The Bookworm Beat 8-4-15 — the illustrated edition and open thread

Posted on August 4, 2015 by Bookworm

I went on a trip down memory lane today. I’ve been feeling overwhelmed by the clutter in my life so, when a friend said she was going to have a garage sale and asked if I’d like to participate, I decided that this was an opportunity for me to start cleaning out closets that haven’t been touched in more than a decade, and to root through boxes that have been sealed for more than two decades. It’s a laborious process, but a rewarding one.

Today I found correspondence from 25 years ago. One of the letters was from a friend who told me she’d just gotten married — but didn’t tell me her new last name — and that she and her husband were opening a cheese specialty store. She gave me the store’s name, but not its location. She did not include a return address. In 1990, this meant I had no way to find her. However, in 2015, I found her on the internet in a few minutes. I plan to call her tomorrow. I think she’ll be glad to hear from me.

I’m mulling over a post about the intersection between science and faith, but haven’t quite figured out how to attack it. In the meantime, I’ve got posters!!! Some of these posters include related links.

Related link: You’ve seen the latest Planned Parenthood video, right? One of the most disturbing things about it is the sea of euphemisms in which the PP workers swim. They know they’re doing wrong, which is why they engage in such obfuscatory verbal gymnastics. BTW, if seeing a raw stew of baby body parts bothers you, don’t watch the ending. Even pro-abortion people should be deeply disturbed by this video.

A little story: When my folks got married in Tel Aviv in 1947, the synagogue was crowded with refugees from Arab depredations. By the time the marriage ceremony ended, the refugees had eaten all the food set out for the guests, and my dad had to run out and buy more food. My father always told that story with a rueful grin.