Books and Junk
Want beautiful Catholic books? Go here: Baronius Press. Baronius is a new publisher dedicated to bringing out handsome volumes of Catholic classics.
Handsome . . . and reasonably priced. I may have to buy a few.
With the exception of about 10% of my books, I have a poor man's library. For 20 years, my criteria for books have been (i) cheap, (ii) no tearing, and (iii) no underlining or highlighting (though I underline books frequently). If it met those criteria, I bought 'em, no matter how ratty they looked. But lately I've been tempted to buy better volumes. There's something about holding a fine book: fine binding should go with fine prose. It's probably related to the whole idea of ecological psychology (click here for previous post 'bout eco psych).
I spent time with my teeny-bopper children last night, watching Grease: You're the One That I Want. It was American Idol in different clothing. The entire A.I. format--from the laughable contestants to a three-judge panel to a Simon Cowell wannabe to a Ryan Seacrest counterpart--was copied. They added a dance segment, but that was the only thing different. Bad stuff. Not recommended, unless you're a masochist.
Best books of 2006, as recommended by Ignatius Press staff and authors. Pleasant reading.
Men push back and claim space. Excerpt:
"Women typically have control of the house . . . And the guy's stuff gets pushed into some closet or relegated to a bedside table."
But as Martin's book documents, some men push back.
Flip through the chapters and you'll find an amateur astronomer's private observatory, a Japan buff's rustic teahouse, a hunter's collection of more than 300 taxidermy specimens.
And plenty of places to serve and drink beer.
I like it. I have a study, off in the corner of my basement: big L-shaped desk, computer, 2,500 books, satellite desk, two upholstered chairs, wine bottles, wine pictures, assortment of games and other stuff. I can't post any pictures right now, but maybe later this week.
Funny Leno from last week:
There's a little scandal in a community outside of Dallas after cheerleaders at a local high school appeared in photos on myspace.com drinking, smoking, and flashing their underwear and at a "condoms to go” store. . . I don't get the name. "Condoms to go.” Did they have a big problem with people coming in and buying them and then using them right there?