Katie Botkin

on liturgy

Yesterday we visited a church in the area, the type that enjoins clap offerings and holds at least two alter calls per service. During the first of these alter calls, while the band (older women with microphones and a young guy on drums) repeated the chorus of a five-line song about twenty times, I noticedContinue reading “on liturgy”

of Montreal

Business tripping

Sunday: hotel in Spokane and not much further We get up at 5 a.m. to catch our flight, only, due to daylight saving’s time, it’s sort of 4 a.m. No mishaps there, though; we manage to get off in time. We leave Spokane at 6:10 and get to Chicago around noon local time (airlines, byContinue reading “Business tripping”

Ten things I’ve learned in four weeks of being a housewife

1. If you put your husband’s fine merino sweater in the dryer (even 20 minutes on gentle cycle, apparently) you will magically get a new you-sized fine merino sweater. 2. Men, even clean men, leave their dirty socks on the floor. 3. Men do not like being given a running stream of advice when theyContinue reading “Ten things I’ve learned in four weeks of being a housewife”

Belize highlights

1. exploring Actun Tunichil Muknal, the “Cave of the Stone Sepulcher,” or supposed entrance into the Mayan underworld, where the peoples of the Belizian jungles performed their sacred rituals, including human sacrifice, more than a thousand years ago. We paid a guide to take us through the winding passageways– some nearly entirely underwater– and upContinue reading “Belize highlights”

Done done

The meaning of this contrastive reduplication (a term I learned in Grammar 518) is that I have just submitted the final grades for my sections of English 102, at four minutes to five the Monday after final’s week. I am now finished with Grad school. This is, of course, barring complications. I don’t have myContinue reading “Done done”

Biblical footwear

Every winter since I can remember, my toes have turned dull purple from the cold, and stayed that way until spring. This is not an exaggeration; it has something to do with my poor circulation. I remember walking around in the snow as a kid and thinking what a luxury it must be to haveContinue reading “Biblical footwear”

Traveling with directions

Michal sent me directions to her place in Portland today, hoping, she said, that they were less cryptic than the directions I had left her on a door in Paris once. I had almost forgotten about those directions. I had gotten to this apartment in Paris, rented out by my host brother, a self-proported would-have-beenContinue reading “Traveling with directions”

Good fruit

I’ve been eating pomegranates lately. They are probably the most interesting fruit I’ve ever seen — and seem created for the express enjoyment of man; to get at the seeds, glistening ruby-firm in honeycomb packed rows, one needs an opposable thumb. One must peel the membranes back, and, bit by bit, glean the fruit fromContinue reading “Good fruit”

Losing stuff

I went to Oregon for Thanksgiving with my mother, father, two brothers, sister, brother-in-law, and fiance. Another brother rendezvoused with us. We stayed for three days. This evening we returned to Idaho, in separate cars. As we pulled up to my apartment, I checked my pocket for the keys. Not there. Nor, as far asContinue reading “Losing stuff”