Soundings: Stories with Sister Jean

The last time I saw Jean Lenz it was pretty much like the first time — and all the times in between. I smiled throughout the conversation, listening to her talk.

Unbalanced: Bad Santas

Overdosing on too many gooey Hallmark Christmas movies? If you believe this seasonal sugar rush needs a dash of Bad Santas to bring you down, our culture’s Grinches are happy to provide.

Unbalanced: How not to give directions

Yes, I get lost. A lot. If you have to give directions, listen up.

Unbalanced: Breaking up is hard to do

This break-up is making me tear my hair out. I’ve had easier times dumping boyfriends. In the past, it was easy for me to change stylists.

Unbalanced: Plastic garden

The gardener down the street has switched plants this year. Instead of wooden flowers stuck in the stone-covered border along the front of the house, she’s now displaying plastic ones.

The new Lou, Part II

I saw that BK got a two year extension, and I thought, Hmmm, after two seasons is he still the New Lou?

The Four Horsemen against the Bomb

Military officials and politicians today seem unable to conceive of a future without the Bomb. Old thinking retains its grip at the Pentagon. Yet some of the principal architects of the Cold War have now become advocates of disarmament.

TV or not TV: Shakedown the Tweets

Sports fandom is best experienced among others. Because of some terrible travel planning, I was scheduled to experience the Notre Dame-USC game all by myself. But thanks to Twitter, I was not alone.

By Design: Walking Rome

Walking: it can be hard on your soles but good for the soul. This past summer I spent four weeks in Rome, a city that offers ample rewards to hardy visitors willing to walk.

How to prevent war and be secure

The United States recently wound down a protracted war in Iraq and is currently fighting one in Afghanistan. What policy should Washington adopt with respect to a turbulent Middle East and a rising China? What policy can the United States pursue that will keep it safe while minimizing the chances of war?

The Playroom: Normal boy stuff

When my son was 3, I signed him up for skating lessons at the local ice rink. Somehow now, four years later, I’m a hockey mom. And I spend a lot of time lacing up skates in boys’ locker rooms.

Homily for Sister Jean Lenz, OSF

These are sad days for those of us who have such fresh memories of Jean Lenz, a woman who inspired us, taught us, changed us, and loved us — and whom we deeply loved in return. Indeed, there is a hole in our hearts and a hole in the congregation tonight.

The Playroom: Sound and fury

I am sitting on cement bleachers at an ice rink southeast of Chicago’s O’Hare airport, our home ice. The kids and I are nearing the end of our day, I am tired and my butt is cold. I would like for the women seated near me to stop talking. Endless, mindless chatter about nothing. What merit is left to silence?

The Playroom: A perfect morning

A friend recently asked me for advice on how to manage mornings better. Evidently in her house, mornings were stressful, with much yelling and nagging and conflict.

The Sweet Sixteen Solution

Every year the Bowl Championship Series recycles one or two of the controversies that illustrate its inherent contradictions. But there is a simple solution to the BCS nonsense.

Networthy ND 22

Pirates and the Protestant Reformation, anti-matter and crying babies. Those are some of the topics covered in this edition of Networthy. One thing is certain: No one can ever accuse Notre Dame people of having narrow interests.

Magazine job opening

Molarity Redux: Lassie Goes to Hollywood

Welcome to Molarity Redux, the 27th strip in the updated, continuing adventures of Jim Mole and friends.

Molarity Classic 111-115

Strips 111-115 of the popular comic strip Molarity, which previewed in The Observer in 1977, follow the protest over the housing lottery, a little publication called “the dog book,” and the agony of finals.

Molarity Redux: The Flirt

Welcome to Molarity Redux, the 26th strip in the updated, continuing adventures of Jim Mole and friends.