Happy US Independence Day!  Here's the podcast of NPR's traditional reading aloud of the Declaration of Independence.  Here's the Constitution on archives.gov, in its "Charters of Freedom" section.  And here are links to five renditions of "The Star-Spangled Banner," the earliest from 1915.

Here it is!  I'd begun worrying whether we'd get Dave Barry's annual New Year's column, but apparently it's merely scheduled for January 2 instead of January 1.  The first newspaper to load its Sunday edition this Saturday afternoon is The Boston Globe, so they win the link.  Excerpt:

Let’s put things into perspective: 2010 was not the worst ( Read more... )

I've been, overall, as frugal as I could manage this year.  I have consequently bumped into many interesting discoveries (the couponing subculture, gracious!) and some unintended side effects (oatmeal is cheaper than Cheerios, and tea than diet cola ( Read more... )

I am now officially embarking on my first four-day weekend since Thanksgiving.  (Many people got four-day weekends in December, and I'm afraid I'm still not quite entirely over being refused my request then.  I have over two weeks vacation banked.)  The continuity of the time-off is very important.  Four whole days in a row!  Granted, many ( Read more... )

The Incarnation: God's "rescue raid into history."  --- Garry Wills, What Jesus Meant (2006 ( Read more... )

Scientific American has a fun little feature up on the science of Thanksgiving, agglomerating twelve different articles from years past on subjects from wild turkeys to cranberry antioxidants to the effects of thankfulness on exercise motivation to the comparative cost of a traditional Thanksgiving meal.

Happy Easter!  Yes, I know that it's not yet even midnight in my time zone, but I'm home from the vigil mass already -- I guess this is what happens when Easter, and thereby sunset on Holy Saturday, even with the help of early Daylight Saving Time, comes so once-in-two-centuries early, and you have only two adult baptisms besides -- and of course ( Read more... )

I've been planning this post all week, but it looks like leela-cat and batdina answered pre-emptively and rather spectacularly ( here and here).  Good for them, and many more!  Which is not to say they can't answer this post, too ( Read more... )

Not that anyone is likely to forget, but it's Primary Election Day in 24 states and overseas (D-expats), and Mardi Gras everywhere.  I will be voting for Senator Obama today, and I'll be offline tomorrow.  (If you need me on Wednesday, please phone.)

We've got a Dave Barry Year in Review!  This is the first one in several years.  Oh, happy new year!  This is what one wants to read over breakfast on New Year's Day.

A very few selected tidbits: ( Read more... )