Translating yourself

Two arts and artist and creative types-related books. Both linked over there on the sidebar. Of course I had to read The Story of Charlotte’s Web.  My mother was a children’s librarian for a short while and had a theory about Charlotte’s Web. She hypothesized that one of the reasons for the book’s appeal was [...]

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Pretzels that aren’t hard

    Made soft pretzels the other night. This recipe.   It would be very simple even for someone with no experience with yeast baking.  And – if you’ve ever watched the show at your local mall pretzel shop,  you’ve probably got the rolling,  stretching and shaping technique down pat already. Those in the photo are [...]

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Painting the Pope

Very nice interview with Ann Engelhart at Ignatius Insight today: Though watercolor is considered by many to be a difficult medium to control, its unpredictability can yield felicitous results. The effect of the incense smoke rising from the thurible in a painting in “Friendship With Jesus” is something that lends itself to the loose, wet [...]

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Permissible

“You okay with that? You accept?” “No.” “About time.” “I’m pretty much agnostic at this point in my life. But I find atheism just as hard to get my head around as I find fundamental Christianity. Because if there is no such thing as cosmic justice, what is the point of being good? That’s the one [...]

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Fearless

  Through Christ we can truly succeed and, established in him, we give wings to our freedom. Is this not the great reason for our joy? Isn’t this the firm ground upon which to build the civilization of love and life, capable of humanizing all of us? Dear friends: be prudent and wise, build your [...]

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Success

Blueberry Coffee Cake (My only change was substituting Turbinado sugar for the brown sugar on top – it’s crunchier.) Also this week: I made this Mexican Braised Beef. Phenomenal.  Next time I will add one more poblano – but it was rich and amazing – with just one more very interesting added layer being the [...]

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Anno Jubilaei

Travel poster  (not sure the source – Church? Italian government?) for the 1950 Jubilee. Found at David Pollack Vintage Posters.

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Another brick n’ mortar bookstore closed…

….mine!   (That would actually be a wood frame bookstore – but let’s not get wrapped up in technicalities.)   Yeah, so I decided to stop selling books online from my house. Not a big deal – it’s just not worth the hassle of maintaining stock, packing up orders and standing in line at the [...]

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