Petrus

Horror of Horrors

2008-10-13T10:17:00.002-04:00

As a "studentessa" of Thomas More College in 1995, I stayed in a 17th century convent, run by retired Augustinian nuns. The girls stayed in small bare rooms that had two beds, a sink, and a wardrobe. Most rooms had a small balcony, although mine did not.

Our beds were made with stiff cotton sheets, and rough, heavy wool blankets. My Mom sent me a teddy bear for Valentine's day, and I would put it next to my cheek to sleep as everything else in the bed felt too harsh.

There was little heat, and the showers frequently overflowed. The toilets lacked seat covers, and the dinner served nightly was pasta and "siempre vitello" - veal being the cheapest meat in Rome at the time. All of the bedrooms overlooked a small courtyard with a fountain off in one corner. There were giant goldfish in this fountain, and I remember watching one of the workmen clean his brushes in the fountain. It apparently, did not bother the fish.

We loved the austerity of the place, the old nuns "keeping their difficult balance" as Wilber says, the cold marble floors, and the beautiful chapel - the last to be built by Boromini before his death. Actually, it was never finished as the patrons ran out of money.

And now, the nuns have passed away, many who had carried marks of starvation from WWII when they hid Jews in this convent. The "suori" fed us both breakfast and dinner, reprimanded us for our antics, and lovingly though harshly sometimes slapped our cheeks.

The Santa Maria dei Sette Dolori convent has been sold to a hotelier. The luxury and magnificence of the building belies the true love and growth that occurred there. Students would never be allowed to roll their oranges down the hall after dinner, or take their shoes off and skid down the carefully cleaned and swept floor, furtively watching out for the "suori" the whole time. The sinks in each room are now gone where every student dutifully washed their laundry, hanging it out on the balconies to dry. The metal beds that held studying students during the day, and sleeping students are night are replaced by velvet and silk monstrosities.

It is as if the convent has lost all character and personality. And so, this post is a requiem, perhaps, of that beautiful building and the nuns who were so long protectors of it.

Below are the pictures of what it is now. I will search around for pictures what it once was.

http://www.alpitourworldhotels.it/sito/ita/swfSchede/AMDONITAI8/index_new.asp?code=AMDONENGI8

Evening with the Vazquez & Flat Stanley

2008-07-16T23:00:00.001-04:00

Here's how I spent my Wednesday night!

2008-06-25T06:00:00.000-04:00

This Weeks Hero Was Suggested by Mary Ann

Staff Sgt. Jude Voss
1st Battalion, 3d Special Forces Group (Airborne)

His courage illustrates a combat truth to these veterans of World War II, Korea and Vietnam: Soldiers aren¢t thinking about glory or ideals in the midst of a battle. They fight for the men to the left and right of them.

And that's just what SSgt. Jude Voss did in September of 2006 when, without consideration to his safety, SSgt. Voss ran through enemy fire and the burning, smoking debris of a truck to rescue Sgt. 1st Class Greg Stube. Sgt. Stube was in a bad way. Uniform burning and legs busted, but because of the actions of SSgt. Voss he is alive today.

Because of his actions that day, SSgt. Voss was nominated for and received the Silver Star Medal for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action. "I did what everybody out there would do" Voss said. "I was just the closest guy."

You can read SSgt. Voss's story here.

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Have Every Right To Dream Heroic Dreams. Those Who Say That We're In A Time When There Are No Heroes, They Just Don't Know Where To Look

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

Pope Honors the Irish - And why shouldn't he?

2008-05-22T09:12:00.002-04:00

Irish Get Special Place for Corpus Christi Events Honors Recall Paul V and 1608 Flight of the Earls

ROME, MAY 21, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Thursday's Corpus Christi procession led by Benedict XVI will have a historical flavor honoring the Irish. Students from the Pontifical Irish College will have a special role in the Corpus Christi Mass and procession. Deacons Colin Crossey from the Diocese of Down and Connor, and Shane Gallagher from the Diocese of Raphoe will participate in the Mass. And six other seminarians (four of whom are Irish) will flank the Pope as he processes with the Eucharist from the Basilicas of St. John Lateran to St. Mary Major.

The participation of the Irish College seminarians hearkens back 400 years to 1608 when Earl Hugh O'Neill and his party received the honor of carrying the canopy in the Corpus Christi procession. According to Monsignor Liam Bergin, Rector of the Pontifical Irish College, "The honor shown to the Irish Earls 400 years ago, by Pope Paul V, has been revisited on eight Irish College seminarians who will assist Pope Benedict in this procession tomorrow.

As this anniversary is being marked in Ireland and beyond by historical and cultural events, it is appropriate that the religious dimension is also acknowledged and that the welcome given to the Catholic princes four centuries ago, by the Holy See, be joyously celebrated today."

History O'Neill and his followers arrived in Rome on April 29, 1608, fleeing from Ireland. The party was received with full honors by Paul V and was given prominence at civil and religious events in the city. O'Neill, together with his son-in-law and six other nobles of his party, were given the particular honor of carrying the canopy in the Corpus Christi procession on June 5, 1608.

Tadhg Ó Cianáin's contemporary diary of the event records: "The Italians were greatly surprised that they should be shown such deference and respect, for some of them said that seldom before was any one nation in the world appointed to carry the canopy. With the ambassadors of all the Catholic kings and princes of Christendom who happened to be in the city at that time it was an established custom that they, in succession, every year got their opportunity to carry the canopy. They were jealous, envious, and surprised that they were not allowed to carry it on that particular day."

The 400th anniversary of the so-called flight of the Earls was widely celebrated in Ireland last year, as the party left Ireland on Sept. 14, 1607.

Marriage of True Minds

2008-05-19T10:41:00.002-04:00

I love it when my favorite things come together, like the following:

1. Pope Benedict XVI in Yankee Stadium
2. Vanilla ice cream & warm apple crisp
3. New CD & a road trip
4. Eager student & old books

And the newest amazing pairing:

5. Country Music and Shakespeare - "To Quote Shakespeare" by The Clarke Family Experience.

Check it out.

O! The Ironies

2008-05-18T08:34:00.002-04:00

Prince Charles is giving us 18 months to help the environment - or else ...

There was a time in our history when people were practically hostages to the weather. School could only be taught when the weather allowed children to get to the schoolhouse. Certain areas with extreme desert or tundra conditions were rendered inhabitable because there was no protection from the elements. Only those strong enough to endure harsh winters or harsh summer months would survive to adulthood. Travel was expensive, and costly not just in monetary terms, but also in terms of lives. One had to be rugged in order to endure a long trip without dying of disease, exposure or starvation.

In today's uber-technological world, it is absurd to schedule one's day around the weather. Employees are expected at work despite rain, wind or shine. Even times of flooding, blizzard of tornado are considered mere inconveniences that can be overcome in a matter of hours... or, in extreme cases, days. And yet, the heir to the British throne is telling us that billions of dollars MUST BE SPENT to stop deforestation and climate change.

Yes, this is heir to the same throne that successfully clear cut Ireland six hundred years ago. The Irish have survived. So can bonnie Prince Charlie.

Wednesday Hero

2008-05-13T22:09:00.001-04:00

Sorry I've been out for a week. I had a conference in Boston, and chaos at work. Be back soon!

This Weeks Hero Was Suggested By Cindy

Petty Officer 2nd Class Chris Davila
From Sierra Vista, Arizona

On the sixth anniversary of the terrorist attack on the United States, Petty Officer 2nd Class Chris Davila raised an American flag over Camp Korean Village, Iraq, he brought with him from Arizona.

Tuesday, May 6, 2008, Sierra Vista firefighter and emergency medical technician Chris Davila presented that flag to Fire Chief Randy Redmond as fellow firefighters looked on. Monday, May 5, 2008, was Davilaâ€™s first day back on the job with the department after being gone for nearly nine months, with seven of those months deployed as a Navy Reserve corpsman serving with a Marine unit near the Jordanian and Syrian border area in Iraq.

And, as luck would have it, on his first shift saw him responding to a blaze in Sierra Vista. "Right back to work," he said with a laugh.

You can read the rest of PO 2nd Class Davila's story here.

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

Wednesday Heroes: CCM Robert Prosser & LTC Erik Kurilla

2008-05-07T09:16:00.002-04:00

CSM Robert Prosser and LTC Erik Kurilla
1st Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment (Deuce Four)

LTC. Erik Kurilla and CSM. Robert Prosser's story is an amazing one. One that Michael Yon has told far better than I ever could. Warning. The site contains very graphic images. Some may want to turn off images before viewing.

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

The Long Fatal Love Chase

2008-05-06T09:17:00.003-04:00

Here's Rush talking about it.

Her life was in shambles. She was about to lose her opportunity to take her dream job. Her husband was sabotaging her career, her adversary was wiping the floor with her. She turns to the man who has ever paid her any attention. Sure, he may have led the vast Right Wing Consipiracy to destroy her and her husband. Sure, he professes nothing but intense hatred and disgust for her. But she knows that he's hiding something. If she can just bring it to light, maybe she can give up her ambitious dreams and career goals. Maybe she won't have to try so hard. I mean, maybe, just maybe she can just be herself... she turns to the only man who has ever seen her for what she really is... evil.

He Staged a Fight - How Brilliant

2008-05-05T11:12:00.003-04:00

I heard with suprise that Obama has "recovered from the Wright scandal" and is now back to double digits ahead of Hilary Clinton in the polls. Amazing. After his minister was outed for a being a racist, American-hating bigot, Obama has been able to publicly shed this monkey off his back, leaping ahead in the polls yet again.

Then, it occurred to me. Obama uses his 20 years as a Christian church-goer to counteract the claims that he is muslim. It is then presented that his 20 years as a church-goer have been spent listening to anti-American propoganda. How could he possible get back into the race after his solution for one problem creates another?

He stages a public fight with the very man who was supposed to save his non-muslim reputation. Wright gets in front of the media, says some other crazy ridiculous things, Obama condemns him, Wright feigns being "hurt", and the problem goes away.

Except that one still suspects that Obama hates America.
Except that one still suspects that Obama is a racist.
Except that one still suspects that Obama is more slippery than an eel.

Because one remembers that a 20 year friendship can sustain a public fight.
Because one remembers that a 20 year career spent preparing for the Presidency can stand to be a bit embarrassed for a weekend.

I'm betting that the Reverend Wright will still hold the bible when Obama takes the oath of office as the President.

Gather ye rosebuds while ye may...

2008-05-01T22:55:00.006-04:00

We had a great day today at the zoo with Xavier & Tilly. The fleetness of Spring brought this poem to mind.

Make Much of Time
by Robert Herrick

Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,
Old Time is still a-flying:
And this same flower that smiles to-day
To-morrow will be dying.

The glorious lamp of heaven, the sun,
The higher he's a-getting,
The sooner will his race be run,
And nearer he's to setting.

That age is best which is the first,
When youth and blood are warmer;
But being spent, the worse, and worst
Times still succeed the former.

Then be not coy, but use your time,
And while ye may, go marry:
For having lost but once your prime,
You may for ever tarry.

Hill of Crosses

2008-04-30T11:05:00.001-04:00

When I went to Lithuania two years ago, I visited a placed called The Hill of Crosses. During the uprising of 1831 when Lithuania was occupied by the Russians, some revolutionaries were praying in a chapel. The Russians surrounded the chapel, locked all the windows and doors. They then covered the chapel with dirt, killing everyone inside.

The people started bringing crosses to this hill as a memorial to those killed inside the chapel. During the Soviet occupation of Lithuania, the Soviets took all the wooden crosses and burned them. The metals ones they bulldozed into the ground. One night, a group of the faithful took a 30' foot cross and began a march towards the hill. The Soviets heard about the plan, and placed a stake out at the hill in order to catch and prosecute those in charge.

The next morning, as the sun rose over the Hill of Crosses, the silouette of a 30' cross was seen on the horizon.

John Paul II visited this hill, calling it a place of hope, peace and sacrifice. There are crosses from concentration camp victims, from pilgrims from all over the world, and of course, from the native Lithuanians. They are a proud people, and this place is a testament to their unflinching fidelity to the cross.

The St. Brigid's cross is my sister Deborah's. It was the only celtic cross that I saw there. The one below is from the St. Benedict Center.

Blu-oo-oo-ue, Blue Blue Blue - oo

2008-04-29T09:28:00.002-04:00

Life is too short not to have a blue tongue every now and again.

Racism Revisited

2008-04-27T23:23:00.007-04:00

I figure that I ought to expand my views on racism in America given the obscure references in my previous post.

When I was growing up, my parents taught me to appreciate the unique gifts in each person. Its really that simple. There are differences in people, and the differences that divide people is usually in ideas and principles. Regardless of ideas and principles, God loves each person individually and it is up to each person what they do with that love.

Notice that there is nothing about race in there.

Okay, so when I became an adult, and questions about race would come up, I found it amazing when people would talk about which races were acceptable to be friends with, which races were acceptable to date/marry, etc. Dividing people by race doesn't make any sense to me, especially because we knew many families who had adopted children from all over the world, and the color of someone's skin said almost nothing about their character or personality. I also thought that most people, except those rare racist types, thought like I did.

Jeremiah Wright has made a business out of being black. He has found a way to rally people around him based on the fact that they all share an ancestry from the same continent. That makes no sense to me. Maybe if they shared a same culture, like Tutsi or Kenyan... but no. He really has gathered a whole Church together based on the idea that they claim an allegiance to a large mass of land with as many diverse cultures as a mosaic has colors. And he's found that the easiest way to unite a people is by giving them a common enemy - not because they share a culture. No, they are united in the idea that a common enemy has oppressed them and is a wicked and cruel murderous tyrant. And again, for JW, its a business from which he has profited handsomely.

For him to play the victim is typical, of course. He's used to manipulating people, so why not? Why not bank of hundreds of years of real cruelty and oppression and convince people who are just as privileged as he is that they have suffered from this same cruelty? When one thinks of the real abuse, the inhumanity that occurred during slavery and compare it to what Jeremiah Wright has "suffered", it is a mockery to those who really did suffer. When one thinks of the truly lost opportunities by those who were turned away from jobs, housing and marketplaces and compare it to a Princeton graduate who writes that blacks will never have access to the highest places in American society, it is pure mockery of those truly brave ones like Rosa Park.

Sure, there is still racism in America and in every corner of the world. Human nature has not changed. However, until we stop using racism as an excuse to perpetuate our own victimhood, we will never learn to move beyond it, and we'll never be a nation united.

I say God bless America, and so should every American regardless of race.

Logic of Jeremiah Wright

2008-04-26T00:42:00.004-04:00

Here goes:

JW says racist things, which proves that racism still exists in America. If you criticize him for his racists remarks, then you are persecuting him because he's just trying to show you that racism exists, and your persecution of him proves that racism exists. So, even though people are trying to villianize him, really he's just a racist victim of racism.

Racism is bad bad bad. He knows that better than anyone because he is a racist.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

2008-04-23T09:15:00.005-04:00

To William Shakespeare, and Aimee Cowan!!!

Take this Shakespeare quiz to see how much you actually know.

Then go and visit Aimee on her blog!!

Some fun facts about me and Aimee:

While roommates in college we rearranged our room every Monday afternoon while the freshman below us tried to take a nap.
We travelled to Spain, Ireland and Venice together after our Rome semester.
While roommates we each had the bed that we didn't want for fear of hurting the others feelings!!
We agreed to go to graduate school together, but never applied to the same schools!
She went to every station Mass in Rome... while I always set my alarm to go, but rarely made it.

I'll add more as I think about them throughout the day!

Heard from the hallways...

2008-04-22T10:36:00.003-04:00

"So, I found out where the library is. I walked by a building and I saw M- and G- (two fellow students) in there and I said to myself, 'that must be the library."

Interesting ...

2008-04-21T09:27:00.003-04:00

Pope & the Confederacy

"Under the reign of Pope Pius IX, an interesting link developed between the Vatican and Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States of America...

"Remarkably, the Pope himself offered the most solace afforded to the former Confederate President by two simple gifts while he was in prison. A personally hand-woven Crown of Thorns symbolized Davis’s suffering at the hands of his enemies. And Davis likely found additional comfort in a portrait of the Pope, autographed by the pontiff with the words from Sacred Writ, 'If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.' "

****I heard about this from one of the commentators during the Holy Father's visit... but the above is from Here.

Kids Aren't That Stupid

2008-04-18T08:12:00.003-04:00

So, yesterday was the PERFECT Spring Day. The sun was shining, it was the perfect temperature outside, and the wind was blowing lightly as if to caress the newly sprouted grass and brightly colored crocuses. I cut a few of my classes short and brought the kids outside to walk in the spring puddles and enjoy the blue sky.

In the afternoon, I met some of the students in the quaint New England college town of New London. Its a cute town with lots of little shops, and one of the best ice cream stands around. Let's put it this way, they serve ice cream AND espresso. What could be better than that? So, when my students finished selling advertisements for the yearbook, I met up with them and took them out for ice cream. So far, so good.

We called one of the parents and arranged to meet at the dock so they could pick up their kids. On the way, the Dad called me and said that he'd be running late.

We don't mind. Its a sunny day. We'll walk on the dock.

Idiot.

"Elijah, I'll give you five dollars if you jump in."

"Yeah right, the water is freezing."

... minutes later...

"what will you give me to jump in?"

Me: You are not jumping in. You cannot ride in my car if you're wet. The water is freezing. There is still ice on the lake.

Does it matter? no.

*splash*

The worst part of this whole situation, is that the kid had reasons:

1. Impress the girls at school
2. Make my stock go up among the boys
3. Have something to talk about at school

It sounds so logical, but is so idiotic.

From the Holy Father

2008-04-17T10:41:00.001-04:00

"Love your priests!"

The Golden Rose

2008-04-17T06:40:00.002-04:00

Did anyone notice that our Holy Father seemed a bit surprised at the gift from the Archdiocese of Washington? It was a check for $890,000 to be used towards his charities. He seemed to start and I am conflicted as to whether it was the amount of the gift, or the fact that it was money itself.

Our Holy Father's gift is beautiful - a Golden Rose in honor of Our Mother. Next time I'm in D.C., I'm visiting that rose.

Pax tecum

2008-04-16T10:59:00.001-04:00

"We accept the challenge to reject the tyranny of relativism." President George Bush

Holy Father's Visit

2008-04-16T10:43:00.000-04:00

A Good Resource for the Holy Father's Visit

Buon Compleano at te - PPBXVI

2008-04-16T09:23:00.002-04:00

I hope I look this great at 81!

The Force

2008-04-14T09:26:00.001-04:00

I received the ultimate compliment yesterday. I was invited to celebrate Xavier's 4th birthday with him. He told his parents that he wanted Luke Skywalker, Yoda and Jessica to come! While he ate his birthday cake, he assured me that at least Luke would still come, but maybe not Yoda. Yoda lives in a galaxy far far away.

Follow up

2008-04-12T23:25:00.001-04:00

So, after my little "run in" with the mud, my car shook like a shivering puppy out in the rain anytime I went over 55mph. Luckily, I have free tire rotation at BJ's and I figured that it needed to be aligned after "the incident".

I took it into BJ's, and the mud was caked so hard into the tire that they had to use the balancing machine to scrape the mud off of it. The whole rotation process was supposed to take 3o minutes, but just scraping the dirt out of the wheel took 30 minutes.

They don't do alignments and my tire rotation was free!!!!!!!

I am the luckiest girl alive :)

Off Roadin'

2008-04-10T20:07:00.012-04:00

Sort of...

My wheel was completely submerged... and so was my exhaust.

Doesn't it look like chocolate swamp in Candy Land?

Deb arrived on the scene and stayed for moral support.

Ahhh... mud season in New Hampshire.

Politically Incorrect Saint

2008-04-10T09:28:00.002-04:00

BLESSED ANTHONY NEYROT

Anthony was born in northern Italy in the fifteenth century. He joined the Dominican order in Florence, Italy. The prior at that time was another saint, Antoninus. This saint was to have a great influence on Blessed Anthony. Brother Anthony was sailing from Naples to Sicily when pirates captured the ship. Anthony was taken to Tunis and sold as a slave. He was able to win his freedom, but fell away from the Church. He denied his faith in Jesus and abandoned his religious vocation. He accepted the Koran, the sacred book of the Muslims. For several months, he practiced the Muslim religion. He also married. In the meantime, his former Dominican prior, the saintly Antoninus, died. This led Anthony to have a shocking experience. It seems that one night, Anthony had something like a dream. St. Antoninus appeared to him. The conversation between the two men was to lead to a radical change in Anthony. He became truly sorry for having betrayed the Lord. He knew that in his heart he could never give up his faith in Jesus. He knew that he could only be a Catholic. And he realized that he still wanted very much to be a Dominican brother. Blessed Anthony sent his wife back to her family. He then put on his white Dominican habit. In spite of his fear, he went to see the ruler of Tunis. A large crowd gathered and the ruler came out to the courtyard. Brother Anthony publicly admitted he had made a terrible mistake. He was a Catholic. He believed in and loved Jesus. He was a Dominican and wanted to be so for all his life. The ruler was angry. He threatened and then made promises of rewards if only Anthony would take back what he was saying. But Anthony would not. He knew this meant his death. Anthony knelt and began to pray for the courage to give his life for Jesus. Suddenly he felt the large stones pounding him. He just kept praying for the strength to remain true to the Lord. Then he lost consciousness.

Anthony died a martyr in 1460. Some merchants from Genoa, Italy, took his remains back to his own country.

Emily Dickenson

2008-04-09T20:14:00.001-04:00

IN A LIBRARY

A precious, mouldering pleasure
't isTo meet an antique book,
In just the dress his century wore;
A privilege, I think,
His venerable hand to take,
And warming in our own,
A passage back, or two, to make
To times when he was young.
His quaint opinions to inspect,
His knowledge to unfold
On what concerns our mutual mind,
The literature of old;
What interested scholars most,
What competitions ran
When Plato was a certainty.
And Sophocles a man;
When Sappho was a living girl,
And Beatrice wore
The gown that Dante deified.
Facts, centuries before,
He traverses familiar,
As one should come to town
And tell you all your dreams were true;
He lived where dreams were sown.
His presence is enchantment,
You beg him not to go;
Old volumes shake their vellum heads
And tantalize, just so.

Wednesday Hero - Michael Williams

2008-04-09T07:17:00.000-04:00

Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael T. Williams
(Click Image For Full Size)

Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael T. Williams, a kennel master with Task Force Military Police, 1st Battalion, 10th Marines, and his dog "Kitt", search for ordnance and firearms during a route reconnaissance operation through the western Anbar province of Iraq April 1. The dog handlers conduct operations in support of 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion to bring peace and stability to Iraq and its people.

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

Farewell to Snow

2008-04-08T10:39:00.014-04:00

We took advantage of one of the last Saturday nights of winter to enjoy the slopes at Pats Peak.

Here we are, chillin' out on the ski lift waiting to get to the top.

Nathaniel & Ana looked awesome in their sunglasses, until Nathaniel dropped his under the ski lift!!

He didn't really need them. He's a great skier anyway. You should have seen him going over the rolly pollies, until his skis were over his head, and eventually detached from his feet!!

Tim was a great skier who love the "wall" - he even went down a few blue square trails, and really kicked up the snow!!

Rose loved the glades, and did a great job navigating the trees!! Who wouldn't be a great skier with that scarf on??

Ana - coming in a for a crash landing... as was her usual.

The sign reads "Please use caution: Experts only". It was really too crowded for us on this trip, so we left this run for another day.

Sunday Bookstore

2008-04-06T22:14:00.004-04:00

So, I went into a bookstore today to look around at, well, books. I won't say which bookstore. Its not THAT important. I was in particular need of a copy of the Inferno, but I wanted Mendelbaum's translation. So, I headed for the Literature and Fiction section. Sometimes, the larger chain store will split these two sections apart, and put more classical books into Literature, but I don't really think it matters since great works are always relevant. I couldn't find one anyway.

So, I started searching for the elusive "Classics" section which they sometimes put near Philosophy. Still nothing - it didn't exist. There was a strange temporary and very ill-displayed bunch of cheap versions of some of the classics, but I still couldn't find the Divine Comedy. With a sigh, I decided to find the Literary Criticism section to see if I could find anything about the Divine Comedy. There was no Literary Criticism section, it was simply called Literary.

Literary what?

In honor of Yeats, I leave you with:

A Coat

I MADE my song a coat
Covered with embroideries
Out of old mythologies
From heel to throat;
But the fools caught it,
Wore it in the world’s eyes
As though they’d wrought it.
Song, let them take it
For there’s more enterprise
In walking naked.

The Redress of Poetry

2008-04-05T09:26:00.007-04:00

"The world" is shocked by the reports that a group of third graders plotted to stab their teacher and clean up after the bloody mess. The media reported it, and people repeat the story, each with their own, or someone else's opinion about how this could happen. The favorite culprit, of course, if video games, the internet or television. I'm not one to say that any of these people are not correct. However, there has been a shift, some sort of a change in the way that media (by this term I mean any sort of communicative device, like a painting, a movie, etc.) influences and educates a human person.

A few years ago, I picked up a book written in 1978 that was a commentary on the way that television reflects society. The purpose of the book, however, was to propose that television is actually a way to reflect that way that society ought to be. Indeed, its authors are not newcomers to this idea. Literature itself has always proposed scenarios about how love stories "ought" to end. Romeo and Juliette, for example, is a story about families allowing their own hatred and ambition ignore the upbringing of their children. Their children, in turn, have nor moral compass to guide them through what they impetuously perceive as love. This scenario, is compounded by a foolish priest who suggests to them that they heal their families through a secret marriage. We all know the end of the story, but the real conclusion is the life lessons that can be learned through this tragedy. Don't ignore your children, don't trust the judgment of a 16 year old, and don't trust men who compare you to the moon. Shakespeare's success relies upon the fact that this scenario is timeless, and his stories are relevant to every age and culture.

Rather than using television then, to represent either what is, or what was, producers went another direction and proposed what they think ought to be without any moral compass, like Romeo and Juliette. But rather than what "ought to be" in a world where high ideals exist and the nobility of the human spirit reigns supreme, the media decided to represent "what's cool". What's cool, as William Faulkner explains is "not of the heart, but of the glands."

Others disagreed with this turn. Vice President Quayle chided Murphy Brown for glorifying single motherhood. People called him "behind the times" and others lauded Candace Bergman for representing what women "can attain" meaning a beautiful harmony involving a successful careers and joyful motherhood. While pundits plauded the show and the message it portrayed, the storyline itself is not sustainable. I cannot think of any popular sitcom at the moment that portrays a single working mom where there is no man in the picture. Not only does it not work in reality, it can't even work in the fictional world of television. Without realizing it, this experiment to show people what "ought to be" in this utopian world of high definition television is failing. It can't continue its own storyline.

However, that doesn't mean that the storyline is not being continued off the screen in the lives of hundreds of fans around the world. There is some collateral damage to this sort of experiment. A mother of an 8 year old girl told me that her daughter has started saying that she's "fat". The mother doesn't know where she gets it from because she watches very little television. The mother's instinct is key here - because this mom knows what messages her daughter will get if she does watch television. What the mom doesn't realize, is that she gets it from her friends at school who do watch television. She also gets it from the clothes stores that make clothes smaller and smaller for growing girls.

Seamus Heaney is an Irish poet from Derry, in northern Ireland. He grew up in a world of violence where the pronunciation of your name, Seamus or James, dictated whether or not you would get housing, food stamps, a job at the local factory or harrassed at the local checkpoint on main street. He left the north of Ireland amidst much criticism for abandoning his country. There was a lot of pressure for him to use his talent and his art to tell the story of what was happening. Yet, he went to the south of Ireland and purchased a small cottage where he could reflect on what ought to be, not what was. In his nobel prize acceptance speech, he quotes Wallace Stevens who says that "the nobility of poetry is a violence from within that protects us from a violence without." In other words, the struggles of life which can be fought through wars and violence, can be wrestled within the imagination, mitigating the violence that can occur in the world.

There are a large number of writers in recent years who have emerged from the violence of their own childhoods. Toni Morrison writes about slavery. Czeslaw Milosz survived in Warsaw during World War II and defected from the Soviet Union years later. These writers, if true to their craft, will use their writing to point to a world that ought to be. This world will include virtues such as perseverence, modesty, fortitude, bravery, kychekw`love, sacrifice and honor among others. For the poet to write about these "old verities" as William Faulkner explains in should be one of the "props, pillars to help [man] endure and prevail."

Television and other forms of media, like poetry, needs to come to terms with its responsibility in the world and its effects on those who view it. The Holy Father recently enjoined the media to consider developing a kind of info-ethics, akin to bio-ethics for the scientific community. Until all forms of media are willing to accept that words, images, pictures, and music actually mean something, third grade teacher ought to start packing heat.

This is What I Did to celebrate Easter

2008-04-04T14:08:00.012-04:00

Othello had a great time visiting with the nephews in Delaware, until he went "wets" on me and one of the kids. Nicholas discovered a long lost friend in him and was sorely disappointed when Othello had to go home. It was quite sad.

We went to the park in Old New Castle (an oxymoron if ever there is one). And enjoyed the playground, the beach, the porta-potties and the basketball court.

We looked for treasure washed up along the shore, but we only found a few Spanish dubloons, and some trinkets from the Titanic. Nothing big.

Dominic and Isaiah went in search of clams... and some of those elusive buggers really had to be coaxed onto shore.

Isaiah proudly shows off his catch, while Alex shows fraternal joy in support of his brother.

Kiernan has been dancing since he was in the womb, I'm told, and this shot proves that he only needed to find an appropriate dancing partner - one that could keep up with his smooth moves. Only the tide fits this bill.

Just hanging out with the nephews in the playground!

Our final trick of the day!!!

This is What its All About...

2008-03-24T20:29:00.001-04:00

Magdi Allam Recounts His Path to Conversion

Benedict XVI Baptized the Journalist at Easter Vigil

VATICAN CITY, MARCH 23, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Here is a translation of Magdi Allam’s account of his conversion to Catholicism. The Muslim journalist was baptized by Benedict XVI at Saturday's Easter Vigil Mass in St. Peter's Basilica.
An abbreviated form of this account appeared as a letter to Paolo Mieli, the director of the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. Allam is the paper’s deputy director. The Italian version of the complete text is available at magdiallam.it.* * *

Dear Friends,
I am particularly happy to share with you my immense joy for this Easter of Resurrection that has brought me the gift of the Christian faith. I gladly propose the letter that I sent to the director of the Corriere della Sera, Paolo Mieli, in which I tell the story of the interior journey that brought me to the choice of conversion to Catholicism. This is the complete version of the letter, which was published by the Corriere della Sera only in part.* * *Dear Director,
That which I am about to relate to you concerns my choice of religious faith and personal life in which I do not wish to involve in any way the Corriere della Sera, which it has been an honor to be a part of as deputy director “ad personam” since 2003. I write you thus as protagonist of the event, as private citizen.
Yesterday evening I converted to the Christian Catholic religion, renouncing my previous Islamic faith. Thus, I finally saw the light, by divine grace -- the healthy fruit of a long, matured gestation, lived in suffering and joy, together with intimate reflection and conscious and manifest expression. I am especially grateful to his holiness Pope Benedict XVI, who imparted the sacraments of Christian initiation to me, baptism, confirmation and Eucharist, in the Basilica of St. Peter’s during the course of the solemn celebration of the Easter Vigil. And I took the simplest and most explicit Christian name: “Cristiano.” Since yesterday evening therefore my name is Magdi Crisitano Allam.
For me it is the most beautiful day of [my] life. To acquire the gift of the Christian faith during the commemoration of Christ’s resurrection by the hand of the Holy Father is, for a believer, an incomparable and inestimable privilege. At almost 56 […], it is a historical, exceptional and unforgettable event, which marks a radical and definitive turn with respect to the past. The miracle of Christ’s resurrection reverberated through my soul, liberating it from the darkness in which the preaching of hatred and intolerance in the face of the “different,” uncritically condemned as “enemy,” were privileged over love and respect of “neighbor,” who is always, an in every case, “person”; thus, as my mind was freed from the obscurantism of an ideology that legitimates lies and deception, violent death that leads to murder and suicide, the blind submission to tyranny, I was able to adhere to the authentic religion of truth, of life and of freedom.
On my first Easter as a Christian I not only discovered Jesus, I discovered for the first time the face of the true and only God, who is the God of faith and reason. My conversion to Catholicism is the touching down of a gradual and profound interior meditation from which I could not pull myself away, given that for five years I have been confined to a life under guard, with permanent surveillance at home and a police escort for my every movement, because of death threats and death sentences from Islamic extremists and terrorists, both those in and outside of Italy.
I had to ask myself about the attitude of those who publicly declared fatwas, Islamic juridical verdicts, against me -- I who was a Muslim -- as an “enemy of Islam,” “hypocrite because he is a Coptic Christian who pretends to be a Muslim to do damage to Islam,” “liar and vilifier of Islam,” legitimating my death sentence in this way. I asked myself how it was possible that those who, like me, sincerely and boldly called for a “moderate Islam,” assuming the responsibility of exposing themselves in the first person in denouncing Islamic extremism and terrorism, ended up being sentenced to death in the name of Islam on the basis of the Quran. I was forced to see that, beyond the contingency of the phenomenon of Islamic extremism and terrorism that has appeared on a global level, the root of evil is inherent in an Islam that is physiologically violent and historically conflictive.
At the same time providence brought me to meet practicing Catholics of good will who, in virtue of their witness and friendship, gradually became a point of reference in regard to the certainty of truth and the solidity of values. To begin with, among so many friends from Communion and Liberation, I will mention Father Juliàn Carròn; and then there were simple religious such as Father Gabriele Mangiarotti, Sister Maria Gloria Riva, Father Carlo Maurizi and Father Yohannis Lahzi Gaid; there was rediscovery of the Salesians thanks to Father Angelo Tengattini and Father Maurizio Verlezza, which culminated in a renewed friendship with major rector Father Pascual Chavez Villanueva; there was the embrace of top prelates of great humanity like Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Monsignor Luigi Negri, Giancarlo Vecerrica, Gino Romanazzi and, above all, Monsignor Rino Fisichella, who personally accompanied me in the journey of spiritual acceptance of the Christian faith.
But undoubtedly the most extraordinary and important encounter in my decision to convert was that with Pope Benedict XVI, whom I admired and defended as a Muslim for his mastery in setting down the indissoluble link between faith and reason as a basis for authentic religion and human civilization, and to whom I fully adhere as a Christian to inspire me with new light in the fulfillment of the mission God has reserved for me.
Mine was a journey that began when at four years old, my mother Safeya -- a believing and practicing Muslim -- in the first in the series of “fortuitous events” that would prove to be not at all the product of chance but rather an integral part of a divine destiny to which all of us have been assigned -- entrusted me to the loving care of Sister Lavinia of the Comboni Missionary Sisters, convinced of the goodness of the education that would be imparted by the Catholic and Italian religious, who had come to Cairo, the city of my birth, to witness to their Christian faith through a work aimed at the common good. I thus began an experience of life in boarding school, followed by the Salesians of the Institute of Don Bosco in junior high and high school, which transmitted to me not only the science of knowledge but above all the awareness of values.
It is thanks to members of Catholic religious orders that I acquired a profoundly and essentially an ethical conception of life, in which the person created in the image and likeness of God is called to undertake a mission that inserts itself in the framework of a universal and eternal design directed toward the interior resurrection of individuals on this earth and the whole of humanity on the day of judgment, which is founded on faith in God and the primacy of values, which is based on the sense of individual responsibility and on the sense of duty toward the collective. It is in virtue of a Christian education and of the sharing of the experience of life with Catholic religious that I cultivated a profound faith in the transcendent dimension and also sought the certainty of truth in absolute and universal values.
There was a time when my mother’s loving presence and religious zeal brought me closer to Islam, which I occasionally practiced at a cultural level and in which I believed at a spiritual level according to an interpretation that at the time -- it was the 1970s -- summarily corresponded to a faith respectful of persons and tolerant toward the neighbor, in a context -- that of the Nasser regime -- in which the secular principle of the separation of the religious sphere and the secular sphere prevailed.
My father Muhammad was completely secular and agreed with the opinion of the majority of Egyptians who took the West as a model in regard to individual freedom, social customs and cultural and artistic fashions, even if the political totalitarianism of Nasser and the bellicose ideology of Pan-Arabism that aimed at the physical elimination of Israel unfortunately led to disaster for Egypt and opened the way to the resumption of Pan-Islamism, to the ascent of Islamic extremists to power and the explosion of globalized Islamic terrorism.
The long years at school allowed me to know Catholicism well and up close and the women and men who dedicated their life to serve God in the womb of the Church. Already then I read the Bible and the Gospels and I was especially fascinated by the human and divine figure of Jesus. I had a way to attend Holy Mass and it also happened, only once, that I went to the altar to receive communion. It was a gesture that evidently signaled my attraction to Christianity and my desire to feel a part of the Catholic religious community.
Then, on my arrival in Italy at the beginning of the 1970s between the rivers of student revolts and the difficulties of integration, I went through a period of atheism understood as a faith, which nevertheless was also founded on absolute and universal values. I was never indifferent to the presence of God even if only now I feel that the God of love, of faith and reason reconciles himself completely with the patrimony of values that are rooted in me.
Dear Director, you asked me whether I fear for my life, in the awareness that conversion to Christianity will certainly procure for me yet another, and much more grave, death sentence for apostasy. You are perfectly right. I know what I am headed for but I face my destiny with my head held high, standing upright and with the interior solidity of one who has the certainty of his faith. And I will be more so after the courageous and historical gesture of the Pope, who, as soon has he knew of my desire, immediately agreed to personally impart the Christian sacraments of initiation to me. His Holiness has sent an explicit and revolutionary message to a Church that until now has been too prudent in the conversion of Muslims, abstaining from proselytizing in majority Muslim countries and keeping quiet about the reality of converts in Christian countries. Out of fear. The fear of not being able to protect converts in the face of their being condemned to death for apostasy and fear of reprisals against Christians living in Islamic countries. Well, today Benedict XVI, with his witness, tells us that we must overcome fear and not be afraid to affirm the truth of Jesus even with Muslims.
For my part, I say that it is time to put an end to the abuse and the violence of Muslims who do not respect the freedom of religious choice. In Italy there are thousands of converts to Islam who live their new faith in peace. But there are also thousands of Muslim converts to Christianity who are forced to hide their faith out of fear of being assassinated by Islamic extremists who lurk among us. By one of those “fortuitous events” that evoke the discreet hand of the Lord, the first article that I wrote for the Corriere on Sept. 3, 2003 was entitled “The new Catacombs of Islamic Converts.” It was an investigation of recent Muslim converts to Christianity in Italy who decry their profound spiritual and human solitude in the face of absconding state institutions that do not protect them and the silence of the Church itself. Well, I hope that the Pope’s historical gesture and my testimony will lead to the conviction that the moment has come to leave the darkness of the catacombs and to publicly declare their desire to be fully themselves. If in Italy, in our home, the cradle of Catholicism, we are not prepared to guarantee complete religious freedom to everyone, how can we ever be credible when we denounce the violation of this freedom elsewhere in the world? I pray to God that on this special Easter he give the gift of the resurrection of the spirit to all the faithful in Christ who have until now been subjugated by fear. Happy Easter to everyone.
Dear friends, let us go forward on the way of truth, of life and of freedom with my best wishes for every success and good thing.
Magdi Allam

Yes, America...

2008-03-16T23:13:00.003-04:00

I am still giddy about the Giants winning the Superbowl :)

Star Wars - An untold Tale

2008-03-13T21:11:00.003-04:00

Okay - so, over at Aimee's blog, there is the handsome and loquacious Xavier telling what REALLY happened during Star Wars, including the little know, yet vital contributions made by the Lego Warriors. However, I feel that I may have stumbled onto some very adept story tellers myself - here.

A few new ones!!

2008-03-04T16:29:00.002-05:00

1. Driving Deb's Jeep to the ocean
2. Taking the dogs on a picnic
3. Jumping in rain puddles (thanks LIZ!!)
4. Summer festivals
5. Outdoor theatres
6. Swimming in the ocean
7. Ice cream
8. Getting dark at 9:30pm
9. Road trips!!
10. Summer animals - deer, squirrels, bunnies, etc.

Summertime!!

2008-03-02T21:57:00.003-05:00

So, in anticipation of summer - it has to come sometime, right - here are somethings I'd like to do.

1. Get a tan that does not involve a sock-tanline
2. Run a few more 5K's with the nieces...
3. Go to the ocean
4. Take a few road trips
5. Camp in Wyoming
6. Garden - a big bright full beautiful garden
7. Go to Nova Scotia
8. Write a children's book
9. Hike a few of the Presidentials
10. Picnic next to a waterfall
11. Go kayaking
12. Go canoing - with Kathy :)
13. Take the dogs to the beach
14. Get ice cream
15. Find an outdoor Shakespearian play
16. Read a book in the sun, and then take a nap
17. Take Aimee's kids to the zoo (Aimee & Will can come too!)
18. Celebrate Ana's graduation from college
19. Drink a cool glass of lemonade in the shade
20. Have an early morning breakfast outside

That's a good start anyway. When will winter end!!!

(*I have no idea who this child is!)

The Jeep - You Wouldn't Understand

2008-02-25T19:28:00.003-05:00

So, living with your sisters is great - especially in a crisis. And this winter has seen precious few crisis, but we did have a rather entertaining one a few weeks ago.

I was wearing heels and a skirt. I want that fact to be perfectly clear when reading of the events that follow.

The other information that should be included is that we had a rainstorm the day before, and freezing cold temperatures the night before. Dad had plowed our driveway, and so the driveway was surrounded by four foot high solid ice walls of snow, hard as concrete. The driveway was a sheet of ice as well.

Okay, so Deb leaves for work first, and had backed her Jeep Wrangler Unlimited behind my car and Jenn's car. It was about halfway down the driveway. She got ready to leave at her typical 6:40am, and her car was dead. I went outside and realized that our cars were back to back making it impossible to jump Deb's car with my car. Let's try Jenn's. No problem. Of course, jumping the car didn't work, that would have been WAAAAYYY too easy.

So, we decided to push the Jeep Wrangler Unlimited, quintessential off-roading, good in any weather including missile showers in the middle of a war, vehicle off to the side of the driveway so that we could get a car around it. So, Jenn in her nightgown, me in my heels and Deb at the wheel. Push, push, push, slip on ice, push, push, push, slip on ice, push, push, push... take a break. And we'd moved the Jeep Wrangler Unlimited except when a little bit of ice and snow limits you, off-roading, good in any weather except for freezing ice and snow vehicle - about two inches. It took us about one hour to finally move the Jeep Unlimited, etc. far enough over to squeeze one of our "LIMITED" cars around in order to get out of the driveway.

Her car was out of commission for about two days while it recovered from the rivers it forded on the way home that day. Yes, rivers. It basked in the sun and had to dry out the starter motor.

The Jeep Unlimited is a lie.

The Greatest Football Story Ever Told

2008-02-04T10:42:00.000-05:00

Congratulations to the New York Giants!

War War, what is it good for?

2008-02-02T12:51:00.000-05:00

I woke up this Saturday morning and went to a horse farm with my sister to clean out the stalls. Afterwards, we followed our usual routine at stopping at a small-town cafe (St. George's in Henniker, NH) for two double chai tea lattes. As I waited for our drinks, I glanced over at the bulletin board that was covered with signs for Lab puppies, plowing services, various business cards and the typical mess that bulletin boards boast. I haven't been in this cafe for a while, and the only posting that was not unfamiliar to me was the picture of Russell Durgin. He smiles in this picture, wearing a black tux with a red tie and cumberbun. I think that this is a picture of him at his senior prom.

This picture reminds me of an event that my Mom told me about a few months ago. One of the young men from Henniker was being called to Iraq to serve his country. He was at daily Mass, as was Russell's mom. The community prayed for his safe return, while Russell's mom cried in the back of the church. She sobbed. The young man hugged her and promised that he'd return, a promise that both of them knew might be broken. I am very sad for this man's family, and for Russell's family.

As all these thoughts came flooding to mind, I see the headlines. Two mentally retarded women were strapped with explosives and sent into a busy market in Iraq. Soon after, these explosives were remotely denotated, killing these two innocent women and others in the market. Such cowardice is unspeakable. It is the cowardice that uses babies to protect murderers and terrorists. It is the cowardice that preys upon human decency for personal gain and ambition. It is the cowardice that uses drug money to support those who oppress, abuse and murder the most innocent in society.

As I drive over the Russell M. Durgin Memorial Bridge in Henniker, NH I pray for Russell's soul, and that his family receive comfort for their terrible and tragic loss. I also pray that his sacrifice, the sacrifice of his family and his community is not in vain. I pray that while some will choose to belittle their loss, and the loss to a small New England community, that even they will be safe from the harm that Russell fought against. I pray that the work that our soldiers are doing in Iraq will ensure a safe and secure America for many years to come.

The war in Iraq is not alot of words spoken on the floor of the senate. Its not about political posturing or rhetoric. The war is about small town communities offering their best and bravest young men and women to protect this way of life.

Not everyone is asked to make this sacrifice, only those strong enough to endure it.

In honor of Catholic Schools Week

2008-01-30T22:15:00.000-05:00

Gaudeamus igitur Let us rejoice therefore
Juvenes dum sumus While we are young.
Post jucundum juventutem After a pleasant youth
Post molestam senectutem After a troublesome old age
Nos habebit humus. The earth will have us.

Ubi sunt qui ante nos Where are they
In mundo fuere? Who were in the world before us?
Vadite ad superos You may cross over to heaven
Transite in inferos You may go to hell
Hos si vis videre. If you wish to see them.

Vita nostra brevis est Our life is brief
Brevi finietur. It will be finished shortly.
Venit mors velociter Death comes quickly
Rapit nos atrociter Atrociously, it snatches us away.
Nemini parcetur. No one is spared.

Vivat academia Long live the academy!
Vivant professores Long live the teachers!
Vivat membrum quodlibet Long live each male student!
Vivat membra quaelibet Long live each female student!
Semper sint in flore. May they always flourish!

Vivant et republica Long live the State
et qui illam regit. And the One who rules it!
Vivat nostra civitas, Long live our City
Maecenatum caritas And the charity of benefactors
Quae nos hic protegit. Which protects us here!

Pereat tristitia, Let sadness perish!
Pereant osores. Let haters perish!
Pereat diabolus, Let the devil perish!
Quivis antiburschius Let whoever is against our school
Atque irrisores. Who laughs at it, perish!

(vers. C. W. Kindeleben 1781)

Custer Battlefield Museum

2008-01-30T06:48:00.000-05:00

We visited this place in Montana before meeting up with Kathy.

The staff are very personable and are willing to go to great lengths to secure your goodwill.

http://www.store.custermuseum.org/index.php

Cowgirl Up!

2008-01-28T20:07:00.000-05:00

Finally, some pictures from our trip to Wyoming!!

Where Custer made his last stand, and Deb got her first proposal!!

Some creatures great:

And small:

All things wise:

and wonderful: The good Lord made them all:

No Football!!

2008-01-27T10:18:00.000-05:00

What do you do on a Sunday with no football to watch?

2008-01-17T06:56:00.000-05:00

Take the Quiz here!

H/T Lord, Guard, and Guide

You know there are two giant newfoundlands living in your house when...

2008-01-14T17:09:00.000-05:00

10. You check your clothes for slobber marks before leaving the house

9. You have to keep your shoes on very high shelves so they don't get chewed

8. You are accustomed to rolling up into a very tiny ball under your covers so they don't lick your face in the morning

7. You think extra black hair on a sweater looks nice

6. You stop wearing socks in the house because every time you sit down, the dogs sit on your feet to warm them

5. You start wearing shoes in the house so that you don't accidentally step in their giant water bowl

4. You start to think your dog might be onto something and that Chihuhuas might actually be a tasty treat

3. You live in constant fear that someone might want to ride in your car before you've had a free hour to de-hair it

2. You look at a grizzly bear and are completely unimpressed by the size

And the BEST reason to keep these giant creatures around:

1. You always feel skinny next to your 180 lb. dog

2008-01-10T21:10:00.000-05:00

I have nothiing funny or clever to say.
I learned how to do yoga today.
I noticed that the first two lines rhymed
So now I'm going to do couplets all of the time.
Tonight we'll have some wintry rain
And if we don't have a snow day, it'll be a pain.

How About This Christmas Miracle

2007-12-22T22:57:00.000-05:00

Tony Blair enters the Roman Catholic Faith.

Welcome home, Mr. Blair.

And the winner is... no one.

2007-12-21T06:03:00.000-05:00

The next line is: "As it was, he had one which showed every now and then and gave him a rather sinister appearance. "

- "The Doom of the Darnaways" G.K. Chesterton

No winner this week!!!

Quote for the Day

2007-12-14T09:40:00.000-05:00

"If he was toothless, he might have been handsome."

If anyone can guess who wrote that, they win a great prize!!

Seeking Time

2007-10-31T07:12:00.000-04:00

If anyone is selling time, I'd like to buy a few shares. I do understand that I will be refunded my one hour deposit that was required in the Spring, but I think that I might be in need of a few more units. Thank you in advance.

Call to Blog - Straight from the Top

2007-10-28T22:15:00.000-04:00

Cardinal Urges Religious to Get BloggingSays Internet Youth Forums Need Real Christian Message
ROME, OCT. 28, 2007 (Zenit.org).

- Benedict XVI's vicar for the Diocese of Rome expressed his hopes that religious men and women increase their use of information technology, and thus take advantage of what he called a new form of apostolate.Cardianl Camillo Ruini spoke to the religious at the Pontifical Urbanian University during the diocesan gathering of the Union of Major Superiors of Italy, which represents 1,287 communities and 22,000 religious in Rome.

According to the Roman diocesan weekly RomaSette, Cardinal Ruini said: "A priest from Novara told me that the theme of 'Jesus' is very much discussed by youth in blogs. The focus, though, comes from destructive books that are widespread today, and not from Benedict XVI’s book ‘Jesus of Nazareth.'"What will the idea of Christ be in 10 years if these ideas triumph?"

The true Jesus

The 76-year-old prelate admitted, "I don’t understand the Internet, but especially young religious ought to enter blogs and correct the opinions of the youth, showing them the true Jesus.”

“The teaching emergency is central in Benedict XVI's concerns," the cardinal said. "For him, education in the faith coincides with service to society, because to form someone in the faith means to form the human person."Simply giving motivations for living defeats nihilism and gives value to the human person, a value that is based on Christ himself, the fact that God became a man."The cardinal asserted that an educator’s testimony and content can matter more than pedagogical techniques.

He called for catechists to be creative in finding occasions for promoting Benedict XVI’s book, saying it shows the solidity of faith in the historical Jesus of the Gospels, and bases the identity of the Christian in a personal encounter with Jesus Christ. Cardinal Ruini said that in Catholic schools, "the religious can witness to Christ in all their lessons, in the sciences, in history and even in Italian literature, in an inseparable union of faith and culture. Your creativity ought to find new techniques for the vocational challenge, which ought to develop in step with society."

Definition of Insanity

2007-10-18T09:23:00.000-04:00

"A supporter, Richard Verrier, said it's not enough to depend on parents to protect their children because there may be students who can't discuss things with their parents."

This is the reason that a Middle School has voted to provide 11 year old girls with birth control pills without the consent or knowledge of their parents.

As a teacher, I can't take my kids on a field trip to the zoo, give them an aspirin, get their ears pierced or give them tests on Mondays without their parents permission... yet, apparently, I could give them access to something that normally requires a prescription and is a controlled substance.

Despite the fact that the side effects of birth control are infertility, heart attack, stroke and possibly death...

Despite the fact that the side effects of sexual activity outside of marriage means death to the soul, severe psychological problems, low self-esteem and could result in self destructive behavior....

By all means, keep the parents out this. What do they know?

A Protestant Confession

2007-10-17T10:59:00.001-04:00

There is a beautiful chapter in Hawthornes Marble Faun that includes a Protestant seeking to relieve her guilt and burdens in a Catholic Confessional. The link is here.

In this scene, the girl rationalizes that confession is such a beautiful thing, why should it be reserved for only the Catholics. So, she tries to avail herself of the sacrament, and indeed feels better afterwards, but refuses to enter the fold as the priest offers afterward.

Herein, Hawthorne is like the Israelites who, fresh from the slavery of Egypt, are able to SEE the promised land, but for various reasons - perhaps for fear of "giants who eat their own children" -refuse to enter it. Although they recognize and see the beauties that have been promised to them, and to which they have a right as children of God, they refuse to take part.

As a writer, Hawthorne struggled with the idea of guilt and felt that his family had a great burden to carry because of their part in the Salem Witch Trials. He traveled to Italy, and his daughter eventually converted to Catholicism and began the Hawthorne Dominicans whose mission it is to care for the elderly and dying.

While Hawthorne is a prolific writer and has gifted the world with some excellent works, his true gift to the world has to be his daughter, Rose. You can find out more information about her here.

CALLING ALL ROMAN CATHOLICS

2007-10-15T09:29:00.000-04:00

Okay, so there's this blog My Blessed Home. And this kind Christian lady has taken it upon herself to post all sorts of lies, distortion, misconceptions and all sorts of slander against the Holy Roman Catholic Church under the guise of "trying to help Catholics" be saved. (Only Christ can do that, right?)

Anyway, out of Christian charity, I am asking all Catholics who read her blog or this blog to commit to saying Hail Marys for this woman's conversion.

Also, can someone explain to me about the Green Scapular - can I wear it for someone else?

I have to admit, part of me just wants her to stop spreading her lies, but more than that, she is intrigued by the Truth and we just need to pray for her so that she can come to a full understanding of it.

So, please commit to saying a Hail Mary for this lady at least once a day. We could really storm heaven and make a novena for her during this holy month of the Rosary.

Afterall, if she is so concerned about having a blessed home, then Our Lady really should be her patroness and we can storm heaven for that intention.

So, please, tell your friends, commit to saying some rosaries for her conversion, and then we'll let God do the rest.

And don't bother commenting on her blog. She never responds to Catholics or posts their comments.

I'm Sleepy Today

2007-09-26T09:24:00.000-04:00

I was up until maybe 2-ish last night reading:Black as Night by Regina Doman. Now, some of you may say "SHE'S SO BEHIND!!" and for that, I am entirely guilty... but I love it just the same.

I love the complex characters, I love the distrust that seems to come so easily both the Bear and to the Reader. And I love the monks in this one!!!

*sigh* I'm not finished, but if you need me in the next 24 hours, I'll be hiding around every corner trying to snatch a few more pages in! I'll let you know how it ends tomorrow.

GYPSIES

2007-09-23T22:57:00.001-04:00

There is definitely a bit of gypsy running through my veins, either from the Irish or Hungarian (or both) sides. When not physically travelling, I feel a great need to always be learning, reading, talking of new things to learn, see and do.

I think Gypsies are just attuned to the fact that earth isn't our final resting place, and so they spend their lives in constant pilgrimage.

Which is why THIS meeting of the Pope and Gypsy priests, deacons and religious is so cool.

As a bonus, here's a beautiful story about Madonna and the Gypsy.

Letter to American Boys

2007-09-23T22:42:00.000-04:00

We're reading George MacDonald's The Princess and the Goblins for my 7th grade Literature class. Its a fabulous story, and I would highly recommend it to everyone of any age.

While doing some research on George MacDonald, I found this: A Letter to American Boys.

Its a long read, but a great story.

To sum up: Love your mother.

Wipe Out

2007-09-12T18:31:00.000-04:00

Yeah... so I totally wiped out today in front of all my students. And this wasn't just a little slip, and catch yourself. Oh no... this was absolute, feet went one way, I was suspended in midair for about 2 seconds, and then, splat, right on the sidewalk. After the initial shock, I picked myself up - only to see that the kids were right inside the door, staring wide eyed and open-mouthed.

"Are you okay?" they asked with concern.

"Yeah, did you just see me totally wipe out?"

"uh... no."

I knew it was a lie, but I was grateful for it.

Lessons from the Camino #1

2007-09-11T00:25:00.000-04:00

So, today's Gospel is Christ healing the man with the withered hand. While on the Camino de Santiago this summer with my sister, we ran into a most extraordinary man with the following story:

He lived in a house during his college years with two buddies. They were three self-avowed partiers who spent their time smoking pot, drinking, having parties and going to school. The first roommate, went on a weekend retreat with Campus Crusade on a whim, and gave his life to Christ. Normally, I don't believe in conversion stories like this... but the gentlemen telling us this story said that his life certainly changed overnight - he started doing the dishes.

Roommate #2 had been raised in a semi-Catholic home... but was really in the same state as the other two pre-conversion roommates. He thought it was 'cool' when the first roommate changed his life, and wished he could just as easily break his twice-a-day-pot-habit... but knew that he was too weak. One day, Roommate #2 decides the day has come when he is going to get drunk alone, by himself. He was invited to a party, but this would be something new, something novel... so he dressed up in a 3 piece suit, a prisoner to his execution, donned a fedora... got on his bike, and pedaled to the liquor store. Like St. Paul, he was knocked to the ground, and injured his right arm. Since his glorious solopsistic bachanal had been spoiled, he decided to join the party. After a night of partying, he realized that his arm hurt... and so he headed to the hospital, was treated for a broken arm, and released back to the party.

What a party it was. He had difficulty brushing his teeth the next morning as he tried to use the arm he had broken reaching for alcholism. He then tried the withered arm, the arm that he never used before - his left arm. When that didn't work, he heard God tell him, "you've always relied on your own strength... and when you faced something you couldn't overcome, it broke you. Your arm is broken. Now is the time for you to rely on Me, but you have no strength for that either because you have never exercised your spiritual life. That withered spiritual life is like your left arm, withered and useless. "

But St. Paul wasn't kidding when he said, "I can do all things in Christ who strengthens me."

Roommate #2 is now a Catholic priest.

If you love Tennis, You'll Love Djokovic

2007-09-07T07:10:00.000-04:00

Just for laughs. Check this out.

Republican Presidential Debates

2007-09-06T00:44:00.000-04:00

So, after a long day at work - it was one of those days where little gets done, but it seemed so complicated anyway!! My sister and I decided to head that 1.25 hrs. away to see the Republican candidates face off at the hockey arena in Durham, NH.

It did seem fitting that they held these debates in a college town in a sports arena. There was much posturing, skating around questions, sly body slams, goals discussed and points scored. There were not, however, any squid thrown.

We didn't have tickets because I didn't reserve them properly, but we showed up anyway, 2.5 hours before the debates began. They, of course, did not have our names on the roster, but told us to come back at 8:15pm and they might be able to accomodate us. We hit a great coffee and gelato place for the interim, walking what seemed like a mile in heels (ouch!! but worth it).

After a nice cappuccino and brownie, we headed back only to find a two pronged line that strangely resembled a snakes tongue. I don't believe in getting in line without knowing what its for... so we joined it about halfway to the door. This was lucky, because we ran into a great friend and college roommate, Representative Maureen Mooney with whom we shared the rest of the line journey. The only glitch was that she had a ticket and we didn't. In her kindness, she secured one ticket for us, and we waited in another line for another ticket.

As aggressive as we were, we were told to wait, and wait and wait until it seemed that the doors would surely close on us. The lines shuffled, didn't seem to move, people filled out forms, the workers checked names again and again... and then... for seemingly no reason at all... they handed out tickets like they were candy at a 4th of July parade.

We grabbed the ticket, rushed inside and found two perfect seats next to these two nice Ron "crazy" Paul supporters from Vermont (how fitting).

The candidates themselves were interesting, but the crowd was the real attraction. People cheered, clapped, booed, commented and really seemed to participate in every comment, every sigh, every look that a candidate made.

Guiliani seemed to draw a mixture of boos and cheers, Romney and McCain had a good show of supporters, and the Ron "crazy" Paul supporters were out en masse. His supported even used sidewalk chalk to decorate the, you guessed it, sidewalk to show their support. That's another post though.

The energy in the arena was phenemonal. Just another example of why NH is first in the nation.

Mount Washington

2007-09-02T09:38:00.000-04:00

This is what we did yesterday.
We didn't get to stay at the hotel.
We left the house at about 6:45am, arrived at the mountain about 9am, after Dunkin Donut and directions stop. (Munchkins are the perfect pre and post hiking snack).

The going was tough, especially the part that looks like a giant's staircase, and probably goes that way for about a mile.

We heard a landslide, that was a bit scary.

Luckily, I had my mountain runners on.

They were a tremendous help in gripping the rocks. They probably prevented a few landslides.

These are the same shoes that I wore in our 500mile walk across Spain. H/T to Gore Tex, I've never been so happy with a pair of shoes.

The weather was sort of cooperative. It wasn't raining - a little cold... windy, we walked along a cascading river for most of it... so got a little wet. But by the time that we stopped at the Hut at the Lake among the Clouds, the wind cover was gone, and visibility was slight, to say the least. We had lunch with our dog, and a golden doodle whose owners left him outside.

With about an hour to the top, things got a little rough. You walk among pile of rocks, and can easily get off trail. The wind was ripping right through us, and we couldn't see the top of the mountain. It was freezing cold, and we were wearing all the clothes that we brought with us. Most people were wearing winter gear. The wind chill was 30 degrees.

Ah, but we made it to the top. The dog decided that she wanted to go home about 20feet from the top... so we had to coax her the rest of the way.

An excellent trip - we survived the trail, the weather, the other hikers and the cold.

Wicked awesome.

A Diamond is Forever

2007-08-31T09:25:00.000-04:00

and love only lasts until Death do us part... so the piece of, ahem, "art" shown at the left is really quite curious. This little beauty just sold for $100,000,000. That's right, 100 million dollars.

This makes me wonder if someone actually thinks that they will recover their money, or if they just have way too much money to begin with.

I'm sure a deeper and more thoughtful person could muse about how blatant a display this is of our love affair with the culture of death... but I thought I'd just show you the picture, since indeed, it is worth a thousand words... maybe not $100,000,000.

You're 8, and I'm 8!

2007-08-29T07:19:00.000-04:00

The following is written by a professor of mine from graduate school. Its beautiful. The blog that I'm stealing it from is here.

I bear the special privilege of sharing a birthday with Julia - July 10th. I was 18 and she was 8 when we discovered this coincidence, but she proudly exclaimed "I'm 8 and you're 8!"

Ending Down syndrome pregnancies bears all the marks of a pogrom

09:06 AM CDT on Sunday, July 8, 2007

The year Julia was born in New Hampshire, 1987, I was the only geriatric pregnancy in the state issuing in a Down syndrome child. When I recovered from the pediatrician's insult – I was 37 – I learned from him that the other nine mothers in the state to deliver Down syndrome babies were still in their 20s. I asked him why this was the case; conventional wisdom had led me to believe that the likelihood of giving birth to a Down syndrome child increased with maturity. When he told me that most woman over 34 usually had amniocentesis done to avoid giving birth to a Down syndrome child, I was stunned. After first being dismayed by – what to call it? – my demographic solitude, I soon turned my attention to what Down syndrome meant practically for my new infant.

The books we quickly read, and the instruction from excellent social services helped us. Operating outside the realm of reason and structure were other powerful supports – call them graces.

At the end of Julia's first week, I learned that a publisher friend of ours had lost his wife to colon cancer. We had known them since graduate school, and the widower came over to tell us that his wife gathered their eight children around her bed to pray for Julia and us every night of that first week. Even as she said goodbye to her own children and to the infant she had given birth to – an operation might have saved her and killed the baby inside of her – Susan was thinking about our challenge.

I felt a liberating happiness over Julia, as did our little girls and their dad, for reasons too deeply private to explain. Julia's life soon began to bring out the excellences of others. She brought our little college community even closer together, a joy to the students and a prize to anyone who held her. Early Intervention trained us to stimulate areas of her brain by waking up facial muscles, working to get her to sit up or to crawl – a task she never mastered, scooting instead with her two hands and bottom.

I would go from teaching the Declaration of Independence and the Federalist Papers, to a large room uptown with five other mothers propping up their floppy babies. Nothing else has ever quite brought home the meaning of "all men are created equal endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights and among them are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." We were all working for that fullest expression of life and happiness for our babies. I thought about the "prudent" mothers who had aborted their own children with Down syndrome. I grieved for those who, exercising their reproductive rights – a new appropriation of the older notion of liberty, which was rooted in duty – would never know the profound satisfaction of raising such a child.

I will never forget Julia's first birthday with all her sisters around her. When we finished singing happy birthday, Julia put her hands together and clapped for the first time. Of course, we all cried on cue. Things that were so ordinary for the others became accomplishments – triumphs. Julia slowed us down, and, instead of waiting for each stage of development to naturally emerge, we would coax it along, beckoning it with intentionality and art. She taught each child an intelligence of the heart, and she began to teach me patience. Each member in our family could give a personalized account of his or her relation to Julia.

Every daughter, for instance, has a perspective on her own vanity because of her. Julia expected to be 3 inches taller when she turned 16; I solved that problem by buying her 3-inch platform wedges. But often it's not that simple. For instance, on the way to school she will pull down the visor mirror, look at herself, and say, "When I get to heaven, my eyes are going to be like my sisters', and I am going to be 5-foot-11, and my voice is going to sound like Kelly Clarkson's." I tell her that God made her the way she is, that she wouldn't be Julia any other way, that we love her just as she is, and that she is beautiful. Of course, not everyone thinks that way.

Some told me I should not make the same mistake twice – to have my tubes tied. I'm glad I didn't. Our one son was born after Julia, when I was 40, and our seventh daughter – now a sophomore at Ursuline – two years later. Our son just graduated from Cistercian Preparatory School.

Over the past few years, he and his classmates have helped to organize the bi-annual Down syndrome Dance. Will's friends love Julia, and she shamelessly loves them back. They'll all be here at her 20th birthday party Tuesday. She will probably sing "Desperado," as she did at the recent graduation of two of her sisters, belting it out on key and bringing the house down.

I understand that the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists is offering women a safer method than amniocentesis to determine whether a child has Down syndrome. The College makes the argument that it is more responsible to inform parents of their options beforehand so that they can decide whether or not to let the baby live. This argument shakes me to the core, for it bears all the marks of a pogrom – the license to be aggressive against the most benign population conceivable.

Until now I have never been an advocate of special needs' issues. I have quietly reared my daughter and her brother and six sisters. But I can remain silent no longer. Twenty years ago, many of Julia's potential friends who are like her were intentionally eliminated, perhaps out of fear or perhaps out of a desire for a regular family with regular children. I think of those thousands of children who will never change those families for the better. They will never be at a Down syndrome dance, never hug their grandmothers, unafraid of their wrinkles or of people's imperfections. Who will love us as well, as simply, with such undesigning candor if we invent a world protected from our difficult blessings?

Ironically, scientific work on turning off the additional action of the genes that cause cognitive impairment in Trisomy 21 now offers more hope than ever before, especially at Stanford School of Medicine's Center for Research and Treatment for Down Syndrome (dsresearch.stanford .edu). More research dollars are going into killing these children before they are born than into this noble project of helping them. And why? Because citizens value their freedom? Are my husband and I less free because we might have Julia with us our whole lives? Hardly. We would probably be enslaved to many more false notions of reality.

In any case, we must trust that there will be a meaningful work and life for Julia. Maybe one of her sisters will take her in. Maybe she'll live in a group home. These are all decisions we will have to make as a couple, as a family and with Julia. These will not be easy decisions. One thing is sure, though: She is our defining blessing. How could we have known that in advance? To accept her full humanity is to accept our real selves in all our imperfections.

My son put it well in describing how Julia likes to personalize her lead pencils, tapping them on the table top as they become characters in her daily life – at school or at home. We will sometimes hear ourselves oddly repeated in her animated version of our loss of temper or other foibles. In describing this game Julia plays, our son wrote that as she taps her pencil people, she taps into us.

Virginia Arbery teaches in the Master of Humanities Program at The University of Dallas and is the mother of eight children. Her e-mail address is varbery@sbcglobal.net.

In Memoriam: Ross Alameddine

2007-04-21T10:49:00.000-04:00

This was sent to my by a long-time friend of mine. Please pray for him, and his family.

IN MEMORIAM: Ross Alameddine

It is with exceptional grief and disbelief that we mourn the loss of a long-time family friend's son. Ross Alameddine died this past week at Virginia Tech. While in his early Monday morning French class, he became a victim of a horrendous act of senseless violence. He was a 20 year old young gentleman who had the world by a string and boundless opportunities ahead of him.

I remember Ross when he was just a little, wide-eyed toddler. He was an exemplary son and very close to his family.

Ross grew up to be an exceptionally bright student. A graduate of Catholic elementary school and Austin Prep Catholic High School in Reading, Massachusetts, he excelled at everything he did. His interests included computers, politics, religion, speaking fluent French, music, travel, poetry, literature, roller blading and maintaining his brand new car he won at a raffle. (His family had a knack for games of chance as his mother once won a baby grand piano in a contest!) He had a wide circle of friends where he was known for his serious scholarship and humor-filled good times. He was full of life and possessed a deep love of learning and academia.

Ross had his heart set on attending Virginia Tech since he first visited the campus during High School. Every time his mother talked about him she beamed with pride and happiness. Not long ago, I saw Ross' mother at my sister's home in Melrose, Massachusetts where she frequently stops in. I asked her about Ross. After smiling broadly, she told me how well he's doing at VT and how much he enjoys it there.Please pray for Ross' mother, father and sister as they are experiencing sorrow beyond comprehension. In this season of His Divine Mercy, may our loving Lord enfold Ross' family, and the families of all the departed, into His countless rays of everlasting love and peace.

Rest in peace, Ross. You will be dearly missed by all who had the privilege of knowing you for too short a time.
______________________________________________

Hon. Maureen C. Mooney
Assistant Republican Leader
N.H. State Representative, Hills. Co.
District 19
P.O. Box 1676Merrimack, NH 03054-1676

Maureen.Mooney@leg.state.nh.us

Wednesday's Hero - SFC Lloyd A. Heinrichs Jr

2007-02-07T07:12:00.000-05:00

This Weeks Hero Was Suggested By LeAnn

On May 9th 2004, SFC Lloyd A. Heinrichs Jr was down at the Ocean front in Virginia Beach when a ‘Swimmer in Distress’ call came in
to the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Dispatch office about noon. Myself (Gary Couch, Dive 8), SFC Heinrichs and Petty Officer First Class Scott Weil of the U.S Navy, volunteered to respond the call. There were
a total of 3 people in the water that were being pulled out to sea by the current. The temperature of the water was only around 65 degrees Fahrenheit with the air temperature at 78 degrees Fahrenheit. The undertow was very extreme that day with the beach already “Red Flagged” due to the strong currents and excessive waves.

Upon arrival to the scene, SFC Heinrichs and PO1 Weil identified the victims. Without hesitation and with total disregard for their own safety each grabbed a torpedo buoy and entered the water. SFC Heinrichs went for the first victim to the South of 36th Street while PO1 Weil went for the second and third victims, which were hanging on to each other to
the North of 36th Street. As I observed SFC Heinrichs and PO1 Weil, once they were waist deep, the current rapidly pulled them out. SFC Heinrichs made his way to the first victim and started fighting his way back to shore. Once SFC Heinrichs reached his victim, he calmed her down, making the attempt to head back to shore. Several times SFC Heinrichs and
his victim were rolled under by the enormous waves and undertow. His victim was completely exhausted from the ordeal. Once he reached shallow water, he assisted his victim to shore. The victim was an older heavy-set lady, early forties. The Virginia Beach Fire Department Paramedics placed the victim on a stretcher and the Virginia Beach Volunteer Rescue Squad took her to Virginia Beach General Hospital.

SFC Heinrichs was extremely exhausted and fatigued from the rescue. He turned to check on PO1 Weil and notice that PO1 Weil had reached the other two victims, a male in his late twenties and a female in her early forties. PO1 Weil was struggling with his two victims giving a hand and arm signal for ‘Help’. The female was almost passive from near drowning, and the male who had initially swum out to help her was becoming a victim himself. Without hesitation, SFC Heinrichs picked himself up and ran back into the water to assist PO1 Weil while PO1 Weil did what he could to keep them calm and afloat until help arrived.

Once SFC Heinrichs reached PO1 Weil and the other two victims, they were all rolled by several consecutive waves, pinning SFC Heinrichs under the two victims. A few moments later, SFC Heinrichs emerged between the victims with both lanyards of the torpedo buoys wrapped around his neck, gasping for air. As the situation went from bad to worse, PO1 Weil
tried his best to help SFC Heinrichs with untangling the lanyards from his neck while trying to hold his passive victim’s head out of the water. SFC Heinrichs took a deep breath and submerged himself in the attempt yo free his neck. As each wave came over the top of PO1 Weil and the victims, we kept waiting for him to resurface in bated breath not knowing
that the lanyards kept tightening around SFC Heinrichs’ neck. While continuous waves were tossing PO1 Weil and the victims, SFC Heinrichs reemerged on the side of the victims. He had been under for over thirty seconds trying to get loose. We began to worry weather or not he was going to come back up. You could hear the heavy sigh of relief from all the EMS personnel on the beach once he resurfaced. He grabbed a hold of the male victim and started for shore. The victims once, on shore, were taken away for medical attention. PO1 Weil and SFC Heinrichs were taken to an ambulance and checked for possible hypothermia and released.

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that
others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am
proud to call them Hero.
It Is Foolish And Wrong To Mourn The Men
Who Died. Rather We Should Thank God That Such Men Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. If you would like
to participate in honoring the brave men and women who serve this great
country, you can find out how by clicking here.

If it wasn't so disgusting...

2007-02-06T22:30:00.000-05:00

Well, it is that disgusting.

So, Clinton was an absolute embarrasment as a President, and then there's this guy - who is flaunting his THIRD WIFE, and SHE talks him up like he's a poster boy for one of those disgusting ads even BEFORE he's a candidate for Presidency.

There really is no decency left in the political world.

Read the article here if you so wish, but don't do it during breakfast. You won't be able to keep your waffles down - if you know what I mean.

WORLD CHAMPIONS!

2007-02-04T23:08:00.000-05:00

It was a brilliant game, and no commentary is needed.

THE COLTS ARE AWESOME.

In the words of the owner, "while this is a glorious team, we give all the glory to God"

And in the words of the coach, "I'm proud to be representing the African-American coaches and the first African-American coach to win this, but more important, Lovie Smith and I are Christian coaches, and God was watching over us."

There's a quote that you won't find in many news sources.

Wednesday's Hero

2007-01-30T22:47:00.000-05:00

This Weeks Hero Was Submitted By
Mark Bell

LCpl. Nicholas J. Manoukian
22 years old from Lathrup, Michigan
1st Marines 6th Batallion 2nd Marine Division
Oct 21, 2006

Here
is a website that LCpl. Manoukian's mother set up for her son
after he lost his life in Ramadi.

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that
others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am
proud to call them Hero.
It Is Foolish And Wrong To Mourn The Men
Who Died. Rather We Should Thank God That Such Men Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. If you would like
to participate in honoring the brave men and women who serve this great
country, you can find out how by clicking href="http://rightwingrightminded.blogspot.com"

2007-01-28T11:17:00.000-05:00

So, a man is doing his Saturday morning errands, drives to the Post Office and purchases a book of stamps. As he's placing the stamps on his many bills, and he's pondering the dwindling of his paycheck with the mailing of these checks, he notices something strange. His $.23 stamp looks funny. The 3 is backward.

'Ah, I bet they screwed up when they were making this batch.' He purchases another book, and immediately checks to see if the 3 is printed correctly. It is.

He carefully removes all of the misprinted stamps from his bills and replaces them with the stamps printed properly. He takes the other book of stamps home, and spends the next four hours on the internet researching these mis-printed stamps. He joins a few e-mail lists dedicated to stamp collecting, and waits. Everyday he searches the discussion threads to see if anyone else comes up with the same stamps.

A month later, he sees it. The title read 'misprinted stamps are recalled'. He opens the thread to learn that his precious book of stamps have been recalled, and the lucky few who may have received the stamps hold something priceless in their hands. The post office was able to recall all but 10 books of stamps. He also notices that there are collectors scrambling to find and purchase these stamps. They are offering upwards of $25,000 for these rare and precious stamps that very few people possess.

This scenario made me think of those hundreds of parents who find out that their precious child is going to be differnet. He or she isn't going to have exactly the same things as other children. Perhaps they won't ever learn how to read, learn how to run, ride a bike, walk on their own. Those children who God has decided to will into being are one in a million. In every other scenario in life, we accept these circumstances as indications of a particular blessing. Yet, when it comes to children, we want them to be like clones, like so many postage stamps that are printed out in uniformity. Yet, it is the particularity of every child that really makes the world beautiful, that brings to each family something that isn't exactly like other families.

SWF Seeking...

2007-01-25T20:35:00.000-05:00

Reason #243 that I have never found someone to marry. I've never read the London Review of Books Personal Ads.

Here is just a sampling:

I'm just a girl who can't say "no" (or "anaesthetist"). Lisping Rodgers and Hammerstein fan, femaile lecturer in politics (37) would like to meet a man to age 40 for thome enthanted eveningth. Box 2498

Employed in publishing? Me too. Stay the hell away. Man on teh inside seeks woman on teh outside who likes milling around hospitals guessing the illnesses of outpatients. 30-35. box 3287.

Male LRB readers. Drawing little faces on your thumbs, getting them to order meals, then shouting at them for not being able to pay is no way to win a woman. You know who you are. Men to 40 wtih working credit cards, reply to once-bitten, twice-bitten, three-strikes-and-you're-all-out F, 35. Box no. 1379

Don't reply to this ad - its a fake. Just like the man who place it. Deny nothing, regret all, but live to fight another day with phoenoenologically ahamed, melanin-deprived, scion of the patriarchal ruling class. (32, Worcester). Box 7590.

Loaded tax exile Channel Islands resident seeks attractive well preserved soul mate. No objection to modest gold digger age around 25 below 40 a definite advantage. If you smoke it’s the garage. Tel 01481238667

My psychotherapist suggested I place this ad. Woman, 43. Not mental, despite whatever a fear of open spaces, the colour red, the sound of rain, plastic containers, beards, percussionists, birdsong and cornflakes may suggest Box no. 01/03

courtesy of Smithsonian Magazine February 2007.

Wednesday's Hero

2007-01-24T06:10:00.000-05:00

Lt. Col. Michael E. McLaughlin
44 years old from Mercer, Pennsylvania
2nd Brigade Combat Team, 28th Infantry Division, Pennsylvania Army
National Guard
January 4, 2006

Sitting in the car with Lt. Col. Michael E. McLaughlin's 18-year-old
daughter, her father's friend of 21 years had just broken the news of his
death.

During years of friendship and service in the Pennsylvania Army
National Guard, Lt. Col. McLauglin and retired Capt. Brad Mifsud had a bond so
close that they promised each other if something were ever to happen to
either one of them, they would be there for the other's family.

Lt. Col. McLaughlin died when a suicide bomber rushed through a crowd
of Iraqi police recruits in Ramadi and detonated a bomb that also killed
a Marine and nearly 80 Iraqis. The day before the attack, Lt. Col.
McLaughlin said he was fully confident that Ramadi had finally turned a
corner in the insurgency. As hundreds of local men streamed into the
Ramadi Glass Factory on Wednesday to join the city’s long-defunct police
force, a wide grin spread over a pinch of tobacco stuffed into the
44-year-old’s lower lip.

"This may not look like much, but it's history," McLaughlin told a
reporter. "We're making history right here."

With a significant wound to the back of his head, Lt. Col. McLaughlin
turned to his injured personal security detail officers and inquired
about their well-being. Waving off medical attention, he asked them to
check on the soldiers under his command.

"In an act of extreme selflessness, he stated that he was OK, but to
concentrate on saving the lives of his men," said Col. Grey Berrier, a
close friend of Lt. Col. McLaughlin.

Lt. Col. McLaughlin died shortly after giving that instruction,
according to the Guard.

A long-time artillery officer in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard,
McLaughlin was assigned to Task Force 2-222 Field Artillery and was the
primary liaison between the 2-28 Brigade Combat Team and local tribal
and government leaders in Ramadi. His efforts were instrumental in
getting local sheikhs to support the recruitment drive and encourage more
than 1,000 area men to volunteer for the force, commanders said.

"Mike is a true hero in every sense of the word, and he died while
doing his job the only way he knew how - out front and with great
enthusiasm and courage," said Col. John L. Gronski, commander of the 2-28 BCT.
"This loss only strengthens our resolve to carry on and complete the
mission in order to honor his memory."

A gregarious wisecracker, McLaughlin said his hope was to one day
return to a peaceful Iraq, where he planned to walk the streets of Ramadi in
a traditional Arab "man dress," or dishdasha, and sip coffee and chai
with those sheikhs he had met during the war. McLaughlin said that one
particular tribal leader he had developed a close relationship with
dubbed him "The Sheikh of Sheikhs" - a nickname that was soon picked up by
fellow officers in the brigade.

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that
others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am
proud to call them Hero.
It Is Foolish And Wrong To Mourn The Men
Who Died. Rather We Should Thank God That Such Men Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. If you would like
to participate in honoring the brave men and women who serve this great
country, you can find out how by clicking here.

Why Does This Stuff Stick?

2007-01-07T21:07:00.000-05:00

I had to bring the grill over to my parents house for a play0ff game barbecue. As I rolled the grilled through the dog yard, I noticed that only one kind of, ahem, "mud" was being picked up in the wheel. And I thought - after the week of rain that we've had, why do the wheels ONLY pick up dog dirt, and not the nice clean dirt that cleans easily.

Then, it reminded me of sin and immorality. Why does that seem to stick so much easier than virtue?

Remember when this was a novelty?

2007-01-06T13:30:00.000-05:00

One of my favorite childhood memories was going to the Mall. It was almost an hour away, and there was only one within driving distance from us. We'd walk around all the shops, and get those few things that we really needed, and had waited to get until we could make the trip.

On the way home, we'd stop at McDonald's - which was always a huge treat. Then, Mom would take a different route home by the bay and we could see all the boats in the water. Sometimes we'd even see windsurfers out on the lake.

Its funny that McDonald's isn't considered a treat anymore. Its the thing you substitute for food when you're too busy for a real meal. I remember saving the fries for last, and wanting to be the last one who would finish so that it seems like I had more. AND, if you were lucky enough to get the ones at the bottom of the bag you had really made it.

I wish Mickey D's was more rare.

GRAPHIC Long, Disgusting... and Important

2006-12-29T09:05:00.000-05:00

Murdered to Order
Opponents of stem cell research see their worst fears realized in the
Ukraine.
by Ryan T. Anderson
12/28/2006 12:00:00 AM

The Drudge Report recently highlighted a shocking story from the BBC
that centered on "disturbing video footage" of
"dismembered tiny bodies." "Healthy new-born babies" in the Ukraine,
"the self-styled stem cell capital of the world," have
allegedly been killed "to feed a flourishing international trade in
stem cells."

Apparently this isn't an isolated problem. The Council of Europe
"describes a general culture of trafficking of children snatched
at birth, and a wall of silence from hospital staff upwards over their
fate." Imagine the horror of young mothers who "gave
birth to healthy babies, only to have them taken by maternity staff."
What happened to these newborns was anybody's guess,
but recent footage obtained by the BBC may provide insight into their
fate: "The pictures show organs, including brains, have
been stripped--and some bodies dismembered."

The BBC report comes as a complete shock to most readers. But to those
steeped in biotech news and bioethical literature, the
latest out of the Ukraine is only a partial shock. While no one
expected baby-snatching in maternity wards, it seemed inevitable
that the business of stem cell research would, at some point, produce
an abomination of this kind.

At least publicly, supporters of various embryo-, fetus-, or
infant-killing programs have always argued that these options were
reluctantly chosen, out of dire necessity, and only on the least-human
of subjects--so-called "spare" embryos, "unwanted"
pregnancies, and gravely disabled newborns.

And so at first the abortion lobby argued that fetuses aren't human.
Then, as embryology and developmental biology decisively
demonstrated that an unborn child is most definitely a complete, though
immature, human being, the rhetoric shifted to
discussions of competing rights and interests between the mother and
her unborn child, along with appeals to the right to
privacy. It was conceded that the decision for abortion is tragic, and,
though it entails the ending of a life, sometimes it is an
absolutely necessary result of the conflicting needs between the mother
and child. And it was insisted that it is best if doctors
and women are allowed to adjudicate these situations, in private, for
themselves.

Intellectual defenders of abortion painted a picture of simply ceasing
a pregnancy: The unborn child has no inalienable right to
inhabit the mother's womb. A woman doesn't make a choice to kill,
simply a choice to end pregnancy--to remove the unwanted
baby from her body. Her body, her choice.

Yet this didn't prove to be satisfactory. The further claim was made
that the "right" to an abortion consisted in the right to an
"effective abortion." And an effective abortion entails not the ending
of a pregnancy, but the death of a child. Witness the
phenomena of partial-birth abortion and born-alive abortion.

But the issue of stem cell research can not appeal to any of these
claims of women's welfare, privacy, or "the right to choose."
Though the case of embryonic stem cells doesn't pose a direct
competition of rights or interests--unborn embryos do not pose a
threat to anyone--public arguments were made about competing interests
of patients: "You pro-lifers are favoring embryos over
Parkinson's victims." When these arguments prove ineffective, defenders
of embryo-destructive research turn to a utilitarian
one: embryos can be put to better use as raw material for biomedical
research.

Even here, however, the public arguments are always made that human
embryos merit a certain amount of respect and
dignity--even if killing is still acceptable--and that the choice to
destroy embryonic human beings is always made reluctantly,
with the hope that new technologies will soon be developed that make
their destruction unnecessary.

Now, however, we are seeing more and more clearly that this is all a
hoax. Sure, people like Princeton's Peter Singer have
argued for a long time in defense of infanticide. But no one ever
considered infanticide a real possibility; Singer's arguments
always seemed to be an eccentric intellectual exercise. Recent
developments abroad and at home, however, force us to
reconsider. Sadly, the BBC report out of the Ukraine is just the latest
in a long line of startling developments in this trend.

In July of 2005, the Slate magazine science reporter William Saletan
argued in a five-part series titled "Organ Factory: the
Case for Harvesting Older Human Embryos" that given the current
acceptance of embryo destruction there is no reason to limit
it to the early embryo. He pointed to studies from around the world
arguing that seven-week old embryos are what researchers
really want. And Saletan made the case that they should have them:
"Don't be scared. We don't have to grow a whole new
you. . . . an embryo cloned from one of your cells would need just six
or seven weeks to grow many of the tissues you need.
We already condone harvesting of cells from cloned human embryos for
the first two weeks. Why stop there?"

And in the startling conclusion to part five, Saletan made clear that
nothing should stand in the way of science: "But if all you
want is tissue, who cares? You can tell yourself what we already tell
ourselves about unwanted in vitro embryos: They're
doomed anyway. Patients' lives are at stake. We can't let personal
morality get in the way of science. We can't wait."

The Princeton philosopher Robert P. George, arguing the other side of
the issue, picked up on Saletan's article and noticed a
frightening development right in his own backyard. Under the title
"Fetal Attraction: What the Stem Cell Scientists Really Want"
in the pages of THE WEEKLY STANDARD, George rang the alarm bell warning
that embryonic stem cell research was leading to
the macabre practice of "fetal farming." He noted that blastocyst-stage
embryonic stem cells are therapeutically unusable
because of their tendency to produce tumors when injected into
subjects. Claims that they will cure people are pure hype.
Nature herself, however, stabilizes stem cells in the normal
gestational process, eliminating the tumor-formation problem by
what appears to be an extraordinarily complex system of intercellular
signaling; a complex system scientist were having trouble
replicating.

George warned that this would lead some scientists to demand the right
to create human clones and gestate them in female
volunteers or artificial wombs to the late embryonic or even the fetal
or infant stages before killing them to harvest non-tumor-
forming stem cells:

"My suspicions and sense of urgency have been heightened by the fact
that my home state of New Jersey has passed a bill that
specifically authorizes and encourages human cloning for, among other
purposes, the harvesting of 'cadaveric fetal tissue.' A
'cadaver,' of course, is a dead body. The bodies in question are those
of fetuses created by cloning specifically to be gestated
and killed as sources of tissues and organs. What the bill envisages
and promotes, in other words, is fetus farming."
That was last year in New Jersey. This year in Missouri a provision was
passed that created a constitutional right to human
embryo cloning--provided the cloned embryo isn't transferred into a
woman's womb--while also creating a constitutional
mandate to destroy human embryos. More startling, however, was the
window intentionally left open for fetus farming. If the
technology of artificial wombs is perfected, cloned embryos can be
developed in artificial wombs and then harvested not only
for stem cells, but for developed cells and even organs. This, it
appears, is what the doctors in the Ukraine are after. What
guarantee do we have that they aren't after the same thing here?

Ryan T. Anderson is a junior fellow at First Things. He is also the
assistant director of the Program on Bioethics and Human
Dignity at the Witherspoon Institute of Princeton, NJ.

© Copyright 2006, News Corporation, Weekly Standard, All Rights
Reserved.

Wednesday's Hero

2006-12-26T23:19:00.000-05:00

Every once and awhile I'll do a Wednesday Hero that doesn't profile a single soldier. Sometimes it's been two or three from the same unit, sometimes it's been an entire group of soldiers like the Navajo Code Talkers. I even did an organization once, Operation Iraqi Children. This weeks Wednesday Hero is one of those sometimes. This weeks Wednesday Heroes are the parents of soldiers.

These people sacrifice just as much, if not more, than the soldiers themselves. They, in many cases, are having their babies leave home for the first time in their lives. While most parents only have to adjust to them moving a few miles away or going off to college, these Blue Star Parents have to watch their children go off to a very dangerous situation and can only hope and pray that everything will turn out okay. I don't have children of my own, so I can't even imagine what that is like. We have a few Blue Star Parents in the blogroll, so to them, and every parent of a Hero, I tell you we all stand with and support you and your family.There's a site that everyone should check out if they haven't already. Blue Star Mothers Of America.

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Have Every Right To Dream Heroic Dreams.
Those Who Say That We're In A Time When There Are No Heroes, They Just Don't Know Where To Look

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. If you would like to participate in honoring the brave men and women who serve this great country, you can find out how by clicking here.

Wednesday's Hero

2006-12-19T19:11:00.000-05:00

Sgt. Roy A. Wood
47 years old from Alva, Florida
ODA 2092, Company C, 3rd Battalion, 20th Special Forces Group
(Airborne)
January 26, 2005

Sgt. Roy A. Wood, a Special Forces medical sergeant, was fatally
injured when the vehicle he was riding in was involved in a traffic accident
near Kabul, Afghanistan, during a return convoy from Qalat to Bagram
Air Base.

His 24-year military career with the Army Reserve and Army National
Guard was distinguished and unique. After receiving a commission as a
second lieutenant in 1979, he was first assigned to the Army Reserve’s
421st Quartermaster Company (Light Airdrop Supply).

While assigned to the 421st, he received training as a quartermaster
officer, a parachute rigger, and participated in both basic airborne and
jumpmaster courses.

In January 1982, he left the 421st to begin an association with U.S.
Army Special Forces that would last until, and beyond, his death.

His first SF assignment was to the Army Reserve's 11th Special Forces
Group (Airborne) at Fort Meade, Md., where he served in the 3rd
Battalion’s Company A as the detachment executive officer for Operational
Detachment-A 1175.

In May 1983, he became Detachment Commander for ODA 1175 after
returning from the Special Forces Detachment Officer Qualification Course.

In October 1984, he left ODA 1175 to become the Company Logistics
Officer.

He served in a variety of positions at the 11th SFG over the next 11
years, including operations officer and support company commander.

After four years at USSOCOM, he served a year with the Army Reserve’s
73rd Field Hospital in St. Petersburg, Fla., before switching from the
Reserve to the Army National Guard and renewing his association with
Special Forces.

He was assigned to 3rd Bn., 20th SFG in December 2001, where he served
for a year as the Battalion Surgeon, supervising medical coverage of
three Special Forces companies and one support company.

In December 2002, he resigned his commission to become a Special Forces
medical sergeant on Operational Detachment-A 2092, Co. C, 3rd Bn., 20th
SFG.

He, with ODA 2092, was mobilized in July 2003 in support of Operation
Enduring Freedom.

At the time of his death, he was pending appointment as a Special
Forces warrant officer, a position in which he would have served his team as
an assistant detachment commander.

During his service, he received the Army Commendation Medal, the Army
Achievement Medal, the Army Reserve Achievement Medal with Silver
Hourglass device, the National Defense Service Medal, the Army Service
Ribbon, the Basic Parachutist badge, the Parachute Rigger badge, the Ranger
tab and the Special Forces tab.

Sgt. Roy Wood leaves behind a wife and two children.

These brave men and women have given their lives so that others may
enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call
them Hero.
We Have Every Right To Dream Heroic
Dreams.
Those Who Say That We're In A Time When There Are No Heroes, They Just
Don't Know Where To Look

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. If you would like
to participate in honoring the brave men and women who serve this great
country, you can find out how by clicking here.

Blogs Partcipating In Wednesday Hero

Right-Wing & Right Minded
Hooah Wife &
Friends
Yankee Mom
Bear Creek
Ledger
Mail Call! Supporting The Troops
Yeah,
Right, Whatever
CrosSwords
Gazing
At The Flag
Gawfer
Ohio
Military Reserve
DeMediacratic Nation
My Point
A Day In The
Life Of.....
Blue Star
Chronicles
Prying1
Pet's Garden
Blog
Pictures From
My World
Freedom,
GUNZ, Glory and EBYJO
Gunz Up
Say No To
Politically Correct B.S.
Did You Ever Get The Feeling
A Rose By
Any Other Name
My
Weekly Thoughts
Rightwing
Guy
Trying My Best
To Support The Troops
American And
Proud
Maryannaville
Not Ready For My
Burqua
Perry Nelson's
Website
A
Fresh Start
Right On!
Echo9er
Befuddled
Potpourri
Conservative
Cowboy
Petrus
Pettifog
Tanker
Brothers
Chicagoray
Gop3
ArmyNGntcfamily
Soldiers' Angels New York
My
Republican Blog

Stripes or Solids???

2006-12-18T21:52:00.000-05:00

While I try to take seriously the trials and tribulations of my teenage students, I just had no sympathy today.

The high school students are headed out tomorrow on a field trip. They will go to the state house, a chinese-american-french fusion cheap buffet for lunch, and then to see the movie, The Nativity. Since its a field trip, we're allowing the kids to NOT wear their uniforms, but have set a reasonable standard of no immodest clothing, and no blatant logos or advertising.

"So, what can we wear? Just plain colors?"

"Well, no... you can wear stripes or anything other clothing that doesn't have a picture or a logo on it."

"Stripes? You want me to wear stripes?? Fine, I'll wear stripes."

Okay... I tend to think this child perhaps had a traumatic experience with a prison uniform... but who can say.

I'm taking pictures tomorrow :)

It's Beginning to Look alot Like Christmas

2006-12-17T16:17:00.000-05:00

While working on our school's Christmas program, I found this quote from Pope Benedict XVI and thought I should pass it on:

God’s everlasting "today" has come down into the fleeting today of the world and lifted our momentary today into God’s eternal today. God is so great that he can become small. God is so powerful that he can make himself vulnerable and come to us as a defenceless child, so that we can love him. God is so good that he can give up his divine splendour and come down to a stable, so that we might find him, so that his goodness might touch us, give itself to us and continue to work through us. This is Christmas: "You are my son, this day I have begotten you". God has become one of us, so that we can be with him and become like him. As a sign, he chose the Child lying in the manger: this is how God is. This is how we come to know him. And on every child shines something of the splendour of that "today", of that closeness of God which we ought to love and to which we must yield – it shines on every child, even on those still unborn.

To read the whole homily, its here.

My Sister's Dog

2006-12-14T21:13:00.000-05:00

I'm sitting at the computer, asking for blog post suggestions... in honor of my sister who is just returning from the jungles of Nepal... this post is in honor of her "dog" Bonnie. The reason that "dog" is in quotes is that she's not really a dog. Well, she is in the accident of nature sort of way. However, her intelligence and manner indicate that she is more like a queen.

She disdains the lowly nature that usually indicates the K9 type. Despite the fact that she too, is fuzzy and walks on four legs, she is among that breed that doesn't have a tail - by nature. She hates those furry barking things with tails.

She doesn't bark, she speaks. And if you're not listening, she keep on barking until you do.

She can tell time. I know this to be true because if the four dog dishes that we have are not completely full every night at 8:00pm sharp, she "barks" for lack of a better word until you fill them. And, she adjusts for daylight savings time.

She's an excellent travelling companion. She likes to ride shotgun in order to look out the window and stay on the lookout for any unsavory characters... like a good shotgun should.

Her favorite part of riding in the car is going to the Dunkin Donuts drive-through. She always gets a treat... usually a plain doughnut, but sometimes Boston Creme.

She also loves the ocean, and knows that its near when she about 10 minutes away. She likes to watch dog shows on TV, and gets especially excited when there are Olde English Sheep"dogs" featured.

She hates baths, lightening storms and people who promise walks but don't give them. She also hates packing since she knows that someone will be away for long periods of time.

She's the queen of this house, that's "fer sure".

Silent Crusade

2006-12-12T05:40:00.000-05:00

Check out Against All Heresies for an article on the recent sale of a Roman Catholic Church to be used as a mosque... for the handsome sum of $150,000. (Who can buy anything for that these days?) After reading her post, I tried to find a Church in Turkey that Islamist say Mohammed turned around with his thumb to make it into a mosque. I couldn't find any information on that... but I did find the historical precedent for changing churches into mosques. It usually happened right after a battle that the Christian Crusaders lost:

Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, one of the first churches converted into mosques
According to the early Muslim historians, the towns that surrendered without resistance and made treaties with the Muslims received permission to retain their churches and synagogues, while in the towns taken by conquest Jewish and Christian places of worship were seized by the Muslims. Modern historians do not consider the process of transformation of churches into mosques to be as regular as the Muslim historians describe it, but in the course of time, the Muslims appropriated many churches to themselves.[1] From the beginning of the Muslim conquests, the Christians had ceded (sounds so innocent, and unbloody) to the Muslims half of their churches, which were turned into mosques.[4] One of the earliest examples of this kind was in Damascus, where in 705 Umayyad caliph Abd al-Malik took the church of St. John from the Christians and had it rebuilt as a mosque, which is now known as Umayyad Mosque; overall, Abd al-Malik is said to have transformed ten churches in Damascus into mosques. The process of turning churches into mosques was especially intensive (you mean, like the villagers were whipped and beaten into submission to do it?) in the villages, with the gradual conversion (that's nice) of the people to Islam. During his persecution of the Copts, Abbasid caliph al-Ma'mun turned many churches into mosques, both in Cairo and in Egyptian villages, which had no mosques in the earlier generations of Islam. Fatimid caliph al-Hakim converted numerous churches and synagogues into mosques. During the Reconquista christian warriors would just as often appropiate and convert mosques to churches as the Muslims would convert them to their capture.[5] The chief mosque in Palermo was previously a church. After the Crusades, several churches were turned into mosques in Palestine.[1] Ottoman Turks converted into mosques nearly all churches, monasteries, and chapels in Constantinople, including the famous St. Sophia cathedral, immediately after capturing the city in 1453.

Since we are following tradition here, I wonder how they'll ceremonially accomplish the following:

To make the buildings fit for the mosques, the Turks destroyed the icons, plundering their precious plating in the process, and defaced the frescoes.[6] The Ottoman sultan Mehmet II was the first to perform a Muslim prayer in what had previously been the St. Sophia cathedral.[7]

Superbowl Halftime Show

2006-12-10T19:50:00.000-05:00

I just read the attached article that indicates Superbowl fans this year will be "treated" to a performance by Prince.

Hasn't the NFL figured out that football fans don't want a rock star - we want a good ol' Country Music performer. Preferably Lee Greenwood singing Proud to be an American. We don't want Prince, Janet Jackson, geriatric Stones or any of the other crazy washed up performers that they've been billing for the last 20 years.

I remember the year that they said it was going to be in 3-D and you had to get special glasses. Of course, we didn't have special glasses and it was basically a guy riding around the field on a motorcycle. Totally lame-O.

I love football. It represents America. Its the perfect symmetry of brute physical strength, intimidating mind games, and clever plays. Its like a ballet with 300 lb. linebackers. Grace, beauty, intelligence.

Why sully it with the likes of Prince??

There's No Place Like Home

2006-12-09T07:44:00.000-05:00

So, my parents have moved to the "States" from Ireland and are with us while they buy their new house. So, yesterday we took them on a tour of "small town" America (the names have been changed to protect the innocent).

You can drive through this town, blink twice and you've missed the whole thing. We have one blinking light, a four-way stop and a factory. We have 6 police officers, three cop cars and a cop SUV. We also have a McDonald's and a Dunkin Donuts... but the old-timers prefer the cafe, and the pub. This town is so far from modern America that you almost need a passport to get here.

So, we started the day with a lunch at the local diner. Its a brick building one end, and a stainless steel car on the other. No credit cards are accepted... just cash or a local check. You can see everyone from teenagers to older folks and everyone in between. We even saw Santa Claus come in with his wife and enjoy a nice meal. AND SO CHEAP!! It cost lest than $40 for four of us to have a filling, excellent meal.

At our next stop, we entered a store to be greeted by both owners. They are a husband and wife team who travel around the world, collecting jewelry, clothing and other items to sell in this small town shop. We purchased some Christmas gifts, chatted with the proprietors and viewed items from England, Russia, Poland, Nepal, India and South America.

We then went to German John's bakery where we chatted with the owner who learned all she knows from her own father. We saw traditional German cakes, bread and an 11 foot long bread crocodile!! My sister had an epiphay regarding a Christmas present, and gathered everything she could find in the store. The proprieter welcomed us to the village, and sent us on our merry way to the CHOCOLATE FACTORY!!!!

In this little store there are chocolate geese, sports equipment, truffles, chocolate molds, firemen, and every conceivable chocolate object you can imagine. Cherry codials for Mom, sugar-free chocolates for Dad and a giant chocolate Noel for me and Kathy.

The last stop of the day was Gibson's Pewter Shop. Mr. Gibson learned the trade from his father and makes early American replica's of Pewter bowls, goblets, plates and other pewter items. Again, the proprietor meets you in the shop, greets you and chats about the products, the weather and the skills that goes into each product.

There's very few towns like this left in America.

HAPPY ST. NICHOLAS DAY!!!

2006-12-06T06:31:00.000-05:00

I hope that there will be candy in my shoes!!!

Here's a great site on St. Nick: origins, relation to Santa Claus, etc.

"For indeed, St. Nicholas, lover of the poor and patron saint of children, is a model of how Christians are meant to live. A bishop, Nicholas put Jesus Christ at the center of his life, his ministry, his entire existence. Families, churches, and schools are embracing true St Nicholas traditions as one way to claim the true center of Christmas—the birth of Jesus. Such a focus helps restore balance to increasingly materialistic and stress-filled Advent and Christmas seasons."

Flying Muslims

2006-12-04T07:08:00.000-05:00

Yeah, but not on a red carpet. This article is entitled "Muslims Seek Prayer Room in Airport."

What bothers me the most about this headline is that anyone who has searched out the chapels in airport knows that they are used by Muslims. How do we know this? There's a huge arrow pointing East in the guestbooks. I have been to the airport chapels in Chicago (O'Hare, not Midway), Philadelphia, Dallas, Newark and others.

To find the chapel is usually a hassle. You have to find a comprehensive map of the entire airport. Its usually in a Mezzanine somewhere that is impossible to drag your thousand pounds of luggage to. Sometimes - notably in Dallas - it's outside security. So, if you have a layover, you might exit to use the chapel, and then wait in the security line for an hour, possibly missing your flight.

I once had to go to Mass in an airport to fulfill my Sunday obligation just before jumping on a plane to go to Ireland. Afterwards, the priest had snacks and drinks laid out for the travellers while he chatted with us. It was very nice, and I got the impression that not too many people attend Mass here.

Oftentimes, the Blessed Sacrament is reserved in these airports as well, so its always a good idea to go pay a visit to a tabernacle that is little-visited.

Back to the Muslims - this story is just another example of a marketing campaign to draw the Muslims in a sympathetic light and painting them as victims.

2006-12-03T19:21:00.000-05:00

It hurts when someone that you love lets you down. It hurts even worse when you're in love with an entire football team, and they let you down.

The NY Giants, sporting their fiery red "away" uniforms were tied with Dallas 20-20 with 1 minute left in the game. After the kick, Dallas gained 41 yards with a pass to Terrel Owens. The field kick wasn't much of a challenge to their newly signed Grammatico, Grammatica, whatever the heck his name is - he didn't live up to his poor reputation anyway.

I like the new uniforms... but the defense is disappointing.

I think I'm wearing... Communism!?!?

2006-12-03T16:55:00.000-05:00

A recent conversation was related to me that went something like this:

"Women should not wear pants ever. Women who do wear pants are supporting..., they're supporting... Well, supporting communism! Don't you think so?"

"Well, I think I'm wearing communism."

Is it any wonder that I'm too wild for the traditionalist? Yes, I too wear communism.

Take Back the Rainbow

2006-11-30T22:41:00.000-05:00

I love color. All color, all shades. I am blessed to live in a part of the country where the lakes look like liquid sapphires in the summer, snow crystals form millions of prisms in the winter, leaves look like crisp fire in the autumn and every sunrise reveals colors only nature can produce. Its no wonder that I love the rainbow. I've seen beautiful rainbows in Rome, Venice, Ireland, and right over my own back yard. It irks me to no end that this has become a symbol to glorify sodomy and licentiousness.

You know those bumper stickers that people put on the back of their cars? I'm tempted to start putting them on my car simply because it's wrong that we allow a group of deviants to use it for their symbol. For them, it has nothing to do with the promise to Noah from God to never destroy the earth by flood again. For them, it has nothing of the hope and the promise of eternal salvation.
Why have we let others take our symbols like the rainbow, the name "Madonna", the unicorn, the peacock, the pelican and desecrate them at the worst, or completely secularize them at the least?

I don't care what people think, I'm heading out to my nearest 'peace and justice' store and taking back the rainbow.

Uh..., well, I would if I wasn't boycotting the 'peace and justice' store. *sigh*

Want Coffee - Will Travel

2006-11-24T09:21:00.000-05:00

So, while most of America is up at 5am this morning rushing to buy cheap plastic Chinese-made gifts that will inevitably be returned, regifted, "lost" or broken - I got up intending to go to daily Mass. Denied. I snuck into the church through the basement where a nice lady was preparing for a Meals on Wheels Luncheon, went upstairs and read the bulletin announcing No Mass on Friday. Bummer.

As an aside, why would they be doing Meals on Wheels in a Church Basement? Where's the Wheels part? Anyway, I didn't ask.

So, knowing that our favorite cafe for muffins and Chai's was closed today I decided to head to the next town to try the Sunshine Cafe. Isn't that a lovely name? It gives you the impression that you can actually buy sunshine in a cup. While dreams of espresso beans danced in my head, I headed out. I rolled into town, where the early-risers were walking down the street with their papers tucked under their arms, hunters were coming in from the woods for a break, and policemen patrolled the quiet streets. I park on the street, look over my shoulder, and the sunshine cafe is not shining. Denied. Closed for Thanksgiving. Bummer.

So, then I had to settle. And settle I did for Dunkin Donuts. Ahh... cappucinno, two sugars and an old fashioned for man's best friend.

This is What Happens...

2006-11-13T19:20:00.000-05:00

when a Church first defies the authority of Holy Mother Church. After that, nothing is sacred.

The Church of England has come out in favor of infanticide. We're not really surprised.

Accent - Thanks Mom - I Don't Have One!!

2006-11-13T06:20:00.000-05:00

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Midland "You have a Midland accent" is just another way of saying "you don't have an accent." You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio.
Philadelphia
North Central
The Inland North
Boston
The Northeast
The West
The South
What American accent do you have? Take More Quizzes

Here's a fun quiz... and just goes to show that homeschoolers have good diction!

We Lost AND We're Losers

2006-11-08T23:07:00.000-05:00

So, we lost the House and the Senate today. And yes, I do mean we.

This post is for thsoe who say that we cannot vote if someone, like President Bush, isn't conservative enough.

Remember this Bible Verse "Be wily as serpants and innocent as doves"? No one is saying that anyone on the Hill would ever be up for canonization, but lets look at one important fact.

Right now the Supreme Court, with two new justices on it, are deciding whether or not to uphold the Ban on the Partial-Birth Baby Killing method.

The truth is, that we never would have gotten this law passed without the likes of the not-conservative-enough Senate, House and President. Further, we would never have a chance in Hades of upholding it if Roberts and Alito were not on the bench, confirmed by the not-conservative-enough House and Senate. If this ban is upheld, and babies are saved because of it, then those votes "wasted" on lukewarm conservatives will have been well wasted.

Voice Crying Out

2006-11-07T07:10:00.000-05:00

DEEP THOUGHTS

Sometimes when you hear a voice crying out in the wilderness, you think of John the Baptist. And you assume that they have something profound to say.

But most of the time, when men are crying out in the wilderness, they're saying "I'm LOST!!"

Ahhh... Sunday Mornings

2006-11-05T09:21:00.000-05:00

So, I meant to go to 8am Mass this morning, but lost my keys, lost my purse, missed my not-being-late-window and now I'm waiting for 10am Mass to roll around.

So, time for a little blogging.

My day today will consist of Mass (of course) and then out to Starbucks and Borders to grade papers, prepare classes, and determine grades for report cards. The funny thing is, 20 or maybe even 10 years ago, the natural impulse would have been to head to the library. But instead, it seems that the coffee shop is the place to go for quiet concentration. At most coffee shops, people talk in hushed voices, students study diligently with their Venti Chai, or Grande Caramel Macchiato. In all appearances, the coffee shop is something akin to a temple for reflection, rather than the billion dollar money-maker that it is. The more serene and focused the setting, the longer people lounge buying coffee after sweet cake, after coffee, after sweetcake. People are willing to pay $5.00 for a $.75 cent coffee as long as it comes with the privilege of sitting in this hallowed space for just few hours, or even minutes.

With the rise of Starbucks, it seems that we have transferred our loyalties from the temple to reading & learning that the library once was, to the shrine of caffeinated drinks and little pastries.

I guess this signals another notch in the belt of consumerism... but I sure do like my Starbucks!

The First Romance

2006-11-01T11:27:00.000-05:00

My religion students are reading the Old Testament this year, and they were very intrigued by the story of Isaac and Rebekah. It is as pure and beautiful as any love story, and the customs shown are truly remarkable.

As you may remember from reading the story, Isaac was coming of age to marry (about 4o) when Abraham decided to send his servant back to his kinsfolk to find a suitable wife for his son. The servant, after a long journey and much prayer, decides that he will wait by the well for the women to come and get water. The first with the generosity to give water to him and water his camels is the girl for his master's son, Isaac. So far, its interesting to note that the servant does not first seek out those with good connections, good families or with a hefty dowry. His first test is one of generosity, hospitality and - of course, beauty.

So, the servant waits and along comes Rebekah who readily offers to water the camels after serving the servant. The servant, in exchange, gives her a NOSE-RING (oh yes. Genesis 24:22 maybe he was worried that he couldn't get a ring size correct) and bangles and asks to stay with her family. When the family hears the tale, and the request for Rebekah to marry their kinsman's daughter (Rebekah was actually Sarah's niece) their response is: "This thing that comes from the Lord; we can say nothing to you either for or against it. Here is Rebekah, ready
for you."

This story gets even better. Of course, the servant gives abundant gifts of gold and silver to Rebekah, as well as to her mother and brother (interesting, no dowry from her side...) and they return to Abraham's house.

Here's the best part. Not only has God allowed the servant to find a generous woman for Isaac, but when the camel train approaches, Rebekah sees Isaac from afar - inquires about him, and immediately covers herself with her veil as a show of modesty. Isaac falls in love with her at first sight, and they live happily ever after. Someone pointed out to me once that this is the only marriage of the great patriarchs that is completely monogomous.

Strangely, Rebekah was working outside the home when she met with the servant. She needed to provide no dowry. And these two facts never detracted from her virtue.

Things that make you go "hmmm..."

Remember These?

2006-10-23T21:25:00.000-04:00

Remember going to the library, and checking out a book?

First, you'd go to the card catalogue system, and thumb through thousands of index cards that were either handwritten, or typed with the title, author and other pertinent information. Then, you'd wander the stacks of musty smelling books until you found the one you were looking for - or the section that held your favorite author.

My favorite part of the old library system though, was the cards inside the book where you wrote your name and the librarian used a stamp to sternly imprint the date that this book was returned to the library.

I loved getting the older books that contained tons of names and different signatures. I'd try to imagine what the other people who had checked out the book were like. Sometimes I'd study the dates to see if I could tell if someone had NOT returned a book on time... or perhaps they returned it early because they hadn't like it. In this case, "Mamie" liked the book so much that she checked it out twice!

I just finished reading a book that contained an old receipt like this picture. The person I borrowed it from has but their name on the list.

The previous reader had borrowed it 31 years ago.

In Search of...

2006-10-16T23:21:00.000-04:00

Catholic Culture.

Don't worry. This isn't a whiney, 'there's no culture anywhere' post. I'm actually looking for interesting Catholic traditions that might include semi-regional customs for Catholic feast days. For instance, see my earlier blog on the invention of croissants, and the introduction of coffee into the Western world.

I recently learned of a custom related to All Souls Day that involves children going from door to door offering to pray for the souls of departed members of the household in exchange for food. They were given pieces of bread made of water and floor that were called "dry bones" because they were baked in the shape of bones, signifying the dead, and because of their "lack" of tasty ingredients.

I'm particularly looking for All Saints Day and Advent customs. The more the merrier!!

Petrus

Horror of Horrors

Evening with the Vazquez & Flat Stanley

Pope Honors the Irish - And why shouldn't he?

Marriage of True Minds

O! The Ironies

Wednesday Hero

Wednesday Heroes: CCM Robert Prosser & LTC Erik Kurilla

The Long Fatal Love Chase

He Staged a Fight - How Brilliant

Gather ye rosebuds while ye may...

Hill of Crosses

Blu-oo-oo-ue, Blue Blue Blue - oo

Racism Revisited

Logic of Jeremiah Wright

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Heard from the hallways...

Interesting ...

Kids Aren't That Stupid

From the Holy Father

The Golden Rose

Pax tecum

Holy Father's Visit

Buon Compleano at te - PPBXVI

The Force

Follow up

Off Roadin'

Politically Incorrect Saint

Emily Dickenson

Wednesday Hero - Michael Williams

Farewell to Snow

Sunday Bookstore

The Redress of Poetry

This is What I Did to celebrate Easter

This is What its All About...

Yes, America...

Star Wars - An untold Tale

A few new ones!!

Summertime!!

The Jeep - You Wouldn't Understand

The Greatest Football Story Ever Told

War War, what is it good for?

In honor of Catholic Schools Week

Custer Battlefield Museum

Cowgirl Up!

No Football!!

You know there are two giant newfoundlands living in your house when...

How About This Christmas Miracle

And the winner is... no one.

Quote for the Day

Seeking Time

Call to Blog - Straight from the Top

Definition of Insanity

A Protestant Confession

CALLING ALL ROMAN CATHOLICS

I'm Sleepy Today

GYPSIES

Letter to American Boys

Wipe Out

Lessons from the Camino #1

If you love Tennis, You'll Love Djokovic

Republican Presidential Debates

Mount Washington

A Diamond is Forever

You're 8, and I'm 8!

In Memoriam: Ross Alameddine

Wednesday's Hero - SFC Lloyd A. Heinrichs Jr

If it wasn't so disgusting...

WORLD CHAMPIONS!

Wednesday's Hero

SWF Seeking...

Wednesday's Hero

Why Does This Stuff Stick?

Remember when this was a novelty?

*GRAPHIC* Long, Disgusting... and Important

Wednesday's Hero

Wednesday's Hero

Stripes or Solids???

It's Beginning to Look alot Like Christmas

My Sister's Dog

GRAPHIC Long, Disgusting... and Important