American Christianity’s War with Itself
“Who do people say that I am?” Jesus asks, and everyone has a different answer. King, prophet, peasant, rebel, son, shepherd, rabbi, redeemer—to this day, Jesus is what each of us needs him to be.
Society & Culture
How to Love Past Reason
Irrational ramblings and outbursts need not get in the way of love.
Comrades Seek Like-Minded Experts
I stressed I was not interested in joining their group but would like to write about their outdoors training, if they would let me, or else we could just say we had had a nice lunch, and I would go on my way.
The Marital Coffee War
“Coffee, Brown”
Our morning habits,
For Each of us,
A pot brews
Poured over,
Estranged
~a contribution by Andy, in the comments section
In his New York Times column, Judge John Hodgman fielded an…
Cross Words at the NY Times
A few weeks ago, the Sunday New York Times crossword was printed with an error. Mistakes had been made before, but in eighty-four years of cruciform puzzles, this was the first all-out disaster. The error meant that the clues and squares did not line up; the puzzle could not…
Tales of the Bottle
Not since Prohibition has there been such a strong and widespread public warning. It feels a little odd.
The Dark Side of Gold
Chuck away all the awards and trophies? Absolutely.
Thin-Skinned
“Ach! Don’t do that!” The dog dropped his paw, dismayed by my sharp tone. For years he has swiped my arm to get my attention, wangle a treat, stop me from overwork. Now—seemingly overnight, right after my sixty-fifth birthday—my skin has thinned to tissue paper, and his toenails cause…
How Lego Surfed Trends in Play to Become the Crime That Pays
A brush-up on the toy company’s history points to one simple corporate marketing decision on which this strange trend in crime rests: the death of child’s play, and the rise of adult hobby obsession.
Painted Ladies (Et Alia)
“Honey, you look sick without it,” my mom informed teenage me. Gentle and loving, she was hardly ever that harsh. But she was caught in the cult of femininity, and she wanted to make damned sure her daughter understood the need for artifice.
I would like to say…