Decided to get a jump on the game for Friday. Discovered that the game now has New York Times branding. That didn’t take long. 😐

Wordle 236 5/6

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I guess it’s weird to look forward to a midday dental appointment because it gives me a break from work. Happy to own this particular “weird.”

Wordle 236 3/6

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This landed in the mailbox today. I’ve already read through most of it and plan to go back and linger over it again.

After catching Anne Helen Petersen’s two interviews with this Native American poet and storyteller, I immediately subscribed to his Substack newsletter and bought this book from someplace other than The Retailer That Shan’t Be Named.

Chris La Tray is a national treasure. Read him. Now.

I wish there was a card with this lovely prayer from Fr. James Martin’s book “Building a Bridge.” In lieu of that, posting this here.

A small Dairy Queen cone makes up for a deeply annoying day.

I can’t even remember whether I ate lunch.

Funny.

Wordle 235 4/6

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Felt like a close call.

Wordle 234 5/6

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Ugh. Almost forgot to post.

Wordle 233 3/6

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Trying not to panic when letters go dark at the outset like that.

Wordle 232 3/6

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As the game put it, “Whew.”

Wordle 231 6/6

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Did “THE Batman” go to “THE Ohio State University”?

This remarkable exchange between Stephen Colbert and singer Dua Lipa about faith is making the social media rounds.

Of course, I’ve seen unpleasant comments on the old Twitter like “I cannot believe that anyone would think he is a Christian. Plus he says he is a Catholic and a Christian. You can’t be both.” 😐

And then there’s this, retweeted by no less than noted evangelical apologist and Presbyterian pastor Timothy Keller.

Having identified with all four groups in my lifetime (Catholic, Anglican, Protestant, and evangelical), I’d concur with Dr. Bradley on this.

(To clarify: I think non-Anglican Protestants and evangelicals are capable of articulating their faith. But, as Keller himself notes, “Catholicism is both a popular religion for the masses and yet has nurtured a robust intellectual class. Fundamentalism’s largely anti-intellectual stance has only grown among conservative Christians who are alarmed by the progressive excesses of today’s universities. However, this leaves conservative Protestantism in general with little ability to reach the college-educated and little ability to reflect theologically on our U.S. culture. The cultural ‘captivity’ of evangelicals—the inability to see the difference between biblical beliefs and American culture—is largely due to a lack of evangelical scholarship.")

And I disagree with Colbert on some things, but I love how open, winsome, and intelligent he is about his faith. Very grateful for his witness.

“Remembered is no longer a word you can utter on its own. You will hereafter precede remembered with ‘I finally.'”

Binging Wordle-related content in the wee hours of Friday because I’ve already done today’s puzzle and I’m wired on peppermint green tea that I ingested way too late in the afternoon. Got a few links, in no particular order:

I had nothing better to do at 1 a.m.

Wordle 230 4/6

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Washington Post (subscription): “Sixteen Penn swimmers say transgender teammate Lia Thomas should not be allowed to compete”

“Thomas, a transgender woman who swims for the Quakers women’s team, competed for the Penn men’s team for three seasons. After undergoing more than two years of hormone replacement therapy as part of her transition, she has posted the fastest times of any female college swimmer in two events this season. The letter from Thomas’s teammates raised the question of fairness and said she was taking “competitive opportunities” away from them — namely spots in the Ivy League championship meet, where schools can only send about half of their rosters to compete.'

“‘We fully support Lia Thomas in her decision to affirm her gender identity and to transition from a man to a woman. Lia has every right to live her life authentically,’ the letter read. ‘However, we also recognize that when it comes to sports competition, that the biology of sex is a separate issue from someone’s gender identity. Biologically, Lia holds an unfair advantage over competition in the women’s category, as evidenced by her rankings that have bounced from #462 as a male to #1 as a female. If she were to be eligible to compete against us, she could now break Penn, Ivy, and NCAA Women’s Swimming records; feats she could never have done as a male athlete.'”

Best thing I’ve seen shared on Twitter in a while. H/T to @jr_briggs for posting it.

YouTube Thursday: WKRP, Cheap Trick, and a lot of late night TV

Selected highlights from recent idle drifting on the ‘Tube:

The husband got 1/6, only because somebody in an earlier time zone posted the word on Reddit; he used it for the hell of it. Be forewarned if you ever loiter in the Wordle subreddit.

Wordle 229 3/6

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Brain fart on the third line.

Wordle 228 4/6

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Today, we learned that dogs can be skunked in the middle of winter. Even before a major snowstorm.

When I got this ring years ago, I didn’t realize it represented St. Brigid’s cross. I just wanted a simple cross, and this spoke to me. I’ve worn it almost nonstop since.

It’s St. Brigid’s feast day today. St. Brigid, pray for us.

Just experimented with “frying” Spam in the air fryer. Verdict: meh. It’s good in a pinch, but unless you slice the Spam paper-thin, you won’t get the crispness (and definitely not the caramelization) of pan frying.

Had it with two boiled eggs and cauliflower rice. Didn’t quite take care of my Filipino comfort food jones, but it’ll do for a low-carb lunch.

Resisted the urge to start with “money” after yesterday’s news.

Wordle 227 4/6

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