Studies of Culture, Religion, and their Intersection
Family, books, and my own spiritual practices.
I have always been interested in horror. When I was younger, I was obsessed with creature features. My grandma would help me track down VHS tapes—because I am that old—of films I had read about in old horror magazines. Movies like Creature from the Black Lagoon, The Blob, Troll 2, and plenty of others. Troll 2 gave me nightmares for the longest time. Which is especially funny now, because I find it ridiculously cheesy.
Read the reviewBook Review · 4.5 / 5
When I first picked up Living in the End Times by Vlad Naumescu, I thought I had a fairly good idea of what I was getting into. The book focuses on ritual, history, and ethics among Romania's Old Believers, and I expected much of it to center on their religious practices. That is not exactly what I got, though, and perhaps that is why I found the book so interesting.
Oak Creek Almanac
A neglected stretch of fence line, a hidden native shrub, and plans for a tart autumn jam or cocktail syrup.
Journeys & Places
A Magic: The Gathering-themed drag show at X-Ray Arcade becomes another strange little Milwaukee adventure with our exchange students.
Journeys & Places
Slingshots, scattered clay ammunition, and a friendly competition with our foreign exchange students at Slingshot Bar in West Allis.
Book Review · 5 / 5
I expected Witchland to be interesting. What I didn’t expect was how often I had to remind myself that the people in its pages weren’t characters. They were real. Real people living in real villages, surrounded by neighbors, churches, government officials, family members, grudges, fears, rumors, and beliefs that could sometimes work together and sometimes barely seemed to function at all.
Book Review · 3 / 5
I really wanted to like The Book of Witchcraft by Semra Haksever. I truly did.
Home & Family
Cholula, our aging black lab, has welcomed every exchange student into our family. This is her part in the arrivals, goodbyes, and homecomings.
Book Review · 5 / 5
A book about how the Irish historically handled the loss of someone they loved? Count me in.
Journeys & Places
An afternoon at Oktoberfest becomes a reflection on hospitality, cultural exchange, and the ordinary moments that turn strangers into family.
Browse the grove
Close readings, new discoveries, and verdicts from the margin.
Follow this path →Ritual, folklore, seasonal devotion, and the lives of old ideas.
Follow this path →Travel notes, local wanderings, and places worth returning to.
Follow this path →Hospitality, exchange-family life, meals, and shared traditions.
Follow this path →Local seasons, living land, and field notes from southeastern Wisconsin.
Follow this path →“To be rooted in one place is not to make the world smaller. It is to give curiosity somewhere to begin.”About this journal