Yesterday, I received from my father-in-law (Hi, Pa Moose!) an annotated catalogue of religious goodies for children. Knowing of my fondness for holy cards and my pedagogical use of cards and games for teaching seminarians, he identified some commercially-produced alternatives to my home-brewed products — then went on to point out the many other, ummm,…
All posts in February 2009
Spam Intelligence
Yesterday I received a notification that someone had left a comment on my “Talk Like A Pirate Day” post from last year, in which I discussed the University of Michigan’s purchase of a print-on-demand bookmaking machine. The title of the post was “Arrr, Another Brick” (sc., “another brick taken away from the wall that separates…
Blancmange and Onions
I’ve loved introducing my children to the quirky neighborhoods in the world of popular music that I admire; each of them has picked up much of what I endorse, and each has overlooked and added selections on her or his own, and that’s part of the delight. Pippa has always been particularly fond of classic…
Spors Unbound
After considerable strain (resulting in some damage to the section), I finally wrenched open my Spors glass-nibbed fountain pen a while back. Only Sunday, however, did I obtain an ink sac suitable (I used a 12mm sac) for the very narrow portion of the section to which the sac is glued. Since the thin-shelled barrel…
Unpleasant Anniversary
Right about this time last year, I heard the news that Seabury was closing down its Master of Divinity program and beginning the process of releasing its faculty. In Monday’s session, my Gospel of Luke class will discuss the parable of the Unrighteous Steward, who — faced with the prospect of unemployment — muses, “I…
Where Infallibility Has Fail’d
Edward Oakes, S.J., gave a talk on “biblical apologetics” yesterday at Duke. Apologetics is not usually a topic of great interest to me, but the modifier “biblical” caught my attention, so I made a point to catch his presentation. In the course of his talk, he pointed our attention to Newman’s Tract 85 and Dryden’s…
Season of Shadow, Shining A Light
Last week, our friend from St Luke’s Church, Abby Imberman, died. He never passed me at the end of a service without asking “How’s your oldest boy doing?” I’d tell him about Nate’s progress through Eastman and Michigan, then sometimes he’d ask, “And the other one?” I’d tell him how Si was doing at Marlboro.…
Thank You Intertubes
In this semester’s Gospel of Luke class, I assign students to bring interpretations of our weekly passages drawn from the history of art and music. This has worked very well, with students bringing thought-provoking images from distant times and lands, along with some contemporary art. I project the chosen image on the screen from my…
Alex And Me
This morning’s Doonesbury — and I’m a shovel-ready New Testament professor….
Branching Out
My business model has not attained the point that I could support myself yet — much less anyone else in the family — but today I posted a sale notice for five Sheaffer school pens I had accumulated this fall, and sold two right off the bat. In hard times, you take accomplishments where you…
Beautiful
Yesterday, Scott Kurtz of PvP comics linked to Yves Bigerel’s “about DIGITAL COMICS,” which picks up a number of Scott McCloud’s ideas and takes them in directions Scott didn’t (well, I’d argue that The Right Number goes there, but the point is that this use of Flash animation isn’t the same as Scott’s “infinite canvas”).…
Redefining Privacy
I have a difficult time imagining who would want to use Bedpost, but I suppose I don’t move in those circles. If even a small number of people post semi-true information there, though, the texture of deliberation about online privacy changes drastically. It’s one thing to know my Social Security number; it’s quite another to…