: Big resolution for the next year is more weeknight hosting of friends for dinner. You know what I …

: The best around-the-table Thanksgiving exercise we did the last couple of years is “who taught …

: Once more with feeling: Word is the worst software ever. Why, why, why do institutions keep …

: Reliable runner’s high again today courtesy of that extended drum solo at the end of “Burning Down …

: I can’t believe it took me this long to read David Bentley Hart’s The Experience of God.

: “The ambient aunties (a great band title) were just there somehow, with their cars to collect …

: I’ve been baffled by the success of cookie chains in recent years — their products are about …

: Hitting a new low of discouragement about the widespread use of chatgpt among students, so if …

: This is my annual arrival-of-winter reminder that even if you don’t have ice cream in the …

: My husband Brian edited and produced his latest Frontline production, airing tomorrow: China, the …

: Came to NYC for a fancy uptown symposium, but it was a much bigger thrill getting to see Maryhouse …

: For beauty to be on the same footing as truth and goodness, it has to be constitutive of the real, …

: “As if I too could body forth His Heaven”: so much beauty-truth-goodness in this lecture by Malcolm …

: Curious if fellow profs here have favorite books or articles about academic writing for new PhDs, …

: I watched this terrific tribute conversation on Dorothy Day, and then I checked out what my hero …

: My daughter is an illustration editor for the school newspaper this year. Her latest.

: “[Dorothy] Day’s ideas were never refuted, just misrepresented, overplayed, and then left for …

: “Is God? and Which is God? are questions on which everything hangs. To say this is not to …

: Great to see this partnership for ethics in engineering education — seems substantive.

: “You could be the CEO of a company devoted to feeding the world, spend your life developing …

: I swore not to use Notes in Substack, thinking the Twitter-like UI would soon make the feed like its …

: The last two weeks of class held field trips, and today, after a proper synthesizing seminar …

: Among the many treasures in the tactile museum at the Perkins School for the Blind this week, …

: The big path and the small path: sarahendren.com/2024/10/1…

: I’m the Myers Distinguished Visiting Fellow in the Humanities and Civic Engagement this year …

: The fall issue — the Builder Issue — of The New Atlantis is out. They put out a call for short …

: Just noting here that @ tags only work as Mentions when the handle is at the front of a post as …

: From “better than nothing” to “better than anything”: …

: Took my design students to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, walkable from our campus. We met a …

: Helen Pynor, La Réunion, 2006, here.

: Bought this way early for my husband’s bday.

: “[V]ery common design patterns — retweets, quote tweets, replies, mentions — are all behaviors …

: So much wisdom in this beautiful conversation with Father Greg Boyle looking back at 30+ years of …

: Still in my Lewis Hyde phase — unsure how I didn’t really know about Trickster before now.

: Would love recommendations for books about Ignatian approaches to culture/making.

: I wrote about disability social media trends and the question of imperfection.

: I talked to students some weeks ago about affordances and limitations in technology, and I mentioned …

: David Cayley’s intellectual biography of Ivan Illich is nicely organized — I just finished the …

: Finished revisions on a paper about interdisciplinary work using Howard Gardner’s idea of …

: Sublime afternoon hearing Mozart and Haydn requiems at Boston Symphony Hall with a friend. Mild …

: “I need a way through what often feels like a binary choice when institutions disappoint us: …

: What a beautiful evening hearing Dougald Hine in conversation with Lewis Hyde and hosted by the …

: I need to write a Letter to a Young Woman Engineer Who’s Ambivalent About Her Standing in the …

: RIP artist Rebecca Horn. Her mysterious “prosthetic” sculptures and performances were so …

: Anne Snyder is a visionary thinker, writer, convener, and this conversation gets at some of her …

: Cambridge celebrities: Saw Jill Lepore this morning. She was post workout, headphones in, so I …

: We all went up to Halibut Point yesterday. Glorious.

: I hit pre-order so fast for my friend Chad Holley’s debut novel, coming out in November!

: This analysis from Bethel McGrew on party politics and abortion is genuinely great: razor-sharp, …

: Good heavens, I loved this conversation with Vinson Cunningham on Know Your Enemy.

: Good day. My book was the campus read for Stevens Institute of Technology, and I gave the …

: First day of high school for all three — the only year they’ll all be together again. 💔

: Long ago, when I was getting almost-a-phd in history, an advisor told me that I had the inconvenient …

: This conversation with Fordham president Tania Tetlow is great.

: LOVED this conversation on Genesis between Marilynne Robinson and Miroslav Volf.

: A beautiful thing to see Ted Gioia’s report on live music ticket sales just booming, including …

: I gathered my higher ed posts into an excerpted new newsletter: Unmuddling the University.

: I wrote the last in my series on thinking through higher ed. I’ll also summarize it in a …

: I wrote about how people who work in “special needs” assistance have skills that are …

: Thrilled that I have (late to the party) discovered Dumbify and similar apps.

: above is free: sarahendren.com/2024/08/2…

: I do love an elder statesman on a crowded city bus — the guy confidently barking move on back.

: I find Elizabeth Oldfield’s “micro monastery” residential arrangement so attractive. A rule of life, …

: Can folks recommend some YA nonfiction about 20th century history? I find the offerings in our local …

: (related?): I really don’t spend time being the language police, and I don’t intend to start. But I …

: Colin Farrell is opening up a foundation on the future of housing, work, thriving for people with …

: Soon I’ll finish William Trevor’s The Story of Lucy Gault, but I picked up Michael Crummey’s The …

: My 16 yr old daughter is perfecting the art of parallel parking — yes, right away. Essential for …

: We’re pitching our short doc film to distributors and festivals now! If you know of festivals …

: I’ve worked in disability for years, so the rhetoric of “care” should be a natural …

: An image from Lewis Hyde’s The Gift: Welsh funeral ritual of handing out food and drink over …

: I see Sarah Perry’s new book is listed for the Booker Prize. I confess I gave up halfway through — …

: I am really pleased to be among this cohort of fellows developing courses on human flourishing at …

: spending the day learning how to read chant notation basics

: summer.

: Part 4 of my thinking through the college search alongside my teenagers. This one is on the …

: Read-aloud update: Malcolm and I finished Escape from Camp 14, kissed the ground of this wacky and …

: Sean Illing is a national treasure, and this deep discussion of Nietzsche and his legacy …

: 16 yr old daughter discovering architecture this summer.

: Today’s much-needed runner’s high courtesy of TV On The Radio. A bed of roses! A …

: Good to see my grad history program getting a nice influx of support: …

: Trying to lean hard into some advice a priest gave to a friend, and by extension, to me: Don’t push …

: Gonna be following along eagerly with Paper Shoot cameras: papershootcamera.com/. My friend Jesse …

: This’ll be me all week

: Picking up our eldest from Down syndrome camp. Dance party to end the night! There are no dance …

: I’ll be a great aunt today. My niece is at the hospital! We’re all so excited.

: Oh MAN the Boston French Film Festival lineup looks so good: www.mfa.org/programs/…

: Part 3 in my series on considering college. First was on formation, second on readiness, and this …

: I wrote about the big beautiful world of adaptive fashion, past and present, in this conversation …

: Sara H, apparently world’s worst Bostonian: why are all these ppl in the train wearing Celtics gear

: Some days it feels like all intellectual roads lead to Erich Fromm’s having and being.

: People with Down syndrome who were hospitalized with COVID were six times more likely than others to …

: Still amazed at how few people know how to ask questions in a social setting. It’s not hard! …

: All you southwest region folks would laugh — schools here sent out a heat advisory for next few …

: This conversation on Camus, Algeria, and the parallels and distinctions of Gaza is just terrific. …

: Part 2 in my essay series about choosing colleges. This one’s about education as two kinds of …

: Just wrote a short summary of my new film for the museum exhibition it’s in. The summary is …

: Apparently the interwoven group biography is exactly my thing: sarahendren.com/2024/06/1…

: Took my baby 3 to his scale modelers club meeting on Cape Ann. It’s held at a small Catholic school, …

: I wrote the first of several posts about how I’m wading through the assumption-laden process …

: For the third year in a row, I’m setting up the easiest summer hangs: a Google doc with several …

: “the most aggressive version of the truth” as a public service? …

: “In its ineffectiveness, architecture shares in the bathos of gardening: an interest in door …

: I am certainly watching Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s trajectory with interest.

: An excellent panel of unusually sharp presentations on liberal education, civic education, and the …

: Spent all weekend re-orging and spring cleaning. Finishing with a trip to the goodwill donation …

: I have officially entered the sandwich era of middle age — and I’d like a better metaphor?

: Student move-out season in Boston-Cambridge is a whole mood.

: Finishing up an academic paper about the unproductively vague affirmations of interdisciplinarity …

: With my youngest’s scout troop at the local city council meeting. (He’s seated, out of frame.) We …

: Still over here astonished at the deep challenge (twofold, at least!) of Heisenberg’s …

: an unconditioned whole “If more thinkers were willing, like William Egginton, to extend and elucidate the …

: Zadie Smith bringing the wisdom as usual: shorturl.at/qxIS2

: So glad to see this call for “time to build” submissions from The New Atlantis. I have …

:

: Upon meeting another wide-eyed and middle-aged pedestrian on the sidewalk, early spring burst of …

: Teaching takes a lot of energy; it also keeps a person disciplined and specific, resistant to …

: Reading aloud David Chang’s memoir, Eat a Peach, to 14 yr old Malcolm. He enjoys the sweary …

: Curious if folks have honest thoughts about new Buckley doc, out now on PBS and an archival beast to …

: I never tire of design school detritus. World under construction!

: not that kind of constraint: sarahendren.com/2024/05/0…

: first goslings sighting along the River Charles!

: Just bought this print for my office from the Sr. Corita Kent center store: …

: “born of water”: sarahendren.com/2024/04/2…

: Parenting is Mostly Restraint, edition 361: Teenagers will silently process your advice to them, …

: Q: How do I do things (3 kids, no default parent, 2 ft jobs, big project-driven deadlines)? A: I …

: the refuge of the Mass 💓💓💓

: I love seeing this rationale and linked variations on “hello pages”: …

: dreaming Dreaming about a one year gap year program in great books, suitable as “core curriculum” prep for …

: First year of classes at Northeastern clocked! Giddy. My students were great this week. It’s only …

: My 18 yr old with Down syndrome bossing his younger sibs around on the family group chat. This is as …

: Is it a coincidence that we had a consult about Paying for College and then, on my run right after, …

: Springtime runner’s high thanks to The The’s “Giant.” First flowers!

: I just want to say: in keeping with the “limiting virtues” spirit of my latest …

: James Bridle consults LLMs for advice about building chairs, has mixed results: …

: Anyone here know students at St. Michael’s College at the U of Toronto? I’m intrigued on …

: On the city and the “limiting virtues”: cafe, church, library: open.substack.com/pub/sarah…

: My youngest is 14 today. 💔 Should I just openly tell my grad students that being a wife and mother …

: Yikes! Jordan Castro’s unsparing look at the ubiquity of “right?” as a form of …

: Good to see this reasoned testimony by Carter Snead to the senate, offering principles and …

: Our 15 yr old daughter reports that her friends laugh, in a friendly way, at the idea that we have …

: Iain McGilchrist citing Heschel on the tyranny and inadequacy of “thinghood” for …

: Helping STEM academics get clearer about ethical tech, by way of @ayjay’s generous concision …

: Still on McGilchrist over here — a good intro to his argument is in this lecture: …

: Got a fabricator making me a bunch of samples for semi-sculptural “canvases.” Finishing up a short …

: And reading McGilchrist, I suddenly see why Sufjan Stevens’s “Chicago” speaks to so many people: all …

: About 50 pages into McGilchrist, The Matter With Things. It’s good to be alive and in the awestruck …

: Holy wow the Know Your Enemy episode on Rene Girard with John Ganz. So good. Based on this series: …

: JRRT doesn’t need me to hype him, but man what a relief to give up on Dune (sorry, still …

: No train ride is too long in company of John Tavener’s sublime “Funeral Canticle.”

: I’m pleased to have an essay in the catalogue accompanying SFMOMA’s exhibition opening …

: My five year old niece: “Jesus is the son of God, and he glows in the dark.” You said it, kid.

: So much of parenting teenagers is choosing what *not to say. Sometimes all my brain cells are going …

: ok! You can now sign up for weekly digests of posts here. If I have friends out there using RSS for …

: A cathedral of motion pictures, a cathedral of learning, a cathedral of commerce. A “machine …

: On set this past weekend with an architect making one-armed tools in his wood shop. Film premieres …

: Rewatched The Crash Reel for my class on disability. It’s really, really well done — no simple …

: My architecture master’s students are even more astute and curious than I hoped. Now accepting …

: Today’s runner’s high courtesy of frigid weekday temps and a mid-morning outing, making it possible …

: My heart! One of my architecture grads in the writing class asked me to help him launch a blog as he …

: Also sorry to be a heretic, but Dune is…badly written? 13 year old son and I are 70 pages in and I …

: Oof, got conned last night at a gas station in the most cynical way. I’ve lived in cities long …

: Attention folks who work with exceptionally curious undergrads: two-week workshop with Becca …

: Today in optimism: these many efforts supported by the Consistent Life Ethic Action Fund. …

: And speaking of my kids in high school, I am truly less certain than ever what to even wish for, …

: Trying to decide if it’s worth it to go to bat for more paper-based work in my kids’ public high …

: RSS Anything

: Topics schedule, formal and social, for Writing About The Built World. Seven grad students and me. …

: Spent this last evening of the year with my littlest nieces and nephew — chocolate fountain, dance …

: “My mind is still open to revision, thank God.” — Francis Spufford, naming that truly rare virtue, …

: “But if democratizing politics would go some way toward improving culture, the reverse does …

: Advance copy of Becca Rothfeld’s forthcoming essays ❤️❤️

: Soon I will tell you all the back story for the Stolen Bonsais. Tragic. But here is our older son’s …

: Finally got around to seeing The Sound of Metal. Highly, highly recommended.

: Buying my tree-loving husband a membership and subscription to the Arnold Arboretum’s magazine …

: Speaking of this tiny urban footprint: I’ve been walking the 75 minutes or so to office or studio …

: Subway maps of downtown Boston reassure visitors: this place is tiny. You’re looking at the whole …

: And so glad to see my hero Danielle Allen weighing in on higher ed and the latest free speech …

: All synapses firing! Philip Bess on the sacred city: urbanism as spatial or anti-spatial, human …

: Moss really does grow everywhere.

: Foreboding, spare, approchable, organic, monumental: I wrote about learning to describe the built …

: something-something about the way my teenage daughter takes most selfies and friend photos with …

: quietude in the face of stranger’s messes: sarahendren.com/2023/12/0…

: So so glad to see my friend and likeminded thinker-writer-maker @mbattles here on micro.blog! …

: Two mentions in one week of Whit Stillman’s films in my feeds/podcasts. Time for a house …

: Three-hour seminar structure: favorite practices to break it up? Student-led presentations, guest …

: Blank slate. New studio space for the next three years. Thank you, City of Boston, for subsidizing …

: I realized that I have a public-facing dog: sarahendren.com/2023/11/2…

: So far just opting out completely from Substack Notes, but I see they’re more and more foregrounded …

: Curious if fellow profs have general wisdom about setting up a grad student as research assistant …

: “Sometimes, ‘This’ll do’ is experienced not so much as ‘settling,’ but …

: Finally saw Master and Commander. What terrific storytelling. Peter Weir is the real deal.

: I wrote about a radically imaginative partnership between artists and adults at a Scottish day …

: I loved talking to Krista Tippett, after having her regularly in my head for a couple decades. …

: Loyalty, the “limiting virtues,” and my newly discovered love for the voice memo mode of …

: A fellow academic said to me recently, just offhand: I’m a professor, so of course I like answering …

: Ursula LeGuin on the weight of liberty, and a road trip with kids that set her dreaming: …

: Rediscovered Blur’s Think Tank today. Like I forgot it ever existed, which is all but impossible in …

: One of our staples around the house is a berry compote—just frozen raspberries and frozen cherries …

: You’d think after all this time being encouraged, cajoled, now forced to use Outlook, I’d give in …

: I’m teaching Writing About the Built World next spring. I’d love to hear your favorites …

: Triumph of the diagnostic? (At least) two opposing narratives on disability and freedom. Trying to …

: One big engine of my work remains something like: Revenge-Love Songs from the “Physics for Poets” …

: A wood shop, an architect, the history of machines, and the art of making one-armed tools. I have a …

: Robertson Davies on charity as the last lesson: sarahendren.com/2023/10/3…

: And I get to hear the Faure Requiem again this coming All Souls Day. A good week.

: New Alice McDermott novel comes out tomorrow. Can’t wait.

: This q and a with David French on authoritarianism and the threat of Christian nationalism is so …

: We’re hiring at Northeastern: Design, Civic/Social Values, and Democracy. Open rank, broadly …

: Never been so glad to be paying $$ for newsletters and journalism, rather than get analysis on …

: After finishing Wendell Berry’s magisterial Jayber Crow, I started and stopped several novels before …

: Depressing as hell: even very smart folks with YouTube channels do that thumbnail treatment with …

: Curious if profs/teachers here do a module on “how to reasonably argue in seminar.” We can easily …

: “All sports involve some kind of disabling impediment, in the form of rules that restrict the …

: Two things I might have studied, if I hadn’t been such an incurable melancholy poet type: midwifery …

: New semester, new season: maybe you, like me, are trying out some new habits and patterns. Let me …

: In the ongoing discovery of new-to-me books while still reading aloud to my youngest, let me add …

: Maybe I missed wider discussion about it? But this piece by David Brooks on liberalism and assisted …

: Finally hit a good stride on fiction reading after a bunch of frustrations. This week Tessa …

: These two got a magical Maine cove experience — sea kayaking alongside several pods of porpoises. …

: We saw Mission Impossible last night and loved it — sent me back to when I saw the very first one on …

: I no longer think much about turning 50 — since the day has come and gone, months ago — but my inner …

: Last bit of summer

: Derek Parfit on a consequential drive to Andalusia: sarahendren.com/2023/08/2… h/t …

: And here’s a companion translation.

: Miroslav Volf et al in the new book, “Life Worth Living”—what’s worth wanting? Like a tour through …

: I reviewed David Gissen’s The Architecture of Disability for this month’s Landscape …

: six verbs for accessible design (hint: nothing “universal”): …

: Shearing layers in a building, and teaching the big ideas in and via design. …

: Not so interested in Barbie, but loved going back through some old Gerwig interviews about Little …

: My mom on her first kayak trip at age 75. We had a blast in Olympic Natl Park this week and on …

: Planning a design class toward philosophy, not a philosophy of design: …

: Olympic National Park! Unbelievable.

: Same daughter reporting to the family chat on her other new July skills

: My daughter’s foray into printmaking this week. She has just the right mix of hand-eye acuity and …

: Currently obsessed with watermelon sprinkled with Stardust chili lime mix.

: Seeking readings and resources for my new course on design for the assisted human body: …

: Thinking about how one might organize an architecture/planning class around the themes of US …

: So pleased my teenagers can still get excited about building a fort on a summer day. How much …

: My social design collaboration called the Accessible Icon Project is now on view at the Cooper …

: I see my preferred podcast app, Stitcher, is folding later this summer. What other podcast services …

: [School superintendent] Marlon Styles did the opposite of what most leaders do in conflict: he asked …

: Possibly the most milestone-birthday-year cliche ever, but I have gone ahead and scheduled a call to …

: It’s going to take a lot of effort to create a countervailing narrative to a generous-seeming …

: Currently reading: Stephen Buoro’s The Five Sorrowful Mysteries of Andy Africa, and Jay Baruch’s …

: This girl’s three years old today.

: Very glad to see Richard Reeves heading up a new institute on boys and men: …

: In a few weeks I’ll be around Port Angeles, WA with my mom for a much-anticipated walking trip …

: [She] once told me she did not publish a certain writer I admired because he wrote to have the last …

: SO glad to see @dorsalstream@mastodon.cloud here on MB; I recommend you follow what he’s up …

: I loved this profile of Molly Burhans, a Catholic GIS cartographer working to help the RCC …

: Also, I just realized why I had trouble initially with alt text: the tap on the thumbnail only works …

: Gonna have two of my teens work through this text this summer. Geared for younger kids, but I figure …

: I have so enjoyed the very protracted process of re-finding some friends I made from Twitter—mostly …

: The limits of “principlism” in medical ethics: autonomy, authority, and the search for …

: Trying again to use alt text here… no “done” button once you’ve added text, but gonna see if this …

: Got my colleague Deb Chachra’s book in hand. How Infrastructure Works. Coming this October! This is …

: Took our three teens to see Past Lives last night. Beautifully done! Worth the price of the theater.

: “Booze has a hand on everybody’s shoulder in this city.” sarahendren.com/2023/06/0…

: “The World Health Organization errs when it defines health as “a state of complete physical, …

: Currently reading: The Way of Medicine: Ethics and the Healing Profession (Curlin/Tollefsen). …

: We saw Bruce Cockburn at the Cabot in Beverly last night. Best kind of concert: small sit-down …

: Can folks here recommend some good reading on what unites sports that have balls of any kind? …

: My daughter had her last lacrosse team dinner last night. She’s in 9th grade, first time on a big …

: the tent and the estuary: sarahendren.com/2023/05/3…

: One lucky Mass MoCA visitor got to ride EJ Hill’s roller coaster for one—like a track of stretched …

: Today I learned the word “opusculum” from Hernan Diaz—something less than a novella …

: Just half the haul from U Chicago Press I got to pick for doing peer review. 🙌

: We got some shirts designed for our son’s Unified track team. Today was the state meet. If you have …

: Design is commitment + provisionality. sarahendren.substack.com/p/design-…

: I have an essay in Elizabeth Guffey’s new book, After Universal Design. On Carl Sagan, wonder …

: “Women, the ancient lie, the unattainable mystery, / the apple high on paradisal branches, / the …

: Everyone gets a double major: engineering and history. That’s it. That’s all we offer… …