"Take counsel with yourself, beloved, and ask whether you would indeed have me wait until I wither and fall from my high seat unmanned and witless. Nay, lady, I am the last of the Númenoreans and the latest King of the Eldar Days; and to me has been given not only a span thrice that of Men of Middle-earth, but also the grace to go at my will ( Read more... )

From a Catholic clerical friend-of-a-friend:

"His Holiness has really set the bar pretty high when it comes to deciding what to give up for Lent...."

:-)

[Cross-posted at both LJ and DW - feel free to comment at either...]

Interesting article here, on the BBC News website (and interesting cross-section of views in the comments too, some of them more elegantly expressed than others) about a straight UK couple who are petitioning to be allowed to have a civil partnership rather than to get married (at the moment, in the UK, marriage as legally defined is only open to ( Read more... )