A few weeks ago, I asked my students to write on the topic of being stuck on a desert island. The questions were simple: what would you bring with you, who would you call (if you could only call one person), and what one song would you listen to (if you could only listen to one song ( Read more... )

As we come out of the art museum, we are surprised to see the concrete patio filled with an expectant looking crowd. The normally empty space has been reconfigured into a makeshift ampitheater. On the stage, a jazz pianist and his band plays softly ( Read more... )

All I find lately is grace, it seems. I can't explain it. I would like to be proud of myself, saying that I am seeking grace. But the truth is, more often than not, I am not seeking much of anything. And yet, before 8:00 on a foggy (thank you for fog!) morning, I wake up to it ( Read more... )

God, who created the sea
Look, in your infinite wisdom, down to us.
Laugh with us
at our stuttering and our silence
We, who worry out our numbered days
While your ocean pushes waves across worlds
Switching rock to sand
Endlessly
Be the God of small things:
Laugh with me.

"pulchritudinous"

Did you know that this word actually means "beautiful" or "full of beauty"? I would never have guessed that.

The english language is so weird.

I wonder who decided that the answer to Starbucks' marketing woes was to slap an uglier, fatter, somehow androgenized mermaid on the front of each cup and drain all color but an unsubtle "coffee" brown, as if to say (or scream in a desperate, Scroogelike gargle): WE ARRRE COFFEE!! WE CARE ABOUT NOTHING BUT COFFEE. WE DON'T CARE ABOUT MERMAIDS. ( Read more... )

I'm suffering from a horrible, hacking cough. The worst part of this whole thing, besides sounding and looking like a child of the coal mines every time I try to breathe in, is that I can't laugh. I just wheeze silently and snort a little bit. It's really tragic. It's like someone just removed the strong part of my voice ( Read more... )

I am watching a koce documentary. A whole lot of frumpy biologists are providing voiceovers, drawing elaborate metaphors between the mating habits of birds and monkeys and the dating and marriage life of human beings. It’s kind of creeping me out…but it’s also weirdly fascinating. Did you know that swans appear to be monogamous but actually sleep ( Read more... )

We don’t want Eden ( Read more... )

But I have spent enough time puzzling over this ( Read more... )