In this world of excess where all of us end up spending money on things we don’t need, and racking up credit card debt to do it, why not think twice about your luxury purchases? I know when I go on a shopping spree, I always feel better about myself if I come to my [...]

On October 14, 2008, seven men slept on a porch huddled under blankets in Iowa City in the cold and rain. Father Ken has lived in the parish house for 12 years, and the porch had doubled as a shelter for the homeless even before he started at the parish.
The porch, located between St. Mary’s [...]

While traveling West on my way to can salmon in Alaska, I stopped in Tacoma, Washington, to stay the night with my aunt and uncle. My cousin had just graduated high school and the graduation party spread was available for post-driving snacks. I excitedly munched the baby carrots and dipped the cut cauliflower and broccoli [...]

Amidst the family, friends and festivities that the holidays bring, an unwelcome aspect of the season always seems to creep up. In a season that is supposed to bring good tidings to you and your kin, why does it also bring stress?
You need to relax. You can choose from countless methods of relaxation out there, [...]

Palestinian women speak out with their art.
“There are hands that give love and affection while there are hands that steal the soul and take away life. What is so startling to us is that one hand is capable of both.” — Hani Zo’roub, artist, born in Rafah, Gaza in 1976
“The role of art is [...]

As local officials responded to the threat of floods in southeastern Iowa with repeated appeals for help with sandbagging, I jumped at the chance—to bury my head in the sand, or a sandbag, whatever could be spared.
The last time I volunteered during a disaster, the results were disastrous.
I’d been part of a mission to the [...]

Writer and social commentator Sarah Vowell, known for her contributions to public radio’s “This American Life,” has made good use of her droll sense of humor and distinctive voice in the past.
She’s managed to take subjects as difficult as the Trail of Tears and presidential assassinations (the subject of her New York Times best-seller, Assassination [...]

Knitting and crocheting have undergone a startling social transformation in the last decade. No longer an outdated craft your grandmother taught you one rainy afternoon, it’s now the new way to express your creative side.
My personal conversion probably had something to do with the fact that my long-time boyfriend’s family switched to handmade Christmas gifts [...]

I visited the grave of Ernest Oberholtzer today last month. I was invited to read from my new book of essays Under a Midland Sky (ok, that’s a plug) at the Unitarian Church in Davenport. This was a wonderful occasion to find the resting place of one of my heroes, especially given that Davenport’s Unitarian [...]

There are no proton packs. No positron colliders. No Ecto-Containment unit. Turns out, the world of ghost hunting, like most everything else, is a lot less sexy than the movies would make it.
“A lot of people think it’s just like TV,” says Vicki Stinson. “But, there are all of these reports and standard operating procedures. [...]