In which the Meridian directs your attention toward a blog worth (lots of) your time

Scott McLemee of Crooked Timber issues something of a summons to right a wrong: more people need to read and spread the word about the blog of a guy named Phil Nugent. Well, okay. Below the fold is the first paragraph of what may be the most unsentimental yet loving Mother's Day post you're ever likely to read.

A primal childhood memory: my mother and I are out shopping for school supplies. I get in the car with my crayons and Big Chief tablets and toss them onto the back seat with my mother's copy of Rona Barrett's Hollywood. On the cover is a picture of Sonny and Cher; it announces the likelihood that they will soon divorce and we'll be needing something else to watch on TV that night of the week. I say something about how this symbolizes the terribleness of the rising divorce rate and breakup of the American family. I don't really mean it and in fact have no idea what the hell I'm talking about; I'm just parroting something that I've heard adults say in an effort to fill dead air and feel grown-up in my conversational choices, which is something that children from the ages of nine to ninety often do. Instead of either patting me on the head for my cleverness, which is what I'm hoping for, or parroting something she's heard someone else say in response to this sentiment, which would also be okay, my mother does something that sends chills down my spine. She says, "Yes, but you know, forever is a long time to stay married to someone if you don't love them." She says it in a way that tells me that she absolutely does mean what she's saying, which, with my mother as with any person, is a pretty good indicator that she's really talking about herself. I don't remember either of us saying anything else on the way home, and I spend most of that trip silently vowing to never again talk meaningless bullshit just to hear the sound of my own voice. I manage to stick to that pledge pretty well until I start dating.

If you have time--lots of time--you will want to read the rest . . . and his eulogy on the Don Imus Show . . . and his assessment of Jerry Falwell's legacy. He's in no hurry; he deserves the attention of those of us willing to make time to read good writing.