Worth a Thousand Words: Youngster

Remo Savisaar, Youngster

Well Said: The great democracy of the Catholic Church

The Roman Catholic Church was then, as it is now, a great democracy. There was no peasant so humble that he might not become a priest, and no priest so obscure that he might not become Pope of Christendom....What kept government alive in the Middle Ages was this constant rise of the sap from the bottom, from the rank and file of the great body of the people through the open channels of the priesthood.

President Woodrow Wilson, The New Freedom, 1913

Worth a Thousand Words: Spring in Worpswede

Hans am Ende, Spring in Worpswede

Well Said: Private confession and the dignity of the individual

The practice of private confession also burned onto the Western soul a principle that is not native to the other influential civilizations of humanity: that the individual man, woman, or child is above the tribe, nation, state, and collectivity. Because men were willing to spend hours on end, in huge city cathedrals or tiny rural chapels, amid the coldness of winter and the heat of summer, attentive to the woes of both king and beggar, listening compassionately in order "to make known to his people their salvation through forgiveness of their sins, the loving kindness of the heart of our God who visits us like the dawn from on high...to give light to those in darkness, those who dwell in the shadow of death and guide...into the way of peace" (Lk 1:68-79), the concept of the dignity of the individual hit home. It because clear through this one-on-one dialogue that God, through his representative, loved each man as an individual—regardless of race or rank. ... all were equal as they waited for the sacrament, and if someone tried to alter this egalitarian state of affairs, priests were quite capable of calling the violator to order. One such incident from the seventeenth century occurred when a wealthy white lady in Cartagena, Colombia, jumped the queue, going ahead of a black slave, but found that it was all to no avail since the confessor, Father Peter Claver (1580-1654), insisted on hearing the slave's confession first.

William J. Slattery, Heroism and Genius

I really love this book although it is taking me a while to work my way through it.

Weekend Humor: Affirmation

From Despair.com

I was pleased to see that Despair.com is still in there coming up with posters to define our lives. This one, from their 2018 collection, is practically perfect in every way.

More is More: Hannah and Rose discuss robot genomes ...

Hannah & Rose discuss fathers and daughters, robot genomes, and the warning signs that your boyfriend may be too into your age difference as they watch Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014)

Another episode in the Transformers series from my favorite funny podcast. The movie is bad but Hannah and Rose are so good!

Lagniappe: The way bananas divide us

No fruit's ripeness seems to divide people the way that of the banana does. And it is not simply a question of soft or firm. Oh deary me, no, nothing so straightforward. Within the boundaries of soft and firm are further categories, mostly easier to feel than to describe, where the exact level of ripeness becomes almost an art form. Even before we get inside, there are pointers, mostly to do with the level of mottling and about which some aficionados could probably write an essay, if not a short story. The feel of the banana (go carefully here) is crucial. It must yield like fudge, butter, or, for some, be only just short of a smoothie. Some take it even further: their fruit must be the right shape. For heaven's sake. It's a banana.

Nigel Slater, The Kitchen Diaries II

Of course, then Slater goes on to say he likes his bananas almost crisp. So he would get along just fine with Rose and Hannah. Me, I go for some mottling so as to bring out the sugar. But we won't go on and on.

BeGolden - The Creepy Feel-Good Campaign

What's this make you think of?

Maybe a Star Trek visualization of a disease that spreads by touch and turns people into something weird and leaves their world in a state of grim post-apocalypse?

A perfume ad? A fashion ad?

This is part of the same campaign. Maybe a new version of Goldfinger?

I'm leaning even more into the Star Trek disease that morphs you into another creature.

Wrong!

It's a new Dallas campaign to be nice to immigrants! Didn't you get that from the pictures?

I feel as if it might be a Catholic initiative (Pope Francis is mentioned), but to be fair, no one's claiming that.

They don't tell us what to do, though there is a hat we can buy (not yet, coming soon).

But we should definitely be nice. Probably a hug for our immigrants, right? Or maybe a handshake? Definitely some sort of touching based on those pictures, so I'm going with a hug.

That way we can all feel good about ourselves.

Though this strange Star Trek disease makes me really want to lean away instead of lean into the hugging.

Really super creepy. A weird campaign.

Worth a Thousand Words: Gold Mining

Gold Mining, Belinda DelPesco

Well Said: Maps to Mythic Places and the Transcendent

My mind wanders. Maps to mythic places are a metaphor for mankind’s brushes with the transcendent. They are mystical directions that point characters to things that are amazing yet true. They are communication from somewhere else to here, and the conduit is the mapmaker.

What does a person bring to one of these maps? Like the inspired writer of scripture, a person brings himself to the map, and with him comes the transcendent.

I'd never have made the connection between those maps (and who does make them? how are they inspired?), scripture and the transcendent. Worth musing about, especially for those of us who love stories that need maps to Skull Island or Barsoom.

From a piece by Scott Danielson musing on a story about maps, a magic shoppe, and bean counters who want to make myths efficient. Go read it.

Well Said: Dare to speak of man as a living spirit

Our contemporaries need, whether they believe or do not believe, to hear from another perspective on man than the material perspective. They need to quench another thirst, which is a thirst for absolute. It is not a question here of conversion, but of a voice which, with others, still dares to speak of man as a living spirit.

This is from a really unusual speech given by the President of France, who's putting it out there in a way we don't see from politicians much these days. And he's calling on Catholics to do the same: speak up from the heart.

It resonated with me, of course, because that's what happens here and, to a more deliberate extent, what Scott and I do at A Good Story is Hard to Find.

Lagniappe: Non-fiction

Non-fiction? Non-fiction? Listen, reality is what got me into this mess in the first place.

Justin Alcola

Saw this on Goodreads and I have absolutely no idea what the writer's context was. But it makes me laugh. And love my fantasy and science fiction even more.

Where's Julie? Somewhere Zaney ... UPDATED again

 Zanesville, Ohio, that is.

I've got the high privilege of being asked to tell my conversion story on Marcus Grodi's show, The Journey Home.

They asked if I could talk for an hour. Ha! Just goes to show they've never been by here when I've been really impassioned.

I'm going to try to remember to take lots of pics and share them once I get back!

UPDATED
I'm back and it was a great experience. The episode will air on May 14, though I will remind everyone (of course) when it happens.

I will try to post some behind-the-scene photos soon!

UPDATED again
Turns out the episode will actually air on May 21.

Weekend Joke

Something for fellow language lovers.

A linguistics professor was lecturing to his English class one day. "In English," he said, "a double negative forms a positive. In some languages, though, such as Russian, a double negative is still a negative. However, there is no language wherein a double positive can form a negative."

A voice from the back of the room piped up, "Yeah, right."

Worth a Thousand Words: In a Red Dufflecoat

In a Red Dufflecoat, Edward B. Gordon

Lagniappe: The Baby or the Books?

Though I wouldn't go so far as to say that my library — a mere agglomeration of pulp, glue and ink — means more to me than living, breathing human beings, it's a near thing. I'd certainly rescue the baby, not the Mona Lisa, from a burning house. But that baby had better grow up to find the cure for cancer ...

Michael Dirda, Browsings

Almost the perfect quote. Though when it went from books to the Mona Lisa it lost the logic string. But the sentiment works ... and I've got to admit that my "you've got 15 minutes to abandon your house forever" has me, Tom, the dogs ... and then the contents of my "favorites" bookshelf.

Some people have a "go bag."

I've got a "go bookshelf."

And I've had it for a while.

I mean. You've lost your house. Wouldn't you need to read something like The Lord of the Rings or Uncle Tom's Cabin or Jane Eyre? I'm just sayin' ...

Easter Dinner and Green Beans with Ginger

I meant to mention this earlier but we had a lovely Easter dinner with family and friends. One of the best parts for me was pausing from afar a few times to see how everyone was so engaged in conversation, in groups that kept shifting. That's not always the case in big groups where people don't know each other so it made me especially happy to see how much fun everyone was having.

We always have the same basic meal framework of Grilled Lamb, Deviled Eggs (because Easter, of course!), and Potato Rolls. Side dishes vary but this year Tortellini Salad and Hill Country Broccoli Salad won the day. I tried to change it up this year and met with stern opposition. "Lamb is symbolic," said Rose. "And it's the only time we have it all year!" added Tom.

Hey, no problem here.

Dessert is always a changing item, based on my whims of the moment. This year that meant Toasted Coconut Pie and Chocolate Pie. With whipped cream, because what are we - barbarians?

This year, the dish that got the questions and comments was Green Beans with Ginger. It is a favorite of mine and definitely worth the trouble of cutting the beans up in the unorthodox style called for by the recipe. Go take a look and give it a try.

(You can find a lot of these dishes in my recipe archives.)

Worth a Thousand Words: Cherry Blossom Day

Cherry Blossom Day, taken by Calligraphy in Japan

Click through to see this in full size. The beauty fully reflects my joy in this Easter season!

What We've Been Watching: Wilder Fest, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

BILLY WILDER

As I've mentioned before, once we finished watching James Bond films in consecutive order (sigh - I still miss our weekly Bond), we turned to the idea of consecutive Billy Wilder films. The ones he directed, not the ones he wrote before that. We'd like to finish before we die.

We've watched the first four of Wilder's directorial filmography so here's the report on our mini-Wilder-Fest.

The Major and the Minor — A frustrated city girl decides to disguise herself as a youngster in order to get a cheaper train ticket home. But little "Sue Sue" finds herself in a whole heap of grown-up trouble when she hides out in a compartment with handsome Major Kirby and he insists on taking her to his military academy after the train is stalled. Memorable not only as Wilder's debut, but also for the fact that Billy Wilder managed to make the ridiculous plot into a watchable movie. The studio was so surprised it made money that they gave him another movie to direct.

Five Graves to Cairo — The sole survivor of a WWI British tank crew in Africa makes his way to a desolate desert town where he is given refuge by a hotel owner who is preparing to receive General Erwin Rommel and his German staff. Posing as the hotel's waiter, the soldier attempts to report the general's plans to the Allies. A very watchable espionage movie which also has a young Anne Baxter as a French chambermaid and Erich Von Stroheim as Rommel. Wilder and Von Stroheim will work together more memorably in Sunset Boulevard later on.

Double Indemnity — It didn't take long for Wilder to fire on all cylinders. You can't beat this story about an unfaithful wife and an insurance salesman who cook up the perfect murder plot to collect on her husband's insurance. A famous film that I, nevertheless, have to beat people over the head to watch. The screenplay is by Billy Wilder and Raymond Chandler and the dialogue crackles with iconic film noir style. (#10 in Movies You Might Have Missed series. Scott and I also discussed it at A Good Story is Hard to Find podcast.)

The Lost Weekend — The desperate life of a chronic alcoholic is followed through a four-day drinking bout. I'd always managed to avoid watching this Wilder classic which was the first movie to honestly portray alcoholism. Then our Wilder series forced me into it.

It was really great. I have been recommending it to people, not least of all because Ray Milland (who played the clueless Major from The Major and the Minor) showed his acting chops by being absolutely convincing as a full-blown alcoholic who you were somehow still pulling for.

Also, just a month ago I'd actually had an alcoholic give me an identical line to one the popped up early in the movie. Identical. It shouldn't have floored me the way it did. I know from personal experience that alcoholics are not as good at fooling other people as they think they are. The movie's riveting story has more to recommend it than just authentic behavior patterns and I highly recommend it.

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri — Mildred is angry. Her daughter was brutally murdered months ago, but the police have got nothing. She rents three unused billboards just outside town to publicly ask the police chief why more isn’t being done. This film asks us to consider how do we channel anger at an unjust world? Hate, rage, and grief are mixed with hope and chances for redemption.

This movie is violent, funny, and profane ... as well as being perfect Lenten viewing.

Perhaps the best hint of how we should view this film is that near the beginning one character is reading A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O'Connor. O'Connor famously said of her title story, "I have found that violence is strangely capable of returning my characters to reality and preparing them to accept their moment of grace." I'm not saying writer/director Martin McDonagh is Flannery O'Connor but he's definitely channeling her. Three Billboards can be tough to watch but is ultimately rewarding in the end.

Weekend Joke: I'm an Artist