I finished Neuhaus' Naked Public Square a few days ago, and now the Amazon "Recommended for You" tab keeps on suggesting that I order Ann Coulter books. (No.) I much preferred Calvus' Sunday sermon on church-state relations to the Neuhaus analysis, but it was a worthwhile read as a classic in the field and as an interesting glimpse into the world of the early 1980s when the Moral Majority and Evangelical Conservatism were fresh forces. This was the moment when our parents were hearing college lectures, watching the news as independent thinkers for the first time, and casting their first votes. Some of Neuhaus' prophesies about the secular public square appear to be coming true rather rapidly, but there are other ways in which the role of Judeo-Christian moral discourse has influenced public discourse with disastrous effect. (Most notably, the responses to the Middle East.) If anyone wants to thumb through my copy, you are more than welcome to it. (Although Owen did eat part of the dust jacket.)
II.
I have the night off tonight! My BPO concert was rained out, and although I can't mow the lawn (to James' disappointment) I have plenty of other domestic chores that have been put off for far too long. The downstairs is finally swept, the laundry may yet be put away, and I can continue to responsibly clean my new French Press after every usage. It's a Bodrum press, and the filter detaches easily...so far I've noticed a marked improvement in taste. I also found out that you're supposed to stir the brewed coffee with a wooden spoon before plunging? I attempted this for the first time this morning, and J's analysis was "a much smoother, more even taste."
III.
My copy of Claudius the God arrived a few days ago, and I'm devouring it. Most of the book so far hasn't been about the Emperor Claudius, but a backstory about Herod Agrippa. (The Prefect of Judea who was educated at Rome and indirectly succeeded Pontius Pilate.) This book is just as good as the first so far, and the two together are absolutely my favorite new novels of the last year. I wish he'd written more!
IV.
James' new favorite game is Sock Wars. He tells me this every time we play, so I know that he means it. We drag three (exactly three) chairs into the living room, bring down all of my rolled up black socks from upstairs, and then pelt each other as hard as we can. Well, he throws them at me, and then I try hard to throw the socks close to him without actually hitting him. Two nights ago when I actually caught him in the face he turned me in for "hitting his eye." This goes on as long as I'll permit it, although the game periodically stops because he gets the giggles so violently, or because he can't return the socks fast enough for me to have any ammunition but he wants to see me throw before he'll make his attempt. We've been blasting music from Return of the Jedi both for research purposes (I have a John Williams show on Saturday night) and because it's fun.
V.
Owen has learned how to balance up on his hands and knees (Thanks, Aunt Jessica!) and to shake his head "no." He doesn't really differentiate between "no" and "yes" and he smiles an enormous smile no matter what he means, but he's looking rather eager to communicate whether he "wants to go to bed" "wants to eat more beans" "wants to wake James up" or "wants to get in the bath." (The answer is "no" to all of these, but really "YES!")
VI. The phonics wall is assembled. There are forty paper doilies taped to the wall of our back room with all the three-letter short-voweled words I could think of. My theory is that once we can get James reading on his own, we might actually have a chance of expanding our own reading materials beyond Curious George and Richard Scarry during his waking hours. But then again, Owen is starting to enjoy looking at books as well. (But mostly just eating them.)
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