I learned from Eric Scheske that there's a cornucopia of archived periodicals at Unz.org. Some fascinating stuff (Bill White take notice).
The Bookman, from January 1933, has an interesting article called Proust and the Modern Dilemma.
May 07, 2012
Periodicals Galore
I learned from Eric Scheske that there's a cornucopia of archived periodicals at Unz.org. Some fascinating stuff (Bill White take notice).
The Bookman, from January 1933, has an interesting article called Proust and the Modern Dilemma.
Kiva Thoughts
From a recent Zenit article:
"Experiences such as micro-credit, and initiatives to create cooperative associations show that it is possible to harmonize economic objectives with social necessities, democratic government and respect for nature," the Pontiff affirmed. "It is also advisable to encourage manual work and to promote an agriculture which works in favor of local people, viewing these activities with the respect they deserve."It seems like the Holy Father approves the work of a micro-credit entity like kiva.org.
Diaristic Musings
I used to think that the light that is mentioned in so many near death experiences was a bit too cheesy and something of a cliche. We have experiences of light on earth, so it seems too predictable, too prosaic. I wanted near-deathers to describe something with more special effects than the instruction to "come to the light". But at least a couple things changed for me in the meantime. One is that I've become addicted to sunlight, appreciating it to an extent far beyond what I did as a child. The second thing is that I've become more used to the idea that God likes to use simple, natural things. An example of this is the fact that he entrusts the job of propagating the Faith to fallible, weak humans. He also uses water in Baptism and bread for His body. Simple things.
At the Indy Art Museum I was struck by how many paintings of the Nativity there were. It seems it's a subject not just ripe for music in the form of the many Christmas carols, but also artists. It's somewhat lost on me although I do have more of a devotion to Jesus as Infant (specifically the Infant of Prague) than before. I think part of why it makes sense for us to worship the infant Jesus is because it turns our power-worshipping on its head. The superhero is easy to acknowledge and worship; the babe less so. Similarly the folks we pass by in life often seem to be a pain when they are actually little Christs to us.
*
I thought about running a 5k race at 5pm but it was downtown and it was $40, two unpleasantries too many. It didn't seem worth it for 30 minutes of running with strangers, albeit many good-looking ones.
*
"Pray, hope and don't worry," goes St. Padre Pio's famous words. (Funny how few of the spiritual writers seem to recommend keeping a journal. It would seem so out of character to hear Mother Theresa or St. Padre Pio say, "pray, hope and keep a journal of your innermost thoughts.")
*
A breath of fresh air, that is the Byzantine liturgy. As Fr. Terry related in his homily, visitors are always coming up to him saying how beautiful the liturgy is and he always says, "Thanks" but now says he will say, "Join us." Evangelize, in other words.
What struck me most today was Jesus saying that his food, in other words the eternal food, is doing the Father's will. So rather than look at "works" as something designed to make me feel guilty, why not look at them as Jesus did, as "food". Everlasting food. My how countercultural the gospel feels to me, even after all these years.
*
Proof of the Resurrection? Receiving his resurrected Body at Mass!
*
Finished Charles Murray's "Coming Apart" yesterday. A stimulating read. He's trying to inspire people to appreciate the American experiment and American exceptionalism. If Europe goes bad, as he believes it will, then it will give us new faith in our model as opposed to Europe's. Although it does seem like we've waited a long time for Europe to "go bad" and even now it seems to be going bad more because of the common currency than anything else (since countries in debt can't devalue their currency).
In the book Murray (a libertarian) mentions how the Federal gov't shouldn't usurp the roles of families and communities, but I wonder why that doesn't apply to communities co-opting the role of families. For example, a guy on the school board is starting a tutoring program for a local suburban elementary school - which is lately all the rage across many districts. Sounds good, but I do wonder if it's a band-aid approach to what would seem to be families or teachers dropping the ball. Another sign of decline it would seem. As Terrence Berres recently wrote of nuns: "I hope that one day someone researches how they managed classrooms of 55 kids. If that is a skill that could be taught, the potential benefit could dwarf anything the sisters have been doing since."
*
Read about someone with real troubles, that of a North Korean who escaped a prison camp there. Very salutary reading for the whine-imbiber. Then a good gulp of Douthat's "Bad Religion" before a finishing rinse of the novel "The Map and the Territory", which has taken a very ugly turn indeed. Have a hunger to buy Jonah Goldberg's "The Tyranny of Cliches" which I've ordered from the library.
*
Have been enjoying prolonging the moment of sleep by watching some of "Lillehammer", the fish-out-of-water story (a Netflix exclusive, which sounds sort of like a 'Walmart exclusive' but...) about an ex-mafioso who goes to Norway and finds the culture different there. I like the fine photography of a distant locale and the main character has a kind of watchableness about him.
At the Indy Art Museum I was struck by how many paintings of the Nativity there were. It seems it's a subject not just ripe for music in the form of the many Christmas carols, but also artists. It's somewhat lost on me although I do have more of a devotion to Jesus as Infant (specifically the Infant of Prague) than before. I think part of why it makes sense for us to worship the infant Jesus is because it turns our power-worshipping on its head. The superhero is easy to acknowledge and worship; the babe less so. Similarly the folks we pass by in life often seem to be a pain when they are actually little Christs to us.
*
I thought about running a 5k race at 5pm but it was downtown and it was $40, two unpleasantries too many. It didn't seem worth it for 30 minutes of running with strangers, albeit many good-looking ones.
*
"Pray, hope and don't worry," goes St. Padre Pio's famous words. (Funny how few of the spiritual writers seem to recommend keeping a journal. It would seem so out of character to hear Mother Theresa or St. Padre Pio say, "pray, hope and keep a journal of your innermost thoughts.")
*
A breath of fresh air, that is the Byzantine liturgy. As Fr. Terry related in his homily, visitors are always coming up to him saying how beautiful the liturgy is and he always says, "Thanks" but now says he will say, "Join us." Evangelize, in other words.
What struck me most today was Jesus saying that his food, in other words the eternal food, is doing the Father's will. So rather than look at "works" as something designed to make me feel guilty, why not look at them as Jesus did, as "food". Everlasting food. My how countercultural the gospel feels to me, even after all these years.
*
Proof of the Resurrection? Receiving his resurrected Body at Mass!
*
Finished Charles Murray's "Coming Apart" yesterday. A stimulating read. He's trying to inspire people to appreciate the American experiment and American exceptionalism. If Europe goes bad, as he believes it will, then it will give us new faith in our model as opposed to Europe's. Although it does seem like we've waited a long time for Europe to "go bad" and even now it seems to be going bad more because of the common currency than anything else (since countries in debt can't devalue their currency).
In the book Murray (a libertarian) mentions how the Federal gov't shouldn't usurp the roles of families and communities, but I wonder why that doesn't apply to communities co-opting the role of families. For example, a guy on the school board is starting a tutoring program for a local suburban elementary school - which is lately all the rage across many districts. Sounds good, but I do wonder if it's a band-aid approach to what would seem to be families or teachers dropping the ball. Another sign of decline it would seem. As Terrence Berres recently wrote of nuns: "I hope that one day someone researches how they managed classrooms of 55 kids. If that is a skill that could be taught, the potential benefit could dwarf anything the sisters have been doing since."
*
Read about someone with real troubles, that of a North Korean who escaped a prison camp there. Very salutary reading for the whine-imbiber. Then a good gulp of Douthat's "Bad Religion" before a finishing rinse of the novel "The Map and the Territory", which has taken a very ugly turn indeed. Have a hunger to buy Jonah Goldberg's "The Tyranny of Cliches" which I've ordered from the library.
*
Have been enjoying prolonging the moment of sleep by watching some of "Lillehammer", the fish-out-of-water story (a Netflix exclusive, which sounds sort of like a 'Walmart exclusive' but...) about an ex-mafioso who goes to Norway and finds the culture different there. I like the fine photography of a distant locale and the main character has a kind of watchableness about him.
May 04, 2012
Friday
Boy beer tastes good though. Nothing quite like a Columbus IPA on a stormy Friday night, or pretty much any night. It seems the workweek ended coterminously with the good weather.
This morning was great though, the sun high while I remembered with fondness my 24 hours in Indy and wishing, natch, I'd extended it to 48 while gluttonously reading and ordering room service, and occasionally sitting at the handsome desk and writing alluvially while looking out that city window and pretending I was on the left bank in Paris among the arrondissements.
*
Seem to have little use for the 1962 Missal I purchased a couple years ago. It's a handsome book that has a talismatic quality but I'm not sure how to actually use it. It doesn't have the daily Mass readings, only Sundays. The Latin is, of course, cryptic to say the least. But it's nice-looking, what with the gilt-edged pages, black leather binding and colorful, plentiful ribbons.
This morning was great though, the sun high while I remembered with fondness my 24 hours in Indy and wishing, natch, I'd extended it to 48 while gluttonously reading and ordering room service, and occasionally sitting at the handsome desk and writing alluvially while looking out that city window and pretending I was on the left bank in Paris among the arrondissements.
*
Seem to have little use for the 1962 Missal I purchased a couple years ago. It's a handsome book that has a talismatic quality but I'm not sure how to actually use it. It doesn't have the daily Mass readings, only Sundays. The Latin is, of course, cryptic to say the least. But it's nice-looking, what with the gilt-edged pages, black leather binding and colorful, plentiful ribbons.
The Weather, John Adams, etc...
*
How I'd liked to have taken advantage of the unseasonably warm weather on Thursday and criss-crossed home and kissed the Kindle (which sometimes I bring to my nose, momentarily forgetting the smell of new book is not present there). Oh I wish I'd have taken a half-day off and lingered in the languor, jingled in the jangle. But now surrounded by leafy goodness, in the hammock slung. Young, vibrant greens from trees and bushes not yet suffering summer heat or drought, young, firm light greens. Before too long we'll be at midsummer's eve and I shall have to do my annual re-reading of Summer in Donald Hall's natural wonder book "Seasons at Eagle Pond". The sun gesticulates so winningly, so charmingly does she glance off housetops and gaily reaches the hammock. Unfortunately it won't be long till mosquitoes appear, especially given the mild "winter".
*
Feel relieved that the brilliant John Adams had diary entries as inconsequential as mine.
*
It seems like you lose a lot if you travel to a foreign country that speaks a foreign tongue. You're reduced to the merely visual. Alexis de Tocquville's traveling companion said that without mastering the language of the locals "one might as well take strolls in one's room with the windows shuttered."
That would seem to narrow the playing field to England, Ireland, Australia. I may go to China one day via a business trip my wife may have to take, but I do wonder what's it's like to, right off the bat, eliminate newspapers, theatre, overheard conversations, television, church services, etc... from the vacation template. You still have food, the sense of taste is not dependent on borders. And I suppose there are musical concerts. But it does seem to leave a bit to be desired.
*
I felt for awhile upset with myself for developing another "need", i.e. the Kindle (when books work fine) although perhaps that's just because this "need" popped up during my lifetime. I need a car, or would seem to, but I don't begrudge myself for that simply because the automobile was grandfathered in, an invention before my birth. The funny thing about cost of living indexes is that they don't take into account new inventions that one "has" to have, such as smartphones or Kindles or even the personal computer. All of these things somehow got added to my personal cost of living index along the way.
Saw a neighbor happily puffing on a cigar butting the grass with a riding mower. Oh yes, a riding mower - another "have" that wasn't when, at the tender age of 20, I was planning my retirement at 35. I remember reading a book about "How to Retire at 35" which turned out to be move to an impoverished country where the dollar will go far. (Pretty soon the dollar ain't gonna go far anywhere, given the debt we're piling up.)
May 02, 2012
Diaristic Wanderings
A surprisingly warm and humid eve, one I initially spent voraciously reading "Hitlerland", an account of Germany from 1918-1940 taken entirely from the American visitors, diplomats and journalists who were there. Oddly fascinating to see who predicted Hitler would "go viral" and who didn't. One poor German Jew lost his life at Dachau, always saying that Germans would eventually wise up about Hitler. (Trusting people, even in a democracy, may not be the wisest thing. Just ask any of the million American aborted fetuses last year.)
Anyway I love buying books, perhaps almost as much as reading them, and so I impulse-purchased this "Hitlerland" despite having a hundred and one others in front of it. The trick to book buying and reading is to read faster.
*
Am relieved to learn that I'm not lazy, I'm just dopamine-challenged. So says a new study that says dopamine levels are low in those who see small challenges as large ones. Lord, is there free will anywhere anymore? If free will was a stock, it'd be downgraded to "Sell at any price" by now.
*
Also tempted to buy Jonah Goldberg's new book called, "The Tyranny of Cliches", which dismantles liberal "truths" that they see as self-evident. It looks to be a tasty read if only because Goldberg is a pretty interesting writer. Most of the cliches are self-evidently false to me already, so there's an aspect of fishing in a barrel here, but I read the first couple chapters and he made it interesting. He defends the Catholic Church in one chapter (such as on Galileo) - he's getting the truth out.
*
Tumblr is sort of fun - it appeals to my collecting impulse. It *feels* like I'm saving all these pictures even though it's sort of ephemeral in that it's really saving 1's and 0's on some server using software that could be bought and closed down tomorrow. Not quite the same as saving a butterfly in the pages of a thick book. It all reminds me of e-reading. E-books are yours and yet... are not yours somehow.
*
The air smells of summer. Actually lilacs, but that's close enough. The temperature is warm and it's still reasonably light out now at the advanced chronological time of 8:43 in the evening. Of course we've crossed into May which means these sorts of evenings will grow increasingly common. I still can't believe it's May given how cold it was just last weekend: 45-degrees with a cruel wind. I have weather whipsaw; call me a chiropractor.
*
We can put a man on the moon, or at least could back in the day, but I can't get my diocesan newspaper delivered to me. Three times over the past 18 months I've called my parish office to explain the error, given that I did pay for the Catholic Times, and each time the office worker promised to rectify the situation, which was never rectified.
Meanwhile I feel out of the loop, missing some good stuff like George Weigel's columns and local Catholic news. (One time they even had an article on Catholic blogs.) They do have editions online in pdf form but I rarely think to go out and dislike reading long form articles on computer. But decided to download the latest issue to my Kindle and I read it and was interested to learn that there's an 8-day trip to Medjugorje coming up. I'm not a big Medjugorje fan but it's been a lifelong dream of my Mom's so I'm wondering if I should take it with her and Dad if they want to go. Then too there's a pilgrimage to Rome/Florence and Vienna that looks even more tantalizing. Only been to Europe once, back in '96, and I'm starting to feel the itch again.
*
At a retreat once we were asked what were the characteristics of God. Rather than spout the "cliche" of love I said "surprise." God is surprising. But what is most surprising about Him is his love. It's not fairness or justice that is surprising, rather it is that He loves and cares for sinful us!
I loved the Psalm from the other day's mass, Psalm 87. How melting this finish: "and while they dance they will sing: ‘In you all find their home.’" What is more surprising than Emmanuel, God-with-us? And while the psalmist praises those of Zion, we see a paradox: "Babylon and Egypt I will count among [those of Zion]".
Meanwhile the first readings have cheering, as so many during Easter are - we read of gospel success. Of Gentiles streaming towards the Lord. Now that's a refreshment, in our day of spiritual decline.
May 01, 2012
From May 1st LOGOS app Devotional...
Lo, the flowery month is come! March winds and April showers have done their work, and the earth is all bedecked with beauty. Come my soul, put on thine holiday attire and go forth to gather garlands of heavenly thoughts. Thou knowest whither to betake thyself, for to thee “the beds of spices” are well known, and thou hast so often smelt the perfume of “the sweet flowers,” that thou wilt go at once to thy well-beloved and find all loveliness, all joy in him. That cheek once so rudely smitten with a rod, oft bedewed with tears of sympathy and then defiled with spittle—that cheek as it smiles with mercy is as fragrant aromatic to my heart. Thou didst not hide thy face from shame and spitting, O Lord Jesus, and therefore I will find my dearest delight in praising thee.
In Jesus I find not only fragrance, but a bed of spices; not one flower, but all manner of sweet flowers. He is to me my rose and my lily, my heart’s- ease and my cluster of camphire. When he is with me it is May all the year round, and my soul goes forth to wash her happy face in the morning-dew of his grace, and to solace herself with the singing of the birds of his promises. Precious Lord Jesus, let me in very deed know the blessedness which dwells in abiding, unbroken fellowship with thee. I am a poor worthless one, whose cheek thou hast deigned to kiss!
Hierloom Spanning the Globe
From six years ago tomorrow, here's a special heirloom edition of STG:
Constantine was the first astronaut, also, although the U.S. government has been suppressing the evidence Neil Armstrong found proving the emperor went to the moon in 322. After enjoying a picnic lunch in the Sea of Tranquillity (he left behind a ceramic decanter bearing his imperial insignia), he got the idea to take over the Christians and make them all call him Pappy or Papa, or, in Greek, POPE. Upon returning to Earth, he declared all women "constitutionally compromised," mandated that they be raped daily by a Catholic priest, and decreed that all men except a few bishops were inferior to him in wisdom and knowledge of the Bible. He shared power with those few bishops in exchange for land, buildings and war booty. At least 1 billion people died in Europe alone to sate his lust for power...Thanks for nothing, Constantine. - commenter on Amy's blog, spoofing the DaVinci Code
Was listening to National Public Radio sometime last month -- something I don't often do -- and they were discussing the proposed South Dakota abortion law. They said it would ban all abortions except those that would "save the life of the pregnant woman." They couldn't bring themselves to say "life of the mother." - keenly missed Dylan of "More Last than Star", returning after 2+ year blogging absence
In our culture matter is what seems most real to many. Nevertheless, an overriding Nominalism or Neo-Platonism in modern thinking seems to bring with it an implicit rejection of the idea that the non-material realm can affect (much less effect) the material world. At the ID lecture a couple of weeks ago (that I mentioned here), there was a biology graduate student who was interested in learning more about Aristotelian causality. He had never heard of it before. As formal causality was being explained to him, he would laugh out loud. This happened several times. His laughs were not deriding but seemed more out of surprise, in the sense of asking ‘but how’? This is similar to the responses that I get when I teach this idea to my undergraduates, for those who actually grasp the implications any way....Over the next seven posts or so, I will try to address these erroneous presuppositions while showing why Sacraments are real, makes sense, and are exactly what one would expect given human nature. - blogger at "Cosmos, Liturgy and Sex"
Today I was reading a rather uncharitable post at another blog and I was particularly struck by one of the comments in response. A previous commentor had said something along the lines of "people that don't agree with us don't belong in the Church." (yeah, heard that one a few thousand times) To which the following commentor emphatically agreed "got that right," and then went on to say: Happy Divine Mercy Sunday everyone! - Mark of "You Duped Me Lord!"
Divine Mercy flows in the direction toward those who need it most, even if they don't realize how much mercy they need. You have to remember, mercy is defined as being treated better than they deserve. In this case if they can't imagine a church big enough for everyone then they need a lot of mercy. - commenter responding to abve post on "You Duped Me Lord"
God's wrath, throughout history, basically consists of giving us what we want. - Scott Hahn, via Julie of "Happy Catholic"
Here is my challenge to you. Look at the Fathers and the councils and notice how they worked from positions of less to greater clarity. I see how you can say in some instances that as the church matured she was open to new streams of thought, but only to the degree that they illuminated the pre-existing tradition.- Greg Popchak to JCecil (last year)
Too bad Terri Schiavo wasn't an illegal immigrant - title of Curt Jestian post
So, what's God busy teaching me? That I'm small, and He's big. That I have work to set my hands to, whether it's what I would choose or not. That rest is important, and He can handle the world while I get some sleep. (Imagine that.) That prayers don't have to "feel" good to be efficacious and necessary. They just have to be done. That bearing burdens can be a glorious vocation--it's just hard to remember that when you're right in the middle of it! - MamaT of "Summa Mamas"
* * *
UPDATE: Ahh....memories of old time blogs. 2002 list of Christian blogs. Old Oligarch, I hope you're doing well.
| Spanning the Globe to Bring You the Constant Variety of Posts |
Constantine was the first astronaut, also, although the U.S. government has been suppressing the evidence Neil Armstrong found proving the emperor went to the moon in 322. After enjoying a picnic lunch in the Sea of Tranquillity (he left behind a ceramic decanter bearing his imperial insignia), he got the idea to take over the Christians and make them all call him Pappy or Papa, or, in Greek, POPE. Upon returning to Earth, he declared all women "constitutionally compromised," mandated that they be raped daily by a Catholic priest, and decreed that all men except a few bishops were inferior to him in wisdom and knowledge of the Bible. He shared power with those few bishops in exchange for land, buildings and war booty. At least 1 billion people died in Europe alone to sate his lust for power...Thanks for nothing, Constantine. - commenter on Amy's blog, spoofing the DaVinci Code
Was listening to National Public Radio sometime last month -- something I don't often do -- and they were discussing the proposed South Dakota abortion law. They said it would ban all abortions except those that would "save the life of the pregnant woman." They couldn't bring themselves to say "life of the mother." - keenly missed Dylan of "More Last than Star", returning after 2+ year blogging absence
In our culture matter is what seems most real to many. Nevertheless, an overriding Nominalism or Neo-Platonism in modern thinking seems to bring with it an implicit rejection of the idea that the non-material realm can affect (much less effect) the material world. At the ID lecture a couple of weeks ago (that I mentioned here), there was a biology graduate student who was interested in learning more about Aristotelian causality. He had never heard of it before. As formal causality was being explained to him, he would laugh out loud. This happened several times. His laughs were not deriding but seemed more out of surprise, in the sense of asking ‘but how’? This is similar to the responses that I get when I teach this idea to my undergraduates, for those who actually grasp the implications any way....Over the next seven posts or so, I will try to address these erroneous presuppositions while showing why Sacraments are real, makes sense, and are exactly what one would expect given human nature. - blogger at "Cosmos, Liturgy and Sex"
Today I was reading a rather uncharitable post at another blog and I was particularly struck by one of the comments in response. A previous commentor had said something along the lines of "people that don't agree with us don't belong in the Church." (yeah, heard that one a few thousand times) To which the following commentor emphatically agreed "got that right," and then went on to say: Happy Divine Mercy Sunday everyone! - Mark of "You Duped Me Lord!"
Divine Mercy flows in the direction toward those who need it most, even if they don't realize how much mercy they need. You have to remember, mercy is defined as being treated better than they deserve. In this case if they can't imagine a church big enough for everyone then they need a lot of mercy. - commenter responding to abve post on "You Duped Me Lord"
God's wrath, throughout history, basically consists of giving us what we want. - Scott Hahn, via Julie of "Happy Catholic"
Here is my challenge to you. Look at the Fathers and the councils and notice how they worked from positions of less to greater clarity. I see how you can say in some instances that as the church matured she was open to new streams of thought, but only to the degree that they illuminated the pre-existing tradition.- Greg Popchak to JCecil (last year)
Too bad Terri Schiavo wasn't an illegal immigrant - title of Curt Jestian post
So, what's God busy teaching me? That I'm small, and He's big. That I have work to set my hands to, whether it's what I would choose or not. That rest is important, and He can handle the world while I get some sleep. (Imagine that.) That prayers don't have to "feel" good to be efficacious and necessary. They just have to be done. That bearing burdens can be a glorious vocation--it's just hard to remember that when you're right in the middle of it! - MamaT of "Summa Mamas"
* * *
UPDATE: Ahh....memories of old time blogs. 2002 list of Christian blogs. Old Oligarch, I hope you're doing well.
From "Word Among Us"
All through history, those who are called by the Father to unite themselves with his Son must examine and re-examine Jesus’ identity. Who is Jesus for all of us; who is Jesus for me? Somehow, our response to these questions and the growth of our life in Christ are linked together. One of the special characteristics of the second gospel is the way it describes the insistent but gradual way in which Jesus revealed himself to his followers—the struggle they went through to grasp and accept what he was preparing them to understand. As we read and pray about the Gospel of Mark, it is often possible to identify with the episodes described. We can take consolation in the fact that faith and understanding have always been hard-won prizes, even for those who enjoyed the visible presence of the Lord.
April 30, 2012
Mark Steyn on John Edwards Trial
From latest National Review:
John Edwards lives with the two youngest children of his official government-regulated “family image.” Emma Claire is thirteen and Jack is eleven.
They have no mother. For some reason the United States regards it as a priority to see that they be more comprehensively orphaned.
The great English jurist Lord Moulton considered the most important space in society to be the “middle land” between law and absolute freedom, in which the individual has to be “trusted to obey self-imposed law.” That is, a gentleman should not lie for political advantage about the paternity of his child. When he does so, it is a poor reflection on him and on those who colluded with him — the Democratic party and the media. What it is not is a crime. As bad as Edwards’s behavior is, the Justice Department’s is worse. The urge to ensnare in legalisms every aspect of human existence — including John Edwards’s rutting — will consume American liberty.
24 Hours in Indy: A Trip Log
Delighted to be in the centre of it all, right outside the gaudy service men monument. I took a victory lap around the oval (where a large group of Middle Eastern folk were rallying to 'free Syria') and found, to my surprise, I was inches from the Indiana Symphony and tonight there's Grieg, so I impulsively bought a ticket. Grieg may be a buzz-kill - happy hour has just commenced an hour before the concert starts - but I'd rather error on the side of trying to do too much than too little. Am woefully underdressed but am in the nosebleeds so hope for inconspicuousity.
Was perennially behind time today given the voluptuous delights of the art museum and the grounds surrounding it. The sun shone strongly, which is ever helpful, and so I was loathe to enter the museum, preferring to dilly-dally around the outdoor statuary and hidden fountains. This was originally the summer home of ERF, "extremely rich folk", and their white mansion on the edge of the grounds was something to behold, like out of a fairytale. I momentarily forgot that with mansions and acreage that you eventually become accustomed to whatever initial shock of appreciation. Or so is my working theory, having never lived in a mansion or bought acreage. Still, I do know that despite having attained increasingly bigger back yards over the years they tend to shrink over time, psychically if not physically.
I wasn't sure if I was on museum land in the beginning, so there was the pleasant excitement of potentially trespassing. There's always a thrill in getting to see something "extra", something the natives don't, but I was hoping they didn't sic the dogs on me. The gardens were impossibly delightful, having that aspect of seek and find about them, of hidden vistas suddenly appearing. Fields within fields leading me, inexorably, to the formal gardens and majestic summer home.
Then onto the museum, which happened to be free. Even more shocking was that parking was free. Indiana, reputed to be a lower tax state, still manages to fully fund its museum of art. Kudos.
So I was there over three hours and never made it out of Europe. Beautiful, gorgeous art upon which I engorged myself. Unfortunately I found myself lapsing into the cursed collector/consumerist mindset by trying to snap every other artwork with my camera. Too often instead of enjoying the art in the now, I wanted to capture it in a picture for later.
I came to the museum for escape. I named my fears since that actuates a partial exorcism: that of being a more attentive husband and that of meeting increased challenges at work.
Going through the galleries, I came to one devoted to the sacred, and observed a disciple of Bosch who painted a scene of Christ entering Limbo (although truth be told it looked like Hell). All sorts of body parts were missing, limbs severed, etc. A menacing maw ate people as they entered. But there was Christ, powerful and heroic, beating down the enemies. A fine way to say, "Jesus I Trust in You".
Then there was the very simple painted crucifix of a Spanish king renowned for his personal austerity (hence the simple crucifix). Below the cross was a skull, a symbol of the defeat of Death, and again I'm taught of Christ's power, of how "by death he conquered death".
Later, at St. John the Evangelist, I found a pamphlet describing their sister church in Haiti and found this picture:
Another great: a 17th century panorama of the my favorite Marian apparition, that of Guadalupe. It was quite a stunner and I thought to myself that it was worthwhile to come here just to see this. I sat and drank it in for awhile.
Really there were so many mesmerizing works it was ridiculous. Sometimes a reader needs a solace beyond print. I'm not convinced a picture can say a thousand words, but it has persuasions all it's own.
*
It's hard to romanticize the view from the ho' (short for 'hotel') but I'm resolved to do so. 90% of it is parking garage, but I can see other things, like a Huntington sign and "SPIRITS" lit up like on the Vegas strip. Signs of life include cars going down Pennsylvania Avenue.
The biggest surprise here in Indianapolis is the love for Benjamin Harrison, x-teenth president of the United States. He must be the only Hoosier president else he'd not be such a big deal (unlike Ohio, which, I say proudly despite having nothing to do with it, has presidents out the wazoo.) There is a plaque and a room in the lobby of the hotel named for him, and there's a museum in or near town. He comes off as something of a cult hero in these parts (I base that on all of a four hour visit).
Went to the Symphony and it was a buzz-killer extraordinaire. Whatever desire for art I had it seemed to have got left in the Art Museum lobby because time till intermission was interminable. I bolt-actioned out right quick after two generous applauses for the guest pianist. He was good, I'm sure, but I guess I felt more like a good blues lick. Or something. All's I know is time moved preternaturally slow during the first movement where "movement" is a generous term. The only thing moving was my ass squirming in my chair.
I felt somewhat vindicated when I read in Saturday's Indianapolis Star that the beginning was indeed slow:
Klas began the program with one of several versions of fellow Estonian Arvo Part's "Fratres." Scored for string orchestra and percussion (which punctuates with taps the points of rest between iterations of the chantlike theme), "Fratres" hauntingly exhibits the spiritual side of minimalism. This performance adopted a slower than ideal tempo; as the strings gradually moved into their lower register and gathered heft, a more credible atmosphere of contemplation was established.The pianist, Andre Watt, came on next and exhibited a sense of someone at the height of his powers: old enough to play with virtuoso aplomb, young enough to still have the fire.
It seems like with symphonies they like to put the bad stuff up front so that you'll be so grateful when you hear some better music. Sort of like fasting during Lent so that you'll be giddy with Easter.
*
Woke early, perhaps due to the unusual physical exertion yesterday or because of the exhilaration of being in a strange city. Either way I slept in anyway, despite a ravenous hunger to read (because I hadn't read anything since Thursday), whereupon I rose and shortly thereafter descended into the bosom of Indianapolis's core. I found my legs a tad recalcitrant; I'm definitely not in good city vacation shape, defined by the desire and ability to walk 5-10 miles a day. The sedentary lifestyle (except for brief 30 minute elliptical training periods) has a vacation price.
A friend once called Indianapolis "Columbus West", presumably because they're both state capitols randomly situated amid the cornfields. I did expect a greater density of churches but found only St. John the Evangelist of Catholic persuasion. No Mass till 12:10pm unfortunately. There was a Church of Christ church nearby, and that's the only other Christian church I sighted. Of course my legs, feeling like lead weights, didn't cooperate beyond an hour stroll amid the concentric streets. I did alight upon the converted Union Station (it's now a hotel that I'd considered booking). The marvelous, massive interior space feels strange inasmuch as all this was done for trains? It definitely gives off the air of a different era. I tend to associate train travel with utilitarian beds carrying coal and other raw materials, but at one time union stations were the airports of their day.
Walking around on a cool, rainy morning, I didn't get the feel of the density of a NYC or even Chicago. It's okay but think I probably might've better spent the time walking the Canal Walk. Pictures on the 'net revealed it to be exactly that, a walk along a canal of water. Perhaps not Venice but you gotta dance with the one that brung ya.
There's something pleasing about just being in the hotel room itself. I open the windows to let in the light. The sills are nice and deep - you can rest your elbows on them and look out over the scene. I see an old-timey building with a pleasing stone edifice in near distance. A faded "First Indiana Savings Bank" sign reminds me I'm not in Ohio anymore. (Which reminds me: yesterday three teenage girls were taking pictures of the War Memorial monument, saying that you "don't see that in Kansas.")
All-in-all a nice little trip. The weather cooperated so splendidly - how tailor-made for the lovely garden stroll. I felt like an aristocrat, there walking amid "my" grounds, as if momentarily in a scene from Downtown Abbey. They were definitely difficult to leave, and I'd have liked to brought the Kindle and read there. (At the museum I saw a painting of a man reading in just such a park-like setting.)
Before heading home though I made one last stop, checking out some of the churches in and around Mass Ave., a picturesque street I'd missed. I liked the Deutsche Haus that was renamed the Atheneum during one of the world wars due to anti-German sentiment. The attached Rathskeller looked appealing, reminding me of my days in German class in high school. I looked in on St.Mary's (where many Hispanics were practicing for something) before finding a nearby gigantic temple-like structure irresistible. It looked like a castle cum church, but turned out to be a Shriner's lodge cum theatre.
The drive home proved to be painless. Nothing like excessive walking to make one receptive and grateful towards sitting for 2 1/2 hours. I listened to Dr. Barber's "Sacred Page" podcast followed by the inimitable Brian Lamb interviewing economist Walter E. Williams. Jolly good stuff.
I feel rejuvenated by the immersion in art. Another good thing about vacations: lots of exercise (walking) and better food. I tend to eat less cereal and junk food while, at the same time, exercising tirelessly. And I sleep on clean, allergenic-free, cat-dander-free sheets.
This & That
Last night caught more of the comfortable predictability of Dancing With the (C-List) Stars. One can guarantee there'll be minimal clothing coverage on the females (and sometimes the males), and that the storyline will be aspirational, one of "overcoming". DWTS is mostly a story of overcoming obstacles -- pardon the redundancy since all stories are similarly composed.
*
Seems that Fr. Corapi has disappeared from view, his infamous Black Sheepdog website taken down. More than a year after the allegations, it seems he's now living in anonymity. Fascinating character he. Larger than life. The whole story seems like something of a different era, a more dramatic one.
*
Sold the original Kindle DX today. Feels a bit disloyal, seeing how it used to be my go-to reading instrument for a period of time. I'm not sure I should've given up on it so fast. As a backup what could be better? But I think over the past four months I've used it only once. Hard to leave money on the table I guess.
*
Much enjoyed Lino Rulli's show the other day when Fr. Rob called various other Catholic shows - including Fr. Mitch Pacwa's! - and basically used it to see how long he could talk before being stopped by the host. It was enormously entertaining. Sometimes my jejune-ity shows. It was comedic genius for its line-bending and turns out they got in a bit of trouble for it. The suits don't like those sorts of hijinks. Today's revelation is that Rulli's shrink prescribed some medication for him, something that would give him greater mental clarity with which to make better decisions. Lino says he gets tired often during the day. (Join the club!)
*
Was semi-traumatized this morn by reading of poor Dom Bettinelli's near MRI experience. Like Dom, I don't think of myself as particularly claustrophobic, but then I haven't found opportunity to be placed in a cage and then in a machine only slightly bigger than myself. It sounds like Geneva and her conventions might want to consider the MRI as an instrument of torture. 45 minutes of doing nothing is enough to drive me crazy. (You mean I can't check my iPhone?) Modern medicine, including actual harrowing treatments like chemo, seem to have heightened expectations of the toughness of the Western humans.
*
Picked a strong line-up (I think) of Mother's Day gifts. A book by Fr. Groeschel about the afterlife, one by runner Alberto Salazar which I'd like to read, "The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Bible" and, of course, "Bad Religion" by Douthat.
*
Read about the expanding beer menu on Royal Caribbean cruises on USA Today. Lately I've felt a kind of nostalgia for cruises. I miss the gaudy midways of mid-ship, the cigars on the balcony, the sheer availability of food...
*
Seems that Fr. Corapi has disappeared from view, his infamous Black Sheepdog website taken down. More than a year after the allegations, it seems he's now living in anonymity. Fascinating character he. Larger than life. The whole story seems like something of a different era, a more dramatic one.
*
Sold the original Kindle DX today. Feels a bit disloyal, seeing how it used to be my go-to reading instrument for a period of time. I'm not sure I should've given up on it so fast. As a backup what could be better? But I think over the past four months I've used it only once. Hard to leave money on the table I guess.
*
Much enjoyed Lino Rulli's show the other day when Fr. Rob called various other Catholic shows - including Fr. Mitch Pacwa's! - and basically used it to see how long he could talk before being stopped by the host. It was enormously entertaining. Sometimes my jejune-ity shows. It was comedic genius for its line-bending and turns out they got in a bit of trouble for it. The suits don't like those sorts of hijinks. Today's revelation is that Rulli's shrink prescribed some medication for him, something that would give him greater mental clarity with which to make better decisions. Lino says he gets tired often during the day. (Join the club!)
*
Was semi-traumatized this morn by reading of poor Dom Bettinelli's near MRI experience. Like Dom, I don't think of myself as particularly claustrophobic, but then I haven't found opportunity to be placed in a cage and then in a machine only slightly bigger than myself. It sounds like Geneva and her conventions might want to consider the MRI as an instrument of torture. 45 minutes of doing nothing is enough to drive me crazy. (You mean I can't check my iPhone?) Modern medicine, including actual harrowing treatments like chemo, seem to have heightened expectations of the toughness of the Western humans.
*
Picked a strong line-up (I think) of Mother's Day gifts. A book by Fr. Groeschel about the afterlife, one by runner Alberto Salazar which I'd like to read, "The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Bible" and, of course, "Bad Religion" by Douthat.
*
Read about the expanding beer menu on Royal Caribbean cruises on USA Today. Lately I've felt a kind of nostalgia for cruises. I miss the gaudy midways of mid-ship, the cigars on the balcony, the sheer availability of food...
April 23, 2012
Let's Play...Why's My Bookbag or E-Reader Equivalent So Heavy?
Artless boy, he’s found a system of beauty: he shows us pleasure and what Pleasure resists. The ice cream is delicious. He’s frail beside his relentless standard.From Ross Douthat's Bad Religion:
The entire media-entertainment complex, meanwhile, was almost shamelessly pro-Catholic. If a stranger to American life had only the movies, television, and popular journalism from which to draw inferences, he probably would have concluded that midcentury America was a Catholic-majority country—its military populated by the sturdy Irishmen of The Fighting 69th (1948) and The Fighting Sullivans (1944); its children educated and its orphans rescued by the heroic priests and nuns celebrated in Boys Town (1938), The Bells of Saint Mary’s (1945), and Fighting Father Dunne (1948); its civic life dominated by urban potentates like Francis Cardinal Spellman of New York and Denis Dougherty of Philadelphia; its everyday life infused with Catholic kitsch, from the 1950s hit single “Our Lady of Fatima” to the “win one for the Gipper” cult of Notre Dame football.
*
The weaknesses of midcentury religion were manifold, no doubt, but so are the weaknesses of religious culture in any time and place. Judged by the exacting standards of the Gospels, most Christians in the sixth and tenth and sixteenth centuries probably enjoyed only a “veneer” of true religion, and Wills’s critique of American Catholicism on the eve of Vatican II could be applied to the Church of 1880 or 1910 or 1935. It’s easy to recognize the fault lines in an institution after it’s been shattered, easy to declare that a particular dissolution was inevitable once it’s taken place. The more important question isn’t “why?” but “why then?” Why did the churches have a bigger credibility problem in 1978 than in 1958?
From The Map and the Territory by Michael H.:
It must have been very practical, that belief in God; when you could no longer do anything for others—and that was often the case in life, it was basically almost always the case, and particularly concerning his father’s cancer—there remained the resource of praying for them.
*
“in a sense I’m happy that your mother’s no longer here. She who was so refined, so elegant … she would’ve found physical decline unbearable.”
Diaristic Wanderings Monday
Feel a tinge of nostalgia for an old John Denver song, "Poems, Prayers and Promises". It wasn't as big a seller as most of his others but there's something memorable about it nonetheless. Through the magic of iTunes I can purchase it for .99. Ninety-nine cents to indulge a memory seems like a good deal. (I assume the royalties go to his so out-of -the-spotlight offspring or wife.) Denver died before the era of smartphones and iTunes. I wonder what he'd think about the technology, to be free'd from tapes and discs.
I listen to "My Sweet Lady" as well. It doesn't have the same impact, knowing that the person for whom he wrote it became his ex-wife not too long after. Back in the '70s I thought Denver's romanticism (and not so much God) was the answer to the open infidelity of the heavy rockers. I think after the divorces of so many seminal figures that I eventually realized that romanticism can't be an end in and of itself and that it's not enough. God alone, as Amy Welborn's husband used to say, and even with God it's rough (i.e. the failed marriage of uber-Catholics the MacFarlanes).
My modus operandi for life in general was less of a give-it-to-God/pray like hell philosophy and more of a systematic observation of successful people and copying their tendencies and characteristics. But what I failed to realize was how complicated people are. How we can't be reduced to machines such that if I do x, y will result. As they say with mutual fund prospectuses, "past results don't guarantee future performance." Not to mention that you can seldom draw a straight line between cause and effect in a multi-variable world.
*
Ross Douthat in "Bad Religion" proposes that heresies prop up orthodoxy like the flying buttresses prop up medieval Gothic churches. Orthodoxy suffers like nobody's business if state-sponsored, which is perhaps why the Catholic faith is (paradoxically) stronger in heretical America these days than Catholic Europe. Orthodoxy is at its strongest when it's slightly rebellious.
*
I got to do a little surreptitious traveling yesterday. Got to observe people who, on the surface at least, are different than me. I'm pumping gas at an inner city neighborhood and a woman out of the blue starts yelling something (it seems the disadvantaged are often not afraid of decibels). I thought it was directed to me but it turns out to be at a guy slumped against the wall of the gas station. She was very critical of him and seemed something of a harpy, although when he started urinating against the wall I felt more inclined to give her the benefit of the doubt. Anyway it was like watching a real-life COPS episode without the cops.
*
Saw two mothers walking their kids on leashes. Hyp-mo-tizing to see that. Understandable given how one of the kids seemed hellbent on racing into the busy four-laner.
*
Almost instinctively I reach for the lame beers like Budweiser when the drinking day is almost done. Expired Budweiser beer tastes strangely like circus peanuts. But it matters less at that point, which reminds me of just how modern ancient Israel sounds when the Bible says that at the wedding of Cana the cheap stuff is held till the end!
*
Stopped by the market for more of the world's greatest product (beer) and was graced by the woman in front of me allowing me to go in front of her since I had so little. A very nice gesture! Still I had to wait for what felt like forever while the lady already being checked out dithered and dathered with the usual I've-got-all-the-time-in-the-world attitude of those free from social media addictions. There's nothing quite so white knuckly for me as grocery shopping lines. At the risk (okay, the risk approaches 100%) of sounding ridiculous given that complaints in the first world would be dreams of third worlders, I don't much like that there's no line for "15 items or less". You're now expected, apparently, to check small numbers of items out yourself, and I have bad luck operating those. Hie me from now on to the beer drive thrus! (An old joke: "The problem with instant gratification is it's not quick enough.)
*
Amazing piece by Matthew Lickona on the Mel Gibson situation as linked by Darwin Catholic and Bill White. Of course I have to take issue with the hopeless ending since even Mel can be saved, though given that he's a radical Traddie, you'd think Mel would have a bit more fear of judgment.
April 19, 2012
A Rhyme....
...spotted on Dylan's semi-private blog:
Catullus wrote an epigram or two:
Well-read he was, but could get rather blue.
That one about Aurelius, for starters:
Not for those who blush at the sight of garters!
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