{bits & pieces}

Wondering what to read this Lent? A triangle quilt for a big boy bed

{bits & pieces}

The weekly “little of this, little of that” feature here at Like Mother, Like Daughter!

Be sure to use the discount code LO30 for 30% off The Little Oratory this week at Sophia Institute Press — only for Like Mother, Like Daughter readers. They offer $5 flat shipping for all orders in the US, by the way!

St. Gregory the Great ~ feast of the Chair of St. Peter

Just giving local folks a heads up about this beautiful Mass — the Ordinariate’s Feast of Title and Dedication on the Feast of the Chair of St. Peter, to take place on Feb 22, 7:30 pm at St. Patrick’s upper church, 9 Pomeworth St. Stoneham MA. My mom and The Chief plan to be there! (And aren’t their handbills beautiful?)

This week’s links!

Lettering and handwriting:

I loved this video of the master penman Jake Weidmann. I’m inspired by how he has always striven to make everything he writes – even class notes when he was a kid – beautiful. The dedication pays off, as you will see!

I think it’s common sense to most of us, but it’s worth learning about it some more depth: why handwriting notes is more effective than typing. I am obsessing about how much I’m loving my newly adopted habit of using a physical daily planner this year – I hope to blog about it soon.

In other art news:

Perhaps you and/or your kids would enjoy this Bodleian Coloring book which you can print out?

An article on Norman Rockwell’s illustrations of Huckleberry Finn.

A collection of beautiful photos of Hong Kong from the 1950s.

From Pondered In My Heart, a lovely, hand-drawn Lenten Calendar you can print out and your little ones can color in – a helpful visual aid to the Lenten journey.

Some Politics lessons:

How does the presidential election process actually work? A poster and accompanying info.

And another, short article: Who Elects the President?

On Relationships:

Complementarity: Lessons from Little House in the Big Woods. Have you ever thought about how formative this classic American story is, as far as understanding the important differences between mothers and fathers (or Mas and Pas)? We are currently obsessing over this book, as Finnabee received it on audio from her uncle for Christmas and can.not. get. enough. (Yesterday evening she spent a fair amount of time chasing “panthers” using the long wand attachment of my vacuum.)

The End of Small Talk. This man reflects on how to change the dating scene – and the friend-seeking-scene in general – by eliminating dull small talk. What do you think? On the one hand, I find it appealing because yes, in general I’d rather jump right into a fascinating and personal conversation with someone. On the other hand, it seems like an attempt to short-cut through the ground-laying work of relationships. Would you find this guy to be pleasantly authentic, or… jerky?

How Our Housing Choices Make Adult Friendship More Difficult. I’m always interested in a thoughtful critique of modern residential planning and how it affects culture. I found this piece very thought-provoking. I will say, however, that I take issue with a few premises here; the resistance to unsupervised children’s play being one of them.

We, of course, advocate the Pockets as a remedy for difficulty in making friends and sharing life with them! In an ideal world, the Pocket would be as local as possible, so that this “walkable” form of friendship would be attainable. But it is interesting to note how our infrastructure can be working against us.

In the liturgical year:

Today is the Memorial of St. Paul Miki and Companions!

From the archives:

Get your Lenten ducks in a row! And by ducks we mean books. (Yes, by archives we mean yesterday.)
A really nice salad with roasted squash and whole grains from Rosie.
A lesson on brainstorming your menu planning.