Weekly Links: Language, Nerds, History, and more!

My weekly round-up of interesting reading from around the web:

-When my babies were still actually babies, I remember noticing that "ma" meant "mama", "milk", and "more", and that all of those things were pretty much the same thing in their little minds . . . if you've noticed the same thing, you'll probably enjoy this article: "Why the Words for 'Mom' and 'Dad' Sound So Similar in So Many Languages".

-I've heard people talk about "pastor theologians" a lot recently; here's the flip-side: "Pastoral Theologians".

-"We Have Met the Nerds, and They Are Us: Fandom, Fanfic, and the Landscape of Desire". This article goes from cultural phenomena to a Christian insight. I appreciated that, but I think my favorite part was this very clear description of the current zeitgeist:

In the West, and in America especially, we have grown up into a system that prizes desire above all. We all, nerd and non-nerd alike, live in our separate landscapes of desire. And we all have stories to tell, stories of scars and damage. It’s a hallmark of the contemporary West that we all feel like victims, we all feel broken. And we arebroken, but we also want what we want, and who the hell are you to tell me I’m wrong?

-Author Brandon Sanderson is in the middle of a very ambitious writing project - one that spans most of his published work - and I enjoyed reading his thoughts about what he's doing here: "Shadows of Self and the Mistborn Mega-Series".

-Finally, this is a great article that knocks down some old fables about a misunderstood period of history: "How the Middle Ages Really Were".

Weekly Links: Public School, Sex, the Fantastic Four, and more!

My weekly round-up of good reading from around the Web:


"The Public School Parent's Guide to Learning at Home":

Many families do all that we can to foster and nurture learning in the earliest years of a child’s life, as well we should. But when our children begin spending their days in the classroom, we aren’t off the hook! Continuing to build a home where learning is nurtured and valued is one of the best ways we can equip our children for life after graduation.

"We're All Sadists Now": Such an important point:

Yet there is another force at play today ... The belief that our sexual desires determine who we are at the deepest level.  This is somewhat ironic: The age which denies any real significance to sex also wants to argue that sexual desires are of paramount importance to personal identity and fulfillment.  

"The Most Important Scenes from Fantastic Four (As I Remember Them)".  Snort.  A sample from this hilarity:

Ben Grimm: Hey. Anyone else think it’s weird that a high school is doing a science fair, but every single exhibit looks like an elementary school science fair project?
Reed Richards: So basically, science science science. Here, let me steal a toy plane from a kid so I can teleport it for you.
Ben Grimm: Wait a second. Why is there an elementary school kid with an exhibit next to Reed? Is this an all-ages science fair?
Reed Richards: (presses button, plane is teleported). See? Science!
Teacher: Even though I am apparently judging this science fair, I know nothing about science and thus have to assume you used magic to make that kid’s toy disappear. I have to disqualify you, because you are obviously a witch.

Finally, I really, really, really liked Family Life Today's interview series with Rosaria Butterfield. You can listen to the whole thing free. Here are the links:
1) A Train Wreck Conversion
2) What Is Hospitality?
3) What Is Truth?
I've rarely heard anyone so thoughtful, so open and considerate, and yet so thoroughly Christian. Really worth the listen.



Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

Weekly Links: culture, condolences, and more

"The Freakishness of Christianity":

The assumption that evangelicals own American culture and politics has ended. This is good for minority groups, for other Christians, and for those who are still searching. But the radicalness of Moore, who by right of inheritance should be America’s Culture Warrior in Chief, is that he thinks it’s good for evangelicals, too.

"How to Write a Condolence Note": Helpful and kind.



"Ballast":

The first twenty-four hours or so after this potential diagnosis, similar to thelast twenty-four hours after the last lethal diagnosis, I felt like I was on a ship being ferociously tossed by the waves. Rolling this way and that. And all I could do was cling to the side of the boat hoping that it would not go down. Is there enough ballast? Has the truth been buried deep enough within me? Will I survive this storm?

"How to access a million stunning, copyright-free antique illustrations released by the British Library":  wow!


Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

Weekly Links

My weekly round-up of good reading around the web.


"Grace Lee: She Taught Me to See":

Mom taught me, at least a little bit, to begin to look at characters, all characters, on television as people. They did not exist for me, but for themselves . . . even in the story. 

"Passive Aggressive Dissent: It's a Trap":

Seven, tell your story often.  If it is not allowed to trump exegesis, church history, or reason, look sad. Ask why the Evangelical church always shoots her wounded. Don’t consider whether your story might not be enough for millions of people to change their mind.

"How Christianity Invented Children":

Today, it is simply taken for granted that the innocence and vulnerability of children makes them beings of particular value, and entitled to particular care. We also romanticize children — their beauty, their joy, their liveliness. Our culture encourages us to let ourselves fall prey to our gooey feelings whenever we look at baby pictures. What could be more natural? 

In fact, this view of children is a historical oddity. If you disagree, just go back to the view of children that prevailed in Europe's ancient pagan world.

"Kindness and Reasonableness: spread it, because it matters":

I am not anxious today because there is something deeply and particularly wrong with me. I am anxious today because like everyone in the world, life in it sucks my spirit dry now and again. I need to hear the truth over and over, as a corrective to the false promises and threats that are taken in in the air we breathe.

"The Psalms, A Holy WTF?! and Other Thoughts on the Cloister Walk":

The psalms do for us what we often can't do for each other, they let us be honest, and they let us just be. They do not insist that we pull ourselves together, get over it or move on. Their writers aren't uncomfortable or unacquainted with misery. They don't try to minimize it or explain it or tell you it is all for the best.

"Wired Binge-Watching Guide: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine"

Thinking of it as the “dark side” of Star Trek is too reductive—not least because it’s a show that flirts with darkness but purposefully doesn’t embrace it—but maybe “the Star Trek that’s not uncomfortable feeling weird” would fit, instead. It’s the Star Trek for people who don’t think they like Star Trek, and the Star Trek for people who do, as well.

"3 Takeaways From My Recent Trip to Biola": Loved reading this positive take about my alma mater.

"First Things Essay Contest": I know there are some students and moms of students that read here, and I encourage you to take a look at this link - it's a great chance for a Christian student writer to get some experience and exposure!

Weekly Links: good rules for eating, superheroes, and more!

"Simple Rules for Healthy Eating":

It’s much easier, unfortunately, to tell you what not to do. But here at The Upshot, we don’t avoid the hard questions. So I’m going to put myself on the line. Below are the general rules I live by. They’re the ones I share with patients, with friends and with family. They’re the ones I support as a pediatrician and a health services researcher. But I acknowledge up front that they may apply only to healthy people without metabolic disorders (me, for instance, as far as I know).

"Why Comic Book Nerds Hate 'Batman vs. Superman'":

Zack Snyder thinks about comic books the way that Peter Jackson thinks about Tolkien. All he sees are the battles and the fights and is completely blind to the themes and characterization that make those bouts of violence mean anything. 

"In Love with Small Towns: Author Interview with Jill Kemerer": I love reading about the persistence it takes to make it as an author - I find it so encouraging!

"The Power of Confession":

The beautiful thing about testimonies at their best is they're not meant to establish the speaker in a power relationship with the listener. Rather, they're an act of humility. Here is my life, the testimony-giver says. Please find in it your own path toward assurance. And please know that after today, I will go on living; this is not the end of the story.

"80's Free Range Childhood Was Not the Sam as 50's Childhood":

Surely we’ve learned something from the scandals in the church and all the conversations about rape culture and bullies–that abuse thrives where there’s silence and lack of supervision, where popularity is currency, where might is right, where blackmail keeps what happens on the playground on the playground. Children really can be quite naughty left to their own devices. Almost as naughty as grownups.

This article: "Why I Haven't Spoken Out on Gay Marriage Till Now"  and its follow-up, "Why I haven't Spoken Up: More Thoughts", I value particularly because they are from a tradition that is not my own, and take an approach that is different than many I've seen, yet clearly a path taken in both charity and obedience. I don't think I agree with all of it, but I found a lot of food for thought in her words.


Finally, skip this if you don't want the earworm, but this guy definitely has the right idea on how to have fun with singing in your car (love the looks on his friend's face):


Have a great weekend!
Jessica Snell

Weekend Links: A Real Advent, Jesse Trees, Free Coloring Sheet, and more!

Some good reading (and listening!) for your weekend:

"A Real Advent":

According to St. Benedict of Nursia the Christian life should be a continuous Lent. And according to Sts. Wal-Mart, Target, and Starbucks the fall should be a continuous Christmas . . .

"The Ultimate Guide to Making a Jesse Tree": This site really does have a bunch of great ideas for making Jesse Trees - hat tip to Lent & Beyond for the link!

"Come and See" - this is a lovely free printable coloring sheet of a Nativity scene for kids.

"Mere Fidelity: Teens and Sexting": I listened to this podcast the other night and it was brilliant.  Sobering and heartening at the same time. I think I want to listen to it again, because I so appreciated the podcasters very Christian approach to our present culture.

"In Which I Wonder as I Wander":

 I've lately been discouraged by how slowly God works out his will. The evil, the rebellion is so huge. The slaughter of people right and left, the corruption, the illnesses that seem to suddenly carry people away. I wander around the church kitchen and beg God to just do something, anything. But especially for him to do something visible, something that rights all the wrongs in a grand and obvious solution. And then I stand and wait because I don't know what else to do. And then, in the waiting, it becomes clear that God is doing something, has done something, but not the thing I wanted him to do. The seismic movements and changes he is effecting are in the hearts of individual people, me included, and they can't be seen. In the swirling smoke and violence of the world, he buds and produces fruit, in secret, hidden before the tabernacle of the Lord . . .

Links - Lenten prayers, Lenten sonnets and learning to dye (not die! for once!)

Wow, check out this prayer from the Orthodox matins service for the fifth week of Lent:
I am like the man who fell among thieves, O Master of all, for I have fallen among my sins and have been cruelly wounded by them. Yet leave me not without healing, O Lord who camest not from Samaria but from the pure Virgin. Jesus, Name that means salvation, have mercy upon me.
More here.

Over at the Lenten Ascent blog, my friend Elena is not just reflecting on Dante's Purgatorio, she's couching her reflections in sonnet form.
Due to this post, I am now going to be on the alert after Easter for Easter egg dyes at 90% off. Apparently you can use them to dye things other than eggs.
I don't know if Britney Spears does have a mental disorder, or if fame is just really corrosive, but I found this a (mostly) compassionate and thought-provoking essay about her and the odd path her career and life have taken. (Language warning, especially if you venture into the comment section.) I read this and the SAHM-mom-I'm-the-same-age-as-her part of me says, "huh," but the author part tilts her head and says, "hmmm . . ." and starts trying to understand and plots start spinning in my head.*
Now, onto good music stuff, have you heard this woman's voice? She reminds me of Ella Fitzgerald (and the drum+water glasses thing is cool too):

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell
*This might be terrible of me. I realize that.

I might get to a hundred this year!

I just added my latest few reads to my 2010 list, and I realized that I'm coming up on fifty books read so far this year, and it's not even halfway through the year! Maybe I'll get to a hundred this year. That'd be cool.

Here's the list so far, alphabetically by author, save the first entry*:

-The Holy Bible

The Nicomachean Ethics – Aristotle

Love in a Time of Homeschooling: A Mother and Daughter’s Uncommon Year – Brodie, Laura

Winterfair Gifts – Bujold, Lois McMaster

Manalive - Chesterton, G. K.

Boundaries with Kid: When to say YES, When to Say NO, to Help Your Children Gain Control of Their Lives – Cloud, Dr. Henry and Townsend, Dr. John

Beholder’s Eye: Web Shifters #1 – Czerneda, Julie E.

Changing Vision (Webshifters #2) – Czerneda, Julie E.

Living by Fiction – Dillard, Annie

Knight’s Castle – Eager, Edward

How to Learn Any Language: Quickly, Easily, Inexpensively, Enjoyably, and On Your Own –Farber, Barry

The Kitchen Madonna – Godden, Rumer

Princess Academy – Hale, Shannon

Marrying the Captain – Kelly, Carla

Marrying the Royal Marine – Kelly, Carla

-A Devilish Dilemma – Lansdowne, Judith

Learning How to Pray for Our Children

Fledgling – Lee, Sharon and Miller, Steve

Out of the Silent Planet – Lewis, C. S.

The Problem of Pain – Lewis, C. S.

The World’s Last Night and Other Essays – Lewis, C. S.

The British Museum is Falling Down – Lodge, David

For the Children’s Sake: Foundations of Education for Home and School – Macaulay, Susan Schaeffer

Open Heart – Open Home – Mains, Karen Burton

Reduced Shakespeare: The Attention-Impaired Reader's Guide to the World's Best Playwright – Martin, Reed and Tichenor, Austin

Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home and School – Medina, John

The Shape of Mercy – Meissner, Susan

The Host – Meyer, Stephanie

Our Village – Mitford, Mary Russell

Nanny by Chance – Neels, Betty

Bachelorette #1 – O’Connell, Jennifer

-El Dorado: Further Adventures of the Scarlet Pimpernel – Orczy, Baroness

The No-Cry Potty Training Solution – Pantley, Elizabeth

Keeping House: the Litany of Everyday Life – Peterson, Margaret Kim

-One and the Same: My Life as an Identical Twin and What I’ve Learned About Everyone’s Struggle to Be Singular – Pogrebin, Abigail

Reading Like a Writer: A Guide for People Who Love Books and For Those Who Want to Write Like Them – Prose, Francine

Rapture Ready! Adventure in the Parallel World of Christian Pop Culture – Radosh, Daniel

Chapter After Chapter: Discover the Dedication and Focus You Need to Write the Book of Your Dreams – Sellers, Heather

-7 Steps to Raising a Bilingual Child – Steiner, Naomi, M.D., with Hayes, Susan L.

-The Fellowship of the Ring – Tolkien, J. R. R.

The Return of the King – Tolkien, J. R. R.

The Two Towers – Tolkien, J. R. R.

Stardoc – Viehl, S. L.

“What Shall I Say?” A Guide to Letter Writing for Ladies

Family Worship – Whitney, Donald S.

Carry On, Jeeves – Wodehouse, P. G.

A Vindication of the Rights of Woman  – Wollstonecraft, Mary

Definitely some hits and misses, but the good ones this year have been so very good (how could I have let so much time go by without rereading Lewis' The Problem of Pain? It's amazing! Lovely, even). Biggest hits so far were the classics: Lewis, Tolkien, Aristotle, Wodehouse, Orczy, Eager, Chesterton, and Wollstonecraft. But some of the ones that were new to me** were also very good, including Sellers, Pogrebin, Hale, Lee &Miller, Godden, and Faber.  Good year for reading. Such richness! I'm not worthy of it. 

I'm overwhelmed with the fact that I get to read so many good words. 

Does the easy access to literature ever overawe anyone else? It seems like such a blessing to me.

Peace of Christ to you, 

Jessica Snell

*Note: I list books by the year I finish them, not the year I start them (because who knows if you're going to finish each book you start? I certainly don't always finish 'em), so some of these books, including the Bible, were started last year. Also, I count unabridged audiobooks I've listened to on this list.

**Books that were new to me, that is, not necessarily authors.

Craig Ferguson on the "deification of youth"

The more I see of Ferguson, the more I like him. Here's one bit:

"It's AGAINST the LAWS of the UNIVERSE!"  and love his aside about ancient Greece.

"But you know what? that's NOT what you want to be." No kidding.

Anyone else becoming a fan?

peace of Christ to you,

Jessica

p.s. If you want to see some really funny stuff, search the youtubes for his interviews with Ewan McGregor - some of it gets a little vulgar, but the intros and the plane stuff and the Scotland stuff are hilarious.