praxis

…include information on the subject line.

I mean, I’ve certainly sent e-mails with blank subject lines accidentally, but I don’t understand why there’s a need to even explain why it’s a bad idea to do this (intentionally, especially). I’ve noticed this phenomenon most recently from HR professionals.

Please take the few extra seconds to type 3-4 words about the subject of your e-mail in the subject line. Not that I think YOU would ever intentionally send an e-mail with a blank subject line.

Her name is Elizabeth Peters. She writes, more or less, mysteries against a vaguely archeological backdrop. “Egyptology” is apparently Peters’ specialty.

Her protagonist is Amelia Peabody, who is surrounded by her pitch-perfect, picture-perfect, precocious family. They are all stunning, brilliant, and highly articulate. Forget “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife [husband],” in their company: Everybody wants them. The characters don’t relate with one another, at all, really–even the problems the family has are perfect. One reviewer at amazon.com sums it up nicely, “her characters are too busy being witty to be realistic”.

Ugh. I’m slogging my way through it as there’s no other fiction in the house I want to read–I want something not terribly violent, and am taking a bit of a break from science fiction. And I’m being too lazy to go to the library. Not that I don’t have plenty of books to read here, mind you–some good nonfiction or one of the classics.

What are you reading?

Has anyone here made bourbon balls? Years ago I worked with a woman who made incredibly tasty bourbon balls, and I have been missing these in recent years. Recommendations?

purity balls at age 12 years. Is anyone else confused?

Also, please feel free to share any weird stuff about the childhood of boys. I’m not writing about it because I don’t know about it.

at babyGap?

(Thanks to salon.com and feministing for the tip, as it’s certainly not a search I would have thought to type in.)

In what ways have you heard children or children’s behavior described that seemed to not be age-appropriate? I’m remembering, here–for example–times I have heard a 2- or 3- year old girl’s actions described as “flirting” when she was interacting with her male relatives.

Merry Christmas!

As I was mentioning to a niece this year, after she read us the Christmas story…I think it is amazing that God chose to live with us, as a fellow human being. I mean, he didn’t have to do that, you know? Wow.

…I think this may be a good opportunity for you.

The doctors who created the anti-acne treatment system Proactiv (copyright, yadda yadda) are unrolling a skin care line that focuses on sun damage (although I think the line may include just regular, daily-care stuff).

Here’s a site where you can read some about it.

I have met someone who is recruiting folks to do sales for these products, and in my limited interactions (I’m not selling the products, so she’s not training or supervising me) with her, she seems to be enthusiastic and a decent person to deal with. So drop me a line if you are curious about or interested in the product and especially if you might be interested in selling it, and I can give you her contact information. Serious inquiries only, please.

*Multi-level marketing, which is the way Shaklee, Juice Plus, MonaVie, and other companies sell their products.

Because I want to blog. I want to muse about serious things, I want to invite conversations, and I want to commit a comma splice in public.

But I am so busy, lately, in the non-online world, that it’s a little difficult to find/make the time. Certainly to make the time to write a well researched post with lots of links (though I’ve got a couple of drafts of that sort of thing sitting around that still need lots of work…).

Instead, you get an honorable mention short-lived television show. It wasn’t great, but definitely is good, and if you’re looking around for something decent to watch but can’t find anything, (because you’ve already watched all of Kitchen Confidential, and The Unusuals apparently is not available on hulu.com–maybe they’re considering a DVD release of the show, to get a little money from it), the Christian Slater show from LAST season is worth checking out. My Own Worst Enemy is about a man who is a spy. A daredevil, devil-may-care, globetrotting spy. And it is about a man who is a suburban, white-collar working man with a wife and two children, who likes to keep things close to home. In a twist that is now fairly predictable, they are the same person.

My sweetie observed that My Own Worst Enemy is like Dollhouse (referring to the first season of that show), but well done (probably this is not a direct quotation, so if you know him, please do not hold him to this statement, precisely).

And yes, I did find the first episode of the second season of Dollhouse more interesting than…possibly any of its first season. We’ll see.

Fact: take this bread, by Sara Miles (now recommended by Anne Lamott, apparently)

This is a book about the practice of the Christian faith, more than it is about theology (although it’s impossible to have one without the other, I think, in a sense). I’d been needing to get out of my head for a bit, and this book seems to be helpful in getting me back to my heart, back to my hands, back to the reality of *trying* to live as a Christian. Christ is a pretty darn daunting example to try to live up to, even if he does already love us…

Fiction: The Sparrow, by Mary Doria Russell

This book was loaned to me by a friendly acquaintance who’s going to get sick of me telling her how much I’m enjoying this book. It made it onto my radar screen when the author was interviewed on Speaking of Faith. My sweetie was greatly unimpressed by my selection of it as my current fiction reading when I read to him the following amusing sentence from the book, “The United Nations required years to come to a decision that the Society of Jesus reached in ten days.” Yeah, it involves theology.

United Breaks Guitars reminds me of Last Train to Clarkesville

Why?