#7QT: O Larger Town of Bethlehem

{one}

Home sweet home! Grace and I flew to PA on Monday, met my MIL and found:

• a fantastic grocery store
• half-day daycare options (one super close to the hospital!)
• a house (also close to the hospital!!!!!!!!!!!)
• a beautiful historic downtown
• a few colleges
• Catholic churches
• a friend!
• lots of area to explore and scenery to enjoy - truly charming
• the Peeps factory

Little lady loved PA; she got up extra early to enjoy her time there.

{two}

A little bit about Bethlehem, PA: it was founded in 1741 on Christmas Eve by Moravians, on 500 acres of land from William Penn. Be still my little American Studies heart.

Moravians are the hipsters of Protestantism - they started their crusade 60 years before Martin Luther did, and 100 years before Henry VIII started getting busy. The founder of the Moravians was burned at the stake for heresy in 1415 so... do you think they still hold that against Catholics? Because I was hoping to find a babysitter or two on campus. Fortunately, the area was flooded with immigrants (across the river... they could not live on the 500 acres for many moons), so there are plenty o' Catholic churches in the area.

Freedom of religion, yay!

{three}

This house is going to be an adventure. Built in 1886, it is now lived in as a twin. Its gorgeous interior is in need of a paint job in some places, a bit of woodwork repair, and a few appliances - namely, a fridge, a dishwasher, and portable A/C units. Maybe it's the HGTV magazine I bought or the Young House Love book I got for my birthday, but I'm excited. The house does have a washer/dryer, more than enough space [my want/need] + a one car attached garage, and Will can walk to the emergency room [his want/need].

Front hall

Get excited for house fix-up pictures. They're coming to a blog near you.

{four}

I'm taking a free class on Dante's journey from Hell to Heaven and it starts Monday! You should join me! Starting with the Inferno, we're reading one canto a day, watching one video lecture a day, and writing one response a week. It's my summer indulgence! It's offered by Holy Apostles College & Seminary, a really incredible school.

Desperately Seeking Beatrice.

{five}

David McCullough (aaaaaaamazing historian) was asked about the five things to teach high school students. I love all of these.

It's been really great thinking about teaching in the fall. I'm looking forward to showing kids how history is more than a string of dates and events, but an intricate web of Who and What and Why. The motivation, the intrigue, the insults, the scandal and the common good. If you can memorize, cool. But if you can make connections? Even better. History is not a straight line - it's a wibbly wobbly, timey-wimey ball of people, places and things. And I love it.

{six}

More love:

The problem facing the humanities, in my view, isn’t just about the humanities. It’s about the liberal arts generally, including math, science, and economics. These form half of the so-called STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) subjects, but if the goal of an education is simply economic advancement and technological power, those disciplines, just like the humanities, will be—and to some degree already are—subordinated to future employment and technological progress. Why shouldn’t educational institutions predominately offer classes like Business Calculus and Algebra for Nurses? Why should anyone but hobbyists and the occasional specialist take courses in astronomy, human evolution, or economic history? So, what good, if any, is the study of the liberal arts, particularly subjects like philosophy?  Why, in short, should plumbers study Plato? 

My answer is that we should strive to be a society of free people, not simply one of well-compensated managers and employees. Henry David Thoreau is as relevant as ever when he writes, “We seem to have forgotten that the expression ‘a liberal education’ originally meant among the Romans one worthy of free men; while the learning of trades and professions by which to get your livelihood merely, was considered worthy of slaves only.”

Clap clap clap for "Why I Teach Plato to Plumbers" by Scott Samuelson, The Atlantic

{seven}

I also love that learning cursive is a mind good and not just an aesthetic pleasure - like these purple tulips.

Happy weekend! Linking up with Jen! I am actively awaiting my copy of Something Other Than God to arrive...!!

Running in Heels to NYC

"Running in Heels" was the theme of KKG Leadership Academy this year. Max and the new members did such a great job decorating the board upstairs! She used really neat retro pictures and colors. I especially like the lights. The house held mock elections and everyone was nominated for something. My little got best sense of humor, Heather got most likely to be a professor at Hillsdale (the next Dr. Barbara Bushey, red glasses, wicked sense of humor and all, I'm calling it now!) and I got most likely to...

Maxine says she could see me speeding down the freeway in my little Ferrari. How fun! I sometimes dream I'm allowed to take my dad's little Lexus out for a spin. I drove it down the driveway once and it was magical. Dad tells me to keep dreaming about driving his car (only Mom has been allowed to drive it thus far) and so the thought of driving a Ferrari absolutely tickles me. I'd like a forest green one, s'il vous plait! Or plum would be a bold color choice too.

From his book "A Program for Conservatives," Dr. Kirk answers that question you've all been pondering lately: what is the object of human life?

Men are put into this world, he realizes, to struggle, to suffer, to contend against the evil that is in their neighbors and in themselves, and to aspire toward the triumph of Love. They are put into this world to live like men, and to die like men. He seeks to preserve a society which allows men to attain manhood, rather than keeping them within bonds of perpetual childhood. With Dante, he looks upward from this place of slime, this world of gorgons and chimeras, toward the light which gives Love to this poor earth and all the stars. And, with Burke, he knows that "they will never love where they ought to love, who do not hate where they ought to hate."

Flying to NYC in 0300 hours... I've got my heels packed. :)

Friday song: "Rhythm and Soul" by Spoon (the Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga album)

Kickin' off October with the Smarty Pants Award

Today was Fall Convocation. It was weird marching behind the teachers. I did KKG proud by wearing my black pencil skirt and heels, with an emphasis on the heels because I am notoriously known in the house for my dislike of heels; the entire house could be wearing black heels and I would still opt for my wonderful black Italian leather loafers. It's not a dislike, really, because I love wearing them; I just prefer to not as means of protesting the ridiculous notion many Kappas hold dear of wearing them during the winter, when the campus is covered in ice because Hillsdale has yet to learn that salt is a good investment, not a luxury item.

In baller news, KAPPA KAPPA GAMMA WON THE SCHOLARSHIP CUP!! I am incredibly excited by this, as one may tell. This is the third time we've won it, I believe, while I've been in the house, so I am absolutely heartened by this.

In the happiest of news, I got my computer back yesterday!! It's been a month since I dropped it off at ITS. Appropriately, when I put in my ipod before carrying it back across campus back to Kappa, I pressed play and Coldplay's "Fix You" started playing. My ipod has a funny sense of humor.

I wanted to take a nap after lugging Ned (I've decided to name my computer that right now; congrats, first people to know!) home, but I played tennis with Joy instead. It was a rusty game, but really fun. We also discussed things that matter while playing, like if the government should pay for abortions under its public health option and the Supreme Court debating gun laws. I'm sore now in my right forearm and left hand.

After tennis was dinner, and then, to finally make myself even more useless studying-wise, I went to the Hillsdale County Fair with Marisa, Heather and Kate. I've never gone before (minus going to the Demolition Derby with Brian and Colin freshman year) and I feel like it's something one should do before graduating college. It is, after all, "The Most Popular Fair on Earth." (Yes, my friends, Earth.) I had so much fun. I especially loved seeing all the animals; it reminded me of two summers ago when I covered Jr. Fair for the News Journal (my two favorite fair pieces I wrote for WNJ that summer were "Gobbling Tales of Showmanship" and "Confessions of a City Slicker"). I saw lots of college kids there, including my friend Will, who was taking pictures. Here's a sweet one from the swings.

Today is good. Tomorrow is Friday, which is even better. I am no longer going home this weekend, which is disappointing on one hand (I really miss my family) but good on the other (write papers/ write and edit articles/ research thesis/ socialize/sleep). I am determined to finish up Pauline Maier's "American Scripture" book today for Birzer's Founding by tomorrow.

Dr. Freeh is giving a talk on "The Resurrection of the Body-- Judgement, Heaven, Hell and Purgatory" at 8 in Lane tonight. It should be excellent. The reading is Luke 10: 27-38 and CCC 988-1060 (starts at 988, may have to push "next" to proceed on a few). Considering the topic, however, I feel like we should be reading Dante too! I'm missing Victor Davis Hanson's talk because of it, but he agreed to a little Q&A with the Forum for this up and coming issue, so I am stoked about that. This really is going to be a great next issue.

In other news, my glasses are missing. I think this might cause problems in the future.