Week 31 (2021)
rethinking grad school & meritocracy, keeping up with the Joneses, honoring our past & present with the soil, relational implications of minimalism
(Open in your browser — emails cut off at the end!)
to read: essays, articles
The Masters Trap, Part Three — Anne Helen Petersen, Culture Study — “But those conversations frequently leave out for whom, exactly, that debt is “manageable.” For people without kids? For people with undergrad debt? For people who need to support members of their extended family, either in the United States or abroad? For people with partners, or whose partners are employed full-time?”
Why The Cult of Smart is a Book for Every Parent in 2020 — Russell Arben Fox, Front Porch Republic — “…the actual structure of the “schooling” received by students really doesn’t matter much at all, or at least not in the way most successful members of our society have come to believe.”
Return to Idaho: The Land My Ancestors Farmed — Gracy Olmstead, Plough (audio available) — “We should take our membership seriously, considering those dead and alive who have made us who we are, and how we might further their work in the future. The past is never fully past – not for the soil, and not for us.”
Cultivating Contentment in a “Keeping Up” Culture— Alexandra Davis, Verily — “We started to notice that the middle-class American Way seemed to have a pattern, in which new stages in life bring new trappings: a promotion, a new baby, and other milestones prompt a lifestyle upgrade… research reveals that the pressure to keep up has reached pathological proportions.”
This Modern Farmer Grows Flowers in Chicago’s Vacant Lots— Lindsay Campbell, Modern Farmer — “For the kids to actually see that they’re contributing and adding value and that their life matters and that we need them, those are big deals,” he says. “I feel like a lot of those things could only happen in an agricultural environment.”
Holy Clutter— Matt Miller, Comment — “We are to give no thought to if or how these objects help us to love our neighbours, but only their emotional resonance for ourselves… Kondo’s method does not account for these social implications of our possessions.”
to read: books
Home, Marilynne Robinson — audio — Here is my brief review.
to watch
PepperHarrow Farm — I’m drawn to the beauty here, but also to all there is to learn about flowers, the farming of them, and making it a business.
to listen: music
Other Side (A) — Zach Winters — A favorite music-maker throughout the years, who I’ll never stop listening to. Beautiful, soulful, and underrated. (Here’s a visual for the his new project’s opening song, Aguas y Canales.)
to listen: audio
Still continuing these two series:
The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill — Mike Cosper, Christianity Today
Also:
Vulnerable Bodies And Our Need For Each Other — Haley Stewart, Christy Isinger, Fountains of Carrots — Haley and Leah have both been on Joy’s podcast above, discussing Piranesi!
to cook
Creamy Lemon Garlic Chicken Pasta — Add some fresh parmesan. And eat it over noodles.
to celebrate
Lukas’ noggin needed a bigger, better helmet… so he got it this week. He’s making perfect progress.
to remember, reflect
A Year Ago...
Italian Ice, the kiddie pool, and guys with good lookin hair.
This Week...
The toddler discovering squirt guns, & the baby discovering food. The abundance of nature in late July. Trying to keep Vasti’s plants alive while they vacation. Dreaming, scheming, and researching, always. Enjoying the the local Catholic church grounds during post-dinner walks. A beautiful halfway point as we meander through the neighborhoods (with many pounds of children in a double stroller).
“And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’”
Matthew 9:11-13