Julie is suffering from emotional overload. Scott has discovered that chocolate and strawberry ice cream taste different.

They both cope by sitting down to reorganize their schedules ... and to talk about The Rosie Project at A Good Story is Hard to Find podcast.

In which we wonder if we have entered the land of the giants.

Chapters 18 and 19 of The People of the Mist by H. Rider Haggard take us into a place no one was sure existed. No one except that wicked old witch Soa, that is. Hear it now at Forgotten Classics podcast.

What I Write, Why I Write, How I Write: The Meme

I blame Sarah Reinhard for this since she tagged me. Talk about something that makes me reveal a part of myself that I don't think anyone cares about.

I suppose I am a writer but I don't really embrace that description. That's like calling myself a "breather." It's what I do but I don't know if I do it well enough to define me.

Heaven only knows that I never read these when other people write them.

Curmudgeonly sounding I know, but it is simply honest.

So ... here we go.

1. WHAT ARE YOU WORKING ON?
Imagine my surprise to realize that I have 5 books in the works.

1. A movie book about how to see below the surface and find Catholic themes whose sample did not excite any publisher ("we can't make money on those"). Just last week I decided I'd finish it anyway ... sometime ... and self-publish. My friends want to read it.
2. A devotional following the liturgical year. It combines art and text to show how our calendar year and liturgical year go hand in hand. No one wants this one. They all love it. But "we can't make money on those." I amuse myself by working on it and perhaps an art house would pick it up. But it is unexpectedly large at this point. The Fall book is about 100 pages. (I love it. It is my baby. My friends actually pester me about buying this one.)
3. Historical Fiction. This one is a mission from God and I don't want to talk about it really. But it is harder than hell, people, because it is something I never ever do. Use my imagination! What? But I have no doubt this has been assigned by the Divine Editor, whether or not I do it well or it ever gets published. And as a consequence I've been dragging my feet and feeling guilty for not working on it because ... you know ... it's harder than hell.
4. A book about reading spiritual classics, but with my twist of luring you into it with a popular book and a movie, all of which have related themes. No sample written yet but the person I ran the idea by was not thrilled. Outline and sample in the works for that person, for other publishers maybe, or for self publishing later.
5. An idea that a publisher IS interested in and which I should be working on instead of this. If they like it, then you'll know later. But for now mum's the word. My priest really wants this book, by the way.

2. WHAT MAKES YOUR WORK DIFFERENT FROM OTHERS’ WORK IN THE SAME GENRE?
Let's see. Why am I wonderful?

(Gee, I don't know why Catholic authors would find that question awkward.)

Maybe because I say it like it is. (Much more charming when I do it on paper than in person, I can assure you! Rewrites are essential and then you can make it funny.)

Maybe I'm funny. Not sure how well that comes across. But I make myself laugh sometimes.

Maybe because I range wide and throw everything into the pot from pop culture to everyday life to nature and somehow make it all go together, with God always just under the surface waiting for us to catch a glimpse? As Rose would say, my auteur moments.

I don't know. You tell me. I've got nothin'.

3. WHY DO YOU WRITE WHAT YOU DO?
Blogging: it just comes out.

Ghostwriting: I have an assignment.

Book: I've only done one and I came up with something the editor wanted that was also a reflection of me (evidently). The devotional mentioned above was an idea I was captivated with which has become a sort of spiritual reflection as I work on it.

The other ideas began as ways I could maybe earn more of a living by writing, but since I seem to be told, "we'd love to work with you, but not on that" while never being told what they actually might want me to work on ... this is not as clear to me. And, to be fair, I pursue it in fits and starts rather than determinedly full-bore.

4. HOW DOES YOUR WRITING PROCESS WORK?
Process. Hahahahahahaha ... oh, you were serious.

As Rob Long of Martini Shot podcast has affirmed, the worst part is beginning. Not beginning a book. Beginning to write anything. Sitting down. Starting. Not stopping to check email because writing is ... you know ... work.

Once I make myself do that then I just do it. And I'm getting better at doing it in different locations, at different times, and so forth. As long as I do it as if it is work, instead of extra curricular activities (still how I tend to label it), then I'm ok. I tend to combine techniques of hand writing in front of the tabernacle and when putting that in the computer then I take off and continue from there.

Except for blogging. That is: sit down, turn on computer, log in ... and blast off.

And when I think to write books that way, as a blog post, it is magic.

Hey, thanks guys! I wouldn't have remembered that without doing this.

=======

If you want to pick this up, just let me have the link and I'll put it below.

SYNC's Free Audiobooks Begin May 15

SYNC offers 2 FREE audiobooks each week May 15 - Aug 20, 2014 – a current Young Adult title paired thematically with a Classic or Required Summer Reading title.

Just wanted to get this on your radar.

SYNC may be aimed at young adults but they offer a wide range of books that appeal to everyone. For example, their upcoming schedule offers classics like The Time Machine by H.G. Wells, Oedipus the King by Sophocles, and Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie.

And you never know when one of the current books is going to grab you. I was particularly pleased to see that I'll be able to nab Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge (my review here).

They use Overdrive (beloved of libraries everywhere it seems) to deliver the books but the software is free and I've had no problems using it.

Worth a Thousand Words: Great Wall of China

Great Wall of China, via Wikipedia

This is a pretty good photo of one of the world's wonders. However, it is not nearly as interesting or personal as those which can be found at Ambrose-a-rama where Jen Ambrose and her family regularly set off to explore different sections of the Great Wall. Jen's photos inspired today's piece of art and I encourage you to check out her blog for a more personal feel.

Happy Birthday to Tom!

Via Wikipedia

It's Tom's special day today.

As we know, I take birthdays very seriously, especially when it is that of the love of my life.

We'll have been married thirty years next month and I have been realizing the happiness that comes from spending so much time with one person. I should say, with that one person who is practically perfect for me in every way.

We will fete him with Chinese food from a favorite restaurant in Richardson's Chinatown. He has asked for Tirimisu which the Central Market makes superbly ... and so I have no need to cook. Just to wrap, wrap, wrap his gifts.

Which I hope he enjoys very much though they are truly a token of the joy he brings to us and to everyone who knows him.

Happy Birthday, dear Tom!

What We've Been Watching

URBANIZED
★★★

This director's best documentary remains Helvetica, perhaps because the topic was fairly focused. In Urbanized he gathers a lot of different opinions from around the world about different urban areas and problems and solutions. It was interesting, but in the end it all seemed to come down to the fact that urban areas that work are those where the concerns of residents are met effectively. And I think we knew that already, didn't we?

MUD
★★★★½

I'd heard this was Matthew McConaughey's return to showing his potential as an actor so I was somewhat interested in seeing it. My husband saw it was streaming free on Amazon Prime so we watched it and it was a rewarding story indeed. The acting was top notch and the story was like a cross between Mark Twain and To Kill a Mockingbird, set on the Arkansas River.

It is a coming of age story defined by a 14-year-old boy's knowledge of what constitutes true love in the best sense. As the adults around him fail to live up to that understanding, he and a friend encounter the mysterious Mud living on an island. And things both fall into place and get more confusing, as is the way of both movies and of life. Excellent performances, especially from the local Arkansas boy who plays the best friend of the protagonist.

Although this is good, it seems like a standard coming of age story in many ways until the final scene of the movie, which redefines and broadens the entire story. It is that scene which suddenly makes one realize the masterpiece which is Mud.

MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING
★★★★★

I'm not crazy about Shakespeare but when I got done watching this I wanted to own the DVD. If only Joss Whedon would do more Shakespeare to follow this project ... then I might learn to love Shakespeare.

Dance and Life Lessons 2

Our second month of dance lessons finished last week. I actually now know what that couple in the picture is doing during their Tango because that's one of the dances we learned. We practice it in rudimentary style, but it's a beginning.

We learned the Tango, the Cha Cha, and the Waltz. My favorite: the Cha Cha. Love the crossover variation with the turn at the end. So much fun!

The other dances did not come so easily to me, especially since both required more of the follower. At several points I had to simply waltz with my eyes closed so I was following the movements of the leader instead of where I thought he was going to go. Randomly mixing the box waltz step with the regular waltz will show a girl just where she's not paying attention, believe me.

As with the previous dance lessons, we realized there was a life lesson to be learned here. This is one we know but have not had to practice for some time.

Practice makes perfect.

If at first you don't succeed then try, try again.

Somehow we'd gotten it into our heads that abject failure to really grasp a dance and perform it with ease after one, two, or even three lessons meant that perhaps we were doomed. We would never pick it up. Certainly we would never do it well so perhaps we needed private lessons.

What we found, of course, is that by doggedly keeping on trying suddenly resulted in a break through. On the fourth set of lessons.

And the next month, all the new dances were just a bit easier to pick up.

I used to know that lesson. Somewhere along the way I got so comfortable with everything I was doing ... and not trying enough completely new things ... that I'd forgotten. It is something I've been applying to my life in general and it's actually a bit relaxing. Eventually. I'll get better at all those things I'm not naturally drawn to, eventually. Prayer, virtues, following in Christ's steps. Eventually.

I just have to keep trying.

=========

On a related note, I want to point you to Jennifer Fulwiler's book, Something Other Than God. I was really, really impressed to see that Dean Koontz is included among the usual suspects in the blurbs.

I was impressed most of all, though, that Jennifer shared the discouragement she had to overcome during the drafts which took several years to reach fruition. I am acquainted with Jennifer and she's obviously intelligent, accomplished, and ambitious (which is not a bad thing, I'll just mention right here).

So it would have been easy for her to gloss over her struggles. But I'm glad she didn't. Because it is a reminder of the life lesson we picked up at dance class. No one is perfect at anything the first time and it when we pick ourselves up and try again that we get a little closer to our true potential.

I've heard only good things about the book and I bet that's because it is imbued with the honesty we have grown to expect from Jennifer in her blogging. Check it out ...

In which we encounter Mavoom and discover the secrets of several longing hearts.

Yes, more of The People of the Mist to satisfy your desire for adventure in deepest, darkest Africa.  Get it at Forgotten Classics podcast.

Well Said: The Crashing Together of The Visible and Invisible

As I went to Mass and slowly began to understand the liturgy, every word and gesture resonated more and more. I stared at the Host as the priest took it in both hands and raised it to heaven. That little wafer now seemed like a diamond chip, a point of intersection, a cross between the visible and invisible universe, and as he raised it in consecration and the little bell rang, it seemed that two supertankers were crashing together in a single, glorious moment. I was dazzled — and grateful that I was dazzled.

Richard Cole, Catholic By Choice

He's speaking my language. I already had this sense of the moment but love having these words to use for it.

Why Science Does Not Disprove God by Amir D. Aczel

Why Science Does Not Disprove God by Amir D. Aczel

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Short version: I want to believe Aczel's arguments. However, some of the inaccuracies in nonscientific areas made me wonder if he was trustworthy in the science.


Full Review

THE GOOD

The purpose of this book is to defend the integrity of science.

Amir d. Aczel, mathematician and science journalist, was on stage listening to prominent biologist and atheist Richard Dawkins when he decided he'd had enough of hearing atheists misuse mathematics and science for their own agenda. The result is this book which examines the New Atheists' claims that scientific progress has proven God does not exist.

Aczel devotes chapters to quantum theory, string theory, probability, chaos theory, and much more. Each time, he examines the New Atheists' claim, explains the scientific theory involved, and then shows where the logic of atheists' claims falls short. In so doing, Aczel quotes other scientists, some believers and some what we might call "friendly" atheists, to show that the loud claims of the New Atheists are far from being universally acclaimed by the scientific community.

In each case, he logically shows that a zealously pursued agenda is sullying the beauty of pure scientific truth.

I especially liked the way that Aczel didn't strive to "recruit" scientists to his cause. He simply would point out when a fair minded scientist was leaving open the possibility that science didn't have every fact locked down and God locked out. This was often really helpful in showing the methods of New Atheist scientists who were determinedly tweaking interpretations to support their own agenda.

THE BAD
"But wait," I can hear you thinking. "Anyone who punches holes in the reasoning of so many atheists in order to stand up for the idea of God must have a vested interest. Right? Surely he's Christian."

Good news, everyone!

Aczel is so far from being a Christian or even a theist, as far as I can tell, that he just tosses out shallow sound-bytes of pop-history "everyone knows" about religion and, indeed, European history. A lot of the time it's unspecific, inaccurate, and pounds the church whenever possible for being closed minded. So no need to worry that he's on our side and just sticking it to the (science) man for the sake of his faith.

I'm not gonna lie. If you know about religion and history, you are going to do some serious eye rolling. And possibly have to struggle to not get insulted over some of Aczel's unthinking simplifications.

In many ways I enjoyed Aczel's early chapters about the development of science and religion. His comments about the rise of nature cults as people noticed more cause and effect prompted me to think of God using that way to speak to the earliest people through his creation, nature. I liked that image. However, I often struggled to give Aczel the benefit of the doubt, such as when he linked the Virgin Mary to fertility goddess worship. Perhaps, I thought, he was completely leaning on anthropological thinking in these instances.

My assumption was ruined by the next paragraph when he said that Catholic saints "resemble the Greek and Roman pantheons—each saint with powers and a specialty similar to a god." A good anthropologist would know that is not how Catholic saints were viewed in the past or present. (I can't help that we all seem to know some random Catholic lady who treats St. Francis just the way Aczel mentions. That lady? She's in the same state as Richard Dawkins. Uninformed. I expect more from a book like this.)

I also expect more than this unthinking historical gloss from a book like this.

When this great culture [Greek civilization] declined and the Western world sank into the Dark Ages, Scripture assumed the role of the explanation of truth, and freethinking was shunned. This mode of thought continued through the late Middle Ages, when except for the development of crude notions about medicine ... there were few attempts to pursue science. Deviations from established belief were not tolerated in a culture dominated by the church and Catholic Monarchs. Simply put, the "order of things" was not up for debate.

Right. Albert the Great who helped develop experimental science, Roger Bacon (a friar) who helped develop the empirical scientific method, all those Catholic universities and scholars and scientists. Pfft. Forget about them!

Historians like Paul Johnson, Regine Pernoud, and others have pointed out lately that what "everybody knows" about the Renaissance, the Dark Ages and the Middle ages is often quite wrong. When only the Renaissance guys are left to define how things fall out, guess who's going to come out smelling like roses? In fact, this is well enough known that pop culture sites like Cracked have been telling us about it (Renaissance, Middle Ages).

THE QUESTION
And that brings us to the bad news. With such unthinking inaccuracies, can we trust the science?

That is a question only other unbiased scientists can answer. And I'd love to hear from some because, I admit, I wanna believe.

Aczel makes a great case for shallow, inaccurate, and tweaked science being used by the New Atheists. I didn't get the feeling that Aczel is out to get religion. I just felt that he didn't care enough about the religious side of the story to look any deeper. I really wish that someone, anyone, who cared about religion and history had taken a look at this book before it went to press.

I am trusting that Aczel's stated goal of restoring scientific integrity is one that he cares passionately enough about to treat these subjects with integrity about details. After all, his peers are going to be zinging him about this book if they don't agree.

On that basis, I am recommending it as a way to understand the false claims that are being made by people with atheist agendas. As a course in logic, it is superb and that is also a good reason to read it.

NOTE: This was a free review book. I think we can all agree I didn't let that fact influence my review.

Blogging Around: Grab Bag

Here are a few things that caught my eye last week.

As always, I'm counting on you to click through for the whole story and not just depend on these little tidbits to truly inform you. 

The Atlantic slips — somehow — inside mind of Benedict XVI
Not being an Atlantic reader I completely missed a piece they did, “The Pope in the Attic: Benedict in the Time of Francis” but luckily I was able to read about it at GetReligion. They point out it isn't journalism but an essay. And not just any essay but, as GetReligion puts it: "This piece is a love song to all of the Catholics who suffered so much during the terrifying reign of St. John Paul II and his bookworm bully, the future Pope Benedict XVI."

Now you can see why I say you need to read it. I hadn't seen this quote by Peggy Noonan before but it is so wonderfully expressive that it is going into my quote journal.

Do you remember that famous Peggy Noonan quote about Aaron Sorkin’s “The West Wing,” a show for which she served as a consultant?

A reporter once asked me if I thought, as John Podhoretz had written, that “The West Wing” is, essentially, left-wing pornography. I said no, that’s completely wrong. “The West Wing” is a left-wing nocturnal emission — undriven by facts, based on dreams, its impulses as passionate as they are involuntary and as unreflective as they are genuine.

That’s kind of what we are dealing with here, especially in the passages in which essayist Paul Elie all but claims to have read the mind of Benedict, perhaps while driving past his abode (I am not making that part up, honest).

 Fire of the Spirit for Catholic Teens 

This hit my in-box and it looks interesting.

"Fire of the Spirit" is a Catholic teen group devoted to the evangelization and awakening of Catholic teenagers everywhere to the reality of their faith, and the world we live in. Currently, our mission encompasses a bi-monthly e-magazine, and a group Catholic teen blog; all of which is produced "for teens by teens."

An Atheist's Case for Religious Liberty

The oldest rule of free speech is: I may disagree with every word you say, but I will fight to the death for your right to say it. Because if I don’t stand up for you, then by my silence I am accepting a system in which might makes right. I am helping to establish the rule of the jungle in the realm of ideas.

In sum, I’m for religious liberty because there really is no such thing as religious liberty. There is just freedom of thought and freedom of conscience, period. For all of us. And if we let the left knock it down, they are coming for all of us in the end.

Robert Tracinski at The Federalist

As always, it is about conscience and allowing each other the "right to be wrong." Really that book just keeps applying to everything. Via Jen Fitz at Sticking the Corners.

A Public School Bible Curriculum
A fascinating and well balanced story from Religion News Service about a proposed public school Bible curriculum. I'd say one needs this sort of thing just to be literate in timeless, classic literature which has influenced the great authors of Western civilization. And on that mixing religion and government issue? We're covered.

Contrary to popular assumptions, there is nothing unconstitutional about teaching about the Bible in public schools. The same Supreme Court ruling that outlawed school-sanctioned prayer in 1963 qualified that “Nothing we have said here indicates that such study of the Bible … when presented objectively as part of a secular program of education, may not be effected consistently with the First Amendment.”

The key words, of course, are “objectively” and “secular.” Haynes suggested that, constitutionally, “the bar is actually low — I think it’s hard for judges to get beyond the surface to questions of what a sound academic course looks like — but much more difficult to develop materials that actually both reflect constitutional principles and are academically solid.”

It can be done. I'd like to think my reading at Forgotten Classics of Robert Alter's translation of Genesis, requested by an atheist listener, looking at a book of the Bible as literature.

Via GetReligion whose own article about this piece you'll want to read also so you can appreciate just how good the original is at fair and balanced reporting of a touchy issue.

A Better Way to Say Sorry
It's instructional but also inspirational. A must read from cuppacocoa for parents, spouses, employers and employees, for everyone who ever made a mistake and needed to apologize ... so that's all of us! Even if you don't need feel you need work in this area, read it for the inspirational bit toward the end. Via Melanie Bettinelli on Facebook.

Evangelical Poverty, Fasting, and The Foods We Eat
Again from Jen Fitz at Sticking the Corners. A look at uncluttered living, Christian poverty, and the places we choose to spend our money. Like Jen, we're into real food which costs money. Read it all and check out the linked story which started her thinking about the topic. As for me, I'm going to try to lay my hands on a copy of Thomas Dubay's book which she mentions. I'm a fan and this is a topic about which we all need more inspiration.

Speaking of Food ... Our Wacky Dietary Prejudices 
Our attitude to food reflects just how privileged our society is and, in my opinion, just how little of substance many of us have to occupy our days.

This WSJ article about how many people are picking "Elimination Diets" hit a real chord for me. You wouldn't believe how these sorts of food preferences make life harder when doing food prep for retreats. We ask people to tell us if they have allergies. Many wind up telling us their "elimination" preferences as if they were allergies.

In a related piece (again from Melanie on Facebook) from TNation looks at our food fads from the 1980s until now. When you see how the older fads have been disproved, it makes one take a more jaundiced look at the current trends.

Suspect by Robert Crais

Suspect by Robert Crais

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is a book any dog lover will enjoy. That is if they also enjoy thriller/mystery books.

A traumatized police officer and a traumatized war dog (German Shepherd Maggie) help each other get back to full life while working on the case that killed the officer's partner.

This sounds sappy but is not. It occasionally shows the dog's point of view and it is as canine as one could wish. This is nothing like the Rita Mae Brown series where the animals sound like little people talking to each other. Having had to learn something about how dogs think in order to manage a boisterous pack at our house, this book felt really "true."

The mystery is, as many reviewers have noted, telegraphed early on and, frankly, for me that was the least interesting part of the book. However, I appreciated the way that Crais added touches of humanity to characters who usually are handled in a stock fashion. A small time criminal's grief over his brother's death especially comes to mind.

The real story though is that of Scott and Maggie, each equally tough and vulnerable and needing a new pack in order to survive.

I was going to give this three stars but it has stuck with me to the point where I was recommending it to a gentleman who brought his Chihuhua to the grocery store today. I can do no less than give it a star for memorability.

Worth a Thousand Words: A Little Twig

Ein kleiner Zweig (A Little Twig)
painted by Edward B. Gordon

I don't know about such things, but this is practically perfect. Right? I just can't stop looking at it.

Thai Good Stories ...

... these are the ripples we are here to make in the world.



Via my sis on Facebook.

2014 Campbellian Anthology - Free

This has been around since February evidently but I'm just catching on. The good news is that this file is free (and DRM-free) until the Hugo voting closes. So get your copy now at StarShipSofa.

Worth a Thousand Words: Brown Bear

Brown Bear
taken by that photography genius we love, Remo Savisaar

Cognitive Anchoring

Namely, that doodling helped her research subjects remember up to 29% more than non-doodlers. And while doodling and knitting or crocheting are quite different activities, they share one trait: they can easily be done with some level of automaticity.

Take that, everyone who has been in meetings with me, wondering why I was knitting.

Oh, also, since it isn't just about me, just discovered my pal Heather Hutchinson Ordover is writing a book about this.

Read about it at Newsday.

Sign up for advance notice when the book is ready here. I did.

She's been blogging the book as she goes. Not my style. I'll wait until the whole thing is done.

Easter Reading

So we all chatter about what we're reading for Lent. What about Easter? Is there anything joyful, inspirational, informative that seems as if it would be good for the Easter season?

Naturally I wouldn't bring it up if I didn't have at least a couple of ideas. (Links go to my reviews.)

• Conversing With God In The Easter Season by Stephen Binz. Binz brings his wonderful lectio divina guidance to the Easter readings for each Sunday of the season.


• Jesus: A Pilgrimage by James Martin. Martin considers Christ's question to his disciples, "Who do you say that I am?" as we journey with him through the Holy Land.


• In Conversation With God by Francis Fernandez. I've praised this series of daily devotionals before but the Lenten/Easter one may be the best of the group. I find it good for keeping Easter top of mind in daily life.


• The Ultimate Self-Help Book: Dante's Divine Comedy by Rod Dreher. This is an article from the Wall Street Journal but it reminded me that I'd been interested in rereading Dante's masterpiece. I recall finding Purgatorio extremely uplifting. I like John Ciardi's translation, but this time through will be using another so I can compare them.

What else? Leave comments with Easter reading ideas. And please include fiction. None occurred to me, but that just means I'm missing something.

UPDATE
Melanie Bettinelli's comment made me recall this book:

• The Twelve: The Lives of the Apostles After Galilee by C. Bernard Ruffin. I haven't read the whole thing, but the chapters I've read are pretty amazing. 

Well Said: I ask forgiveness ...

I ask forgiveness of anyone I have offended, but especially from those I have not influenced for good.

Blessed John XXIII

That's something good for each of us to keep in mind. It's not enough to be inoffensive. Our vocation is to influence for good, simply through our lives if in no other way.