Finished reading: Light Perpetual by Francis Spufford 📚

Praise him in all the postcodes, thinks Ben.
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Praise him on the commuter trains: praise him upon the drum and bass. Praise him at the Ritz: praise him in the piss-stained doorways. Praise him in nail bars: praise him with beard oil. Praise him in toddler groups: praise him at food banks. Praise him in the parks and playgrounds: praise him down in the Tube station at midnight. Praise him with doner kebabs: praise him with Michelin stars. Praise him on pirate radio: praise him on LBC and Capital: praise him at Broadcasting House. Praise him at Poundland: praise him at Harvey Nichols. Praise him among the trafficked and exploited: praise him in hipster coffee houses. Praise him in the industrial estates: praise him in leather bars. Praise him on the dancefloors: praise him on the sickbeds. Praise him in the high court of Parliament: praise him in the prisons and crack houses. Praise him at Pride: praise him at Carnival: praise him at Millwall and West Ham, Arsenal and Chelsea and Spurs. Praise him at Eid: praise him at High Mass: praise him on Shabbat: praise him in the gospel choirs. Praise him, all who hope: praise him, all who fear: praise him, all who dream: praise him, all who remember. Praise him in trouble. Praise him in joy. Let everything that has breath, give praise.

Wonderful. Highly recommend.

Guy Clark was right

Vitex (and a bee)

Gardenias

It works

Children really only need one exploit strategy: Be as cute as you possibly can be and get people to love you and take care of you. Fortunately, they are extremely effective at that. – Alison Gopnik (H/T to Austin Kleon)

Happy (U.S.) Mother’s Day

This photo of my dad and mom (before she was a mom), captures my mother’s fun and sparkle perfectly (and Dad’s kindness, too).

“Childness”

" … there are these rules that we think of with literature, but in picture books they’re all broken. The main character can be eaten in the middle.”

“What Adults Lose When They Put Down Children’s Books” by Anna Holmes, The Atlantic, May 9, 2026

Good Question

The pope tried to put an end to this craziness several times. He insisted that he did not speak on world affairs as a politician (and still less a global umpire) but as a witness to gospel truths. He made quite clear that he would not be cowed by the Trump administration, even as he reminded the scribes and influencers that he did not pick a fight with the president. And in doing so, he suggested, if subtly, that there was something a bit awry about the endless media obsession with the president. Did everything and everyone in the world have to be parsed by reference to Donald J. Trump?

George Weigel, “The First Leonine Year” - Dispatch Faith newsletter, May 3, 2026

Listening to Kate and Anna McGarrigle in the backyard on a beautiful May Sunday afternoon after Tottenham actually play well and win. Pretty damn good, mama. “We were like interlocking pieces in the jigsaw puzzle of life.”

Another Anole