5 Quick Things #282 🏡

home libraries, historic abodes, classical education, & MAYCEMBER

Hey there,

I hope you've had a good week, if not a pandemonium of busyness as is typical in May for many of us. We had a sick kiddo, lots of school projects (both for the kids and me as a teacher), and also have many more upcoming things in the next few weeks that I won't bore you with.

This, of course, means that last night we watched Nacho Libre, followed by a delightful binge of the home edition of The Princess Bride. Remember those early days of lockdown? I shudder to think of that ever happening again, but I think one pinprick of a bright spot was the scrappy art made from homes around the world.

Tonight we have dinner on the courthouse lawn down at the Square with neighbor friends, and in honor of Cinco de Mayo, I have no doubt we'll hit up our favorite taco spot down there. Happy Friday, indeed! 🌮

Early Sunday Morning, by Edward Hopper (1930)

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5 Quick Things ☕️

1. New episode of A Drink With a Friend! 👈 Continuing with (what the numbers say is) our most popular series, in this episode, Seth shares more of why he became Catholic. If he could sum up a major reason why he and Amber led their whole family into the Church, it's this: matter matters. (…And again, don't worry, it's not to pressure you — we’re just telling our stories.)

2. If you liked my recent chat with Autumn, she has a new video out you’ll enjoy about seven books to read that describe well the vast difference between a classical approach to education and our standard modern one. They’re not the books you’d think (I’ve read five of them and would have to agree with her assessments).

3. A well-told story on remembering the library in a childhood home: “After years of moving around, an entire room was set aside to be the library. It was tremendously impractical with our family of eight, with everyone doubling up to fit in the limited space. ...The use of another bedroom would have alleviated this pressure, but my parents refused that possibility. The room was the library and that was that.”

4. Got a couple million pounds lying around? Here are some stunning historic homes for sale in the U.K. (I have to say, though, that the cheapest ones on this list are actually my favorite…)

5. And finally, welcome to Maycember. Truer words were never sung.

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Currently Reading, Watching, Listening 📚

• Learning the Good Life, ed. by Jessica Hooten Wilson & Jacob Stratman

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Quotable 💬

“The ultimate meaning of the active life is to make possible the happiness of contemplation.”

— Josef Pieper #

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Did You Go to Prom? 🪩

I'm happy to report that Tate had an absolute blast at her school's prom last week, but that's probably because it was nothing like mine (it's a small co-op, most of them are all pals with each other, and they simply low-key got all gussied up and let off some steam). I'm with the majority here: I went to my junior and senior proms, and they were ...meh.

Find this week’s poll here.

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A New Thing! ✍️

In case you missed it, earlier this week I announced

¹

a new journal of mine, First Light & Eventide, that releases this August. Head here to read more about why I think a bookend-y practice of Examen is good for all of us.

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Quick Links 🔗

• Create your own Rule of Life

• Subscribe to A Drink With a Friend

• Become a paying subscriber of The Commonplace

• Come with me to Ireland: July 15-25, 2023 🇮🇪

O’Malley Home, by Robert Henri (1913)

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Question(s) For You to Ponder… 🤔

What’s something you assume to be untrue that may, in fact, be true?

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Have a good one,

- Tsh

p.s. I'll never understand how people can do this with stone. 🤯

1. By the way, I've heard from a few of you that it was fun to hear from me mid-week with a "bonus" letter. Did you know that that's what the paid version of The Commonplace gets you regularly? I write additional pieces several times a month, along with community book lists and gratitude chats. Come join!