95 Picadilly

I never really envisioned myself writing for a newspaper, and I say that without a hint of arrogance. It just was never in the career plans, though I was recruited several times by a Kentucky paper before finally relenting. I had first thought I would make a life in broadcasting, not even taking into account…

In the early 2000s, there was a film called “Nine,” of which I was a particular fan. It was a lush, musical tribute to the heyday of Italian cinema, about a time when Europe, not Hollywood, set the world’s cultural trends. While the film itself had nothing to do with her, per se – focusing…

Christmas comes as I continue on my own faith journey in what has undeniably been a rough year. It’s been one that’s tested my faith by literally grinding me down. I’ve often felt adrift, as if I were moving through a never-ending fog, stumbling over obstacles I didn’t see in my path. For me, that’s…

Last year, in a bid to stay ahead of the Christmas rush at church, where my family has typically been charged with decorating for Advent and Christmas, I found myself hunched over a paintbrush and deeply second guessing myself as I worked to paint a large ceramic nativity set. The clock was ticking and time…

Several years ago, I picked up a paintbrush with little more intention than to create something mildly meaningful for family and friends. I’d spent years studying art – from the time I was a small child taking private lessons, knee high to a grasshopper, to exploring it casually post-college, where I had studied History and…

Yes, I know it’s just Advent – the first season of the church calendar, if you were wondering – but every year, as the cold of winter tightens its diabolic grip and I begin my descent into an annual cold weather whine-fest, a much warmer tradition arrives in the heart of England, becoming – outside…

On Thursday, as I watched Vice President Dick Cheney’s funeral in Washington, I began to reflect on the past. There is something deeply reflective about funerals, especially when surrounded by the grandeur of the National Cathedral. I suppose they speak to the fragility of life and the quickness with which it passes. As the vice…

Over the weekend, I randomly caught an interview on the Kelly Clarkson Show with actress Rosamund Pike. During the segment, the two spoke about the many characters Pike has tackled in her career and the strange privileges of being an actor. I think I agree that there’s something enviable about a job where you get…

At mass on Sunday, Fr. Carlos did something I hadn’t expected. He preached his homily first in English and then in Spanish and it took me by surprise, but as I looked around the church, I saw faces from all over the world. Men and women from every corner of the country, families who had…

I’ve been called worldly. I don’t know how true that is, despite someone once telling me – a complete stranger, who read my now defunct blog – that I was “too worldly” to be from my hometown. There may have been an insult in there. Yet, there is some truth to my worldliness, at least…