Philocrites

My 10 lb 4 oz excuse for skipping General Assembly.

by Philocrites

Really, could you wave goodbye to this little guy — who weighed in at his one-month visit to the pediatrician at 10 lbs. 4 oz. — to spend a week covering the annual UUA General Assembly? Happily, UU World will be well represented in Florida without me, with daily news coverage by Jane Greer, workshops by Kenneth Sutton and Don Skinner, a booth in the exhibit hall with Sonja Cohen, and magazine coverage by Kimberly French. Visit the UU World General Assembly blog to keep up! I'll be providing long-distance technical support, but spending my nights burping and changing young Philo Jr.

P.S. I have finally added some more photos to my Philocritot album, for those of you who want to say, "Aww!"

Posted by Philocrites, June 23, 2008, at 08:32 AM | 4 comments

New 'UU World': Paradise, Sources cantata, counting UUs.

by Philocrites

While I was offline welcoming my adorable son into the world, UU World's summer issue arrived in subscribers' mailboxes; most of the issue is also available online. Some highlights:

Also in the summer issue: Forrest Church tells his congregation that his cancer has returned; Jeff Wilson reviews Philip Gura's new history of Transcendentalism; Tad Waddington recommends thinking mythically about your goals; and Alice Blair Wesley gives a shout out to the Puritan "Cambridge Platform," the root of Unitarian Universalist "congregational polity."

Members of UUA congregations receive a subscription to UU World as a benefit of membership. Others can subscribe in the U.S. for only $14 a year. Visit uuworld.org for articles from the magazine's current and past issues, online-only essays and blogs, and fresh news. And be sure to sign up for the magazine's weekly email newsletter.

P.S. If you want to write a letter to the editor, write to world {at} uua.org and include your name, address, phone number, and congregation; only your name and city will be published with your letter.

Posted by Philocrites, June 19, 2008, at 08:38 AM | 2 comments

When lolcats light a chalice.

by Philocrites

Denizens of the interdependent web, you'll either think this Unitarian Universalist take on an Internet fad is funny or makes no sense whatsoever. [Link updated!] Those of you in the latter category will probably find Wikipedia's entry on lolcats illuminating, although perhaps not sufficiently to make them compelling. (Hat tip, Dubhlainn.)

Posted by Philocrites, June 9, 2008, at 11:27 PM | 6 comments

JK Rowling at Harvard on failure, imagination.

by Philocrites

Mrs Philocrites and I listened to JK Rowling's wonderful Harvard commencement address this afternoon on WHRB, and commend it to you: "The fringe benefits of failure, and the importance of imagination."

Posted by Philocrites, June 5, 2008, at 07:38 PM | 0 comments

Philocritot's birth refutes Nat'l Geographic redhead scare.

by Philocrites

Ever since Philocrites Jr (aka Philocritot) was born May 20, he has been charming people with his alert little face and red hair (ha! take that, National Geographic!). He has also been impressing his parents with his innate supercuteness and his courtesy in sleeping for 3- and 4-hour stretches at night. Nevertheless, as you can see here, we're a tired bunch here at Philocrites World Headquarters, where both mom and dad are enjoying parental leaves and the assistance of our respective mothers. I'll forthrightly admit that I underestimated the degree of exhaustion that comes with being new parents.

Mandatory new baby details: 8 lbs. 3 oz., 21.5 inches. Born May 20 at 3:27 a.m. after 33 hours of labor (yikes!), from which Mrs Philocrites has recovered very well.

If I should decide to make additional baby photos available to the general public, you'll find them here.

Posted by Philocrites, June 1, 2008, at 09:25 PM | 26 comments