Esbjorn Doing His Homework, Carl Larsson, 1912

MEREDITH writes:

It pained me to read that some of the Swedish painter Carl Larsson’s critics questioned the happiness of that family, and called him a hypocrite.  What rot!  And how wonderful that he had such a family and a haven to retreat to, as all men should.  It allowed him to go on, and continue to paint, and we all benefit from his work today. Read More »

KAREN I. writes:

The post about liberalism leading people to error, and then exploiting their error reminds me of something I saw a family do recently.

I live in a large apartment complex. It features townhouse-style apartments in a country setting, and it is very affordable, with heat included. Several families with stay-at-home parents have chosen to live here because the good value allows families to live on one average income fairly comfortably. I will be the first to admit, it is not a lavish lifestyle, but an average family determined to have a mother at home can do so without tremendous difficulty.  Read More »

SAGE McLAUGHLIN writes:

The constant drudgery of a desk job was always an attractive target for some uber-vitalist freak. Exercise balls to sit on? That’s nothing. Try this on.

JONATHAN writes:

Greetings!

I read your article on boycotting General Mills due to the company’s public support of homosexual marriage. The company’s stance originated in a blog post by Ken Charles, General Mills’ vice president of “global diversity.”

I believe his direct e-mail would be:  Ken.Charles@genmills.com. Read More »

PAUL writes:

Deep-Southern-fried death to be sure, but I will find something to eat at Chick until I am assured Chick will prosper. I don’t know where one is, but I will find one and become a Chick customer until the crisis is over. Read More »

JAMES P. writes:

The International Olympic Committee browbeat the Saudis into including women on their Olympic team, according to CNN. In Saudi Arabia, women are, for all practical purposes, forbidden to participate in sports. Therefore, the Saudis had trouble finding any female athletes to take part in the IOC-mandated charade. Finally, the Saudis nominated an 18-year-old judo fighter who “is a virtual novice, a blue belt who has only been at the sport for two years.”

Read More »

THE SWEDISH PAINTER Carl Larsson created one of the Europe’s most beloved visions of domestic harmony. Dozens of Larsson’s watercolors and paintings featured his immediate surroundings: his wife, Karin; their children, their house and the countryside near Sundborn, the village where they lived in the late nineteenth century. A son confined to a chair in punishment, the children diving into the river, two daughters getting dressed with toys scattered on the floor, the family fishing for crayfish, Karin ironing  — these scenes were suffused with light, vibrant color and a deep appreciation for the enchantments of life with children. Larsson’s painting have enjoyed continuous popularity, but they have also at times been the victim of snobbery. This was to be expected. Domestic idealism is disdained in the modern world.

Nevertheless, Lilla Hyttnäs, the house in Sundborn, is one of Europe’s most popular artist’s houses and represents something of a revolution in interior decorating. While many nineteenth century interiors were somber and formal, the Larssons favored bright colors, handcrafts, and cheerful informality. Part of the Arts and Crafts Movement, they were a major inspiration for what we think of as Scandinavian design and even for the contemporary do-it-yourself movement. The house is not the kind of dwelling that would be conceived by a professional decorator. It has the organic quality that can only be the result of gradual evolution, rather than a preconceived scheme.

For those who enjoyed the discussions at this site on life in small houses, (see here, here, and here) the Larsson house, which can be viewed on the family website, may be of especial interest. The Larssons had a way of creating interesting and varied scenes in relatively small rooms. Read More »

KATHLENE M. writes:

I just found out today that the government-subsidized Amtrak is now promoting “Ride with Pride,” a pro-same-sex-family advertising campaign. The ads show two white “fathers” with a boy, and two black “mothers” with a girl. The Blaze has more background but you can also see this for yourself at Amtrak’s website.

I fully expect the Post Office will be next to promote homosexuality since, like Amtrak, it’s government-owned and losing money. So I won’t be surprised to see rainbow stickers on delivery trucks and a pro-homosexual stamp in the near future.

Is it hyperbolic of me to state that our government, especially the Obama administration, is evil? It is now overtly promoting abortion (with Planned Parenthood) and homosexuality with our taxpayer monies.

Read More »

PETER writes:

I was thinking about how all these progressive “freedoms” liberals impose by default now come with hefty penalties for any dissent. It’s deceptive by nature. A campaign of value replacement sold as rights expansion is obviously devastating all known liberty. Their call to denounce the human experience betrays liberalism’s inherent inhumanity. Read More »

 IBITSAAM writes:

Since the start of the Olympic Games, Google has been featuring daily cartoons depicting different sporting events. I have yet to see a cartoon that depicts a male participant.

JOHN PURDY writes:

On the question of athletics for girls and women I would argue that some hyper-masculine athletics like weight-lifting, boxing and a few other sports are not really for women and it’s hard to understand why women are attracted to them (they weren’t when I was a teenager) but certainly racket sports and even girl’s field hockey should be fine. Even distance running, up to a point is okay. The issue is the intensity with which women pursue athletics. Read More »

DOMINIC writes:

I just returned from the Chick-fil-A in Hilliard, Ohio, and it was packed. The drive-thru line wrapped around the building twice, and the inside line went out the door. I parked in a nearby Target lot, walked to the Chick-fil-A, and then I stood in line for a good 15 to 20 minutes before I finally got inside (a few were taking pictures so I’m sure they’ll be lots of Facebook and blog page updates). Read More »

MARY K. writes:

The Obama campaign came to my neighborhood on Saturday. I spent the morning working in my front garden, so I observed about a dozen canvassers making their rounds two by two. Every single one of them was a white female baby boomer! Most were also overweight and very poorly dressed: shorts and ratty t-shirts or tanks with bra straps hanging out, tube socks, even a few visors and fanny packs. Certainly an appropriate representation for the most proletarianizing (if that’s a word) president in history, but I doubt they could appreciate that. Read More »

DIANA M. writes:

I know I recently wrote that I was boycotting the Olympics, but I weakened and watched the women’s gymnastics night before last. I gave in to temptation. They were covering the preliminary round for the all-around competition.

I confess, and I’m sorry, because (a) I was a hypocrite and (b) what I saw affords additional reasons to boycott the Olympics.

They’ve tarted up the American female gymnasts, who are all adolescents on the verge of womanhood. Wearing heavy cosmetics has been going on for a while and is most pronounced among the Russians. However – the television producers bumped it up more than a notch with sexy “glam” shots of the U.S. girls, singly and in a group, vamping it up for the camera. Read More »

MEGAN B. sends this e-mail:

I read your blog quite often and really appreciate all that I have learned from your words. From reading posts from your readers, however, I get a deep sense of ‘doom and gloom.’

Maybe this is the bright-eyed nineteen-year-old college student in me talking, but I don’t think it’s time to ‘throw in the towel’ or to sink our heads in mourning for our country. Sure, televisions are full of sex and profanity, the Constitution is becoming nothing more than an annoying piece of paper to many lawmakers, and the notion of a nuclear family is in shambles. The list goes on and on (unfortunately). At the same time, more Americans are pro-life than ever in recent history, abortion/illegitimate pregnancies are down, and teen abstinence rates are up. People like Taylor Swift (a Christian) are selling out stadiums full of impressionable, young girls. And, there are a whole lot of people really concerned about the absurd growth of government and questioning its usefulness in the recent decades. As I understand it, that wasn’t much of an issue with the majority of people fifteen years ago. Read More »

TOM B. writes:

We have four children, whom we homeschool. My boys are at the comic book age, so I thought I’d see what comics were like, thirty-something years later. ( I was a big X-Men fan in the 70’s.)

Words fail me.

I came across a series of comics called Crossed. This is a truly demonic work, and not alone, either. Naturally, it’s quite popular; so much so, a movie is in the works. (I consider myself a gentleman, so I won’t go into detail. Google will, if you wish to have your day ruined.) Read More »

Paula Radcliffe announced this week that she will not run in the Olympic marathon because of poor health

MR. TALL writes:

I’ve been watching some of the Olympics this week, and have been struck yet again by the effects of certain sports on girls’ and women’s bodies.

The very first event shown on local TV here in Hong Kong was one of the lower weight classes in the women’s weightlifting competition. A young Chinese woman was the favorite in the event. She weighed just under 48 kg, i.e. about 106 pounds. But she was virtually unrecognizable as a woman of that weight. She was very short in stature, and had abnormally short, thick limbs, and a blunt, stocky torso; her body looked distorted and deformed. Should women be competing in weightlifting? That seems to me a pretty easy ‘no’.

But then what about sports such as swimming? Putting aside suspicions that some of the competitors are doping (see the case of another Chinese girl, i.e. Ye Shiwen, the 15-year-old who won the 400m Individual Medley), just look at the competitors as they line up for the swimming races. All of them have remarkably wide shoulders, with the huge latissimus dorsi characteristic of hard-core swimmers. They look closer to normal than the weightlifters, but are those manly shoulders permanent? I’m not sure. Read More »

[NOTE: Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day is tomorrow, Wednesday, August 1, not today, as stated in the previous entry.]

BUCK writes:

I just happened to hear a few minutes of radio talk show today. They were discussing Chick-Fil-A. I’m going to find the closest one and patronize it. I’ve never been in one.

A guy from Virginia said that he saw a Chick-Fil-A that was so crowded that employees were directing traffic and had to set up orange safety cones to manage the line of cars that were backed up on the street. Perhaps Dan Cathy is a marketing genius. Perhaps there are a lot of hungry, unsatisfied Americans who have been waiting to Fil -up on something wholesome. Read More »