How did I get so slovenly? Can I blame it on my upbringing, fraught with stringent housekeeping rules and rigorous cleaning chores from an early age? Is it the necessary byproduct of a creative temperament? Or am I just lazy? I leave my dishes in the sink, on the table, or worse yet, in the … Read more
My inner Mothra would be so proud. I had no fears that the gorgeous Icelandic woman sitting next to my husband at a dinner party was any competition for me, but that didn’t stop me from engaging the table with jokes told in rapid-fire English that I was sure she couldn’t get. It’s not bad … Read more
It always seems to happen on a Friday. The phone rings and someone says, “Do you speak Latin?” and I reply “Well, I teach it,” or something equally noncommittal. Then comes the question. “What is the Latin word for ‘color’?” Phew, that’s easy. “Color, spelt the way Americans spell it.” “Well what’s the Latin for … Read more
The Rake goes inside the criminally overshadowed AV Club. If The Onion is the nation’s class clown, the AV Club—the newspaper’s unheralded entertainment section—is its thoughtful little wallflower of a brother. Originally a wacky complement to the newspaper’s celebrated satire, the section grew into its current format under editor Stephen Thompson, who fought for a … Read more
Benjamin has been looking for Erin for about four months. He met her at a party in August, and she hit his car two weeks later. But it wasn’t like that. There were no damages. Rather, Ben had a crush on Erin. The number he put into his cell phone never saved. He searched the … Read more
If you weren’t at Sylvie Nides and Sampson Burke’s golden anniversary party this past September, you missed the event of the year, maybe even of the decade. After all, how often do you get the chance to see two dogs renewing wedding vows under a chuppah? Jane Nides, Sylvie’s mom and a medical marketing representative, … Read more
There were five people at my wedding: Me, my husband, two witnesses, and the minister—our roommate Eugene. Eugene is a minister of the Universal Life Church, a group that supports freedom of religion and says they will ordain anyone. It takes three minutes and can be done over the Internet. But the website warns, “This … Read more
Every rogue state on the planet would love to get its hands on my grandmother’s recipe. I would not like to think what would happen if Saddam got the chocolate sauce. If I have anything to say about it, he’s not getting squat. If that makes me seem arrogant, or like the chocolate-sauce-police of the … Read more
The longstanding appeal of the Atlantis myth is a sort of historical rubbernecking. Everyone loves a good disaster story, especially when it’s real. But lurking underneath it is a more haunting thought—one day, like maybe next Tuesday, we could go the same way as the Pompeiians. That’s one argument for the practicality of archaeological research—if … Read more
Klinkenborg got our attention a decade ago when he was a visiting professor down in Northfield. Ever since then, he’s been writing thoughtful little meditations on the New York Times op-ed page under the rubric “A Rural Life.” We’re not sure how one ends up with a job like this—paid to say whatever crosses your … Read more