Posted on December 1, 2015
The wedding that Tyler Schwandt and his fiancée are planning could’ve been broadcast on national TV. But he’s perfectly content with a quieter, more intimate wedding Mass. The 23-year-old Catholic from Rockford, Mich., has the distinction of being the firstborn of 13 boys, the family whose improbable boy streak went viral with the 12th pregnancy […]
Posted on November 1, 2015
It is the book that somehow surfaces when you need it most – manna for the multi-tasker, solace for the stressed. It is the book you stock up on to give to others, to slip in Christmas stockings, to pay it forward. It is the book that spiritual directors recommend again and again: Father Jacques […]
Posted on October 1, 2015
There is no scrapbook of Kathy Webb’s life as a Dominican sister. No picture frames or friendship bracelets, no nun memorabilia perched in a closet or buried in a trunk. The only artifact from her convent days is the long apron she wore to protect her white habit, bearing her former identity on a tiny […]
Posted on September 1, 2015
I’m reading a book that speaks to me as a journalist, Brian Grazer’s 2015 release “A Curious Mind: The Secret To A Bigger Life.” In it, the 64-year-old Emmy-winning movie producer recounts his practice of conducting “curiosity conversations” twice a month for the past three decades to fill up his knowledge reserve and walk in […]
Posted on June 1, 2015
Arleen Spenceley can’t remember the last time she went on a date. It must’ve been 2014, she says without a trace of panic. Even though she’s in the thick of wedding season and nearing her 30th birthday, the fact that she’s still single doesn’t seem to bother Arleen. She’s not freaking out. She’s not losing […]
Posted on June 1, 2015
“The only essential equipment for seeing birds is a pair of eyes. Good ears are a help too.” The first edition of “Birds: A Guide To The Most Familiar American Birds” smells like an old missal and reads like a manual for living well – birding as a hobby, a lifestyle and a meditation. Its […]
Posted on May 1, 2015
On Sunday night the email landed in Mike Foss’ inbox: He had been named to Forbes’ “30 Under 30,” the business magazine’s annual list of rising stars younger than 30. Mike Foss, the soccer player from Springfield, Va., the kid who had been homeschooled through 12th grade. This sent Facebook abuzz: boldfaced evidence that homeschooling […]
Posted on April 1, 2015
Carly Poppalardo had blisters on her feet when she drove home from an eight-hour session of professional organizing last Thursday, threw a bag of Trader Joe’s pre-cut veggies and simmer sauce on the stove, flipped on “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” and sank into the couch. “I was high on adrenaline,” Carly said, “but […]
Posted on March 1, 2015
Belinda Monahan has analyzed more than 100,000 animal bones in Armenia dating back from the Early Bronze Age (1,200 BC) to the Medieval period. For the 44-year-old archaeologist from New Jersey, the thrill never wears off. “When you look at a Stork’s lower-leg bone,” she says, “it’s about as long as my lower-leg bone. It’s […]
Posted on February 13, 2015
Chocolate milk. I have revisited the childhood beverage and found it not lacking: a dessert you can gulp, delivering a cool, filling sensation right to your stomach, right away. Now when I open my fridge, it jumps out at me, a quick way to pour some sweetness into any pocket of the day. And since […]