“If Adam and Eve can’t make it work in Paradise, how am I going to
make it work in Lewisham?”
~ Sara Pascoe (May 22, 1981 -)
~ Sara Pascoe (May 22, 1981 -)
The moral danger of reading a novel. We give authors enormous — potentially diabolical — power to shape our ideas, our politics, our selves ...
This physicist has a groundbreaking idea about why life exists Business Insider
Advice from An Old High Tatra Gural
1247 ... The pilgrimage to Mariánska hora and Levoča took place on the first Sunday of July
The pilgrimage to Mariánska hora (Marian Hill) was in the sign of the
Year of Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows, a patron saint of Slovakia,
together with the 30th anniversary of the status of Basilica Minor of
the local neo-gothic church. It received the status in 1984. Prayers of
pilgrims were also dedicated to a former vicar and prelate, Mons. Štefan
Garaj. The first miracle attributed to Virgin Mary in Šaštín 450 years ago, or
she is believed to help the Christian armies in the battle of Vienna
against Turks: The Marian Pilgrimage to Levoča | The Daily Slovakia
A long, long time ago (in Internet years), maybe as far back as 2004, I began to think about starting a blog. I was angry at how the media consistently failed to engage with history in news stories, and I thought I could write lively commentaries on the historical contexts of modern issues. My friend Karen said I should call it "How Did We Get Into This Mess?" Tri 3 Rules of Academic Blogging
“A vast human action is going on. Death watches. So if you have some happiness, conceal it. And when your heart is full, keep your mouth shut also.” Saul Bellow saw a bit of resurgence this year with the publication of his collected non-fiction, There Is Simply Too Much to Say. Why do we need him now more than ever? According to Michael Weiss at The Daily Beast, it’s because he has “a bit of the opposition in him.” This essay is exhaustive and thoroughly researched and well worth your time
We’ve told you about The Atlantic’s By Heart series a few times before. Now, here’s a compendium of some of the series’ best advice on writing collected from the past year.
Ontario-based photographer Michael Davies timed this impressive shot of his friend Markus hurling a thermos of hot tea through the air yesterday in -40°C weather. Memories of Czech army cold war days circa 1977-79
Recommended Reading: This fantastic new story from The London Review of Books by Hilary Mantel, winner of two Booker Prizes. Here’s an interview with Mantel from The Millions on character assassination and dealing with the haters.
Customers regularly threaten booksellers with Amazon, like it’s a weapon they can deploy to get what they want from us. “I could get this much cheaper on Amazon,” people tell me when checking out Salon
As the year winds down, it’s a great opportunity for readers to catch up on some of the most notable pieces from The Millions during the year. To start, we’ll divide the most popular posts on The Millions into two categories, beginning with the 20 most popular pieces published on the site in 2015:
1. Our pair of Most Anticipated posts were popular among readers looking for something new to read. Our 2016 book preview is coming soon. The Best of The Millions: 2015
You have a story of faith and God’s work in your life. “And if people don’t take us seriously,” says Aaron Armstrong, “that’s still good news worth sharing.” He briefly describes the struggle his wife has experienced and links to a couple versions of her remarkable story.
“For years, whenever she or both of us have told the story of how we came to faith, we’ve seen people stop speaking to us, back away slowly as if we were whacked, or (in one instance) convert to an entirely different religion.”
Long Bay, which draws its name from Sydney’s Long Bay Gaol, tells the story of Rebecca Sinclair, a young woman who in 1909, at the age of 23, was gaoled for manslaughter after a botched abortion. Limprecht describes on her website how she came to write the story: she was hunting for first person stories from the gaol when she came across two letters about Sinclair from the Prison Comptroller. Both those letters are reproduced in the book. Limprecht writes that she became obsessed with Rebecca Sinclair’s life, and started seeking out her story:
I found out everything I could and then began looking for living relatives in the hope they could tell me more. I joined an online genealogy site and made contact with a woman who had Rebecca on her family tree … she was Rebecca’s granddaughter. Eleanor Limprecht, Long Bay25 Aussie books by Australian women to read right now (published in The Guardian online, and written by Melbourne’s independent bookstore, Readings)
Your summer reading guide for 2015 (from some RN, that is ABC Radio National, presenters): Last year I wrote a post on picks from RN presenters, picking out just the Aussie books.
Susan Wyndham, the Sydney Morning Herald’s literary editor, wrote about Aussie literary trends also back in August.
How Australian dystopian young adult fiction differs from its US counterparts was written in August this year, but I came across it when I was looking for links about Australian cli-fi in honour of the Paris Climate Change Conference.
Over the past year, The Chronicle Review published 196 essays, book reviews, and news articles written by professors, administrators, grad students, journalists, and one personal assistant. Taken as a whole, the themes that inspired, unsettled, and provoked readers included the corporatization of the university; sexual politics and the impact of Title IX; tensions between academic freedom and civility; race on campus (including injustices suffered by black professors), and the push and pull of intellectual progress across the disciplines.
We are entering an age of willful ignorance
An allegation that is nothing more than a cynical attempt to attract publicity ...IM RICH
“The works are hidden erotic treasures, many of them awaiting discovery. Not even the curators and librarians know everything that is there. ‘There were many materials in the library’s special collections that I had never seen before,’ Mr. Baumann said. ‘The range and depth of our collections never ceases to astonish me.'” The New York Times
"Whatever it is you're scared of doing, Do it. Make your mistakes, next year and forever.”