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Nancy Piccione

Twitterature, August 2014: The Assumption of Mary Edition

August 15, 2014 by Nancy Piccione

Happy Feast of the Assumption of Mary!

I had planned to make an edit for the Assumption, but ran out of time .  Here is the quote I planned to use.   I asked my theologian husband for some help, and he offered several different passages  from today’s Byzantine liturgy.  I may yet get to it today.  If not, there’s always next year:

“Neither death nor the tomb could hold the Mother of God.  She is always ready to intercede for us, forever our steady hope and protection.”

But, today I’m linking up with Anne at Modern Mrs. Darcy for her  monthly “Twitterature” link up of mini-reviews of favorite recent reads:

Glitter and Glue by Kelly Corrigan.  Highly recommended.

I laughed and cried, sometimes at the same story in this book. Corrigan writes so well of the mother-daughter relationship, how one’s view changes of our parents as we become adults, and again when we have children of our own. It’s called Glitter and Glue because her mother told her how she was the glue in the family, and her more easygoing husband was the glitter. How Corrigan perceives the difference between them changes after she spends part of a year as a post-college grad nannying for an Australian widower and his family, and later when she has a family of her own.

I wrote down many, many quotes from the book.  You can read some of them at my GoodReads review, but since this is meant to be short takes on books, here is just one:

“Raising people is not some lark. It’s serious work with serious repercussions. It’s air traffic control. You can’t step out for a minute; you can barely pause to scratch your ankle.”

Daddy Long Legs by Jean Webster. A laugh-out-loud classic.

I was at a book group earlier this week (coincidentally, we were discussing a book that is reviewed in my August column for The Catholic Post (that column will post here in a few days), and several of us were professing our love for Dear Mr. Knightley. No one else knew that the book was a combination of Emma and Daddy Long  Legs.  And no one else had read it!

So I was happy to talk a little about it–Daddy Long Legs is an epistolary (told in letters) novel between a young woman and her male benefactor.  It’s definitely old-fashioned in a lot of ways, but great good fun.

Books like Daddy Long Legs are like comfort food to me.  I’m really enjoying it again.

Courage Has No Color: The True Story of the Triple Nickles, America’s First Black Paratroopers by Tanya Lee Stone

Extremely well-written longer-form nonfiction for kids (middle grades on up) about the first group of African-American paratroopers.  I learned so much about World War II in this book I didn’t know about–segregation in the armed forces, and efforts to change that, the war effort in the United States.  Such a fascinating read.

What are you reading these days?

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Random Thoughts, Volume 7: St. Maximilian Kolbe Edition

August 14, 2014 by Nancy Piccione

Today is the feast of St. Maximilian Kolbe.  He is a favorite of mine.

St. Maximilian KolbeWhen I used to have a family blog (that I discontinued when I started writing this one), bloggers commonly had pseudonyms for their children, and my youngest was Max, partially because of Max from Where the Wild Things Are, and partially because of St. Maximilian Kolbe.

I loved that he wanted to use the latest technology to spread the Good News.  He would undoubtedly be online if he were alive today.

The National Shrine of St. Maximilian Kolbe in Libertyville, Illinois– Marytown  has a retreat center and beautiful chapel, and in the lower level, a small but very moving museum/experience of St. Max’s life.  Not to be missed. Strange random fact about me: the second time I visited it was just after I completed my first marathon (it finished near Marytown).  I went back to my hotel, cleaned up, and headed over to Marytown for a mini-pilgrimage.

Can I be honest here? It has been very difficult to write for me lately.  For a long time, very difficult.  This has been a hard year for many reasons.  But especially lately,  there has been so much bad news in the world and our country, it seems impossible to write well about anything.

I have found it somewhat restorative to make photo/quotes like the one above.  I took the quote from tomorrow’s second reading in The Office of Readings–it’s a letter of St. Max.

The teens tell me that when they are not meant to be humorous, they are not called memes, but edits.  So I have been making a lot of edits lately.  It’s very soothing arranging the words of others, play around with photo editing, and make it look reasonably good.

Some random links:

*”Ann Coulter to Jesus: Fix Bethlehem First!”  Simcha Fisher on Patheos. I was having a discussion with my older teen about who actually agrees or believes with ridiculous “commentators” like her.  I do not know a single soul in real life who agrees with the vitriol and drama of her writing (and I know a lot of sincere people who are very conservative)!.  I don’t even pay attention to famous people like this, but appreciate Simcha’s take on this.

*“Before They Go to School, Have this Conversation” — Lysa TerKeurst.   Love this exploration of the concept of “pre-deciding” how to act.  I’ve been doing a sugar-free (mostly) August along with a group of Facebook friends, and love the support.  After a July of more ice cream and desserts than I dare admit  (including a wonderful, but nearly softball-sized, portion of chocolate mousse in NYC), I’m ready for the re-set.

“Pre-deciding” is great in a lot of areas, but I’ve found it really helpful this month with food.  The notion of deciding  mostly what I’m going to cook and eat, and do, before the day begins, takes a lot of the willpower out of it. (But oh, chocolate, I miss you so).

*”Finding it Hard to Change a Habit? Maybe This Explains Why”–Gretchen Rubin, The Happiness Project.

“Often, habits can’t change until identity changes. For instance, a person identifies as the fun one, the one who says “yes” to everything — but also wants to cut back on drinking. A person identifies as a workaholic, but then wants to work reasonable hours. The identity is incompatible with the change in habits.

I don’t really want to give up my identity as a dark chocolate lover, so I know I will go back to this  after August, but a month off will help me moderate my consumption, at least for a while.

Finally, I finally purchased this song and have been listening to it very often in recent days.

I love the lead singer’s voice, the melody, and the message.

If there’s a road I should walk
Help me find it
And if I need to be still
Give me peace for the moment
Whatever Your will
Whatever Your will
Can You help me find it?

What have you found compelling or inspiring online recently?

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Meet a Reader: Ryan Bustle

July 22, 2014 by Nancy Piccione

Bustle headshot

How you know me: I’ve had the honor of working for the Diocese of Peoria for the past 10 years.  I have just recently completed my 2nd year as the principal at The High School of St. Thomas More in Champaign.  I’ve been truly blessed with the opportunity to work as a teacher and administrator in our Catholic Schools, including Holy Trinity in Bloomington and St. Mary’s in Metamora, and I’ve worked with and met a lot of great families and co-workers. My wife Heather and I are members of Historic St. Patrick’s Parish in Bloomington.

Why I love reading: I love reading because it provides the opportunity to take your mind off of the things that might be bothering you.  Since the birth of my first child last February I’ve definitely had a renewed passion for reading because I love to see how intrigued our daughter is by books and how she lights up when we get to sit down and open up some of her favorites.  It is my favorite part of the day—there’s nothing more relaxing than that.

What I’m reading now: Right now my life is consumed with children’s books and I’m loving every minute of it.  I’m amazed how well done children’s books are now.  We are reading a lot of Dr. Seuss books
and Eric Carle books, but anything with bright, colorful illustrations is a favorite at our house.

Personally, I just started Ordinary Lives, Extraordinary Mission by John R. Wood, a book given to me by our former Chaplain here at St. Thomas More, Fr. Robert Lampitt (now Pastor at St. Thomas in Philo).

My favorite book: My favorite book is called The Sixteenth Round: From Number 1 Contender to Number 45472 by Rubin “Hurricane” Carter.  It is a great read, and based on the true story of a man falsely accused of murder.


The book also inspired the movie “Hurricane.” But the real reason it’s my favorite is that one of my best high school teachers found a way to get a stubborn high school kid (me) to pick up a book that would interest him and learn a little bit about what took place in our nation’s history.  I’m grateful to that teacher, and I’m grateful God has me working in high school education today.

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Fiction for “Slow” Summer Days {my July column, The Catholic Post}

July 21, 2014 by Nancy Piccione

Following is my book review column which appears in this week’s edition of The Catholic Post.

Summertime…and the living is easy.

If you read that statement and laughed as you said, “that is not true at ALL,” I’m with you. Even though summer schedules are supposed to be “relaxed”, summer can often seem more hectic, not less, for both kids out of school and the grown-ups who transport them.

At the same time, there is a vibe during summer—whether during a time of actual vacation, or perhaps waiting for that baseball game to begin—that makes it seem a little more possible to sneak in some pleasure reading.

Can I suggest some Catholic authors?

Jay Hooks, S.J., one of the contributors to “The Jesuit Post” blog, recently wrote an intriguing article about the lack of contemporary Catholic fiction writers.

There was a lively discussion after the post, with commenters naming recently published authors “Catholic” ranging from Michael O’Brien to Toni Morrison to Dean Koontz.

It’s such an interesting topic. What does make a “Catholic” writer? Born Catholic? Practicing Catholic? Informed by Catholic themes? And do only seriously literary authors like Flannery O’Connor count?

Count me firmly in the “Catholic fiction is alive and well” category.

Because what people enjoy, especially in fiction, is so varied, I hesitate to recommend fiction, and I’m no longer shocked when others don’t love my favorites. But I still have an opinion (and a column), so I’m going to share some with you.

Consider my suggestions as a starting-point, and an invitation to find your own favorite summer reads for entertainment and uplift. I’ll recommend four authors of what I’d call “Catholic classics” (written in the last century) of varying genres, and I’ll also take a look at three brand-new Catholic novels.

*Sigrid Unset. Kristin Lavransdatter is the classic trilogy—historically, spiritually and emotionally rich—about a headstrong and complicated young woman, the mistakes she makes, and the life she lives, in 14th century Norway. If I were to make an exception, I would say it should be read by “everyone”! but you’ll know if it’s for you if you give it a try. There is a lovely newer translation of Kristin Lavransdatter
that is well worth the investment.

*A.J. Cronin, The Keys of the Kingdom. Yes, it was made into a justly acclaimed 1944 movie with Gregory Peck as the holy Fr. Francis Chisholm, but the book is far superior to it and well worth reading before watching the movie. Cronin writes beautifully and sensitively about relations of Catholics with other faiths, whether in interfaith couples or priests and pastor friendships, and The Keys of the Kingdom is his finest novel.

*Rumer Godden, In This House of Brede. I love Rumer Godden most for her lovely, melancholy tinged children’s novels. I’ve read most of her grown-up novels, too, but In This House of Brede is easily her best for its portrait of life in a Benedictine abbey and the rich lives and communal life of the nuns who live there. (The movie version is not worth watching, in my opinion, in case you were wondering). (Cronin’s
and Godden’s
books are both available in the Loyola Press “classics” series.)

*Louis de Wohl,  The Quiet Light: A Novel about St. Thomas Aquinas.  de Wohl wrote in the 1940s and 1950s a series of historical novels about saints. There’s a good reason they are still in-print and popular today. His books are great stories that effortlessly mix fictional and real characters. Each of these novels comprise just plain good stories that feel “real” and capture the spirit of the time and the saint in an enjoyable, edifying read.

For those looking for some of the newer fiction (all these are published, incidentally, by Catholic publisher Ignatius Press):


*The Leaves are Falling by Lucy Beckett. This historical fiction novel set in World War II Eastern Europe and England, tells the harrowing and ultimately healing story of Josef Halperin, who escaped World War II after unspeakable wartime experiences and how he makes his way in postwar England. It reminds me of a Kate Morton novel—carefully researched historical fiction peopled by characters with a rich inner life. Slow-paced, but rich.

*The Rising by Robert Ovies. I am conflicted about this contemporary tale of a boy who can bring people back from the dead, but I know others may enjoy it, so I’m including it here. One the one hand, it is fast-paced; I had no trouble racing through it and wanting to find out what happens next. But supernatural fiction is not my favorite, and this book was overly graphic and strained credulity in certain elements. At the same time, reading this kind of book often involves suspending disbelief. A good “beach read” for fans of this genre.


*Do No Harm by Fiorella de Maria. Though I’ve been involved in pro-life work for decades, I wasn’t sure I’d be interested in a novel based on these themes. I was so very wrong. Do No Harm is a fantastic, sharply written thriller about a London doctor being prosecuted for saving a patient’s life after a suicide attempt. The writing is top-notch, the characters are believable, sympathetic and wholly realistic in their foibles and their heroism. The many plot twists are both emotional and unexpected. Highly recommended.

What are your reads this summer? Any Catholic authors who are your favorites?

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Random Thoughts, Volume 6: Animal Spirits Edition

July 14, 2014 by Nancy Piccione

I wonder how I can get any more random, but I do want to capture various links of online reading/listening/etc. as I come across them.

Also linking with Jen’s  7 Quick Takes since I have 7 of these.

1.  “How to Live a Happy Life: Louis CK Explains the Science” TIME magazine

“Taking an inventory about where you’re spending your time is revealing. And then once you identify the activities and people with whom you want to spend more time, calendaring your time thoughtfully becomes critical. When you put something on a calendar, you’re more likely to actually do that activity – partly because you’re less likely to have to make an active decision whether you should do it – because it’s already on your calendar.”

2.  “Keeping a Time Diary Can Identify Patterns That Affect Your Productivity” — LifeHacker

Also in the time management field.  I am (again) trying to keep track of my time and figure out what makes me more or less productive in different areas.  I do notice some of these things, but I found it fascinating that the person who kept this time diary found how a bad night sleep affected him several days later, and other quirks. I need to be better about doing this.

3,  “The Bride Didn’t Always Wear White” –The New York Times

This looks like an amazing exhibit on wedding wear through recent history.  In 2010, our family took a wonderful trip to England & Ireland.  The apartment we rented was a short walk from the V&A Museum, so we used to call it our “neighborhood museum” (the same way Brompton Oratory was our neighborhood church).  When I saw this article, I immediately thought, “time for a trip to our neighborhood museum.” I wish.

4. I just love my Fitbit.

Can I get an Amen from anyone else who enjoys the Fitbit?  After I gave it up for Lent (and oh, that was hard! I did two half-marathons during Lent, and, as we true believers like to half-jokingly say, it’s like they didn’t even count).

I’ve just entered the world of friends on Fitbit.  So far I’m Fitbit friends with several people, one of them a world-famous (if she’s not, she should be) author, Colleen Swaim.  I do really enjoy getting to compare stats and swap messages.  I’m also part of a private group that Katie at Runs for Cookies started several months back.  I enjoy getting to see my stats versus others.  My goal for July is to hit 12,000 every day.  I’ve only missed one day so far, and we have some upcoming car travel days, so I may miss a few more, but I’m sure my average will be well above the 12,000 mark.

Do you make Fitbit (or even just general fitness) goals?

5.  “Why Kids Fidget and What to Do About It” The Washington Post

“Ironically, many children are walking around with an underdeveloped vestibular (balance) system today–due to restricted movement. In order to develop a strong balance system, children need to move their body in all directions, for hours at a time. ”

So worth reading, and now I feel justified in how much I make my kids be active.  Also, now I feel reassured that my very active 11-year-old is just working his vestibular system.

6. Amazon, A Friendly Giant as Long as It’s Fed— The New York Times

I’m somewhat conflicted about Amazon.  I order from it all the time, I love Amazon Prime for watching movies and TV shows, as well as the free two-day shipping for most items.  It’s just super convenient for so many things, books included.

But I’ve read with interest articles like this one, and I must say I still like Amazon after reading this.  In many ways, Amazon has democratized the publishing process.  What do you think?

7. “Planet Money Makes a T-Shirt” — NPR’s Planet Money

I  supported this Kickstarter campaign, because (as I’ve written about before) I’m a big fan of Planet Money and listen to the  podcast often.  The series of podcasts reporting how a t-shirt gets made (based on this book: The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy:
, which I’ve not read, but looks really interesting),

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Because I supported the Kickstarter, I recently received this t-shirt in the mail.  It fits really well, it is comfortable and a really flattering color.  I decided that because the graphic is so strange (a squirrel holding up a martini!), I wouldn’t start wearing it until I could comfortably explain the economics term “animal spirits.” (The t-shirt is a visual pun of that concept).  I actually hadn’t remembered what that was all about, since it’s been a long time since I listened to the series.

So I went back to the Planet Money site and just briefly went through the great multi-media site they put together.  Do take a look if you get a chance–here’s that link.

What are “animal spirits?”  Basically, it’s the concept that economic decisions are made by people, not just markets.  Sometimes that means emotions or spontaneous ideas take place, but ultimately shows economics is about humans, not just things or money.

This might be kind of mischievous, but my thought is to wear it often, and especially during the 40 Days for Life in October, to freak out and befuddle (in a good way) my fellow NPR listeners.

What are you reading or listening to online lately?

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7 Quick Takes, Random Thoughts, The Humor (ish) Edition

June 24, 2014 by Nancy Piccione

Linking up with Kathryn at Team Whitaker, who is hosting 7 Quick Takes this week.  I’m very late in getting out my random thoughts, and now very late even in Quick Takes, as I’m still recovering from our very adventurous and eventful last week.    So I’m especially grateful to Kathryn for keeping entries open this late, and for hosting.  Her blog is so encouraging, interesting and fun.

1.  I’ve definitely needed humor lately–most recently when my middle child and I were on a weeklong excursion out-of-state that shall not be named, but was quite the adventure.  Before I left I had been needing humor, and began this, and now I really do.

Part of our excursion involved camping–actual sleeping in a tent for a week in a heat wave. (And that actually wasn’t the worst of it, for perspective).  As I told friends on Facebook as we were headed back, “As God is my witness, I’ll never take air conditioning for granted again.”  Not that I ever did.

2.  “Client Feedback on the Creation of the Earth” — Timothy McSweeney. This. is. hilarious.

“Realize it’s Saturday and you were planning to be OOO tomorrow to admire your creation and everything, but I’m hoping you can keep rolling on this through the weekend.”

One of my older nephews shared this on Facebook some time back.  He’s in advertising, so it was especially funny to him, but really, how can you not laugh.

3.  “Dora the Explorer Movie Trailer”– I know this is several years old, but my kids just introduced me to this, and I laughed so hard. “Hola, Dora, it’s been a while. I haven’t seen you this I was … this many.”

When middle child and I were on our adventure last week, we frequently shared lines from this. “I’m the map, I’m the map, I’m the map …. (crash) Where’s Swiper?” was oft repeated during rough moments.

4.  What You Learn in Your 40s — Paula Druckerman.  Tell me I wasn’t the only who found her book, Bringing Up Bébé: One American Mother Discovers the Wisdom of French Parenting, both fascinating and annoying.  This article is good, and even more true as you head into your 50s. “But you find your tribe. Jerry Seinfeld said in an interview last year that his favorite part of the Emmy Awards was when the comedy writers went onstage to collect their prize. “You see these gnome-like cretins, just kind of all misshapen. And I go, ‘This is me. This is who I am. That’s my group.’ ” By your 40s, you don’t want to be with the cool people; you want to be with your people.”

5.  The Teen Whisperer, Margaret Talbot, the New Yorker.   A profile of John Green, author of The Fault in Our Stars.

I’m conflicted about The Fault in Our Stars.  I find it compelling and well-written, but not really that believable, and not just because of the international adventure the two teens have.  They are just too self-aware for teens.  More importantly, I just have to say how much I hate the language and casual sex in that book, totally taken for granted that teens talk that way and act that way. It just makes me mad, because it’s not true.

Anyway, the book is still well done, but even better is this profile of him.   HT to Emily Miller for sharing the profile on Goodreads.

6.  “Pediatrics Group to Recommend Reading Aloud to Children from Birth” –The New York Times.

I know this isn’t really humor (nor was the last one), but it made me laugh out loud.  I still read out loud to my children, and they can all read well.  It’s one of our favorite things to do together.  I am so glad to be ahead of the curve for once.

7.   “When People Choose, They Choose Wrong: The author of ‘The Giver,’ a wildly popular dystopian novel, imagines a community with no war, racism or gender roles. The result: a living hell.” –The Wall Street Journal, an interview with Lois Lowry, author ofThe Giver.

I’m sorry to end on an annoying take, but this is a great article that is behind the paywall.  We subscribe to the online New York Times, and so I often share articles.  The way The Times works it is that non-subscribers can read 10 or perhaps 15 articles a month, then are prompted to subscribe before reading more. I think this works well, is fair, and perhaps inspires people to subscribe.

But the WSJ theory–some articles for everyone to read, some behind the paywall–is just crazy.  I think it’s unfair especially to the author of the article, and to Lois Lowry–it’s such an interesting Q&A.

Here is how I came across the article: I happened to pick up the paper Wall Street Journal at a gas stop on the way home from our adventure/excursion last week.  I read it while another parent in our group drove.  When I read this article, I thought, awesome,  I can’t wait to share this with everyone.  Instead, I have to share a “preview” (the first sentence) of the article.

Here’s my suggestion: next time you are at the library, go look up last weekend’s Wall Street Journal, and read this article.  It’s worth it.

In the meantime, I googled around for some other Lois Lowry interviews and this one (surprise: from the NY Times) was easily the most intriguing I found on a quick search.

What are you reading/watching/listening to online these days?  I’m especially interested in humor.  I need to laugh!

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