5 Quick Things #339 🥩

rules of life, phone-free summers, fall afternoons, & BEEF

Hey there,

I’m writing this Thursday evening (the night before you’re reading this), having just gotten home from a quick dinner date with Kyle. We’ve been on a barbecue kick lately (I mean, hello, Texas, etc.) so we’ve been doing a tour de ‘ques. There’s a fantastic restaurant inside our local grocery store (see: Texas) and I have zero shame in admitting that we have, indeed, gone on a dinner date to this very store that I usually bemoan going to for our family’s weekly fare. Trust me when I say the brisket is worth it.

Our current favorite is this new-to-us local dive housed in an old Victorian cottage a few blocks from our house (it’s where we walked to this evening). It’s ramshackle and covered in framed photos of musicians and album covers, and dadgum if their ribs aren’t heavenly. A few minutes ago we were the last ones to leave, having closed up the place, and had a lovely stroll home with bellies full of delectable Texas beef.

On a totally random note — Gordon Ramsey is currently in our neighborhood. He’s filming something at a restaurant on our Square (a British pub) a few blocks away from our house and I have absolutely no other knowledge of the situation. We just passed by and there’s security everywhere. Count this one under Things I Didn’t Know Would Happen In My Neighborhood This Week.

Marcoussis Cows Grazing, by Camille Corot (1845-1850) #

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5 Quick Things ☕️

1. New episode of A Drink With a Friend! I’m chatting with my friends Mike and Alexandra Foley — hosts of the podcast Drinking With the Saints, Mike is author of a book of the same name (one we love in our household!). We’re joining forces for next summer’s pilgrimage along the Rhine River, and I think you’ll love them. In this conversation we chat about cocktails, the liturgical calendar, travel, homeschooling, the traditional mass, and more.

2. We just finished Frankenstein in one of my classes, and I’m reminded every time I teach that book how wild it was for its time. It’s essentially the first sci-fi novel, and even how Mary Shelley penned it is full of Gothic lore (during a dark and rainy summer in Lord Byron’s house off Lake Como, where a group of writers decided to dare each other in a ghost story-writing contest… Shelley was 19, and it’s safe to say she won).

3. At first blush, you’d think I disagree with this latest piece by Myles Werntz. But here’s some of how I commented on it yesterday: “I actually agree with about 95% of what you said. The issues you bring up are exactly why I encourage us to first acknowledge the universal purpose in life for every one of us: to become a saint. In this purpose we find very clear practices prescribed for all of us — participation in the Church to be a key one. …And then I’m glad you acknowledged that there are personal disciplines for each of us — this is where I believe a good Rule parks. We’re all called to be saints, and the communion of saints is as wildly diverse as nothing else on earth! A good Rule, I believe, helps us name what that looks like so that we remember what to say yes and no to in the day-to-day.”

4. My boys don’t have smartphones (and they’ll have to buy one themselves if they ever want one once they’re 18) so I read this fascinating piece about a group of British teens who were coerced to go without their phones for a month with both a bit of befuddlement and also delight. It confirms what I’ve heard from many gen-zers: they don’t necessarily want to be on their phones (or social media), but they feel like they have to because everybody else is. But …if everybody else got off, they’d happily leave, too.

5. And finally, a few of you have asked about my current carnivore experiment, and I mean it when I say I’m not well-versed enough in it to know what I’m talking about long-term (I’ve only been at it for six weeks now). Anecdotally, I already feel MUCH better: digestion, sleep, skin, joints, mental clarity, mood, and more. This week, two of my newfound favorite carnivore doctors discussed why women need to eat MUCH more fat than we tend to assume we need, as well as the surprising need for iodine. In case you’re curious and want to nerd out a bit, well, there you go.

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Currently Reading, Watching, Listening 📻

Tate’s new Fall Afternoon playlist

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Quotable 💬

“God does not need us. He could accomplish his labors by divine fiat. Yet it is his good pleasure to work through us.”

― Douglas McKelvey

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Rhine River 2025 ⚓️

Join my family and me (and the Foleys! And Haley Stewart!) on next summer’s pilgrimage as we float down the Rhine River from Amsterdam to Zurich in our own boat. I’d love you to join us!

A View of a Town along the Rhine, by Cornelis Springer (1841) #

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If you were to join a rock band, what role would you play? 🥁

Do I know how to play the drums? Not a whit. But I do play a decent steering wheel while at a stoplight, so — drums is my answer.

• Keyboard: 32.5%

• Lead singer: 28.8%

• Drums: 19.5%

• Bass guitar: 13%

• Guitar: 6.2%

Find next week’s poll here.

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Quick Links 🔗

• 📐Create your own Rule of Life

• 🎧 Listen to A Drink With a Friend

• 📖 Read my books

• 🛶 Join me along the Rhine River

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Question(s) For You to Ponder… 🤔

When was the last time you read your favorite childhood book?

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Have a great weekend,

- Tsh

p.s. - Nate is Washington again!