Various & Sundry, May 18

Would it surprise you to find out your mother was a spy? I loved this article about the woman who left the CIA to become a children's book author.  Must have come as a shock to her daughter, though.

“When Hana turned 8, I took her to the International Spy Museum for a fun program they hold, called Operation Secret Slumber. I gave the keynote talk, telling the assembled kids about the real work of spies. Hana was in the back of the room, but I saw her hand shoot up into the air. Wonderment spread across her face, she blurted out ‘So you’re here because you’re the spy?’"

Surprise!

James Lipton offers advice to Mitt Romney on How to Act Human. It's quite specific: how to laugh, how to hold your arms, problems of casting. I thought it was a fascinating insight into how actors observe someone playing the role of a public figure.

If you want some inspiration, read this story about the Columbia University janitor who just graduated with a degree in Classics.  With Honors.  After 12 years. That's after the six years he spent learning English. Truly impressive.

As a classics major, I wonder if he would approve of Dante's Inferno in Lego form.  Or would he think it was a heresy.

Internet Monk offers a lost parable of Jesus: the Sugar of the Earth.

And Jesus spoke to them and said, “You are the powdered sugar of the earth. As sugar is sprinkled on cakes and cookies to make them attractive and exceedingly sweet, so you shall make my church the most delightful confection the world has known. For the children of this world have an insatiable sweet tooth, and you shall satisfy those who hunger and thirst for empty calories."

Yes, it's slightly bitter.  But oh so good.

Also deliciously bitter, this letter W.H. Auden sent to his priest at St. Mark's in the Bowery.  Liturgy geeks, enjoy. Everyone else, you may go about your day in a practical manner.