On the Common 201

Another edition with opinions nobody asked for.

Hi everyone,

We’ve reached the first full week of July. I had a lovely month of June off from this publication, watching lots of soccer and trying to keep the flowers in the front yard alive in spite of our severe drought.

As I write this, I am ensconced in a cool hotel room in southern Indiana, having visited the city known as “Santa Claus” earlier today. It was my first time. It seems like Santa Claus is doing OK monetarily. He has a big theme park here.

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The Part Where There’s an Essay: Advice and Opinions Nobody Sought.

Regular readers know the drill here: every quarter I capture some of the mad rantings that zoom around in my head and send them all your way. I’m sorry, or you’re welcome, or both.

First up, I want to talk to the people who enjoy getting to the airport at the last possible moment before boarding the plane. You are denying yourself so much stress-free joy. Imagine if you will: your trip has already started when you are in the airport. You can enjoy a cool beverage, buy a ridiculously overpriced magazine, or stare out the window at giant machinery. Recently I was in an airport during the final round of the Masters, and I met so many jovial strangers crowded around the bar TVs. Not needing to go anywhere faster is the secret to not resenting the airport and the people inside it.

I will probably write more on this soon, but the movie Project Hail Mary is such a delight. Please watch it. It is a return to an earnest, unafraid hero story that we have not seen in a long time. Ryan Gosling is perfect in the role of the reluctant astronaut Ryland Grace, and there’s also a character named Rocky, who is all over Etsy, I recently learned.

I bought these pants in the spring, and now that we are in July, they are very much in danger of becoming my entire personality. I adore them. (Hi! Yes! That is an affiliate link. I sometimes use those. Influencer culture is weird, and I am not going to go into all that, but maybe you will enjoy some things that I also actually enjoy.)

It’s not time for soup yet, but when it is, you should make this soup: Marry Me Chicken Soup.

In the meantime, since it’s blueberry season nearly everywhere, this is the muffin recipe you need.

One of the funniest phenomena known to me is a dog with a human man’s name. Something like “Bob,” “Clarence,” “Norman,” or “Eugene.” This is why “Doug” from Up is funny right away. I love the experience of hearing someone call a name, expecting a sixty-year-old man to appear, and then seeing a dog appear instead. It’s funny every single time.

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For the Anglophiles

(Note: sometimes this section includes the broader UK and British Isles. No offense is intended to any potential national identity.)

While I was off, the fanbase for the Scotland national team took over my beloved city of Boston. They had two matches there, scheduled a week apart, so they just moved in and stayed. The tradition of placing traffic cones atop statues was part of the visit. Here is the full roundup of statues that gained a hat during the week with Scotland in town.

Meanwhile the city where I actually live, Charlotte, NC, was hosting the Scotland team. They were all business. We got none of the fun.

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Reads & Listens of the Week

While we’re sad about the US team crashing out of the World Cup, we’ve enjoyed so much of the competition along the way. Here’s a nice article about one small team’s run: Cape Verde’s World Cup Run Will Live Forever. “Had Cape Verde actually pulled off the victory, it might have been the greatest upset in sports history. A small island country with a population of 530,000 against a soccer-obsessed nation with over 46 million people. One country making its World Cup debut vs. the defending world champions and the best player in the sport. The no. 67-ranked team in FIFA against no. 1.”

I thought this was a good word: Spiritual Oneupmanship and the Dangers of Digital Discipleship. “Practically, it would deeply benefit Christians on social media to evaluate the kinds of voices they listen to. Find voices that are both intelligent and virtuous, thoughtful and kind, confident yet curious. They are out there, I promise.”

Could a Jane Austen Story Be Written Today? “Austen’s universe is a moral one in which, despite the unfathomably high stakes that come with social (and especially romantic) interactions, community with others provides a path not just to true love, but to justice: The vicious cad, no matter how charming, will receive his comeuppance, while the virtuous lover, no matter how much she’s suffered, will receive her reward.”

Do you guys know about Neil the Seal?

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I have often noticed how foot paths and bridleways start just beyond the brambles at the end of tarmacked roads marked ‘dead end.’ And it seems to me that this is very often where prayer starts too. - Malcolm Guite, Word in the Wilderness