Surprisingly good life advice from child predators
Some social groups seem less likely to offer sound principles for living the good life than others. High on the list of […]
Common sense and sense experience
The socially acceptable posture in life these days is perpetual waiting: waiting for the relevant studies to emerge before making a decision. […]
In defense of old houses
Likely anyone who has lived in an old house has been tempted to say that the whole exercise is a giant waste […]
Adulting is bull: a response
Adulting is bullshit. –dumb T-shirt A trip to Walmart can yield any number of interesting discoveries (such as native English speakers […]
Illustrators Who Offer Books of Beauty
With so many ugly books for children, finding books of real beauty is unlikely to happen regularly without intention. Thankfully, once you […]
Time and eternity in Astrid Lindgren’s “The Children of Noisy Village”
Astrid Lindgren’s memorable narrator, nine-year-old Lisa, in The Children of Noisy Village, conveys the childlike security of traditions. Lisa explains that Christmas […]
A prison of our own making: the toxic femininity hiding in plain sight
Feminism means nothing other than human equality we are told. Women should be “supporting” other women and “fighting” for equal rights. Ah, […]
Grace Lin’s perfectly silly “Ling and Ting” series
There are great masterpieces of the written word and artistic expression worthy of veneration. There are also wonderfully fun books that provide […]
The indulgence of self-loathing and William Blake’s “mind-forg’d manacles”
Recognizing oneself as inadequate and unsatisfactory has an appealing allure of maturity and self-awareness, but it is childish indulgence. Everyone knows people […]
In a family you may be misunderstood but rarely not known
In the course of family life, children grow and separate from their family. This development can lead to a feeling of estrangement. […]