We’re starting with fashion this week. In particular, shirts. Namely, to tuck or not to tuck. As far back as I remember, I’ve always tucked my shirt–button-down, polo, t-shirt, whatever–into my trousers, jeans, or shorts. My mother would always tell me to “tuck yourself in,” and maybe I never got out of the habit. The other day, I came home from work, removed the button-down shirt I was wearing (tucked in), and threw on a t-shirt. I knew I would be going to exercise shortly, and I would change my shirt before doing that, so I didn’t bother to tuck it in. My children couldn’t believe their eyes. One even remarked that I looked like a completely different person. All I did was not tuck in my t-shirt! What’s with that? Have I been doing something wrong all these years? The kids say letting your shirt hang out is the thing to do these days, with the possible exception of button-down shirts–though even there, the preference is not to tuck. And you know, my observations at work this week seem to bear that out. If I was someone else, and not too old to care, I might now be self-conscious about tucking my shirt in. But this whole incident has made me curious: is this really a thing? Is it the trend now, both with men and women, to let your shirt hang over your trousers? I admit, I thought people did it to hide the fact their trousers are a bit more snug than they would prefer. But no–there are some quite trim looking guys and gals at work who fly their shirt tails. Is this another fashion trend I’ve let pass me by?

Now, to the links! First, I want to disavow any connection with the Tropical Storm that invaded the south east coast of the U.S. last week. It might have been my namesake, and it may have been wet and full of wind and bluster, but it wasn’t me. Really.

Thanks to Twitter, my attention was drawn to this very interesting audio clip that came to light earlier this year. It’s the only recorded interview with Harper Lee, author of the classic novel, TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD. Lee was a notorious recluse, refusing interviews for much of her life, so this is a precious insight into her thoughts and motivations, recorded only a few years after the book was published. It’s especially interesting to hear why she thinks Southerners make better story tellers. If you have ten minutes to spare, it’s worth your time.

Speaking of writers, prolific self-published author Emma Adams announced this week that she has an agent. Why would a self-published author, and one who seems to be pretty committed to self-publishing, want an agent? Usually, you get an agent if you want to go the traditional publishing route, and be published by, say, Penguin, HarperCollins, or any number of the larger publishing houses. Emma says she still wants to continue self-publishing, but having an agent will help her with things like foreign rights sales, and dealing with audio books. I wanted to share this with you, first because it’s cool news and worth sharing, and second, to show how publishing is changing with the times. I think these kinds of hybrid models will become more popular given how hard it is to get a foot in the door of traditional publishing, and agents find new ways to use their skills and resources to help a broader range of authors, traditional and non-traditional.

Now this is fun, and requires no commentary on my part: Rancher on horseback lassoes would-be bike bandit in Walmart parking lot. A warning to bike thieves looking to ply their trade in Oregon.

And finally, my condolences to those who lost friends and family members in the shooting in Orlando early Sunday morning. Whatever your thoughts or beliefs about gun control, homosexuality, Islam, or any of the other issues raised by this event, two things are clear. First, the gunman was an evil man committing an act of monstrous evil. And second, those he killed were human beings made in the image of God. Genesis 9:6 tells us that murder is the worst of crimes because God made man in His image. To kill someone is to desecrate and dishonor one who bears that image. It should grieve the hearts of all people, especially Christians, that someone should do something like this. There’s more I could say, but now’s not the time. I simply pray for healing, and for Gospel light to bring peace, mercy, and repentance to bear.

How was your week? Was your shirt tucked? 🙂