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Debra Rienstra

Get Off My Lawn, Thou Knave

By an odd coincidence, the late William Hazlitt has been haunting my steps this week. The old gent showed up by previous arrangement in my

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Cruise Ship College

I have a high school senior in my house these days, so I’ve been trying to get a head start on next fall by imagining

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Woo Me with Facts

It’s been a rough couple of weeks for the cause of good rhetoric: two national conventions with a wearying parade of over-fluffed speeches, the ensuing

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Blog

Here’s What’s Cookin’

A couple weeks ago, Jessica Bratt wrote about “curating” her stuff in the process of moving across the country. Her post had particular emotional resonance

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Yes!

Remember this photo? The primal energy, the explosive joy—the controversy? Yeah, this photo was taken seconds after Brandi Chastain slotted a sweet penalty kick, winning

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Blog

Further Up and Further In

I was talking to a writer friend the other day who told me she had just finished a manuscript about a lovely older gentleman who,

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The Long Slog

          “So how long is Pentecost season supposed to last?” I asked my worship-wonk husband the other day.      “Well, Pentecost isn’t really a

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Desire and its Discontents

We are approaching the Season 5 finale of the AMC series Mad Men in a couple weeks, and although some fans have been dissatisfied with

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