Salter
@nalkarj.bsky.social
“I tried to tell the priest. My Spanish wasn’t good enough. But you’re no priest.”
“No, I’m just a man. You can tell me, anyway.”
“No, I’m just a man. You can tell me, anyway.”
Pinned
Salter
@nalkarj.bsky.social
· Dec 26
If you get a chance and are a praying type, please pray for my grandmother, Terry. She has been declining, out of nowhere, since April and has been in and out of the hospital all year. We finally got her to go back to the hospital again yesterday (hellish Christmas). I’m terrified to lose her.
Reposted by Salter
I have a law-abiding parishioner who was detained in Minneapolis as he showed up at his normally scheduled immigration appointment yesterday. His lawyer is having difficulties figuring out what is going on. If anyone has any contacts that may be able to help, please let me know.
January 27, 2026 at 2:43 PM
I have a law-abiding parishioner who was detained in Minneapolis as he showed up at his normally scheduled immigration appointment yesterday. His lawyer is having difficulties figuring out what is going on. If anyone has any contacts that may be able to help, please let me know.
I wrote this elsewhere; it’s something like my credo on religion.
January 25, 2026 at 3:59 PM
I wrote this elsewhere; it’s something like my credo on religion.
Reposted by Salter
The Cardinal-Archbishop of Westminster concelebrated Vespers for JHN's elevation to Doctor of the Church with Card. Radcliffe, who just recently said the female diaconate should be restored "quickly," and Dame Sarah Mullaly, Archbishop-elect of Canterbury
It is so over for Trads of all stripes
It is so over for Trads of all stripes
January 22, 2026 at 11:39 PM
The Cardinal-Archbishop of Westminster concelebrated Vespers for JHN's elevation to Doctor of the Church with Card. Radcliffe, who just recently said the female diaconate should be restored "quickly," and Dame Sarah Mullaly, Archbishop-elect of Canterbury
It is so over for Trads of all stripes
It is so over for Trads of all stripes
It struck me about detective stories that every sleuth character at some point faces a case he can’t solve, a villain he can’t outwit (except through accepting mutual destruction), a limit to the human ability to solve anything at all, i.e., he faces existence’s absurdity.
January 21, 2026 at 4:37 PM
It struck me about detective stories that every sleuth character at some point faces a case he can’t solve, a villain he can’t outwit (except through accepting mutual destruction), a limit to the human ability to solve anything at all, i.e., he faces existence’s absurdity.
Basically me every day of this abomination of an administration.
January 19, 2026 at 5:52 PM
Basically me every day of this abomination of an administration.
“He giveth snow like wool:
he scattereth the hoarfrost like ashes.
“He casteth forth his ice like morsels:
who can stand before his cold?”
Who indeed.
he scattereth the hoarfrost like ashes.
“He casteth forth his ice like morsels:
who can stand before his cold?”
Who indeed.
January 18, 2026 at 8:33 PM
“He giveth snow like wool:
he scattereth the hoarfrost like ashes.
“He casteth forth his ice like morsels:
who can stand before his cold?”
Who indeed.
he scattereth the hoarfrost like ashes.
“He casteth forth his ice like morsels:
who can stand before his cold?”
Who indeed.
I’ve been in love since childhood with Gayle Hunnicutt as Irene Adler. Still am. I watch the episode from time to time just to get a sense of comforting sadness (does that make any sense at all, “a comforting sadness”? Probably not).
January 17, 2026 at 4:33 AM
I’ve been in love since childhood with Gayle Hunnicutt as Irene Adler. Still am. I watch the episode from time to time just to get a sense of comforting sadness (does that make any sense at all, “a comforting sadness”? Probably not).
I really need help with overcoming this.
January 16, 2026 at 3:05 PM
I really need help with overcoming this.
Reposted by Salter
Anyone have good resources on discerning leaving the RCC? Know anyone to talk to? Had an odd interaction with a priest yesterday and it fired up my anxiety over leaving again.
January 5, 2026 at 3:25 PM
Anyone have good resources on discerning leaving the RCC? Know anyone to talk to? Had an odd interaction with a priest yesterday and it fired up my anxiety over leaving again.
Summarizing Catholic guilt.
January 15, 2026 at 3:47 PM
Summarizing Catholic guilt.
Finished Act I. I think I’m proudest of the opening speech I gave Watson, along with some of the stage business to represent the exposition Helen Stoner gives.
Have it written up to right before Grimesby Roylott’s dramatic entrance at 221b.
But now stuck in self-doubting inertia/procrastination. Damn.
But now stuck in self-doubting inertia/procrastination. Damn.
January 13, 2026 at 8:41 PM
Finished Act I. I think I’m proudest of the opening speech I gave Watson, along with some of the stage business to represent the exposition Helen Stoner gives.
This kid is on the radio explaining that “chopped” is her age group’s slang for “ugly,” and I’ve never felt so on the other side of the generational curtain, i.e., old.
January 13, 2026 at 2:41 PM
This kid is on the radio explaining that “chopped” is her age group’s slang for “ugly,” and I’ve never felt so on the other side of the generational curtain, i.e., old.
I just reread some of the very short horror stories I wrote in college and they’re pretty bad—awkwardly written with repetitive endings. I’m a bit worried because I’m writing a play now, and how can I even tell if my writing has gotten any better? Ugh.
January 10, 2026 at 5:02 AM
I just reread some of the very short horror stories I wrote in college and they’re pretty bad—awkwardly written with repetitive endings. I’m a bit worried because I’m writing a play now, and how can I even tell if my writing has gotten any better? Ugh.
My mother: “Three days of rain. Noah’s Ark is in town. They’re gonna be rounding up the animals.”
Mom is one of the greatest phrase-turners I know. (My cousin is another; it was she who yelled the immortal “Have you tried having ears?” at a bad driver who ignored everyone honking at him.)
Mom is one of the greatest phrase-turners I know. (My cousin is another; it was she who yelled the immortal “Have you tried having ears?” at a bad driver who ignored everyone honking at him.)
January 9, 2026 at 10:40 PM
My mother: “Three days of rain. Noah’s Ark is in town. They’re gonna be rounding up the animals.”
Mom is one of the greatest phrase-turners I know. (My cousin is another; it was she who yelled the immortal “Have you tried having ears?” at a bad driver who ignored everyone honking at him.)
Mom is one of the greatest phrase-turners I know. (My cousin is another; it was she who yelled the immortal “Have you tried having ears?” at a bad driver who ignored everyone honking at him.)
Something I’ve noticed about us detective-story fans is that we treat our fondness for these stories as a minor vice, like biting nails, and accuse others of having a worse case: “Oh, John actually likes detective stories much more than I do.”
I don’t know why.
I don’t know why.
January 9, 2026 at 2:07 PM
Something I’ve noticed about us detective-story fans is that we treat our fondness for these stories as a minor vice, like biting nails, and accuse others of having a worse case: “Oh, John actually likes detective stories much more than I do.”
I don’t know why.
I don’t know why.
What are Holmesians’ thoughts on the canonicity of MAZA? I’m tempted to confine it to the Apocrypha, as it is told neither by Watson nor Holmes, but that logic also throws out LAST, which has that unforgettable and much-quoted passage on “an east wind coming.”
Hm.
Hm.
January 9, 2026 at 3:31 AM
What are Holmesians’ thoughts on the canonicity of MAZA? I’m tempted to confine it to the Apocrypha, as it is told neither by Watson nor Holmes, but that logic also throws out LAST, which has that unforgettable and much-quoted passage on “an east wind coming.”
Hm.
Hm.
Reposted by Salter
Just pulled a loose book from a bookshelf, and regrettably, a secret door didn't open, so I'm afraid your email did not "find me well."
January 5, 2026 at 3:55 PM
Just pulled a loose book from a bookshelf, and regrettably, a secret door didn't open, so I'm afraid your email did not "find me well."
Anyone have good resources on discerning leaving the RCC? Know anyone to talk to? Had an odd interaction with a priest yesterday and it fired up my anxiety over leaving again.
January 5, 2026 at 3:25 PM
Anyone have good resources on discerning leaving the RCC? Know anyone to talk to? Had an odd interaction with a priest yesterday and it fired up my anxiety over leaving again.
Ah, life.
all this is both foolish and unnecessary
January 4, 2026 at 10:10 PM
Ah, life.
Reposted by Salter
These Magi (we don't know if they are three; this tradition comes from the number of gifts they bring) return home changed, going now "another way...."
January 4, 2026 at 2:40 PM
These Magi (we don't know if they are three; this tradition comes from the number of gifts they bring) return home changed, going now "another way...."
Reposted by Salter
A friendly reminder that it is still Christmas
January 4, 2026 at 2:01 PM
A friendly reminder that it is still Christmas
If you get a chance and are a praying type, please pray for my grandmother, Terry. She has been declining, out of nowhere, since April and has been in and out of the hospital all year. We finally got her to go back to the hospital again yesterday (hellish Christmas). I’m terrified to lose her.
December 26, 2025 at 4:14 PM
If you get a chance and are a praying type, please pray for my grandmother, Terry. She has been declining, out of nowhere, since April and has been in and out of the hospital all year. We finally got her to go back to the hospital again yesterday (hellish Christmas). I’m terrified to lose her.
WHY CAN’T MY FAMILY UNDERSTAND?
What do I want for Christmas?
A mysterious manor in the Scottish countryside, a library of vintage novels, a collection of the world’s rarest wines, an owl to deliver and retrieve my post, a butler with a mysterious backstory, and my own personal pastry chef.
I'm really not that hard to shop for.
A mysterious manor in the Scottish countryside, a library of vintage novels, a collection of the world’s rarest wines, an owl to deliver and retrieve my post, a butler with a mysterious backstory, and my own personal pastry chef.
I'm really not that hard to shop for.
December 18, 2025 at 3:56 PM
WHY CAN’T MY FAMILY UNDERSTAND?