Perspective
Once an aging actress told [Abbé] Mugnier, “When I pass in front of my mirror, I cry out, ‘How beautiful I am!’ Is that a sin?” “No,” murmured the abbé, “It’s only an error.” –From…
Be in Love with Yr Chilean Life
Mary Shannon studied with me last year when she was a freshman at SLU. This year she has been in Chile in a program Katie Schlechter and Cheryl Sullivan experienced a while back. Mary just …
Islamic Mysticism and Liberation: Rabi’a, Rumi, and Malcolm X
I am a big proponent of “Share the wealth.” Accordingly, I have asked our friend Kristen Andersen to share her important work on Islamic mysticism and liberation, the subject of her Master’s thesis in theological…
A Request from Haiti
A friend in Haiti asked me to send her the following passage from Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov, and now I want to reread the whole novel again! Later, after getting used to Alyosha, Pyotr Alexandrovich…
The Wedding—
with its three major conflicts brewing (“you’re on my side, aren’t you?”) and seven minor ones simmering (“he was a loser then, he’s even worse now”) the bride’s burning eyes (“there’s only one way to…
I Blame Jonathan Richman
I had to take out A restraining order On “that summer feeling” It’s been haunting me
At My Wake, Someone Will Hear Someone Else Say…
“He was always telling me to share my writing…” “You, too? He said that to me, like… weekly!” “Weekly? He’d badger me daily for a fortnight until I gave up.” “He was relentless.” “Verdad. Yep,…
Some People Are Relentless
Tomorrow may I come over to Sophia House Borrow your notebook Take it to my house Copy the pages you wrote And read to me at NW Coffee (Saturday 21 April) Return to Sophia House…
If This Is It, Then What Is It?
Three writing topics proposed by Sara Rendell: 1. If this is it, then what is it? 2. Dear Internal Critic, You Have 15 Minutes before I Ignore You 3. Something that surprised me today “If…
American Classics: Emma Goldman
Dear Friends, This month for our American Classics Reading Circle, we will explore Emma Goldman’s essay “Patriotism: A Menace to Liberty.” It is available on-line here. We meet on Wednesday 23 May and begin with…