Alan Jacobs


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And here is a Tiffany window from a Philadephia church. It and its companion piece were saved from destruction by a man who bought them, along with othrer church furnishings, for six thousand bucks. He had no idea what he was buying: the windows were so covered with grime that they were unrecognizable.

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Here’s an Agnes Northrop window, this one at the Art Institute of Chicago.

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The Met has acquired “Garden Landscape,” a window made by Agnes Northrop in Lewis Comfort Tiffany’s workshop. Since the window is ten feet wide and seven feet tall, I’ll be eager to see where and how they display it.

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On the last day of the year, I wrote a post on why I don’t do end-of-year posts.

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Finished reading: The Whalebone Theatre by Joanna Quinn. A lovely novel, at once melancholy and hopeful, about learning to cope with a changed world, and about the many forms and meanings of family. 📚

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I wrote a post for my Buy Me a Coffee supporters.

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I wrote about listening to Wagner.

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I wrote about a Christmas present I received.

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More landscape photographs by Charlotte Ladefoged

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Stefan Collini: “Carlyle’s forte as a social critic was not likely to lie in making practical suggestions. The denunciatory sublime was his preferred register.” I shall make a point of using the phrase “denunciatory sublime” in future.

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NYT: ”Despite these difficulties, there can be a reluctance among the clergy to talk about their own troubles. Ministry is often seen as a calling rather than a vocation, let alone just a job, and the concept of service underwrites the work.” Pro tip: Look up the etymology of the word “vocation.”

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The good Earth.

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Christmas coma setting in.

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a young man and his dog high-fiving
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Lo how a rose

a rose blooming on Christmas Day in Texas
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Merry Christmas!

A happy dog
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a page from a Christmas alphabet book

More here

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A post on George MacDonald and Christmas — though be warned, this one’s a bit of a tearjerker.

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The game Monopoly basically copied an anti-capitalist game created by one Lizzie Magie: The Landlord’s Game.

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Finished reading: The Corner that Held Them by Sylvia Townsend Warner. A strangely riveting book, and unlike anything I have ever read. I don’t even know how to describe it. 📚

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The notebook of Anni Albers.

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My first thought when I read the-fediverse-is-the-future pieces is: Great, now whenever anyone anywhere online is posturing, preening, snarking, lying, manipulating, and trying to stir up hatred of their enemies, we all can see it!

The fediverse would be a great thing if so many of the people using the various social media platforms weren’t simply seeking to continue all the bad behavior that made Twitter “the hellsite.” I don’t think enough people have learned from that experience. My fear is that the fediverse will just end up being the helliverse, so I’m thankful that micro.blog makes federation opt-in.

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The Feast of the Annunciation is on March 25, but the lectionary gives us the story also on the fourth Sunday of Advent, so this is a good time to read Andrew Hudgins’s great poem “The Cestello Annunciation.”

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Old wine-and-spirit trademarks