Recently I saw an episode of the defunct tv show Monk, in which the titular character, a prissy, literalist near-savant, is discussing with his friend, a regular-guy police captain, the practice of tailgate parties. They are surrounded by sports enthusiasts pumping themselves up for the big game. Monk doesn’t get it. “But they’re not in…
A while ago I discussed the unrecognized presence of every-day fascism in American life – often disguised as “liberalism” simply because it is embraced by left-leaners. (Of course fascism has never really been a conservative movement; the classical fascists were literally called “National Socialists” – Nazis.) At the end of that post I asked the…
I found this little hand-drawn booklet stuffed in some family pictures. It seems like a perfect portrait of an ISFP, and I’m pretty sure I made it as a gently hyperbolic joke on my own character. Here my character, Behildajane, is perfectly blissful watching out the window a little ordinary bird eating some seed. Behind…
The challenge this time is to write a poem using rhyme, meter/rhythm, and/or alliteration, with the following catch: we have to use at least three of the following invented words, and assign our own meaning to them. You can also include made-up words of your own. If necessary, provide pronunciation guides. Feel free to invent…
Mark 11: 23 For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. (KJV) C. S. Lewis…
It’s a little after midnight here on the ranch (for instance, why did I call it “the ranch?”) and my eldest and I are snatching a few minutes from the jaws of sleep to have a little improv session. We did this without any planning or practice, on the spur of the moment. We had…
When I first became Orthodox, there seemed to be a lot of emphasis on extending grace to children and including them in the Church at their own level. Certain factions always grumbled about this, though, and they usually seemed to be wealthier people who had contributed to the parish for a long time and wanted…
