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Recent Posts
- Psaltery & Lyre’s New Site
- 123 Psaltery & Lyre: “Agricola Dreams of Flying” by J. Rose Lara
- 122 Psaltery & Lyre: “Communion: a love poem (a villanelle)” by Rachel Bollinger
- Book Review: Philip Metres’s Sand Opera
- 121 Psaltery & Lyre: Rachael Matthews, “Horsehead Nebula”
- Book Review: Monica Ong’s Silent Anatomies
- 120 Psaltery & Lyre: Rachael Matthews, “Return, pt. III” and “Gaia”
- Book Review: Claudia Rankine’s Don’t Let Me Be Lonely
- Book Review: Matthea Harvey, If the Tabloids Are True What Are You?
- Book Review: LoterÃa Cards and Fortune Poems: A Book of Lives
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Tag Cloud
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Latest Headlines
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Fff… family
Posted on April 19, 2011 | No CommentsI just read this today and loved it: http://www.literarymama.com/columns/perfectlynormal/archives/2011/ffffamily.html A great reminder that not all families look alike (which clearly we should not need reminding) and that for some people, celebrations that revolve around families are not celebrations at all. -
Worshipping WITH the World
Posted on April 18, 2011 | 4 CommentsLast Sunday I was in New Orleans for a conference. As much as I love the volunteer work I do every Sunday as the primary chorister (children’s music leader, for those of you who don’t speak Mormonese), I love the 3-4 times a year that […] -
Surely We Were Blessed
Posted on April 17, 2011 | 1 CommentWe were a wreck. The basses and tenors were supposed to be singing a unison line-yet I kept hearing a variety of notes, none of them correct. I’d moved two altos and myself to the tenor line. Though the range was low, the tenor line […] -
Paula’s Prius Ride to Church
Posted on April 17, 2011 | 17 CommentsToday’s Ride to Church hails from Paula in Encinitas, California. ; The LDS Chapel on Lake Street in Encinitas, CA is our destination today. Encinitas is a town of 65,000 or so, 25 miles north of downtown San Diego, on the legendary Highway 101. […] -
“Come to Zion”
Posted on April 16, 2011 | 10 Comments‘Zion’ has become a dirty word in our world: now it is shorthand for the displacement of native peoples from their homelands, and a justification for the flexing of military power for scriptural causes. I’m not sure that when my people sing songs about ‘Zion’ […] -
Natural Coastline Ecosystems
Posted on April 15, 2011 | 1 CommentThis is a photo I took on a short (half a day) trip to the beach over Spring Break. Behind me is the Atlantic Ocean. I was in Florida visiting my parents and we took a detour home via Hanna Park in Atlantic […] -
Before Sunset
Posted on April 15, 2011 | 9 CommentsFor Jesse and Céline these questions are embodied in a single night and in each other. But the question of how we balance our passion, our need to continue living fully with the realities of daily living can come to us in many guises. -
Helping an Orphanage in Ethiopia
Posted on April 14, 2011 | No CommentsOne of my dearest and oldest friends (one of two friends without whom I would not have survived high school) and her husband are adopting two babies from Ethiopia. She recently sent me this email that I am sharing here: ; Hi Friends and Family– […] -
Find Your Tribe
Posted on April 14, 2011 | 4 CommentsOver a decade ago I read this article in Mothering Magazine about a woman who is far from family and friends and meets up with another woman to share household projects and childcare over the course of a day several times a week, alternating households. […] -
Bayou Courtableau, Louisiana
Posted on April 14, 2011 | 1 CommentAlina Taylor writes: These images were taken on Bayou Courtableau in St Landry Parish, Louisiana near Port Barre right off 190. It is a town steeped in Louisiana bayou charm where Cajun French meets English to create a language known to the locals and seems […] -
Mormon Matters Podcast 27: Mormons and their Leaders
Posted on April 14, 2011 | 4 CommentsI really enjoyed getting to be a part of this dialogue with Joanna Brooks, Dan Wotherspoon, and Charles Randall Paul regarding the way Mormons regard our church leaders. It gave me a lot to think about. Come take a listen and weigh in on the […] -
The Grass is Always Greener
Posted on April 13, 2011 | 12 CommentsI just got back from a fancy schmantzy conference for educational researchers in New Orleans. I submit proposals every year and hope to get one in-even though I know I’m out of my league. Whenever I’m lucky enough to get to go, I experience an […] -
MM 23: The KJV and Changes to Race-Related Book of Mormon Chapter Headings
Posted on April 13, 2011 | No CommentsI spent 15 hours driving this weekend and so had a lot of listening time. I enjoyed this Mormon Matters podcast–especially after reading Ed’s post here about his first Bible: Episode 23: The King James Version and Changes to Race-related Book of Mormon Chapter […] -
Just Too Good to be True
Posted on April 12, 2011 | 3 CommentsContext can be everything in art. Hearing those songs again, in a fresh context, I was actually listening to them for the first time. -
Salvador, Brazil
Posted on April 12, 2011 | 8 CommentsI gotta love Facebook because it allowed me to re-connect with Kim Allen, who was my roommate while I was on study abroad in Spain. Kim is a great photographer and agreed to let me share these pics that she took in Salvador, Brazil. […] -
Cafeteria Style
Posted on April 10, 2011 | 30 CommentsIn last week’s LDS General Conference session. Elder Nelson, a prominent priesthood leader, said,“ Teach of faith to keep all the commandments of God, knowing that they are given to bless His children and bring them joy. Warn them that they will encounter people who […] -
Sterling’s Taiwanese Ride to Church
Posted on April 10, 2011 | 7 CommentsToday’s Ride to Church comes to us from Sterling Swallow–all the way from Taiwan. Sterling writes: Taoyuan, Taiwan is not only the site of three LDS wards, but it’s also the actual home of the Chiang Kai Shek/Taipei International Airport. It is just south of […] -
Time’s Fractal Line
Posted on April 9, 2011 | 4 Comments‘I wish I had more time in my life.’ A friend wrote this on his Facebook wall yesterday. It’s a problem I can certainly relate to: I often feel the sands of time slipping through some cosmic hourglass, with too few of the things I […] -
Before Sunrise
Posted on April 8, 2011 | 24 CommentsAn American man meets a French woman on a train in Europe. They connect and get off together in Vienna where they spend the night walking around the city and talking, making love hours before each is scheduled to depart for home. With that framework, […] -
Delousing the Kids
Posted on April 6, 2011 | 4 CommentsThis beautiful poem was written by my dear friend, Dayna Patterson, after patiently listening to me whine about our 2010 lice-capade. It will be published later this year in a chapbook called Mothering. Dayna has another chapbook that was published recently called Loose […] -
An Unlikely Prayer of Thanksgiving
Posted on April 6, 2011 | 9 CommentsLast summer, Brent and Stuart went to get a haircut. While there, the stylist discovered that Stuart had lice (gasp!). We soon discovered that Marin also had it (double gasp!). Kennedy managed to escape unscathed. From my perspective growing up, it seemed like the only […] -
Bicycle Playlist
Posted on April 5, 2011 | 1 Comment"Bicycles move with the flow of the earth ..." -
Cleared for Take Off
Posted on April 4, 2011 | 6 Comments“Does anyone smell smoke?” Not exactly the words you want to hear at 36,000 feet in the air halfway through a cross-country flight. Shortly after the flight attendant asked us to take our shoes off to feel for heat (read: fire) below us, our plane […] -
James’ Bike Ride to Church in Suffolk and Essex
Posted on April 3, 2011 | 6 CommentsCome see James’ bike ride to his favourite church just outside Suffolk, England, where James grew up and now works as a primary school teacher. This is not the Quaker church that James attends most Sundays, but a small village church that sits atop a […] -
Reach Out and Touch Someone
Posted on April 3, 2011 | 7 CommentsHe blazed up the wide middle aisle of our repurposed Presbyterian sanctuary, passing the stained glass depictions of Biblical scenes on his way to the pulpit to speak at the open mic of our LDS fast and testimony meeting. He looked a bit like Samson, […] -
The West
Posted on April 2, 2011 | 3 CommentsYesterday on ‘Rogue Cinema’ I wrote about one of my Granddad’s favourite films, the 1955 version of Oklahoma!, and pondered how this representation of the American West appealed to his personal psychology. He was a man with an abundance of energy, who loved amateur dramatics, […] -
Boise Trees
Posted on April 1, 2011 | 2 CommentsDaLyn took these beautiful pictures in or around Boise, Idaho. Thanks for sharing them with us, DaLyn. ; -
Oklahoma!
Posted on April 1, 2011 | 8 CommentsThe first part of a two-post analysis of the dream of the American West, through a particularly successful 1955 movie adaptation of the Broadway hit. Six years ago, my paternal grandfather, Dennis, died of Motor Neurone (Lou Gehrig's) disease. -
Glastonbury Tor
Posted on March 31, 2011 | 6 CommentsWhen we lived in Bristol, we went a few times to the nearby and ancient town of Glastonbury, where, on top of a sharp and very prominent hill, a strange-looking tower stands alone. A mythology surrounds the ‘Tor’, and the whole town, connecting unseen worlds […] -
Woman can’t close eyes due to plastic surgery
Posted on March 31, 2011 | 11 CommentsI just read this sad article about a woman who can no longer close her eyes due to a plastic surgery procedure. And if you’ve been reading here this week, you’ll know that I have plastic surgery on the brain. And while I *know* […] -
Kids and Calamities
Posted on March 31, 2011 | 12 CommentsI watched the Twin Towers fall on TV, my oldest child safely ensconced in her kindergarten class. My toddler was playing with blocks nearby…. building towers and knocking them down. “Mommy, why does your face look like this?” she asked, mimicking my […] -
More college “hookups” but more virgins
Posted on March 31, 2011 | No CommentsI just read this article re: the sexual behavior of college students. This article reports on research done by Mark Regnerus, who wrote Forbidden Fruit that I wrote about several times a month or so ago. And it made me chuckle because at BYU […] -
Fancy
Posted on March 30, 2011 | 15 CommentsThe willingness to spend tons of money and time grooming or getting surgery is born of a desire to control outcomes, to dictate the potentially unpredictable vicissitudes of desire and power associated with beauty in our culture. -
I’m Not Fancy
Posted on March 29, 2011 | 52 Comments; “At fifty, every man has the face he deserves. To erase the lines and change the contours of one’s face is a way of obliterating one’s history.” –George Orwell ; When Kennedy was about 9, I started a mother/daughter book club. At the […] -
An interview with Bobby Lopez, co-creator of the Book of Mormon musical
Posted on March 29, 2011 | 2 CommentsI thought this was a great interview. I loved it when he said he liked the Mormon practice of having weekly “Family Home Evening” and hoped his kids were having “as good a time as Mormon kids.” It’s funny to me that Mormons […] -
Pay to Pray: Going Green for God
Posted on March 28, 2011 | 10 CommentsThe flickering of the candles drew me in as if they were the wish at end of a birthday celebration. . . when I found out that money was tied to offering these prayers, I felt a bit angry and self righteous. At MY church you could pray for free, God didn't "charge" to hear your pleas. -
As is the atom, so is the universe…
Posted on March 27, 2011 | 5 CommentsPart 1: My poor kids have a Yogi-Buddhist-Pacifist (and Christian leaning) Mom. This does not bode well if you are a 15-year old boy who loves video games. Have you ever tried to find non-violent video games for your kids? There are not a lot […] -
Let’s Walk Together
Posted on March 26, 2011 | 4 CommentsIt’s easy to be unconscious about our consciousness. The stories that we tell ourselves make up our world, but it’s natural to be unaware of the huge potential power that lies in exploring and examining the processes that form these stories. ‘Life is what you […] -
My Oldest Possession
Posted on March 25, 2011 | 9 CommentsForty years ago today I received a gift, an item I've owned longer, and used more often, than any other possession -
Rural Washington
Posted on March 25, 2011 | 2 CommentsThis beautiful picture is a shot of the view Brent (married to Doves-and-Serpents-Heather) woke up to every morning growing up in rural Washington state. The picture was taken by Brent’s sister. On a clear day, you can also see Mt. St. Helens from their […] -
Parallel Journeys
Posted on March 24, 2011 | 20 CommentsBy Claudia On my personal blog, I am known as “The Faithful Dissident.” For the past three years, I’ve been hiding behind that alias. Afraid of what, I’m not exactly sure, but some of my experiences during the past yearhave made me realize that I’m […] -
My Own (not-so-little-anymore) Dancing Boy
Posted on March 23, 2011 | 5 CommentsMy son Stuart turned 8 in February and was baptized as a member of our church last Sunday. (Children typically get baptized when they turn 8 in the Mormon church, so he has been looking forward this. It’s something of a rite of passage.) […] -
Magnolia
Posted on March 22, 2011 | 2 CommentsPaul Thomas Anderson’s Magnolia (1999) shows us (to use David Lynch’s words:) people ‘in trouble’. Like Altman’s Short Cuts, the film revolves around the strangely interconnected lives of a number of families in the city, each trying to navigate crises that seem to be veering […] -
“I Believe” – a Review of “The Book of Mormon” Musical
Posted on March 21, 2011 | 21 CommentsAnd mostly I felt sadness that it takes people completely outside of my faith to see where the power of Mormonism lies. -
Jonathan’s Ride to Church(es) in Salt Lake City
Posted on March 20, 2011 | 21 CommentsI was inspired by Andy’s post of churches around York several weeks back and decided to give it a shot where I live here in the Salt Lake area. I had visited some of the churches in the area before, and decided to use […] -
Belly Aches
Posted on March 20, 2011 | 16 CommentsNearly a year ago, I was distressed to realize that I desperately wanted to be somewhere else, doing something else. I wanted to be someone else. Felt burnt out at work. Phoned it in with my family and wondered if I would ever enjoy them […] -
Kevin Smith: ‘Dogma’
Posted on March 18, 2011 | 4 CommentsWhen Dogma (1999) was first released, it was met with all the usual protestors: the Harry-Potter-book-burners, who hadn’t bothered to see the film. From a copy of the script, the Catholic League were left with no doubt that this was a ‘blasphemous’ film: casting Alanis […] -
“Do you want to end up living under a bridge?”
Posted on March 17, 2011 | 10 CommentsThis is, reportedly, what my daughter’s second grade teacher asked her class during a fit of frustration over their less-than-enthusiastic preparation for the looming standardized testing. Several other parents and I were concerned, but felt trapped in the status quo and didn’t really see […] -
The Incredible Shrinking Woman
Posted on March 16, 2011 | 33 CommentsI never thought too much about whether I’d be a mother (see this post if you’d like). I thought about becoming a mother about as much as I think about breathing or blinking. So after I got married (at the absurd age of 19), the […] -
Return and Report
Posted on March 15, 2011 | 10 CommentsWelcome to a new segment on Stacks where I give brief reports on what I’ve been reading or listening to lately. Today’s edition will feature four novels I’ve read in the last month, including one that was on my to do list for this year. […] -
Mormon Mommy Meets Eat, Pray, Love
Posted on March 14, 2011 | 9 CommentsIn the spirit of wayfaring, Ashley joins us today with the kind of travelogue I’d love to hear in testimony meeting. I’m the one with my mouth open wide and feet sitting in a pool of flesh-sucking fish, what Southeast Asians term a “fish spa.” […] -
The Rituals of Sin
Posted on March 13, 2011 | 8 CommentsToday on ‘The Sanctuary’ we’re very pleased to have a guest post from Krisanne, who writes at the Mormon Women Project, as well as A Paper Moth and Bottari. A couple of days ago I watched Searching for the Wrong-Eyed Jesus, a documentary about an […] -
DRY Ink’s Ride to Church
Posted on March 13, 2011 | 8 CommentsCome see Erika’s drive to church in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Erika is a licensed therapist and photographer. Click here to see her amazing work. Erika says: “I live in Baton Rouge, LA. Like any town we have our pluses and minuses. Pluses: rich […] -
The Big Lebowski
Posted on March 11, 2011 | 11 Comments‘Sometimes there’s a man. . . and he’s the man for his time and place.’ The Big Lebowski (1998) is a film about a man who ‘nobody calls. . . Lebowski.’ He is ‘The Dude’ (Jeff Bridges): and his journey to secure a replacement rug […] -
Talents: Addition and Multiplication
Posted on March 10, 2011 | 9 CommentsThis is a guest post from a favorite reader and commenter, Corktree. It may sound simplistic (or just serving of my purpose), but I’ve always read the parable of the talents to mean actual talents. It’s just easy to see how one might be […] -
Bee Photography
Posted on March 10, 2011 | 1 CommentCheck out this amazing picture taken by D’Arcy Benincosa of Bee Photography. This is one of her favorite shots: ; -
I’m a Public School Junkie
Posted on March 9, 2011 | 34 CommentsI’m a public school junkie and since this is Texas Public Schools Week (who knew?), I’m hopping up on my Public Schools Soapbox. My three siblings and I are all products of Texas public schools, which served us remarkably well-academically and socially. […] -
To The Greatest Boy in the World — A Tribute
Posted on March 8, 2011 | 6 CommentsMy boy, my oldest, is turning nine tomorrow. He is still young, but in the last six months, there have been these strange flickers of the future, a shadow of the young man he will become running through him. There are wry asides, hair that […] -
Sacred Cows Make the Best Burgers
Posted on March 7, 2011 | 12 CommentsWe can blame it all on Ben Franklin. Starting the trend for using artistic satire to editorialize, his “Join, or Die” cartoon was the first of its kind to be published. Depicting the original American colonies as pieces of a snake, he attempts to illustrate […] -
Before I Die . . . in NOLA
Posted on March 7, 2011 | 10 CommentsThis is one of the coolest things I have seen in a long time. Candy Chan is a public installation artist, designer, urban planner, and co-founder of Civic Center who likes to make cities more comfortable for people. With some help from friends, […]