Joseph Bottum

OK, Sally, so my wife and daughter are still out in South Dakota, staying till the end of the month, and I’m here alone in New York, with no one to act as an anchor, or a drag, or a reality check, and so I just bought for my office some new decorations—stained glass, as it happens: two . . . . Continue Reading »

A cartoon, via the Language . . . . Continue Reading »

Via Jonah Goldberg, the angry mob playset!So many uses for the homeschooling parent![Rating: 50 out of . . . . Continue Reading »

Over at National Review , the urbane Mike Potemra offers a short but entirely accurate paean to James Joyce’s Ulysses . Read it, then read the book . . . . . Continue Reading »

Via Howard Friedman , a report that the high court of South Korea has banned columbariums even in churches when those columbariums—columbaria?—are near schools. The problem is that any reminder of death is “likely to have a negative emotional impact on students.” Negative how? . . . . Continue Reading »

So let’s continue our redecoration of Sally’s House with crosses. The picture I thought I had found of the house yesterday turned out to be her old house; her new one is much lovelier. And lovelier still, will it be, when we’re done?For the living room, we already have a sofa and . . . . Continue Reading »

Let’s see. In our ongoing effort to redecorate Sally Thomas’ house, we have eschewed any concern with taste, color sense, or price. Cruciform alone matters: Everything must be either cross-shaped or decorated with crosses, to fulfill this decorator’s commission.So, thus far, . . . . Continue Reading »

On a whim, I rewatched The Andromeda Strain last night—the old, 1970s version rather than the 2008 remake from Ridley Scott, both based on the 1969 novel by Michael Crichton. Was there ever a popular writer more in love with the gadgets of science—and more suspicious of science itself, . . . . Continue Reading »

So, for decorating Sally’s house, I’ve found a curtain panel:and hanging lights:and a kapok pillow for the couch:Kapok. Kapok. Isn’t that a great word?I think, though, that I’ve reached a limit on how much crossing even a house like Sally’s can stand. Still, I’ll . . . . Continue Reading »

You want a good example of how laws passed in a panicked rush are always bad laws? Read this article from the Washington Post from March, via the Volokh Conspiracy : Legislation passed by Congress last August in response to fears of lead-tainted toys imported from China went into effect last month. . . . . Continue Reading »