A Random Assortment

 
~ On writing much of the Sweet Valley High series:

It took me five years to produce a 300-plus-page dissertation on early modern utopias and another five to turn it into a monograph that would eventually sell 487 copies. And yet, in a matter of a weekend morning, I could produce a chapter—a chapter!—of sparkling, exclamation-studded prose about those Wakefield girls. The Elizabeth in me loved the discipline, the reminder that while my twenties rolled on and I trudged back and forth from Eliot House to the library, lugging books in my arms like a woodcutter, I was producing pages—daily, weekly—that were being turned into actual books (OK, books with pastel covers, books without my name on them anywhere, but still!)—books that were selling, that were being translated (Hebrew, Danish, Dutch), that generated fan mail (OK, addressed to Francine and not to me). Books girls loved. The books I wrote as Kate William, the “author” name that came built in to the series, had readers.

(via Francisco)

~ This piece discusses some of the barriers that make it difficult for low-income kids to go to college. And makes me want to be a guidance counselor.

~ "Give Up Your Pew for Lent" is the most nonsensical thing I've read in quite a while (I've never read Paul Elie, but he's quite adored for his work on Catholic literature, I think):

So if the pope can resign, we can, too. We should give up Catholicism en masse, if only for a time.

We are in the third week of Lent, a six-week season of reflection and personal sacrifice when Christians prepare for Easter by taking stock of their religious lives. In recent centuries Roman Catholics have observed Lent by giving up a habit or pleasure, whether red meat, chocolate, soap operas or Facebook, to simplify their lives and regain their independence from worldly attractions — their religious freedom, if you like.

...

In traditional parlance, Benedict’s resignation leaves the Chair of St. Peter “vacant.” So I propose that American Catholics vacate the pews this weekend. 

There's so much wrong here: Benedict is not resigning Catholicism, nor is he resigning attending mass. I think, to reverse Elie's logic, since Benedict is still going to church, so should the rest of us.

What Elie proposes instead of attending mass is attending other churches and learning about them and taking time to reflect on the telos and purpose of our faith. I think attending other churches can be very good, and reflecting on our faith is important; neither of these things even remotely requires skipping mass.

(In addition--what is this business about lenten sacrifices being about religious freedom?! It's about freedom of the will, not "religious freedom." We can't just contort words to make them mean anything that occurs to us and is cute.)