19th
May 2013
A few months ago, my Herbalist folded her hands in her lap and looked at me meditatively. I have been going to her for fourteen years, so I knew something hefty was going to be lobbed at my head. I braced myself. “Let’s talk about your anxiety.” Oh. That. “And how you don’t sleep.” I examined the ceiling. “Well, we’ve tried everything I can do for you, but we need to do something different. You’re getting worse. You know it, and I know it. And...” ... (Continue reading)
My brother got married this past weekend, and in his speech my dad recounted the story of when Tom and his best friend, having time to kill on a Friday night, ended up soaking golf balls in gasoline, lighting them on fire, and whacking them across a field with a golf club. In the process, Tom somehow ended up lighting himself on fire as well. Fortunately, since they weren’t total idiots, the boys had embarked on their project in the middle ... (Continue reading)
I don’t know what it is about women, but most of us tend to find relationships utterly fascinating. Get some girls together, and regardless of where the conversation starts, it usually ends up in a discussion centering around interactions between the sexes. In some ways, I find this truly bizarre. I have absolutely brilliant friends in every field imaginable. We could be talking about politics, or investments, or law, or history, or medieval literature, or classic languages, or psychology, or philosophy, ... (Continue reading)
One day years ago, while channel surfing, I came across a news story about a woman who became a man, and had decided to have a child. Because he still had the reproductive organs of a woman, he was able to accomplish bearing a child, while looking, in every other observable way, like the masculine creation he had engineered himself to be. (Side note: it was not a pretty picture. Just from an aesthetic point of view, something about the ... (Continue reading)
I know everyone’s doing it, but I need to talk about the Pope. I don’t want to talk about conspiracy theories. I don’t want to talk about streets running with blood and the fact that this is somehow the possible fulfillment of the Third Secret of Fatima. I don’t want to address the fact that the Pope MUST be hiding something since old age and infirmity can’t really be a valid reason for bowing out from under the weight of ... (Continue reading)
While cycling through my blogroll the other day, I ended up being linked to an an article in The Telegraph. It starts out with quite a bang: A friend’s daughter recently started at a highly regarded boarding school. When her mother asked how she was enjoying the mixed-sex environment, the girl said quietly: “You have to give the boys oral sex or they get cross.” Reeling with shock, the mum protested that her darling daughter did not have to do ... (Continue reading)
In August of 2011, I was having a long, deep, interesting conversation—the type women often do–about my deal breakers for a dating relationship. No Long Distance (I can’t handle that). No one who is not a native English speaker (I can’t DEAL with people butchering my language). No Latin types (They are TOTALLY untrustworthy. Let's face it, he would probably have about twenty dozen mistresses stored in a closet somewhere. Obviously. Because that’s the way they are. Obviously). I’m not kidding. ... (Continue reading)
A few weeks before Christmas, as I was working on something across the room from him, my boyfriend decided he was going to get some of his Christmas shopping done online. Two minutes later, this happened: “Mary, I need to ask you something.” I was almost done my project, and my OCD personality wanted to finish before moving on to something else. “Just give me five minutes.” Siiighhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh of death and dying. “Fine.” Two minutes later: “Are you done yet? I really need to ... (Continue reading)
A few months ago, a girl I know was struggling with the question of whether she, a Catholic, should continue dating her non-Catholic boyfriend. At first it seemed like an easy answer: your faith forms you and your view of the world and your relationship to the world and everyone in it. Of course you want to share that with the person who you love best of anyone. Is there really any point in being in a relationship if you can’t ... (Continue reading)
Last autumn I was in Greece. I spent three months living on the Peloponnese, retreating from the world as I knew it, wandering through olive groves inhabited by feral dogs and bearded, disturbingly terrifying goats. I am not exaggerating when I say that it was one of the best decisions of my life and one of the most amazing experiences I have ever had. I had intended to make my little cottage a home base for all sorts of Grecian travels. ... (Continue reading)
Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter. - ...
Several years ago, when I was working on a community theatre project, I overheard two little girls having ...
My friend blogged the other day about how her boys, when allowed to have whatever they want for ...
He gently leads his dad down the aisle. Mass is about to begin and he knows it will ...
"Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go ...
A few months ago, my Herbalist folded her hands in her lap and looked at ...
My brother got married this past weekend, and in his speech my dad recounted the ...
I don’t know what it is about women, but most of us tend to find ...
One day years ago, while channel surfing, I came across a news story about a ...
I know everyone’s doing it, but I need to talk about the Pope. I don’t ...
While cycling through my blogroll the other day, I ended up being linked to an ...
In August of 2011, I was having a long, deep, interesting conversation—the type women often ...
A few weeks before Christmas, as I was working on something across the room from ...
A few months ago, a girl I know was struggling with the question of whether ...
Last autumn I was in Greece. I spent three months living on the Peloponnese, retreating ...
At the bank a few years back, my friendly teller and I were chatting in ...
In many ways we live in an age of “feeling.” If we feel something—anything—we show ...
Like many people, I have a love affair with old churches. I lived in Rome ...