Sally Thomas

Nothing says memento mori like a human skull. Saint Jerome never appears without one, and neither should you.Now you, too, can give the gift of awareness of human frailty and the transience of life for the great bargain price of $12.50, thanks to our friends at American Science and Surplus. This is . . . . Continue Reading »

I was looking for a crucifix to hang on the wall above my desk. It never occurred to me that this would be a difficult thing to find.Now, honestly. I can’t decide what I think is stranger: the head of Christ growing out of the bark like some kind of miracle knothole apparation; the Crucifixion . . . . Continue Reading »

The other day I mentioned that a blog called Semicolon was hosting a favorite-hymns survey. As it turns out, the people at PopularHymns.com have already compiled one. Hymns are listed alphabetically; click on any title for words, audio clips, histories and author bios. Guess I know what I’ll . . . . Continue Reading »

So why don’t we talk about lanyards? Here, to my left, are some.Yep, lanyards. That’s what those are.Lanyards.Yep. Oh. I see some more over there.Those are lanyards, too.I think they say the same thing the others do, only the letters are closer together. And these don’t seem to . . . . Continue Reading »

Or, if there’s a problem, it’s time to redefine “problem.” At least, that’s what this piece from the New York Times’ “Room for Debate” blog suggests: The recently released study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention points out that the . . . . Continue Reading »

At that place where language dead-ends into incredulity . . . At thesignpost marking the intersection between metaphor and meta-folly . . . At the universal crossroads where icon meets curiosity . . . . . . stand these two Madonnas from the Museum of Bad Art.Be sure to visit their gift . . . . Continue Reading »

From Semicolon , a call for favorite hymns: Hymn (according to Webster): a song of praise to God a metrical composition adapted for singing in a religious service. For the purposes of this poll, I’m limiting the choices to Christian hymns, but the form of the song doesn’t matter. In . . . . Continue Reading »

I am an uninspired gift-giver at the best of times. If I gave you a little purse hand-knitted by my daughter for Christmas last year, odds are that by next Christmas I’ll have forgotten all about it, and you’ll get the same thing again, though perhaps in a different color.Graduations are . . . . Continue Reading »

Well, it is that time of year. And lately we’ve been seeing these buses roll through town: up Main Street, past the carp-juice shop and what used to be the ice-cream store but is now another purveyor of distinctly frilly antiques, around the courthouse square, and off into the blue and distant . . . . Continue Reading »

Our family’s devotion to Our Lady of Perpetual Accommodation long predates our reception into the Catholic Church. After moving to England, for example, with two children and some of our earthly belongings and bridges burned behind us and no place to live, and subsequently landing in the best . . . . Continue Reading »