U2charist Tonight at EDS

More info, and a legible copy of the info, at the EDS website.

And they're off...

Off to chairs of search committees around the nation, that is. In Phase One of "Operation Tenure-Track Professor Baptized Pagan," I've sent out all of my applications for teaching positions to a variety of colleges, mostly Catholic, around the country. This is all in preparation for the American Academy of Religion meeting next month in Washington, D.C., where first-round interviews for many of these jobs will be held. In the exciting "Employment Information Services Center" (read: temporary cube farm created out of not-so-soundproof curtains, housing tired search committees and stressed-out, over-caffeinated hopefuls), applicants wend their way through a maze of departmental politics in the search for the ultimate cheeese, a tenure-track position.

But at this point, applications all sent and no interviews yet scheduled (still too early, I think...right?...RIGHT???), I can relax into the bliss of envelopes of C.V.'s, cover letters and statements of teaching philosophy wending their way across the country. Oh, and into finishing the dissertation. Right.

2007 Commemorative Stamps

Just when you thought my combined interests in theology and revolutionary war re-enanctment made me geeky enough, I thought I would add to the overall dorkiness by coming out again: I, BaptizedPagan, am a philatelist. I've been one since I was younger, and though I managed to resist the lure of philately for some time in my adolescence, as I've gotten older it's become something that I can't and won't deny. I am what I am. I'm particularly fond of first day of issue commemorative cancellations, the often beautiful and historically significant connection of a new stamp with a place associated with its subject. And I have a whole lot of them these days, thanks in large part to inheriting a large part of my bf's late grandmother's _astounding_ collection.



In that theme, I thought I'd pass on the postal service's release of next year's commemorative stamp issues. Some of the best looking ones, this year's corporate-inspired "Love" stamp, the 400th anniversary of Jamestown triangular stamp, and the Tiffany window stamp, are displayed here. (If you're still looking for the best stamps available right now, for my money you can't go wrong with the Samuel de Champlain joint U.S.-Canadian issue, the (lovely) Judy Garland stamps released in June just in time for pride, or the Chacón Madonna and Child for Christmas this year.) I'm just waiting for the reaction against the fact that the postal service is promoting magic in its Disney stamps this year...pagans!

Philatelists of the world, unite! We have nothing to lose but our shame.

Weekly poem from slate

To get you into the swing of the upcoming holidays, Slate's weekly poem, by Kathy Fagan.

" 'There's just one little thing: a ring. I don't mean on the phone.' -- Eartha Kitt"

In lieu of the latkes,
the usual caroling,
and adorable Kazakh
orphans, instead of the crèche
and, après ski,
the figgy pudding slash
kwanzaa stew,
the yuletide blogging,
the tinsel, the garland,
and eight maids eggnogging,
allow me to mince
neither word nor pie
and provide advice
and a list forthwith:
Do not buy and regret,
dear. A diamond
is what to get,
dear. Its extra weight
I'm built to carry.
The starboard lilt,
the opiate
drag on one knuckle,
I'm willing to accommodate
and promise not to buckle
under. Been bottom.
Done shouldered.
It's my time to
plunder, and have a little lovely
something, a nothing-too-modest
something, to set off
all this black
and dazzle the crosshatch
right out of my skin.
O halogen track,
O twinkling lights,
O shining star
upon the highest bough:
you'll soon learn how
to be the ladies in waiting,
stable pony to the thoroughbred,
Martin to a Lewis,
Cathy to a Patty,
mere vein to the carotid—
i.e., to be outwatted.
O Christmas
tree, dear dreidl,
could it be more plainly said?
Some demand the head
upon a platter, others lick
the silver off their spoon.
This childless mother
desires neither moon
nor man but the carat
dangled all this time.
So snare it,
Santa, from that other
sorry cow.
The Baby Jesus phoned,
says I should wear it now.

Tom Wright at Harvard

Or, as you'll find him in the glory of flowery Anglican titles, the Right Reverend Doctor N. T. Wright, + Durham.

N.T. Wright is, for my money, one of the best living theologians in the world right now, a biblical scholar by training who not only is the bishop of a diocese and the kind of author we all hate for writing numerous books of outstanding quality, repeatedly, but also a husband and father. Sheesh.

If you're in the greater Boston area, though, there are some great opportunities to hear him in the next few days. He'll be preaching at the Sunday 11 am service at the Memorial Church, Harvard, on "Apocalyptic and the Beauty of God", which you will also be able to hear at whrb.org. He'll also be giving the William Belden Noble Lectures on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday evenings next week at 8 pm, on "God the Creator: The Gospel in a Gnostic World”, “Jesus the Lord: The Gospel and the New Imperialism”, and “Spirit of Truth: The Gospel in a Postmodern World”, respectively. He's definitely worth the time, and what else are you going to do on a Wednesday night anyway, now that Project Runway is over (and those fools chose Jeffrey over perfect, wonderful, so-put-together Laura...).