For Acculturated: Advice from the Transcendentalists...

Ralph Waldo Emerson is one of my favorite writers. I try to emulate him most when I write, though who knows if that at all comes across. Lately, I have heard many people say they never read him, nor learned about him in school, which shocked me. He was the absolute heart of American literature in my high school and college education! How could one discuss American authors and not touch on him? Sadly, people think they are far removed from the Transcendentalist philosophy that shaped the nation, but here's the thing - they are not. Especially in the autumn season, our love of nature and Transcendental roots come pouring out. Don't laugh at millennials for going to pumpkin patches; we all need to experience nature, as my latest article for Acculturated discusses. Embrace your nature yearnings, and nurture them often. Now go read some Emerson!

Insights from Infestation

Home. Is where the heart is. Is where you lay your head. Is wherever I’m with you.

Home. Possibly the finest of four-letter words. It is both a physical place and an untouchable feeling; four walls but also four (more or less) people.

Home should be the place one goes to be comfortable, to be safe, but mine has not been that place lately. For the last three weeks, I have lugged around a trash bag with some clothes, a book bag with a computer and toiletries and Moby-Dick, and now a tote bag with some groceries, a vest, and sneakers. I have worn and washed and reworn and rewashed the same few outfits, which were not always appropriate for the strangely humid October weather.  I have gone from apartment to farm to house to apartment to farm again, blessed to have hospitable friends and family. I have dog sat and baby sat and bought baked goods to earn my keep, to show my thanks, to just have a bed in which to sleep. I am exhausted and just want to go home. But, haven’t I been there this whole time?

For Acculturated: A Dystopian Movie with a Surprisingly Pro-Family Message

Friday nights are best spent watching movies with friends. Especially when the movie is worth writing about! I so enjoyed Netflix's new original dystopian movie What Happened to Monday. If you haven't seen it, you really should watch it, if only because then my latest article for Acculturated will make more sense. But mostly, because the acting is amazing! I hope you enjoy!

For Acculturated: What Jane Austen Teaches Us about Texting

As many of my posts imply, I love Jane Austen and any excuse to write about her! Check out my latest article for Acculturated about how our twenty-first century writing culture is more akin to her nineteenth century culture than we might think.

Christians, Check Your Patriotism

I am proud to be an American. My heart warms when I see flags flying, or hear our national anthem playing before a ball game, and especially at the Olympics. I tear up every time American Soldier comes on the radio, and I turn up the volume every time I hear Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue.
 I do believe there is something special about America and Americans, about our history and about our future.

Yet despite my immense patriotism, I fully support the NFL protesters. As a Catholic, I must.

For Acculturated: Why Lifetime's 'Bad Girls' are Bad for Women

One step forward, two steps back. Although Lifetime won my heart with Project Runway, their other programming still has very far to go in changing how the world views women. Check out my latest article for Acculturated here.

Seventy times Seven

One of my fondest childhood memories is riding in my uncle's jeep with my cousins, singing the VeggieTales theme song at the top of our lungs. My family takes VeggieTales very seriously. I'm talking marathons, seriously. We own the first fourteen videos on VHS and numerous other newer releases on DVD. But those fourteen, I know them like the back of my hand. They made Bible lessons fun and exciting. Plus, Silly Songs with Larry taught me water buffaloes were a thing and that cucumbers don't need hairbrushes. Very valuable lessons. But, back to the Bible. From 'love your neighbor' to 'have a happy heart', VeggieTales was one of my first and most formative interactions with the Christian moral ethic. Its lessons, given in the guise of chatty vegetables, continue to inspire, challenge, and transform me, most lately with my understanding of forgiveness.