I picked perhaps the worst (best?) time of my life so far to read Vindication of Love by Cristina Nehring, considering her position is that romance is dead in the modern world-“romance” being distance, pain, humiliation, sexual frustration, sexy fights, etc.-and that we need to reclaim it. Her examples of real romance include adolescent folly ( ( Read more... )

Camping this weekend was good for me, in many ways.

The stereotypical ones: Getting out of a city to breathe clean air. Feeling awe at seeing the stars. Being so exhausted that I actually slept through the night. (No dreams, no apnea-I don’t think I even moved.) Breathing in a campfire, and having the smell stay in my hair. Getting sun.

Unique ( Read more... )

The conundrum of loving a writer's work but hating them personally still isn't resolved for me.Apparently, Flannery O'Connor was a gay-bashing racist.

All of my pillows and blankets have been moved to Ripon, so I've been sleeping straight up on the bumpy living room couch this whole Milwaukee weekend. But I've been so busy and so thoroughly worn-out that it hasn't been a problem at all ( Read more... )

It's been fascinating to be in California for an uber, UBER Catholic wedding during the same week the state began issuing same-sex marriage licenses ( Read more... )

What an up and down day.

Set my alarm wayyyy too early this morning because I had to print out a History project, so I gave myself an extra half hour... I was 15 minutes early for my 8 a.m. class, shudder.

Oi vey: Today the class discussed Islam: The Straight Path by John Esposito, which is a fabulous introduction and explanation for non-Muslims ( Read more... )