finding a way

There’s a colleague of mine here, part of the first-year cohort (my cohort), that will slip into our classrooms ahead of time and write “After School Detention” on the chalkboard, and a brief set of classmate names below. This has been annoying my other colleagues, in a “wtf?” sort of way. To me, it’s a […]

impossibility

“Has there been an experience in your life when God helped you do what you felt was impossible?” —Journeying Through Lent with Mark, Greg Weyrauch Just before this, the devotional writer described a day when he had nothing, so drained that he would have lain in bed except for the responsibilities that dragged him on. […]

in defense of idleness

This is not the original essay of the same title by Bertrand Russell and published in the October 1932 issue of Harper’s. That one is much more polished and witty, because Bertrand Russell-! and because I’m going to write this for me more than for any other audience. ** Yesterday had a 4am wakeup, a […]

twenty-six and My Sweetie

It’s rare to find a pop song where the words line up so thoroughly-! My Sweetie:You’re my best rebound, my wonderful “obvious choice” (back then obvious to everyone but me!). And at this point, I’ve spent more of my life with you than without… I am who I am now because you are who you […]

more sleep, more quiet

Type Five EnneaThought® for March 19th Make this Affirmation today: “I now affirm that my life and struggles are meaningful and rewarding.” (Enneagram Transformations, 74) The difficulty I have with this is, perhaps, that quality mentioned in Enneagram literature about Fives seeing clearly. Very, very clearly. So in its form today (substantially less than the […]

bibelots and antimacassars

In my personal life, I have a fairly streamlined life. If you don’t count the books (!) I don’t display a lot of knick-knacks. There’s the owl collection I inherited, but most of the flat surfaces here are available for books and papers to rest on. Which they do! ** Two happy things overlapped this […]

my conversations with me

We have a guest arriving soon-ish to Chez Soques. Tidy-minded as we are, over Thursday night’s dinner we reminded ourselves to make the guest room ready… which I internalized as: finish out the half-projects that got tucked in there. Objects standing in for the projects in play: boxes of books that might go into our […]

i don’t speak Siri

“Siri, what’s the menu at the Mohawk?” “I found a Mohawk Lounge on Red River. Is that the one you want?” “Yes.” “I can call them or give you directions. Which do you want?” “Neither.” “Big Brother is a book by George Orwell. Shall I read it to you?” “No.” “There’s nothing to read!”

you can’t fail self-care

I often find God’s provision odd. This morning I thought I didn’t have enough time before my trainer-workout to dig into homework… and besides, I had no clean underwear in my drawer because it was still in the laundry room. Hey! Laundry is interruptible! So I folded and put away… all the laundry. At the […]

my sanrio life

I’ve hit the kind of behindedness that has me saying, “OK, God, I’m going to do this one next thing. PROMISE ME you’ll worry about all the rest… and right when I finish, tell me the next one next thing!” There’s not much creativity in that much compression. So instead, I will show you the […]