30?

And this is why I'm glad not to be in my twenties anymore.

Microwave politics.

See, I just use the "add minute" button exclusively. Or I did, when I owned a microwave.

rhetoric, church politics, and a pendulum swing.

So I read this in America Magazine (the cryptically-named Jesuit publication) this morning.

The bishops have been most effective in influencing public policy when they have acted as pastors, trying to build consensus in church and society, as they did in their pastorals on nuclear war and the economy. The American public is uncomfortable with an overt exercise of political muscle by the hierarchy. Catholics, too, have proved more responsive to pastoral approaches. They expect church leaders to appeal to Gospel values, conscience and right reason. They hope bishops will accept honorable accommodations and, even when provoked, not stir up hostility. In the continuing dialogue with government, a conciliatory style that keeps Catholics united and cools the national distemper would benefit the whole church.

Ahhh, dialogue. I mean, read Obama's revision/clarification/accommodation announcement and tell me he's not winning the rhetoric game. He knows what he's talking about. He's offering a compromise. We're going with the doctors on this one.

And that line about how the US Bishops were effective before, "in their pastorals on nuclear war and the economy" - actually, and coincidentally, we read some of "The Challenge of Peace" [pdf] from 1983 in my class this week. It's lovely.

The experience of preparing this letter has manifested to us the range of strongly held opinion in the Catholic community on questions of fact and judgment concerning issues of war and peace. We urge mutual respect among individuals and groups in the Church as this letter is analyzed and discussed. Obviously, as bishops, we believe that such differences should be expressed within the framework of Catholic moral teaching. We need in the Church not only conviction and commitment but also civility and charity.

Right? And then take a look at, oh, everything that's happening at the USCCB right now. Can you imagine them urging mutual respect and discussion about insurance coverage of contraception?

Yeah, me neither. It's interesting to note the changes Church politics in the past 30 years.

I want the pendulum to swing again.

wherein i am right sometimes and wrong sometimes.

So I was wrong about SVU not surviving without Eliot. But you know why? Because I was only beginning to realize how awesome Olivia is. (I do miss him, though.)

I did have a bad Hulu Plus moment when I was like, oh! I want to watch an episode of SVU! How abouuuuut... the most-watched one! And Hulu was like, oh, it's last week's episode. Because more and more people are watching online, I guess. But go for the best-rated, guys. I recommend it. (Of course, it's "Doubt." That episode is the most amazing of TV ever. Maybe.)

Also, I feel like I was just talking about this - "You think I'm reading your mind... but really, I'm just reading your blog."

Overheard at the bus stop.

"Patagonia is, like, J. Crew to North Face's Gap."

Ahh, I think you mean The North Face, preppy post-college kids. Conversations like these always remind me of my suburban high school days.

But those kids turned out to be cool when I dropped my cookie sheet on the bus. "Oh, at least there weren't cookies on it! That's what I was worried about!" It was a nice moment of everyone looking at me (heyyy, attention!) - at least, a nice moment of quasi-community on the bus. A friend and I had a difference of opinion today on riding a crowded bus, and I'm not saying that I love standing on a moving bus or anything, but I think the extrovert in me can't hate being surrounded by so many people.

So, I LOVE THE INTERNET. And if you want to know why, well, it has a lot to do with why I like talking to strangers on the bus. Read "Plug In Better" for a little bit of it.

P.S. Did you know that Mr. Darcy's income, in today's terms, would be SIX MILLION DOLLARS A YEAR? I feel like I don't quite understand these things in old-timey pounds. And, Austen fans, please go immediately to Men of Austen.

"The object of love is the best and most beautiful."

As I read this link to a letter on love from John Steinbeck to his son, I first thought of a friend waving his arms in distress at East of Eden being chosen for Oprah's book club and exclaiming, "It's GOOD because it's by JOHN STEINBECK!" (His edition of the book, regrettably, had an Oprah logo. That's not why it was good.)

Then I thought about trading favorite books with another friends (which everyone should do, with all their friends), finally reading East of Eden, and realizing that Steinbeck really knows something about love and life and other things I don't know much about.

And he does. Incidentally, he also sounds like a really good dad.

Hear, hear. Also, read.

Here it is - "No More E-Books vs. Print Books Arguments, OK?"

So Jonathan Franzen hates e-books. JONATHAN FRANZEN. Seriously? Dear Jonathan Franzen, I read Freedom. I read it more than once. I don't like hearing so much about bodily functions but you got women's sports right and wrote about my generation in a way that works. I liked it. But it is a MILLION PAGES LONG. I need an extra-large purse to carry it on the bus, it falls on my head when I try to read it in bed, and also, the bird's eye on the cover is a hologram. I think I'd enjoy reading it on an e-reader just fine.

I have a lot of books. People make fun of me for owning them. I don't have an e-reader, but I have been known to read on the Kindle for iPhone (which is also, apparently, hilarious). But e-books! Some of them are free! They're searchable! They have dictionaries and things in them! You can hold all of them at once! And if you hate them, read a real book, because you DO get to choose. It's the modern experience.

Here's the thing. Something about the e-book hatred has been bugging me, and I finally figured out what it is. It reminds me, I think, of when people refused to get cell phones in 2004. If you think they're annoying or keep you too connected, don't get one. Or turn it off and leave it in the car. Or use it in moderation. But some people around you are going to have them and like them, and they're apparently here to stay, and I don't think we can deny that they're a convenience for many people for a reason. (And, friends, I love you and admire your principles, technological or not, both now and in 2004.)

So - let's choose our own reading adventures and enjoy that people are reading, okay?

horses and drama.

This Illustrated Review of War Horse is, yes, hilarious and charming in the way of Hyperbole and a Half - it was Linda Holmes's "what's making me happy this week" on this week's Pop Culture Happy Hour (which, guys, are you listening?) and it's great, besides the fact that I'm behind the times on this. And also, I consume wayyyy more pop culture commentary than I do actual pop culture. Not sure if that's a good or bad thing.

Anyway, the best thing about that piece is that it reminds me of Greg's Barbaro Responds to Fans, but I might be biased, since Greg is a real life friend.

I've been watching Dawson's Creek for the first time. I've been watching it all in a row, which has led me to a discovery about predictable network dramas. I keep saying things like, "When is Joey going to date her professor?" and "YESSS closeted gay storyline is here!" (although, to be fair, i thought it was going to have a happy ending) and "Wait, Audrey and Pacey haven't hooked up yet?" I'm not a super prediction machine usually, but watching [a certain number of] seasons in [a certain amount of time]? Kind of revealing about the story arc.

Hulu always asks me if I want to share my watch history with friends. And I'm always like, ABSOLUTELY NOT.

The work of choosing.

This is the best thing I've read this year. Maybe longer, since it's the first week of January and all.

But if you've really learned how to think, how to pay attention, then you will know you have other options. It will be within your power to experience a crowded, loud, slow, consumer-hell-type situation as not only meaningful but sacred, on fire with the same force that lit the stars - compassion, love, the sub-surface unity of all things.

David Foster Wallace via the Hairpin, on a post that mentioned "the work of choosing," which I originally thought was going to be what my mom calls "picking your battles," but is something a little different. The Hairpin post (and the linked previous one about setting boundaries) are pretty much nice life goals, too.

Remember when Thomas Merton asked, how do you tell people they are walking around shining like the sun? Well, here's the question. How do you choose to notice that people are walking around shining like the sun? This is the work of knowing who we are. Ah, adult life.

"I want you to help me catch a killer of women."

[crazyintense lisbeth salander eyestare]

remember? from the trailer?

so yeah, saw girl with the dragon tattoo. it's good. and keep in mind that i also saw the swedish version of the movie and read the book, um, more than once. so there you have it.

[SPOILERS]

points:
1. daniel craig is extra craggy, as usual. very nice choice.
2. remember when people were saying that rooney mara wasn't going to be able to look like lisbeth, and casting her was shallow and hollywoody and stuff? they were wrong about that. she's perfect.
3. stellan skarsgard is creeeeeeeeeepy. but genial. kind of like in good will hunting, right? my movie companion and i agreed that he gets point for actually being swedish, and i'm not sure how his character would have come across if i hadn't already known he was the worst of creepers. but really, nice casting.

worth a watch if you liked the book. although! remember what the book is about? it's super disturbing and you need to know that before you see it. i've been through this several times with several people. you know what this movie is going to be about. don't see if it you don't want to.

that said, points for faithfulness to the story. the beginning (libel trial, millennium in trouble, relationship with erika) is fast - maybe too fast, if you didn't know the story. they left out his jail time (because why was that necessary, really) and his relationship with cecilia, and they added a random comment on swedish history and nazis, i guess? but otherwise, very nice job with the plot.

I couldn't decide...

... which one of these new and improved book titles I liked better.

(The Scarlet Letter)

(Billy Budd, Sailor)

Spent a good long time looking at Better Book Titles, though.

Validation.

How have I never seen this video before? It's a short film, really, but worth a watch. Not just because I love T.J. Thyne, either.

Romance! I mean, social commentary.

just kidding. this is the jane austen comic i've been looking for.

Nice.

Like seventeen people on the bus just pointed out empty seats for me.
I'm either going to ride this bus or wear this dress more often.

"Yesterday, my life's like, uh-oh, pop quiz..."

"... today, it's like, rain of toads."

Or, today it's like, SPRING BREAK. I'm experimenting with having
absolutely nothing planned for a day. It's weird.

So, I decided to begin my Buffy obsession today. Stay tuned.

"I want to be governor, but I CAN'T."

Okay, I love this kid.



And this follow-up, via Jezebel - as they say, it's basically what you'd expect when you have a press conference with two four-year-olds.

El numero uno.

Okay, this is very cool. (Click the picture to see the artist's site, and the responses.)


Via PostSecret (which is almost always moderately NSFW - you never know when there's going to be a naked secret).

I was hanging out with one of my favorite babies (who is now a walking-talking type of baby) last week and talking about why we don't want to eat mantequilla off the table, and I mentioned to her parents that I learned how to say "butter" in Spanish from this Sesame Street skit...


"Excuse me, it's time for me to do my singing and dancing waiter part."

I was shocked, shocked I say, to hear Sesame Street is getting rid of Grover. Can you believe it, guys? And I knew I was with a psychology nerd slash dad when he snarked, "Yeah, they're getting rid of all the characters with a negative affect." Negative affect, indeed. I loved this skit when I was a kid because, even as a kid, you're in on the trick - if he just puts the food on the table first, he won't drop it. Said friend likes this skit because it's okay when Grover messes up.

Procrastinating ninjas will get you.

It's going to be all ironic (or whatever) when you read this long, informative article about procrastinating. You're welcome.

Hat tip to the friend who posted this on FB, via GLSEN:

If you think that me allowing my son to be a female character for Halloween is somehow going to ‘make’ him gay then you are an idiot. Firstly, what a ridiculous concept. Secondly, if my son is gay, OK. I will love him no less. Thirdly, I am not worried that your son will grow up to be an actual ninja so back off.

Nicely said. Especially the part about the ninja. We're still making fun of my brother for telling his preschool teacher, "When I grow up, I want to be a Power Ranger." His preschool teacher recorded it on the back of an ornament he made, and we unpack it every Christmas. He is not currently a Power Ranger.

Playoffs?!

Freakonomics blog is asking for recent sports quotations. Don't worry, my favorite one was the fifth comment.

Jim Mora, then-coach of the Indianapolis Colts, when asked about his team making the playoffs: “What’s that? Ah — playoffs? Don’t talk about — playoffs?! You kidding me?! I just hope we can win a game!”

It's just applicable in so many situations. Including right now, when I AM talking about playoffs.

GameCast on ESPN has this new (?) thing with statistics. It's like, "Chances of scoring 1+ runs this inning (2 outs, bases empty): 8.56%." It goes perfectly with tonight's new Simpsons (MoneyBART is the name of it), in which the nerds tell Lisa that baseball is all about statistics. And then then have a predicted winner. And it looks like there's a 91% chance I'm about to be one game closer to losing a bet on my Reds...

anything is possible when you smell like a monster.

okay, guaranteed you will think this is awesome [FRB says, to the entire internet].



i'm on a horse. [moo!] cow.