kitchen. I …
: Snail mail. I try to send a postcard to my (2 ½ year old) grandson every week or so. Lots of …
: "Today is the beginning of our salvation..." Today is the beginning of our salvation… – Troparion for Annunciation I sometimes feel …
: Two Book recommendations, now that you have the time. Since so many of us are in a place of opportunity to read more, here are a couple of not so well …
: Memento Mori Since the current contagion has slightly increased my wife’s and my chance of imminent death …
: Happy Pi Day. The mnemonic I learned for remembering the first 15 digits of pi: Now I want a drink, …
: I finished Camus’ The Plague. What a book. I’ve read various speculations about it being …
: In defense of 'passivism'. In a probing, quirky essay, Alan Jacobs joins reflections on Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park to …
: Entranced by Erling Kagge’s Walking. All my walks have been different, but looking back I see …
: Converts and “cradle” believers. Sometimes I feel a little envious of those who came to …
: What is a merciful heart? This by St Isaac of Syria gets quoted out of proportion to the rest of his …
: Eye Candy of the week: For 30 years a Japanese chef made beautiful drawings of everything he ate. …
: Open Hiring. I enjoyed thinking of ways to extend this to non-entry-level jobs, college admissions, …
: Here I learned that Uranopolitan is what I want to list in response to all requests for national, …
: Still reveling in my discovery of Edith Wharton. She’s everything you love about Henry James, …
: Nothing strikes me more when I read the controversies of past ages than the fact that both sides …
: This engineer wanted a rotary-dial mobile phone because, really, who doesn’t? So she built …
: I’m just discovering, at this late date, Edith Wharton. She is wonderful. Everything you like …
: Cloud Neutrality? For all our concern about “net neutrality”, the massive physical …
: We Orthodox have entered the period of the Triodion, whose odd name is explained here. The book …
: I learned that there are exclusively B&W digital cameras! Extremely crisp images. Really …
: Contrasts. (Rev. Gary Davis and Phil Ochs’ daughter. The 60s!)
: Analysis of why comment threads deteriorate. I liked points 2 & 3.
: The Red Wheel From a review of the latest-to-be-translated volume of Solzhenitsyn’s Red Wheel epic: …
: Every Holy Church is a piece of Heaven upon the earth. And when you are in Church, you are truly in …
: Partly prompted by this, I thought today that, with some care, the clothes I own may be all I need …
: Consumer update: I’ve tried Impossible Burger, and yes, it’s a very convincing ground …
: Rise of the "Nones" as part of a wider trend toward social isolation. Thanks to @ayjay’s Pinboard feed for this article. Excerpt: Before the 1960s, say, it was …
: I’ve been working my way through Richmond Lattimore’s translation of the New Testament. …
: “Yes, comic book movies really have penetrated Hollywood at every level, including the Oscars …
: Polenta for Breakfast. Polenta has a reputation for taking a long time to prepare, so I was glad to come up with this easy …
: How to think about time. I loved this image in Austin Kleon’s newsletter.
: Strong and useful counsel from Cal Newport, along with some helpful challenges. when it comes to …
: The quest for equality: Swedish school lunch cook’s meals were too tasty, unfair to students …
: A new reality. The classic example of this comes from German philosopher Martin Heidegger, who …
: The real Benedict Option: Benedict. A line from a fellow-supporter of monastic life: >As I always say about MacIntyre’s …
: The Daily Apocalypse Father Thomas Hopko, of blessed memory, liked to point out that, when we pray the “Our …
: Just read Martin Mosebach, The 21: A Journey into the Land of the Coptic Martyrs. A powerful book, …
: +Elder Ephraim of Arizona (1927-2019). Memory Eternal.
: Think how different modern Christianity would be if we accepted that ours is inescapably an ascetic …
: Xi Jinping will be the 21st century’s Stalin. Meanwhile we waste our anxieties on declining …
: On following the media: This story, “Why a Certain Priest Refused to Read a Newspaper”, spoke strongly to some …
: there can be more genuine fellowship among those who share the same disposition than among those who …
: Voting: parties of death My thoughts this morning turned to voting after I read, and mostly agreed with, this manifesto by …
: You think you’ve read the New Testament, then you find something like this. Hmmm… For …
: Memento Mori. At St Tikhon’s cemetery. No immediate plans to move in.
: A couple of possible homilies, and social observations, in one cartoon.
: Spiritual joy is not an emotion.
: Robert Alter on his preference for the King James Bible: The faults in the KJV come from inadequate …
: A book to encourage us to write actual letters. May I not just read it, but actually write letters.
: Can Local Food Feed an Urban World? In Cleveland, for example, converting 80 percent of every …
: “Our society tells us that pleasure is bad and sinful…” What? Source of this …
: American de-churching. More on the rapid decline of Christian practice in the US, from a Pew Report, In U.S., Decline of …
: Nick Cave grieves: This is not for our eyes After learning about it, for a while I became a bit obsessed with the story of Nick Cave’s …
: The Saint. The Saint shows us a human being purified from the dross of all that is less than human. In him we …
: What is worship for? What is worship for? in the Scriptures (and through church history) worship was intended to be …
: Wendell Berry, still ahead of us. A good portrait of the thinker who’s had it right all along.
: cucina povera I’m making a batch of bean and celery soup, based on an italian recipe. In the notes I noticed …
: Remember usury? The collapse of Christian society follows from the church’s embrace of the world. “the …
: No such thing as "secular." Fr Stephen Freeman on “Make it to be” vs. “Show it to be”: Fr. Alexander …
: Here’s a great profile of one of the dwindling number of human fire lookouts. He stands in the …
: Provocative swap. I ordered a vegetarian Chinese cookbook that turned out to be mostly disappointing at the recipe …
: So good. First paragraph: For a human character to reveal truly exceptional qualities, one must …
: The Medieval peasant diet. A cookbook reconstructs 12th-century commoners’ diet. Bread, beans and ale were the foundation …
: Prayer is Plural. From Our Fathers’ Bible: There isn’t any great chasm fixed between “Bible Times” and today. …
: It’s a good day. Science says I can slouch all I want to.
: Fall down seven times, get up eight.
: Considering monastic life? Probably not, but you might still appreciate these comments by Abbot …
: Smudges. I’ve been reading the new Orthodox Christian Prayers from St. Tikhon’s Monastery Press. …
: Airships return! There’s a move to bring back lighter-than-air craft, which has been a fantasy of mine for a …
: You probably don’t need air conditioning. We’ve mostly done without it for decades. In …
: The not-tragedy of missed possibilities @ayjay’s real blog reflects on how Middlemarch is (among other things) a story of just-missed …
: Gentle. Small. Humble. Slow. Simple. The author’s summary of principles in the book I just …
: Vegetarians who became butchers. It’s all about ethically sourced critters.
: We’ve had this little framed quote in our house for a long time. Today I noted that my beloved …
: Admission Lotteries. Do College Admissions by Lottery. Colleges would set admission criteria that applied to everyone, …
: Not even bad science: non-science. Here’s a good rant about the state of nutrition ‘science.’ The nutrition world has …
: Years ago I went through a very enjoyable phase learning to tie knots with my son. So I liked …
: The iconostasis & the storm lamp. Recently I had the pleasure of proofreading the autobiography of a friend who had been active in …
: Wake up first! Archimandrite Andrew Konanos has a powerful account of his encounter with St Porphyrios (+1991): I …
: Making do is a deeply pragmatic philosophy. It means asking of our things the only question we …
: Home: feels like a city when you walk/drive around in it, but step back and it’s just a …
: One of the great things about this book is that it has not a single photo. More and more …
: Music: another purpose This piece, The Story Behind John Cage’s 4’33”, reminded me of my earlier post on …
: Coffin Clubs This little article describes the rise of Coffin Clubs in New Zealand: a mix of woodworking class, …
: Here’s an interesting-looking book that continues the theme of an earlier post: that the …
: Cosmic, man. I’ve been reading a new translation of the sayings of the Desert Fathers, Give Me a Word. In …
: More Friction, please. Good observation: The Internet Needs More Friction. It was pointed out a long time ago that setting …
: Listening to Bach’s Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin. My aversion to high drama in music …
: Wow, someone other than me thinks the American Revolution was a mistake.
: Boots: Grandpa and Grandson.
: I cook a lot of rice. Over the years my water:rice ratio has shrunk steadily from 2:1 to 1:1. I …
: Anti-information. Following the news, and higher education, can make us less well informed, at least about our …
: Can you remember your mental pictures of the Lord of the Rings characters before you saw the movies? …
: Yes, the “mindfulness” fad is awful. But in my own experience I’m struck over and …
: The odd, new meaning of "elopement." This discouraging article talks about the trend of couples (often already massively in debt from …
: Anti-suspense. I’ve been on an extended Anthony Trollope reading kick, so I enjoyed this essay comparing him …
: The night the lights went out. Drew Magary, one of my antisocial self’s favorite writers (who’s another? Charles …
: Legal commercial surrogacy is an abomination, which ought to be obvious, but apparently isn’t. …
: What is it to read a book? In a conversation last year, a (Facebook) friend wrote about having read a book. Then it came out …
: Working Colleges. According to This NYT article, there are only 10 working colleges in the United States: colleges at …
: The way of broken rice. Today I ate a bowl of white rice for lunch. (Not quite that simple – I jazzed it up with soy sauce …
: Succinct advice for new internet users: “Welcome to all the new users! Don’t click the ads, …
: Faith, fertility, and the future. This very interesting piece by demographer Eric Kaufman predicts a demographically-driven shift in …
: Prayer and Joy I loved this passage by Elder Aemilianos of the Holy Mountain on joy as the criterion of true …
: Candy bars and Peak technologies. Drew Magary meditates on why there have been no fundamentally new candy bars in decades. It’s …
: Downsizing higher education Rachel Lu points out a fact we don’t talk about: American higher education is facing a …
: Garden Therapy. The Brain Pickings blog explores Oliver Sack’s thoughts on the therapeutic side of gardens, …
: Awed by the beauty Awed by the beauty of thy virginity and the exceeding radiance of thy purity, Gabriel stood amazed …
: In praise of kitchen shears. Kitchen shears are the most under-appreciated tool in the kitchen. For a long list of uses, …
: Read! If you would like to read more than you do, here’s some useful advice. Its main point: when …
: Women and men on abortion. This Vox article, Men and women have similar views on abortion establishes an important point: In …
: In a nutshell. I wish I could find an exact source for this from Yuval Hariri: Modernity can be …
: Too many children? No. This from a post on the Earther blog, Is the World Really Overpopulated?: We live in an era of …
: Mexit: Americans moving to Mexico. I loved this man-bites-dog story on the surge of Americans emigrating to Mexico. Some just like …
: The obsolescence of repentance. Alan Jacobs remembers John Profumo, a British politician whose career was destroyed by a sexual …
: Finally some good news: Parrots are taking over America. Needless to say, our local Cornell …
: Two stones. Writing about the “Rags of Light” title of the blog, I remembered an old Rabbinical …
: "Asking myself why I breathe" Wim Wenders, director of some of the most interesting movies (Wings of Desire; Paris, Texas) asks …
: Divine Liturgy: "Byzantine" or Universal? We sometimes hear or read that the usual Orthodox liturgical cycle is culturally foreign even to …
: Jaron Lanier is too optimistic. In a recent post, I mentioned Jaron Lanier’s Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Media Accounts …
: Taming the Octopus, Part 2. Today I de-activated my Facebook account. This turned out to be emotionally more difficult than …
: Further Up and Further In: a few words to a new convert On Holy Saturday we were blessed to witness the reception of five catechumens into Holy Orthodoxy. …
: Library Hand. I’m a fan of Wanda Gag’s classic children’s book Millions of Cats (which, among …
: The Upside of Social Media Blackouts. Sri Lanka imposed a social media blackout after the massacres. This piece reflects on the risks …
: End Race. From an interview with the author of a memoir by a “mixed-race” author: It ended as an …
: Report from the trenches: “I have a friend who teaches philosophy. They have a student who …