I find it hard to describe how much I depend on the spiritual fatherhood of the pope. We are one family as Catholics. And for a couple of weeks, I know you, too, felt like orphans. Then suddenly, a new Holy Father was raised up for us. We have a pope!
And what a pope we have. Benedict XVI is one of the world's most profound biblical theologians. I don't think any pope since Peter has equaled Benedict in his knowledge of the Old Testament. He writes like a man who works out his theology on his knees in prayer.
[Flannery O'Connor] frequently turned that unflinching gaze of hers upon herself. More often than not, the characters in O’Connor’s stories who are the most obtuse, the most prideful, are the isolated would-be intellectuals who believe their genius puts them beyond good and evil...what about Joy in “Good Country People”? Stuck in a rural home with a narrow-minded, pragmatic mother, Joy decides to withdraw into her own arcane studies (which sound a lot like deconstruction theory), taking the harsh name of "Hulga" to complete her self-reinvention. When a seemingly naïve and gawky young man comes to her door with bibles for sale, she thinks she can see through him. But she has another thing coming — experiencing a reversal that strikes down her pride. Did the writer, who chose to go by her unusual middle name, rather than her given name of Mary, see something of herself in the lonely, angry Hulga?
So where does this leave us? If creativity seems unequally distributed, can bring about destruction, does not intrinsically aid in the moral perfection of the creative individual, and has been tainted by the Romantic cult of genius, it doesn’t seem to warrant consideration as a virtue.
And yet there is something in most of us that accords a high measure of dignity and worth to the creative impulse. Nearly all the world’s religions are grounded in creation stories that also ennoble human beings as agents who perpetuate the divine act of creation by their own actions. In turn, each human action partakes in some measure of the supernatural powers of the creator.
On a personal level, we witness and are enriched by the grandeur of creativity when we see it embodied in art or engineering or statecraft. We sense that creativity lies at the heart of what makes us human, and that without it our lives would be spiritually and materially impoverished.
The world’s great religious traditions reinforce this intuition...While creativity itself may not be a virtue, then, I would argue that the truest, most unsentimental thing we can say about creativity is that it is a constant invitation to virtue...
We’ve all read fairy tales about a baker or a woodsman or a rash widow who was granted three wishes and squandered all three of them on silly things. And we’ve all thought: “My first wish would be to have an unlimited number of wishes!” This is the kind of mentality that lay behind James’ and John’s request: “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you” (Mark 10:35). It’s as if they were treating Jesus like an all-purpose appliance existing only to do their bidding. When challenged by Jesus, they quickly claimed to be willing to pay the price for the honor they sought. But it’s clear that they had no idea what “drinking the cup” entailed.
How easy it can be to approach Jesus in the Eucharist in the same way—with a wish list of sins we want forgiven and favors we want granted, but with no sense of being connected to him. On one level, such an approach appears to honor him as sovereign Lord. But if we really want to know how to come to Jesus at Mass, perhaps we should ask how he approaches us.
“The Son of man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45)...Instead of coming to the Eucharist with a list of petitions or asking Jesus to fill you with blessings, try this approach every now and then. Try offering to Jesus everything you have: the work you did last week, your talents, and your accomplishments. Come to him the way he comes to us—as one who gives instead of one who receives. You’ll be amazed at how much heavenly grace will flow into your life. Just like Jesus, you will be lifted up by your Father in heaven.
Age = a scant 5 years away from AARP eligibility!
Booze = Carrabba-rita (big Margarita—plenty of salt—with a surprising splash of Amaretto)
Career = Yes: homemaker and salon-hostess
Dad’s Name = Bill
Essential Party Items = cigars
Favorite Song at the Moment = “I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow”
Hometown = West Chester, PA
Instrument = guitar
Jam = Blackberry, seedless raspberry; Jelly = guava
Kids = 5, plus my husband’s 22-y-o cousin who resides with us
Living arrangement = house
Mom’s name = Cass
Names of Best Friends = Lynne, Kat, Valerie, Robin, Jane
Overnight Hospital Stays = 9
Phobias = husband barging in and announcing “Time to Clean” before I’ve had three days to prepare mentally
Quote I like = “It is idle to play the lyre for an ass” (my man Jerome)
Relationship that lasted longest = marriage: 20 years; friendship with Lynne: since 7th grade (33 years)
Siblings = nope
Vegetable I love = Fried OKRA!
XRays = teeth, lungs, spine
Yummy Food I Make = My Mom’s Spaghetti Sauce; Special Recipe Fried Okra; Enchilada Casserole; Pulled Pork BBQ
Zodiac Sign = Sagittarius (just like Anna Nicole Smith)
Authentic democracy is possible only in a state ruled by law, and on the basis of a correct conception of the human person. It requires that the necessary conditions be present for the advancement both of the individual through education and formation in true ideals, and of the “subjectivity” of society through the creation of structures of participation and shared responsibility. Nowadays there is a tendency to claim that agnosticism and skeptical relativism are the philosophy and the basic attitude which correspond to democratic forms of political life. Those who are convinced that they know the truth and firmly adhere to it are considered unreliable from a democratic point of view, since they do not accept that truth is determined by the majority, or that it is subject to variation according to different political trends. It must be observed in this regard that if there is no ultimate truth to guide and direct political activity, then ideas and convictions can easily be manipulated for reasons of power. As history demonstrates, a democracy without values easily turns into open or thinly disguised totalitarianism.Update: Looks like Amy and her posse have already covered this topic in depth.
To Tune "Killing Me Softly"
Snorting quite loudly through his nasal cavity
Singeing my ears with his sounds
Driving me crazy with his song
Driving me crazy with his song
At irregular intervals, he snorts loud
Driving me crazy
...with his song.
I heard this is quite common
in his native country
And so I began to see it
as my problem after awhile.
I prayed that he would finish
but he just kept right on...
REF: Driving me crazy...
He snorted as if he knew this
would cause me dark despair
And then he snorted right near me
as if I wasn't there
But he was there, this stranger,
snorting clear and loud
Snorting quite loudly while wearing earphones,
Singeing my ears with his song,
REF: Driving me crazy...
" 'Do what you love, and the money
will follow' sure doesn't seem to work
very well with drinking."
Kathy Defends an Ass! ...film at 11
"The only thing I would quibble with (both then and now) is the defamation of the character of Balaam's ass. Balaam's ass was the instrument of the Lord; her speech was supernaturally produced!"
Other colorful KTC quotes include:
"I did inform one young lady that she was on 'the bullet train to hell'".
"In my little sphere, though, I'm not asked so much to give advice; rather, I end up hearing presentations of the cultural values of my seeker friends (and they ARE friends, not merely curiosities or my version of 'the white man's burden')."
___
"...thyme’s always short." - Gregg the Obscure
Spanning the Globe To Bring You The Constant Variety Of PostsWe are ourselves, and not ourselves . . .- Excerpt of "Selves" by Don Marquis
For ever thwarting pride and will
Some forebear’s passion leaps from death
To claim a vital license still.
Ancestral lusts that slew and died,
Resurgent, swell each living vein;
Old doubts and faiths, new panoplied,
Dispute the mastery of the brain.
I think any definitive definition would have to take the notion into account: Comfort with contradiction. I mean this in the broadest metaphysical sense and the narrowest practical way. Think of any leftish ideology and at its core you will find a faith that circles can be closed, conflicts resolved. Marxism held that in a truly socialist society, contradictions would be destroyed. Freudianism led the Left to the idea that the conflicts between the inner and outer self were the cause of unnecessary repressions...I agree with Jonah but I don't think only the left goes gaga over hypocrisy. Bill Clinton was the poster child for it wasn't he? There was much angst when it was said he was using church services for photo ops, complete with large telegenic bible. He stole conservative ideas and then took credit for them and that drove us conservatives crazy. So while I agree that hypocrisy is the joystick that moves liberals, I'm not sure it isn't a feature of modernity rather than a feature of any one party.
Listen to Democratic politicians when they wax righteous about social policy. Invariably it goes something like this: “I simply reject the notion that in a good society X should have to come at the expense of Y.” X can be security and Y can be civil liberties. Or X can be food safety and Y can be the cost to the pocketbook of poor people. Whatever X and Y are, the underlying premise is that in a healthy society we do not have tradeoffs between good things. In healthy societies all good things join hands and walk up the hillside singing I’d like to buy the world a coke. Think about why the Left is obsessed with hypocrisy and authenticity. The former is the great evil, the latter the closest we can get to saintliness. Hypocrisy implies a contradiction between the inner and outer selves. That’s a Freudian no-no in and of itself....[part of the] general hostility the Left has to the idea that we should live in any way that doesn’t "feel" natural. We must all listen to our inner children.
Now look at the arguments of conservatives. They are almost invariably arguments about trade-offs, costs, “the downside” of a measure...The beauty of the conservative movement — as Buckley noted in that original essay — is that we all get along with each other pretty well. The chief reason for this is that we all understand and accept the permanence of contradiction and conflict in life. Christians and Jews understand it because that’s how God set things up.
Nuala's heritage was clouded in the otherworldly. It was said she was descended from a race of kings in a far away village in a mountainous region off the rockey Lughaidian coast.
All of the villagers there, so the tale goes, had either blood the color of robin's eggs or blood black as coal. The peasants had black blood and the royals blue and so lineage would be easy to tell except they never bled, and to bleed themselves was a great taboo and so most lived in the unknowing.
Nuala knew her father had blue blood because it was said she'd required a transfusion at birth. The country doctor was no longer alive and the details were murky, which led one villager who wore his black blood on his sleeve to call the facts made up, something said only to reassure her, since she certainly didn't look like her father. She had to admit her nose was broad and flat while her father's long and sharp. His hair was gold and her's dark, like the peasant Milesians.
She thought it odd that when she was younger and looked even less like her father she assumed her blood blue, but now even though her nose had matured and looked a bit less flat this only seemed to remind her of how much she didn't look him. Would she trust only that which she could see, only her features? Or would she know her blood blue despite the accuser?
_
And divine grace is the inestimable treasure through which vile creatures and servants like ourselves become dear friends of our Creator. -St. Alphonsus
Green Acres is the place to be!And you can do fun stuff like see how fast you can go without wrecking into a tree. This requires lightning-fast reflexes and great hand-eye coordination which I have in abundance, most obviously shown by my Kindergarden grade of S+ (satisfactory plus to the uninitiated) in coordination skills.
Farm livin’ is the life for me,
Land, spreadin’ out, so far & wide!
Keep Manhattan just give me that countryside…
'Saint watching' is a longtime hobby of mine. The only thing I know for sure about the saints is that I know very little about them, even after years of not-very-scholarly study...(From what I can make out, the only trait they all share is an aversion to sleeping late).
Now I believe there comes a time
When everything just falls in line
We live an’ learn from our mistakes
The deepest cuts are healed by faith
Here [in Latin America], to some extent, Christianity arrived by way of Spanish swords, with deadly heralds. In Mexico, at first, absolutely nothing could be done about missionary work - until the occurrence of that phenomenon of Guadalupe, and then the Son was near by way of his Mother.
You don’t check my license
You must think I'm middle-aged
You hardly card me anymore
When I enter the pub
At the end of the day.
I remember when...
You couldn’t wait to card me
You thought my ID was fake
You said I looked seventeen
when I was plenty lean.
Well it’s good for you barkeep,
it's saving you time
When you just serve me Guinness
And you don’t check my ID anymore
It used to be so natural,
I thought you'd card forever,
but used to be's don't count anymore
not when even short jogs make me sore.
And barkeep I remember
before I got a few grays
before I got very far
into O'Malley's bar
my youth would jar--
...but you don't check my license anymore.
Stanley Kunitz, Pulitzer Prize winner, poet laureate of the United States - twice, the first time from 1974 to 1976, when the title was "consultant in poetry," the second in 2000 at the age of 95 - will turn 100 this summer. And he is still hard at work, he says, in his office and his garden.Darling, do you remember
the man you married? Touch me,
remind me who I am.
Christ is Risen,Then it is repeated in church Slavonic, which I don't know. So I listen, and it sounds as foreign as the Who's singing "wah-hoo, wah-aay" in "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas". And the message from the Whoville is that they sang without the presents, without the trees and the Christmas dinner. A good lesson to praise in all times. From Sirach 2:
Christ is Risen,
Christ is Risen
From the dead!
By death he conquered death!
By death he conquered death!
and to those in the graves
and to those in the graves
he granted,
he granted,
he granted life!
"Study the generations long past and understand; has anyone hoped in the Lord and been forsaken? has anyone called upon him and been rebuffed?"
Greeley's analysis of the reasons for the church's loss of authority after Vatican II is totally believable, but that is not news. What is news is that Greeley bases his belief that the Catholic church and faith will survive entirely on what early 19th-Century Europeans called a Romantic defense of religion -- essentially invented by people like Chateaubriand, it held that religion would last because it was "beautiful." Because it filled a need and no amount of scientific evidence against its dogmas or practices would make any difference. This is about what I would expect from Greeley -- an abandonment of reason and logic in favor of sentimentality.
Spanning the Globe To Bring You The Constant Variety Of Posts & Pics
always am american art authority beauty behavior believe between birth bishops catholic catholicism century change church clergy control council countries does even event experience fact faith first go god good grace heritage however human imagination indeed issues laity less life little liturgists liturgy lives long love mass may metaphors might must need new often old own parish people percent perhaps pope power priests problem question reform religion religious revolution right rules sacraments say schools search see seem sex sexual should states still stories structures study teaching think though thought time two vatican want whether wineskins women work world wrong years__
against america american among approach belief between catholic century charity child children christian church considered dewey economic education educational end era even example experience explained fact faith father first god good great himself human ideas indeed individual intellectual itself james john kind law life man matter may men merely method mind modern moral movement must natural nature need new order own part philosophy point pope pragmatism principles progressive question reason religion religious school science scientific secular set shields should simply social society sociology soul state study supernatural system teaching themselves things thought thus time true truth view whose work world
el beisbol
Baghdad without a map
in Patagonia
Europe on a Saturday night
ciao, America!
passage to Juneau
the spears of twilight
notes from a small island
amazon journal
stranger in the forest
how I worked my way around the world
the water in between
"I have often reflected since then on this remarkable disposition of Providence: that, in this century of progress and faith in science, the Church should have found herself represented most clearly in very simple people, in a Bernadette of Lourdes, for instance, or even in a Brother Konrad, who hardly seemed to be touched by the currents of the time. Is this a sign that the Church has lost her power to shape culture and can take root only outside the real current of history? Or is it a sign that the clear view of the essential, which is so often lacking in the "wise and prudent" (see Mt 11:25), is given in our days, too, to little ones? I do think that precisely these "little" saints are a great sign to our time, a sign that moves me ever more deeply, the more I live with and in our time."- Cardinal Ratzinger in Milestones
Upper lips flabbed
during the days of Donahue
donning the skin of eggshells
we cried at Oprah's touch.
'Where has duty gone?'
Dr. Laura asked
'Get over yourself!'
Judge Judy rasped.
But it was the Age of Machines
and the personal was personal:
Christ died to save all mankind--
but did he die for me?
So came a wise man from the East
with lips not stiff or soft,
like God he saw just opportunity
where donkeys and elephants had not.
Blessed are You, O Christ our God. You filled the fishermen with wisdom, sending down upon them the Holy Spirit. Through them You have caught the whole world in Your net. O Lover of Mankind, glory be to You.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and forever. Amen. When the Most High descended and confused tongues, He scattered the people; but when He distributed the tongues of fire, He called all men to unity. Therefore with one voice, let us praise the Most Holy Spirit.
Cornwell's view of the conflict between top-down ''fundamentalism'' and bottom-up ''pluralism'' is unduly Manichaean. But he is right to see that the church now faces a choice between schism (if it goes too liberal) and a '' 'remnant' catacomb church'' (if it goes too conservative). That this tension worsened during the papacy of John Paul II does not necessarily prove the pope was at fault. It may mean only that Christianity has proved a much harder faith to practice ''moderately'' than both its defenders and its detractors used to assume.
Revelation is not a meteor fallen to earth that now lies around somewhere as a rock mass from which rock samples can be taken and submitted to laboratory analysis. Revelation has instruments; but it is not separable from the living God, and it always requires a living person to whom it is communicated. Its goal is always to gather and unite men, and this is why the Church is necessary aspect of revelation. If, however, revelation is more than Scripture, if it transcends Scripture, then the "rock analysis" - which is to say, the historical-critical method - cannot be the last word concerning revelation; rather, the living organism of the faith of all ages is then an intrinsic part of revelation. And what we call "tradition" is precisely that part of revelation that goes above and beyond Scripture and cannot be comprehended within a code of formulas.Perfect. That's it, isn't it? Holding the tension of seemingly contradictory notions makes Catholicism less accessible. "Both/and" is faithful to Scripture, but difficult for the human mind period (let alone in theology, where it is exacerbated by our desire to put God in a box).
__
The Catholicism of my native Bavaria knew how to provide room for all that was human, both prayer and festivities, penance and joy. A joyful, colorful, human Christianity...While Protestantism certainly could give the impression of superiority and greater learning, I was more convinced by the great tradition of the Fathers and medieval masters...Protestantism arose at the beginning of modern times, and thus it is much more closely related to the inner energies which produced the modern age than Catholicism is. It has acquired the form it has today largely in the confrontation with the great philosophical currents of the nineteenth century. It is wide open to modern thought, and, as well as constituting a threat to it, that constitutes both its opportunity and its danger.
_
Ratzinger considers that where Protestants and Catholics live side by side, the latter are more in danger of adopting the positions of the former. "Genuine Catholicism", he says, "is a highly sensitive balance, an attempt to unite aspects in life which seem to contradict one another and yet which guarantee the completeness of the Credo."
The order which Benedict founded has spread over the earth. It was mainly responsible for the conversion of the Teutonic races...
Total Number of Books I’ve Owned: Somewhere north of 3,000. Not many by Steven Riddle standards, but enough to encourage rootedness since the thought of moving them leaves me underwhelmed.
Last Book I Bought: Dom Cuthbert Butler's history of the first Vatican Council. (Couldn't find "Thomists Are From Mars, Augustinians from Venus" else I'd probably gotten that.)
Last Book I Read: Mr. Blue – Myles Connolly
5 Books that mean a lot to me: An impossible question. I'll expand it a bit. Since the bible & the catechism are everyone's list I'll assume they transcend the category.The Correspondence of Walker Percy & Shelby Foote - Tolsen, ed.
Old Thunder – A Life of Hilaire Belloc - Joseph Pearce
Lost in the Cosmos - W. Percy
Sun Dancing - Geoffrey Moorhouse
The Circle Dancers - Diana Der-Hovanessian
Rome Sweet Home - Hahn
The Secret of the Rosary - St. Louis De Monfort
Stonewall Jackson - James Robertson
By Augustine's day Pentecost was a separate liturgical festival, and Augustine understood it as a celebration of an event no less historical than the birth of Christ. In a sermon preached on the day of Pentecost, he says, we are celebrating "the solemnity of a day so holy, that today the Holy Spirit himself came."- Robert Wilken, The Spirit of Early Christian Thought
"Augustine seems to be the first observer, at least in writing, to have noticed the greed, jealousy, and rage of which the human infant is capable. By pointing out the survival advantages of the infant's relentless self-interest, Mr. Miceli raises a central dilemma that has yet to be addressed by contemporary theology in dealing with original sin: how do we reconcile evolution with Genesis? If these behaviors are not only advantageous but evolutionarily essential, how can they be regarded as products of sin, which entered history only at the moment of our First Parents and which in any event must be eschewed? This question, in essence, constitutes Nietzche's central objection to Christian ethics..."To which he offered a helpful answer, excerpted partially here:
My answer is that Augustine placed adult interpretations on infant behaviors--he saw rage--was it hunger? He saw jealousy--what was it really? Having a child really changed my perspective on what children are feeling with respect to adults. My little boy spent much of the years from 1-4 in a world with which I had remarkably little contact or understanding. The state of being simply isn't the same. Rage isn't anger at this age it is pain inside, etc. In other words, this is one of those places that I think Augustine was just plain wrong...[But] if I grant that Augustine is right, it still poses no problem for me because somewhere along the line God did intervene and made human beings of an entirely different order of creation than all the rest [since] human beings are the only animals that can choose consistently to act contrary to their own natures.
"I now think that the antichrist will be riding a 2054 Hover KX4."Always so prescient, that Bone. Except for the global depression. :-)
"I just got in this to write about it, to experience it. I don't care about being Trump's apprentice," I told my brother at a family gathering. "I'm thinking of just walking off the set. I'm going to get killed in the boardroom. We're down to six and I can't hide anymore. I can't just do a decent job on the tasks and survive by being small. He's going to say, 'you've never been project leader for ten tasks! You've never volunteered for anything! Why are you here?'."
"Just go in there and schmooze and be political. That's what he's looking for."
"You know I can't smooze. A decent handshake is as good as I can manage - after that it's inevitably downhill."
"Look you made it this far-"
"I don't want to trash the family name."
"It'll be more embarrassing to the family if you walk off the set! You don't think they won't spend a lot of air time on that?"
"You may be right but the more I fight in the boardroom the more obvious it will be that I have no case to make and the more ridiculous I'll look."
"You wanted to to experience, to observe, to write. Why would you pass up the boardroom!? Why would you pass on the experience of hearing Donald Trump say, 'You're fired!'? For that reason alone you should go."
"Well, okay. I guess. But it's not going to be pretty... and you're going to be infamous by association!"
"That's what family's for. At least since Adam & Eve.
His fine coda tells of the author’s sensitivity and the range of his concern.“I hope, in the end, that I love Harvard as we should love the world: not because it is good (it is not) but because there is good in it, and things worth fighting for. Perhaps the rest will pass away, until in my memory and the memory of my classmates only the best remains, the beauty of the place and the promise of greatness, a promise that went unfulfilled in my four years but endures nonetheless — as if around another corner, through another ivied gate, there waits the university of our imagination, the Harvard of our unrequited dreams."
There are no longer any deep loves or passionate devotions to great causes; expediency and self-interest are too general. Politics and economics are our major interests, and neither can warm the souls of men. Our fires of patriotism, evangelization, and zeal are being reduced to embers. We are cold, dull, and apathetic. One tiny effect of that want of fire is the fact that in our Western world there are but few orators. Most men in public life are readers.
-Archbishop Fulton Sheen
He shows a sensitive appreciation of developments in other denominations, applauding what he sees as “a new vitality” in Protestantism: “The Evangelicals and fundamentalists always used to be typical leaders of the opposition to the papacy. But there have been astonishing changes there, because they can see that the Pope is actually the Rock who asserts before all the world exactly what they confess in opposition to modern versions of watered-down Christianity. So, from a certain point of view, they see the Pope as their strong ally, even though their old reservations have not been cleared away. . . . What we dare to hope for we should await confidently, but with great patience.” Lest this be misinterpreted as a belief that Protestants will be simply absorbed into Roman Catholicism, Ratzinger says, “The formula that the great ecumenists have invented is that we go forward together. It’s not a matter of our wanting to achieve certain processes of integration. . . . [The Catholic Church] will allow herself to be educated and led by the Lord.”...
He shows the same basic generosity of spirit in miniature, when he discusses Caiaphas, the Sanhedrin leader who condemned Jesus and has been presented as a pure villain throughout much of history: “As high priest, Caiaphas is responsible for the faith of Israel. Naturally it doesn’t occur to him that he might really be condemning the living Son of God to death. He sees in Jesus someone who has done injury to the very heart of the Jewish creed, the belief in one God, by the presumptuous claim to be himself God’s Son. And, certainly, he does this in a state of blindness, unable to perceive the mystery; his faith is encapsulated in a formula. We ought not to be too ready to condemn him, since in some way he believes, of course, that he is acting responsibly on behalf of religion.”...
After making his way through these books, the reader may be hungry for graduate-level Ratzinger — for example, his 1968 book Introduction to Christianity, a meditation on the Apostles’ Creed. Here he writes of an adult faith in which doubt and belief coexist:Both the believer and the unbeliever share, each in his own way, doubt and belief, if they do not hide from themselves and from the truth of their being. Neither can quite escape either doubt or belief; for the one, faith is present against doubt; for the other, through doubt and in the form of doubt. . . . [Man exists] in this unceasing rivalry between doubt and belief, temptation and certainty. Perhaps in precisely this way doubt, which saves both sides from being shut up in their own worlds, could become the avenue of communication. It prevents both from enjoying complete self-satisfaction.
Bad poetry,1990-1998:
Ain't kilt no one yet.
"In one of the ironies of [this company] you might notice when next riding the 'vadors [elevators] that if you say only the first syllable of every other word in the phrase that appears therein, namely, "Press alarm button for assistance." you get 'Press butt ass', a bit redundant I know."1998-Present:
Reply by fellow conscript: "Hmmmmmmm, and if you say only the first syllable of every word, you get 'Press all butt for ass.' Seems kinda' blatenly obvious, eh?"
Reply by another conscript: "If you get on the elevators at [company name] and say out loud what I am usually thinking, you will get "f*ck. f*ck. F*CK.!!!"
[On moving from the first home I'd owned]: My house is like a gunfighter, making his last stand. He’s there with his Colt rifle, standing in the aging sun, a bit sad that it has to come to this. I’m a bit sad, too, in that all the creature-comforts I’ve built up will be ripped suddenly and new ones will have to be stitched in the garment of life. The comforts I think of include the short drive to work, the cavernous book room downstairs, the 2-minutes to Kroger, the ancient and crusty (pun noted) Antolino’s pizza tradition...Yes, I can’t kid myself, it will be tough. I’m ready though, and now I freefall like Van Halen, singing ‘might as well jump’.One of the things I like about blogging is the low expectations. It's something we can be good at. Let's face it, we don't really have to worry about the Peter Principle in blogland.
_
We discussed the relative value of suffering for Christians, whether the Red Sox will ever win a World Series (speaking of suffering), whether the French film Ham rented was a ‘ship movie (short for relationship, i.e. chick flick), the best place to put one’s money during the coming global depression (metals vs cash), the best way to allocate one’s lunch money, whether the anti-Christ will drive an S.U.V. (me taking the con, Ham the pro), how to get rich by checking friend’s couch cushions, the best way to drink a Guinness (four opposing fingers to thumb), the healthiness of watching too many X-files, Mr Boo’s last vowell movement, and whether either of us could come up with an oxymoron using the word "oxymoron". (More journal excerpts here.)
Pope Benedict XVI enjoys Franziskaner weissbeer !!!!!
"...Cardinal Bertone said he occasionally allows himself a glass of "excellent" wine from Piedmont. Manuela Macher, co-owner of the Cantina Tirolese, a Bavarian restaurant near the Vatican where he is a regular, said he also liked an occasional German beer, Franziskaner Weissbier. Which raises a question: Does he order the large size or the small?"
Spanning the Globe To Bring You The Constant Variety Of PostsPope Benedict XVI enjoys Franziskaner weissbeer !!!!!
...Cardinal Bertone said he occasionally allows himself a glass of "excellent" wine from Piedmont. Manuela Macher, co-owner of the Cantina Tirolese, a Bavarian restaurant near the Vatican where he is a regular, said he also liked an occasional German beer, Franziskaner Weissbier. Which raises a question: Does he order the large size or the small?
Mr. SpamMan
you're quite the dream
or more a nightmare
so it would seem.
You misspell words
to sidestep the filter
your own grandma?
you would surely bilk her!
SpamMan
you're easy to hate
you treat women
as if they were bait.
You offer drugs
that we've never heard of
and peddle lust as if a
proxy for love!
Mr. SpamMan
we're on to your game
you fill our inbox
without any shame.
Don't need your Cialis
or valium bliss
so go on packing
for you won't be missed!
Incredible Offers,
seems a lie
for the pork Ephrine
consult your rabbi.
Urban Bena-D50
sounds like a rap group,
synangia hydrocollidine
sounds like a dupe.
This company is cranking up
The PR in high gear
but will stoic Codafen sell
without passion dear?
As a theologian the newly elected Pope Benedict XVI has been described as Augustinian rather than Thomist and more "ressourcement" than "aggiornamento."...Andrew Sullivan writes:
St. Augustine of Hippo, one of the greatest theologians of the ancient church, is noted for his strong emphasis on the corruption of human nature by sin and the absolute necessity of grace for salvation.
St. Thomas Aquinas, one of the greatest medieval theologians, did not deny sin or the need for grace, but he placed greater emphasis on the goodness of nature, including human nature.
For an Augustinian theologian like the new pope, "there's a certain pessimism about what a human being can do on his own without God's grace," said Dennis Doyle, a professor of religious studies at the University of Dayton in Ohio. "I think that does color his approach, and it mixes in very well with his strong anti-Marxism, which is also at the same time an anti-utopianism, the idea that human beings should not try to create a perfect world on their own."
The idea that there is "something very negative about the human experience if we consider it apart from God's grace ... is a strong characteristic of his work," Doyle said.
The most telling difference between the pope [Wojtila] and the prefect [Ratzinger] is John Paul II's more successful blend of Augustinian otherworldliness and Thomist trust.From The Tablet:
There had been a long and intense debate over the formulation of Gaudium et Spes. Afterwards the progressives who had come together to support its passage separated out. One of those who had always had his reservations was Joseph Ratzinger, who at Vatican II was one of the periti or theological experts. For Ratzinger, as an Augustinian, the pastoral constitution was too Thomist, too ready to see grace at work in the world, too hesitant to put the Cross at the centre of everything.The future is Augustinian?
While rooted in both the Augustinian and Thomistic traditions, it is crystal clear that John Paul's Theology of the Body has a startling and unexpected new "twist." It, together with his other works, represents a new synthesis, a new way of conveying the faith to the modern world. This new approach is necessary because most people in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries do not think and act in the categories of either Saint Thomas or Saint Augustine.
Both Saint Augustine and Saint Thomas Aquinas lived and taught in a culture which might be described as objective, deductive, and principled. The modern world is primarily subjective, inductive, and experiential.
Many will insist that John Paul II is a Thomist. Of course, he is! St. Thomas was an Augustinian. Each new synthesis builds on the previous ones. There is no question that John Paul II is a Thomist. But there is also no question that he is building a new theological synthesis which will be one of the building blocks of the Church in the twenty-first century and beyond. The Augustinian synthesis was the way the Church thought about Revelation for about eight hundred years! St. Thomas' synthesis was in place for more than seven hundred years. If the pattern holds, John Paul II's synthesis will be with us for centuries.
I remember the Nosferatu viewing at an all night camp outing. I recall watching it and then going outside in the dark-dew’d three a.m. grass. There was that air of unreality about the world, created in part by the art I’d just seen. The air was crisp and dangerous and seemed capable of any sort of nasty surprise. Back when I was a kid it was poor form not to stay up all night when you could stay up all night. It was like refusing to thank your sweet aunt for the Christmas fruit cake. So we stayed up all night in the face of cowardly fatigue and dawn’s slow begetfulness.
__
It was pre-Christmas, that time of year of darkness allievated by so many colored lights, when Maria gave me a gift pack of Life-Savers that formed a kind of book. I was so astonished by it, by her unprecendented generousity, and astonished by her wanting me to be her boyfriend. I was twelve or thirteen and predictably behind the curve. Still even at that age of incoahticies I understood that I liked the lighter skinned and the fuller-bodied. She was thin and dark-haired and I thought her too much like my thin, dark-haired sister. I wonder how many romances are failed by someone looking too much like family, although I’ve since discovered that breasts are pretty much a universal attractant.
Instead of saying "What?" or "Huh?" you say, "Please?"
Your favorite convenience store sounds like a labor union (United Dairy Farmers).
You can't hear the words "Mike Brown" without getting angry.
You honestly believe that Pete Rose should be in the Baseball Hall of Fame.
You somehow have a soft spot for Marge Schott.
You don't think it weird that everyone has an Uncle Al.
Your favorite Coney Island isn't near New York.
You like Nick Clooney better than George Clooney.
You know how Jerry Springer got his start.
You know what a pony keg is.
You have friends and neighbors with names like Machenheimer, Guckenberger, Schlottman, Schoenling, and Schweitering.
You know what "brats" and "metts" are.
You know that cars (like eggs) are cheaper in the country.
You know that Cherokee Motors was located at 7505 Vine (where Paddock meets Vine at the big Indian sign).
You think a mixed marriage is when an East Sider marries a West Sider.
You know the difference between Hudy and "Who Dey."
Someone says "Norwood" and you automatically laugh (unless you actually live there).
You hate Cleveland, even though you've probably never been there.
You think Kentucky is only slightly more civilized than Afghanistan.
You know in which state the Greater Cincinnati Airport is located.
Michael Jackson case = 0my level of irritation
Paula Abdul = -1
runaway bride = 6.5
Charles & Camilla = 1.5
Tom Delay's woes = 3
Laura Bush's speech = 8.5
John Bolton = 3
At military lying about details concerning Pat Tillman's death: 6.5
At Lynndie England taking the fall alone for Abu Graib: 8.5
Re: buddhism Pamprin Maximum Cramp ReliefRich.
In period of English history, people lived in small groups, but had yet to develop villages. There was little reason to do so, as most goods needed, such as bread, could be created on the farm. Beer was a different story. Beer was complicated enough, and required enough equiptment that it could not be made at home. Therefore, villages were formed around breweries. This lead in short order to Feudalism, Adam Smith, ending in the Bud Ice Penguin. Quite remarkable really. --David Frazier, Morehead State University
The immense importance of a pint of ale to a common person should not be overlooked.
--Canon of St. Paul's Cathedral, 18th Century
He was a wise man who invented beer.
--Plato
This is grain, which any fool can eat, but for which the Lord has intended a more divine form of consumption. Let us give praise to our maker and glory to His bounty be learning about beer.
--Friar Tuck
From man’s sweat and God’s love, beer came into the world.
--Saint Arnold of Metz, The patron saint of brewers
You can only drink 30 or 40 glasses of beer a day, no matter how rich you are.
--Colonel Adolphus Busch
Not all chemicals are bad. Without chemicals such as hydrogen and oxygen, for example, there would be no way to make water, a vital ingredient in beer.
--Dave Barry
My friend Ham o' Bone and I discuss this theme a lot. He disagrees, but my take is that there are differences between people and therefore there actually could be differences between eras. Granted, the differences may look slight in God's eyes, but there is a world of difference between, say, myself and Mother Teresa. And eras are just collections of people. Nothing more, nothing less. We see variation in intelligence of different people and variation in their physical characteristics. Why should there not be variations in holiness? Physically people were much shorter two hundred years ago. Is it so great a leap to imagine that - on the whole - some previous societies might be holier than ours, even allowing for the glow nostalgia offers?
Part of my reaction is that I hear my mom and others say there are no saints really - we just don't know their sins. But if there are no saints than there really are no models, and if there are no models why should we much try? And if societies don't get better or worse, than why should we try as a society to get any better? In the OT there are differences i think. Nineveh, versus say Sodom. Nineveh, to our shock, actually repented in sack cloth and ashes.
I like to think people are influenced by leaders, especially back when we weren't so individualistic, back when we were more clannish. And so that means a society could vary with how good a leader was.
I guess the bottom line is that I don't believe in relativism. It's a fad nowadays to say that Western culture is no better than the primitive cultures, that it would be best, for example, to have let the Aztecs continue human sacrifices rather than have Spanish come. I'm kind of allergic to that.
Spanning the Globe To Bring You The Constant Variety Of Posts"Holy Communion is the shortest and surest way to Heaven," said Pius X to the Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament. "There are others, innocence, for instance, but that is for little children; penance, but we are afraid of it; generous endurance of the trials of life, but when they come we weep and ask to be spared. Once for all, beloved children, the surest, easiest, shortest way is by the Eucharist. It is so easy to approach the holy table, and there we taste the joys of Paradise."Another quote from the book makes one wistful for childhood:
"I have found it much easier," writes one who has had much experience, "to prepare little children than those who are older--the preparation is much more objective than subjective. It is more a realization of how lovable, how desirable, how loving our Lord is, than a preoccupation of how they can make themselves worthy - or less unworthy - to receive Him. The actual first communion appears to the little ones as the very loving embrace of a much-loved Father; to the older ones it is more a welcome to a loved and honored guest, with - if I may so put it - the preoccupations of a hostess."
I recently received a "Substance Free Workplace Program: an employee's guide", and yet nowhere in it do I see where I can get free substances. I think a program that offers free alcohol is an awesome employee benefit, but the communication they distributed is extremely poor. I hope they offer Guinness!Reply:
I think the intent is to convey a workplace that is free of any substance whatsoever--a big fat hairy pile o' nuthin, not even antimatter--kind of like a universe-sized Dirt Devil got turned on. See, the pamphlet makes sense now, doesn't it?Response to a corporate email urging us to "reflect the brand":
Doctors diagnosed Robert's condition as "too-much-reflecting-iopia", for Robert had "reflect(ed) the brand" and "reflect(ed) customization". The solution was to attempt to be himself as much as possible and not reflect the hell anything. He was given experimental anti-reflecting drugs and today is a fine, upstanding man with 2.3 children and a split-level appropriately furnished. Robert works for a small company that "really doesn't reflect anything". He avoids mirrors.***
Circe, Cyclops, Scylla, CharybdisRegarding another:
Earth, Wind, Fire, Rain
Moe, Curly, Larry, Shemp
Howdy, Bob, Clarabell, Flubadub
Bonzai, Lizardo, Bigboote, Penny
MiamiDade, PalmBeach, Broward, Volusia
Minos, Virgil, Francesca, Barbariccia
Scheiss, Busen, Verkehr, hoelle
Disturbed, Loners, Chat, Room
Kubla, Khan, Xanadu, Paradise
Shakespeare, Bacon, Dante, Cervantes
36, 23, 34, 73 (note: the IQ can round out the quartet...)
Jewel, Christina, Brittany, Jessica
War, Famine, Pestilence, Death
Uh, was this note as uncomprehensible to you as it was to me? First you got this guy named Walter Pingleton, which is fun to say aloud, and he is responsible for 'distributing offshore products globally', which is just where you'd expect offshore products to be distributed right? But how do these products stay dry? Whadda we have a bunch of them stuck out in the Gulf of Mexico somewhere? Also our so-called global strategy, which doesn't include Puerto Rico by the way, does include aliens. So is our 'global strategy' now outdated? Shouldn't it be called our 'galatical strategy'?Original email:
Hi all,Reply:
Just to help confuse things a little, we are hiring Bob Webb into the Keynote team. Brian's notes ID is: Webbb2. Thought I'd give you a heads up to be careful on addressing emails to me. Mine is Webbb1.
Poor bbbastard.Email:
Ah yes...I say as I endure that sweet form of torture, tracking my peers careers. It does seem a bit unseemly, to see my friends in these glamourous positions and making glam-pay. I have the proverbial mixed emotions. I never meant to underachieve, I just meant to over-save.Reply:
Having taken gigantic hits in my tech portfolio I have finally attained the peace, serenity and acceptance of the probability of working well into my declining years. Having pissed away the better part of my '20s I have long been in the position of seeing my age peers become captains of industry while my income peers came of age when Bananarama and Wang Chung were rising with a bullet. When I get too old to give a shit about this job--oh wait, too late.... when I get old enough for the brand-embossed gold watch, I am going to apply for a job driving a bread truck or a chip route. Even an 85-year old can probably tote a case of potato chips across the sidewalk to the local bodega in the Linden Area (unless they're densely packed, like Pringles).Email:
The latest thing in marketing is called "covert marketing". Sony is using it to sell their new cell phone/digital camera. They hire people to be "tourists" that hang out at various attractions and ask people to take their picture "next to Mickey" or "in front of the geyser". Of course the real purpose is to get people to try out the new camera without knowing it is an ad campaign. Apparently the beer companies have been doing the same thing for quite a while. If you run into a gorgeous babe at a bar exclaiming in a stage whisper "I love men who drink Axolotl Ale", chances are she is a shill trying to sell the beer. I'm going to see if I can get a job covertly selling Preparation H. I could ride buses all day and exclaim "Man, it sure feels good to sit down again. Before I found Preparation H, I had to stand up and hang on whether there were seats open or not"Email:
We have been asked to bring our own TP or "hold it" until we get home so that we can meet out consumption reduction targets.reply:
I was told to wear my winter parka to work because the heat was going to be turned off until the economy turns around.reply2:
Our elevators won't move until they are full. Yesterday I had to wait in the elevator 20 minutes until there were 6 other people that wanted to go from the 5th floor to the 7th. Cha ChingSad email:
Yours truly is getting his 15 minutes of fame, but it's not the kind of fame that one generally wants. I am one of the unlucky 100 bastards and bastardesses getting their pink slip. Here's how it went (with a little embellishment): On Thursday, at 3:15pm I received a call from the Veep's secretary asking if I could meet with the Veep at 3:30pm. This has happened 0 times before so I wasn't freaked out, but I was worried about the smell of bourbon (Early Times) on my breath. I drank two more toddies, placed the fifth back in my desk drawer, and then sucked on a peanut butter spoon for a couple of minutes. Arrived at the Veep's door at 3:31pm, the nitrogen-oxygen-hydrogen compound busy destroying neural cells - at least something was working like it should in this godforsaken place. Veep: Come on in. This is Sarah from HR. D.: Hria, Shrah! (Act sober, I thought, as the Scottish brogue threatened to give me away.) Sarah: Nice to meet you. (To Veep) Did you notice the new decor of the Executive Room... Veep: It's got a French Colonial feel to it now. D.: That's frrrrreeedom not Ffffrrenchhhhh! (Good, that almost sounded sober - don't roll the r's next time.) What followed was a tortuous 5 minute discussion about nothing. Message communicated: we have information that is bad for you, bad to you, and we are trying to make it easier on ourselves. Veep: Dave, I'm sorry to say that we are going to have to let you go. The leadership no longer believes that the market is going to recover this year and possibly the next.
Sickness engulfed. I had just enough time to grab the candy jar on his desk, only partially full of gummy worms, there was enough room for the meager contents of my stomach, consisting entirely of Early Times and gastric juices. I'm trying to lose weight, but one cannot survive without liquids. D.: Sorrrrry. I'm just surprrrised, being the senior technical manager on the team. Veep: I had to get my FTE costs under a certain amount, in fact, you are not getting a raise this year as well. D.: You suck! At this point, the HR rep began to feel useful, putting a hand on my shoulder, she tried to shhh me into submission. Sarah: D., we don't expect this to be easy for you! But please be professional. Veep: Yeah D., we still expect you to support all of your duties through the next 60 days. I want you to know that you have my utmost respect. D.: Eat $h1t! At this point, I noticed two new thick-neck fellows in the office. The last thing I remember was the ceiling, the bloody letter opener, and the bleeding scratch marks on my left wrist...
Thirty years ago, [Bill Gates] tells Friedman, if you had to choose between being born a genius in Mumbai or Shanghai and an average person in Poughkeepsie, you would have chosen Poughkeepsie because your chances of living a prosperous and fulfilled life were much greater there. ''Now,'' Gates says, ''I would rather be a genius born in China than an average guy born in Poughkeepsie.''
Friedman describes his honest reaction to this new world while he's at one of India's great outsourcing companies, Infosys... "But my eye kept . . . telling me something else: 'Oh, my God, there are just so many of them, and they all look so serious, so eager for work. And they just keep coming, wave after wave. How in the world can it possibly be good for my daughters and millions of other young Americans that these Indians can do the same jobs as they can for a fraction of the wages?' "
Please remember our new Ecumenical Pontiff, Benedict XVI, the Pope of Rome in your prayers...He may not be as close to Americans as was Pope John Paul the Great, but may learn to deal with the American Catholic Church. He speaks English quite well. There will be Holy Cards available when they are printed similar to the ones which we distributed in memory of Pope John Paul the Great. Remember, he more we acclaim the term "Great" to Pope John Paul the Great's name, the sooner it will become recognized by Rome and become permanent.
And some non-sleeping descriptions:Alligator dog - this is when he is resting on his stomach, his full five feet length in a straight position. His long snout and large black nose gives this pose its name.Crescent dog - here we see him curled slightly in the shape of Pillsbury's finest. Circle dog - here he's tightly curled, tail to nose, in a circular position. Carpetbagger Dog - not a pose but a tendency to relocate to where you were sleeping after you get up. Flat dog - here he lies on his side (colloquial usage: flatamaran). Centerfold dog - he's flat on his back, package to the wind.
Necktie dog - sits alert his with his neck craned as if wearing a necktie. Begasaurus Rex - self-explanatory. The Flying Nun - ears up! (see pictorial here). Crazy dog - occurs especially after baths, runs wildly to and fro. Bucking Bronco - occurs during Crazy dog phase; begins to buck.
And yet, the objection is frequently made, isn't it the case, once we have a firm and binding document-a genuine letter of St. Paul or a decree of an ecumenical council-that we can simply rely on the plain sense of the text to give us the teaching we need? This intuition is widely held, but the history of the Church shows us that there is no such thing as the plain sense of the text that is universally acknowledged-at least over time. It is simply impossible to lay the flooring of a document so tightly that someone, at some time, will not manage to fall through the cracks.* - just a joke
My favorite illustration of this point is the decree Omnis utriusque sexus of the Fourth Lateran Council, held in 1215. It holds that everyone, of both sexes, is required to go to confession at least once a year. It was, however, interpreted by a monk named William of Newcastle to mean that yearly penitential duty is incumbent only on hermaphrodites. Now Brother William, obviously, needed someone to point out the error of his ways. His Latin, incidentally, was flawless; the problem with his interpretation is that it was insane.
The upshot is that every article of faith we have, no matter how obvious or how arcane it may appear, has run a gamut of fatal threats throughout the centuries, and has been vouchsafed to us, multa inter alia, by bishops and censors and canonists and judges. As Chesterton points out, if you paint a fence post white, and just leave it alone, it will eventually turn black. In the same way the teachings of the Church have to be reappropriated in every generation-unglamorous work!-and protected from contamination, neglect, and the random predations of those Williams of Newcastle that stalk the pages of the history of doctrine in every age like a recurring nightmare.
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