A Perfect Mom Moment

We don't have a Publix but I'd shop at it if there was one nearby. Just on the strength of this ad. Beautiful.



Via The Anchoress.

Rose and I Are on SFFaudio This Week

I narrate Beside Still Waters by Robert Sheckley for Jesse at SFFaudio ... and then we follow up with a discussion in which Rose was included. Who knew so much could be packed into a short story?

Giveaway Winner - Norma Jean!

Norma Jean is the lucky winner of Blessed, Beautiful and Bodacious by Pat Gohn.

Congratulations, Norma! Contact me (julie [at] glyphnet [dot] com) with your address and I'll get your book in the mail.

Dappled Things: Ideas, Art, and Faith - New Issue Online

Bernardo Aparicio García drops me a line about the latest issue of Dappled Things:

Just wanted to let you know that the new DT is available online now. We've made a lot of goodness available for this issue: an interview with Ron Hansen, a really excellent essay on form in poetry that ends up being an insightful diagnosis of the post-modern condition, a historical fiction piece about St. Robert Southwell, SJ (might be particularly interesting to readers now that we have a Jesuit pope), and a mirror sonnet called "How to Rise From the Dead" (really do check that one out, the effect of the form, especially given the topic of the poem, is quite stunning).

He's not just a whistlin' Dixie, y'all. Check it out!

Scott struggles with the plow. Julie washes the floors. They both contemplate the work of art which is Of Gods and Men.

At A Good Story is Hard to Find podcast Scott and I discuss a "faith" movie.

What I'm Reading: Fire of Mercy, Heart of the Word

Fire of Mercy, Heart of the Word: Meditations on the Gospel According to Saint Matthew by Erasmo Leiva Merikakis


Yes it's 700 pages and only covers the first third of the Gospel of Matthew.

And your point is ...?

That I might not live long enough to finish all three books?

If I don't finish the 2,100 pages or so by then, hopefully I'll be in a place where God will fill me in on what I missed.

Actually I'd been circling around this book for several years. It took Will Duquette's enthusiasm to tip me over the edge.

Flipping through this doorstop, I came across a paragraph that stopped me in my tracks.

The Virgin Mary is called the [Greek words] (the "book of the Word of life") by the Greek Church. The book of the Gospel, the book of Christ's origins and life, can be written and proclaimed because God has first written his living Word in the living book of the Virgin's being, which she has offered to her Lord in all its purity and humility—the whiteness of a chaste, empty page. If the name of Mary does not often appear in the pages of the Gospel as evident participant in the action, it is because she is the human ground of humility and obedience upon which every letter of Christ's life is written. She is the Theotokos, too, in the sense that she is the book that bears, and is inscribed with, the Word of God. She keeps her silence that he might resonate the more plainly within her.

In fact, it almost knocked me out of my seat. So I'm reading these meditations, holding myself down to one per day. I must say that the author's translations are as inspiring as his meditations. There is a vivid sense of "action" that I just don't find when I try different translations to see the equivalent. It feels ... living ... alive ...

Full disclosure: I skipped the lengthy introduction, except for the parable about Aleph which rings loudly every time I see the Aleph after each meditation to remind us to leave space for God to enter in.

When I am craving yet another meditation, I'll begin working through the intro.

Worth a Thousand Words: Your WPA at Work

Your WPA at Work in Schenley Park
from Father Pitt

We see similar improvements around White Rock Lake all the time. I love the fact that they seem both dated and timeless, as the pictures at the original post show.

Cardinal Dolan Receives 2013 William Wilberforce Award

I am impressed both by Cardinal Dolan's speech and the group who honored him with the award.

The annual William Wilberforce Award is given to present its recipient as an example and model of the witness of real Christianity making a difference in the face of tough societal problems and injustices. It is named for the eighteenth-century British parliamentarian, whose impassioned, well-reasoned debates and writings helped end Britain’s slave trade and reform the corroding values of England. The example of Wilberforce and his friends sparked a sweeping spiritual movement throughout the country, which in turn transformed a variety of social ills.

In a similar vein, this award is presented both to encourage Christians to follow its recipient’s example and to demonstrate to the secular world the benefits of Christian influence in society.

The purpose of the award has never been to venerate, enrich, or magnify an individual, but—through lifting that person up as an example—to inspire others to action.

Hard Boiled Action Ensues ...

... with chapter 5 of The Mouse in the Mountain by Norbert Davis ... ready for your listening pleasure at Forgotten Classics.

Quick Flicks: What We've Been Watching

Erroll Garner
No One Can Hear You Read
(documentary)

Some of the best 53 minutes you'll ever spend on a documentary. This makes you appreciate Erroll Garner's jazz genius in improvising, communicating joy, and inspiring others. Little time is spent on his personal life, which may be just as well based on the few things his daughter said (which pretty much broke my heart). But I don't watch documentaries to find out whether musicians were kind to their daughters. I watch to find out why their music was brilliant or different. And this does that very, very well.

A Cat in Paris
(Animated • French • dubbed)

A charming animated film about a cat who spends her days with her little girl and her nights accompanying a cat burglar. The two plots come together when the little girl follows her cat one night. Kind of "That Darn Cat" for the French. If our girls were still small we'd have to buy this and it would be daily viewing.

I liked the animation style, the jazzy soundtrack, and especially the way they showed what was happening in pitch darkness.

Pixar Short Films Collection: Volume 2
(Animated shorts)

This collection features the short animated pieces that appear before every Pixar full-length movie. Unfortunately viewing them in sequence makes it obvious that the quality is very uneven. Some are simply brilliant like Night and Day and La Luna. Presto was a throwback to old style cartoons that was thoroughly enjoyable. Others are extensions, back story if you will, of lesser characters from Wall-E or Up, which are amusing enough for what they are.

The losers are the shorts that push Toy Story or Cars characters into situations which, frankly, don't have stories to justify being viewed. One wonders if this was when Disney was more in control because it certainly feels as if the viewers' intelligence weren't being taken into consideration.

I still recommend the collection if only to have Night and Day, La Luna, and Presto available. They demonstrate what respect for story and creativity can do.

Of Gods and Men

(French)

I watched this for discussion on A Good Story is Hard to Find podcast, which will air on May 2.

This is a rich, meditative film which shows a group of Trappist monks in Algeria who must choose between the practical, understandable choice to abandon their monastery when extremist Muslims terrorize the area ... or following a spiritual calling even when there seems to be no reason to do so. The monks are intertwined in the local Muslim community, but all are equally helpless in the face of the extremists. The monks' choices are not portrayed as heroic or sentimental but simply as human, as each man each must pray for guidance, consider his place in the area, and face what it means to fully live one's faith.

The Abbey by Chris Culver

The Abbey by Chris Culver

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Ever seen those books from the 1960s where one volume had two books, with one printed upside-down and back-to-back with the other?

That concept is why wound up with this book. I requested The Outsider from the Amazon Vine program. I found ... lucky me! ... that the publisher had the first book in the series upside-down and backed up to it. Turns out The Abbey was a huge seller as an ebook and is now coming out in print.

I may not have been a very good Muslim, but my religion called me to seek and foster justice. It’s a divine edict as stringent as any command in any faith. Nobody gets a pass, least of all somebody who hurt my niece.

I was intrigued by the protagonist being an American Muslim police detective but the story itself was pretty interesting. Detective Sergeant Ashraf Rashid hasn't worked homicide in a long time but his niece is murdered and he asks his ex-partner to let him look into it. Ash knows his niece wasn't a drug user so when the coroner calls it an overdose, he turns up the heat. A string of deaths, pressure to stop investigating, and anonymous threats to his family add to Ash's problems. The plot goes into overdrive and is somewhat overblown by the end, but I forgave it because I was unwilling to stop reading and flipping pages ever faster. I read it in one evening ... the author clearly hooked me.

What made the story stand out was Ash himself. He rationalizes his drinking despite the fact that he shouldn't as a practicing Muslim. Heck, he rationalizes drinking as a husband when he rinses with mouthwash before going home, and as a cop, which we see when he's busted while driving. Clearly Ash is struggling with his profession.

What really fascinated me were the threads of faith woven throughout ... as it defines Ash's identity, as it is seen within his family, and how it is practiced in everyday American life (he can’t go to a certain diner for pancakes because they are cooked on the same griddle with bacon). These points aren't dwelt upon but are just ever-present in his life, just as my Catholicism is for me (I couldn't have eaten that bacon on a Friday). That made Ash into a much more developed character than we'd have seen otherwise and lifted the book above the common.

Overall it was an enjoyable book and I'm glad to have the sequel, The Outsider, as close as flipping the book over and opening the "back" cover.

Book Review: Becoming a Great Godparent

Becoming a Great Godparent: Everything a Catholic Needs to Know by Paraclete Press

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

"I do have one godparent who has really been supportive of me my whole life. She has pushed me to become a better version of myself, and has supported me in the difficult decisions I've had to make. She treats me like I know she would treat her own kids."

=======

"Sadly, none of my godparents have really had an impact on my life. Two of them were involved with me early on, but I haven't spoken to them for years. The other two haven't really had an influence on my life at all."

These are among the responses from teenagers about their godparents which begin Becoming a Great Godparent. For me they are the whole point of this book and the reason both my husband and I read it with such interest. I long to be the first sort of godparent and have a terrible dread I will end up as the last sort. Certainly I am haunted by that last statement which drifts through my mind when I ponder how to be involved with our new godchild, Magdalena.

This handy little book is easy, quick read and offers excellent, simple advice for those who have been honored by being asked to help with a child's spiritual formation. It tells what godparents should do, gives ideas on how to stay close, has a very brief history, and answers commonly asked questions.

In short, this book is just what a new godparent needs to help them get off on the right foot and stay the course. Highly recommended.

Note: I received a review copy from the publisher. Would've loved it even if I'd have bought it for myself.

Weekend Joke

This is an old one but it made me laugh when I came across it today ... so let's have it again!

Thanks to Doug Savage for letting me share this. See more at Savage Chickens.

Ten Things to Do Instead of Wallowing

Has life ... or the economy or politics or the state of the world ... got you down?

After a while, reading the headlines stops informing you and starts deflating you. You think you're filling your brain with information so you can be spurred to action, but you're really just filling your heart with despair until you feel like there's no point in even trying to act.

We can't control most of those things. Simcha Fisher has a list of things you can do "What can you do right now, when you're sitting in your kitchen..."

I share it because in the last six months or so I have taken to doing about half the things Simcha shares on her list for the same reason. And I've begun pushing them on people.

The one I've found most helpful in my own life? Turning off the news and computer. It really allows you to reclaim your real life instead of the artificial one being poured out of every media outlet.

The one I hadn't thought of but am now thinking about? Writing an actual letter.

The thing I'd add? Read a book. Adventure, romance, history, mystery. There is something out there that will whisk you away to another world or give you a balanced perspective or ... maybe both at once1

Thank you Simcha for writing the post that has been in the back of my mind for a while now!

In which our heroes finally get to Los Altos and we see Doan in action.

Another exciting chapter of The Mouse in the Mountain is ready for your listening pleasure at Forgotten Classics.

An Absolutely Spiffing Review of Stranger in a Strange Land

I've gotten into a wonderful conversation over at the Catholic Writers' Guild blog. It goes on in the comments box of whatever book review I've posted lately, but carries on the same conversation.

Don has begun dipping into Robert Heinlein's writing and his comment is a really wonderful review of Stranger in a Strange Land. It is insightful and ties together with my review of Save, Send, Delete in a way that is really right but never would have occurred to me.

Now he's found a cordial nook of the library thanks to a librarian who is delighted to have a fellow science fiction fan. When that happens can Terry Pratchett books be far behind? Of course not!

This is why we do it, people. The blogging and reviewing and such. Because the friends we make are so much fun.

Go read it.

Cats of the Day

Via Jeremy Schwab at Catholic Addicts on Facebook

Middlemarch by George Eliot

Middlemarch: A Study of Provincial Life by George Eliot

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This was highly recommended by everybody, including Rose, so it went on my 2013 Goals Reading List.

What do we live for, if it is not to make life less difficult to each other?

This is a gentle tale of many courtships and marriages, of the relationships in community (as we can tell from the subtitle "A Study of Provincial Life"), and above all of how our actions affect others.

People glorify all sorts of bravery except the bravery they might show on behalf of their nearest neighbors.

At about page 600 the story threads suddenly intertwined at a highly accelerated pace and I was fraught with anxiety for Mr. Bulstrode, then for Dr. Lydgate, and at last realized how much Dorothea's suffering had matured her. It made for a highly satisfying ending which was capped by Eliot's final summing up of everyone's lives.

People are almost always better than their neighbors think they are.

Throughout Eliot, as omniscient narrator, drops gentle observation appropriate to the story which are also appropriate to our lives in general.

Blameless people are always the most exasperating.

I cannot possibly share enough of them, or the plot in general, to do this book justice. I see that I also have forgotten until now to mention the humor running throughout the book. Perhaps that is what captured me first of all. George Eliot has a fine sense of irony and an even finer way of bringing it to our attention. You must simply try it for yourself.

Well Said: What we live for

From my quote journal.

What do we live for, if it is not to make life less difficult to each other?

George Eliot, Middlemarch

Weekend Joke: Cowboys

Three cowboys are sitting around a campfire, out on a lonesome Texas prarie, each with the bravado for which cowboys are famous. A night of tall tales begins.

The first one says, "I must be the meanest, toughest cowboy there is. Why, just the other day a bull got loose in the corral and gored six men before I wrestled it to the ground by the horns with my bare hands."

The second cowboy can't stand to be bested. "Why that's nothing. I was walking down the trail yesterday and a fifteen-foot rattlesnake slid out from under a rock and made a move for me. I grabbed that snake with my bare hands, bit its head off and sucked the poison down in one gulp. And I'm still here today."

The third cowboy remained silent, silently stirring the coals with his hands.