All posts in November 2009

I haven’t forgotten you; I just had a very busy run-up to the Society of Biblical Literature meeting, was busy at the SBL (presented two papers, chaired three sessions, various committee meetings, etc.), then came back to a challenging metabolic shift and a stack of essays that awaited marking. I’m on the verge of finishing…

As I’m giving a talk Monday afternoon about the relation of theology to rock music, it’s only fitting and appropriate that I forestall workin on it by putting together a playlist of the kinds of song that particularly interst me as a theologian. I’m ruling out U2 and Bruce Cockburn at the outset, not out…

Chris Corrigan (Hi, Chris! It’s been too long) tweeted a link to Jeff Ely’s blog, where he describes how his students devised a new twist on playing Scrabble: open bidding for letters. Sounds intriguing.

D’you know of whom I want to see more in this concluding season of LOST?   Mr. Eko.   I’m tired of Jack and Locke and Ben, Kate’s beginning to wear on my nerves, and many of the rest of the islanders have worn out their welcome — but Mr. Eko had a strange backstory,…

Lucy Knisley gets it just right: Books are precious and wonderful, but it’s the wrong idea to try to smother the digital baby in its crib — that only makes for vengeful survivor-adolescents, and it’s bad for the soul of the smotherer. Digital texts offer advantages that print media don’t. We should be concentrating on…

The NPR Fifty Top Recordings of the Aughties series covers a great deal of excellent music, calls to my attention some items I had neglected, and (of course) omits plenty that I’d have included. As is always the case, the point of a Top X list is to get readers arguing among themselves, so have…

This morning, I hurried downtown to meet with the Dean of the Diocese of Glasgow and Galloway (the episcopal see is vacant for now, and the diocese is led by the Dean, who is not (as in US polity) the “rector” of a cathedral, but is a senior cleric in the diocese; the cathedral’s senior…

In this week’s Sesame Street video voting, Kermit’s “Bein’ Green” should be a lock to walk away with honors, but I was never that crazy about it. Second place will go to “Rubber Duckie”; I think I have to cast my vote for Ernie, though it’s tough to bypass the earworm “What’s The Name of…

Most of my relatives are gathering in New Haven this afternoon to pray and sing, to remember and give thanks for my aunt, Isabelle Tuttle DeWitt. My feet are planted squarely in Scotland, but my heart aches to be with my family at Trinity Church on the Green: to recall my elegant, dry-witted, steadfast, generous…

At the mid-class break this afternoon, one of my students said, “When I was reading the Mishnah at lunch time — as one will do — I noticed….”   That was great, and I thanked her for making my day. Then she continued, “I noticed the saying, ‘Laughter and levity lead to lewdness.’ ” That…

I’ve been to two cleaners in my neighborhood already, and neither of them offered the option of starching my collars and cuffs. What’s with that?