Capitalism is, in this country, synonymous with American Christianity, specifically the kind that misquotes the Bible to say “if a man doesn’t work, he shouldn’t get any handouts from us.” Capitalism is, in theory, about a person’s merits and earning potential, about hard work, about rising up ahead of everyone else because your ideas or productsContinue reading “Capitalistic ventures and political season”
Author Archives: Katie Botkin
Idaho burning
So much ash in the air. It settles on the black of my bike seat, finds its way through my screen and covers my sheets with grit. My eyes sting, I wake up congested every morning. I sleep in because the red haze seems like dawn. The Northwest is burning. The rain doesn’t help because itContinue reading “Idaho burning”
The Bear and the Maiden Fair
I live in a place where there are still wild things. I live in the kind of place where men still hunt bears. Where men accidentally kill a mother, and then rescue the cubs from the tree they’d climbed, yowling. Where people still raise bear cubs, letting them roam in the woods outside their cabin,Continue reading “The Bear and the Maiden Fair”
Evening meal
The beauty of man, of woman; child Each is perfect and of perfect form Each delightful to the soul, the mind, the heart The strong enduring curves of women, the hard and graceful lines of men, the determination of childhood, reaching toward man and woman with arms outstretched. They are my kindred, my kin, myContinue reading “Evening meal”
Fit to be useful
Natural Born Heroes by Christopher McDougall is one-part tale of how a ragtag band of Greeks and British misfits kidnapped a German general in WWII, and one-part manifesto on the health benefits of moving naturally and fueling your body on fat. Hero in this case means one thing: “be fit to be useful,” MovNat (movementContinue reading “Fit to be useful”
For the ARICCHWANDWI
It was during an attempt to make a self-deprecating joke to a friend that I realized there is no single word for Adults Raised In Cloistered Christian Homeschooling Who Are Now Dealing With It, so I coined the unwieldy ARICCHWANDWI. Somewhere between that moment and now, I seriously considered going back to school in orderContinue reading “For the ARICCHWANDWI”
Doug Wilson on the Confederate Flag
I don’t read Doug Wilson’s blog much; I have better things to do with my time than subject myself to long-winded prose whose tagline should really be “theology that chews its own leg off.” Unsurprisingly, Wilson has spent a lot of energy recently not-exactly-explaining why the Confederate flag is fine-just-fine, the foremost reason of which is abortion.Continue reading “Doug Wilson on the Confederate Flag”
My Own Private Iceland
Inwards from Route 1 at the town of Hveragerði, a mere 40 minutes from Reykjavik, I find the trailhead to the area’s famous hot river. The sign says Reykjadalur: 3 kilometers. Not so far, I can easily go up and back and continue along on my day of Iceland sightseeing. A steaming landscape of bubbling mud andContinue reading “My Own Private Iceland”
Sauvage, Das Paleo Restaurant
At the crossing of Christburger Straße and Winsstraße lives Sauvage, the world’s first paleo restaurant. I arrived 15 minutes early for my 6 pm reservation and studied the menu posted outside. I wanted it all. Wild duck rillettes, bone marrow, braised pork belly, grass-fed steak tartare, lakto-fermented veggies, raw quail egg. Yes. With bounty like this,Continue reading “Sauvage, Das Paleo Restaurant”
How to: Day trip Berlin-Szczecin
At this point in time, a round-trip excursion into Poland from Berlin will only put you back 29 euros, and here’s the weird part: the ticket is good for up to five people. There’s no cheaper option (that I found, anyway) for just one person, and the experience is somewhat confusing, so here’s how itContinue reading “How to: Day trip Berlin-Szczecin”
Botkin Creative 