Voting has always felt somewhat like gambling to me. The possibility of actually obtaining the hoped-for outcome is slim to none, but you're supposed to give it the benefit of the doubt anyway.
I've been saying for years that my political philosophy class in college taught me primarily that democracy corrupts more functionally than other systems of government, which is useful because every system of government corrupts. Ours does still function, even with how far removed it is from the Founding Fathers' intentions.
What is the purpose of the circus we call the race for the presidency? Is anyone's mind changed by campaigns, conventions, and debates? Or is it all merely expensive entertainment for the masses, wherein each citizen gets to watch "their guy" and "the other guy(s)" make spectacles of themselves?
Even the lectures I heard this election cycle about responsible citizenship and the common good and whatnot: not one of them managed to be nonpartisan. If someone is considering abandoning their support for a particular candidate, telling them that their only acceptable option is to do so is probably not going to be helpful. Changing hearts and minds is a slow process that demands both openness on the part of the listener and thorough, balanced honesty on the part of the speaker.
The trouble with gambling is that I pretty much always lose. The apocalypse that was so widely predicted didn't exactly happen the last time Obama won, though he did do more damage than I expected him to (considering the limitations of the executive office). It won't be a walk in the park this time, but we'll manage.
And just think! The spectacle begins again in just about two years. I'll vote next time, but count me out of the proceedings, thanks.
Ut inimicos sanctae Ecclesiae humiliare digneris: te rogamus, audi nos.
Ut regibus et principibus christianis pacem et veram concordiam donare digneris: te rogamus, audi nos.
That's my cousin surveying the wreckage of the amusement park in her hometown (photo from the local Star-Ledger newspaper)
All my family members are fine, with minimal (or no) property damage. Not all of my friends were so blessed, though. I ask your prayers for two families:
First family has 3 kids under 4. Dad posted on facebook after the storm: "Our new guest is a real stiff. He broke the shower, killed half the deck, and won't even let us into the attic! Now he's letting the rain in." And also, "We TRIED telling the tree it was too big for our shower, but it just wouldn't listen." They hope to be able to move back into their home in a month and a half.
Second family has 2 kids under 4 (both adorable, precocious little girls). Completely lost their house in the storm. I don't have many details, but I presume it was flooded, as they think it may be possible to salvage some items, maybe. Not only do they need a place to live for several months (living with grandparents now), but also basic essentials like boots for the girls and work clothes for the dad.
PLEASE keep these families in your prayers! As well as everyone living without heat until probably the middle of next week. While Jersey gets a hurricane every year or two, this was a much more devastating hurricane than probably any in living memory.
~2~
Funny story about the hurricane, though. When the storm stopped, my bachelor uncle immediately started volunteering for the Red Cross in his area, being able-bodied and with no dependents. A few days later, he learned that his part of town had power again, so the first thing he did was call my grandma, who's been staying with my folks, and invite her to come down to his place and use his heat. Next thing he did was tell his supervisor that he needed to run home to warm up the house for his mom.
Supervisor didn't want to let him go. You'd think, this is volunteering, how on earth can she compel him to stay? I don't know, but apparently they went back and forth several times, until finally my uncle looked her in the eye and said:
"Look, I'm afraid of you. But I'm more afraid of my mother."
"I'll see you in an hour."
My grandmother will be telling this story until the day she dies.
~3~
Carved a pumpkin this week for the first time in my life! It was surprisingly fun. I can understand why people might make this an annual tradition.
Michelle was kind enough to share her book of pumpkin designs to trace. It's the only reason my pumpkin looks so good! (Note our matching pumpkin-cats!)
~4~
We have joked on Dad's side of the family that every now and again, in the right context or after the right number of drinks, we'd discover a new relative or some other such data that we thought we ought to know.
New to the whole family this week: My grandmother had a modeling career (presumably before she got married?). I mean, we knew homecoming queen, student body president, etc. But modeling?
When I delivered this to my sister, I discovered something else that was news to me: Our grandfather spent a year in Utah at some point in his pre-married life! When he told this to my sister and cousin, they were kids, and so didn't internalize a lot of the details. What does one do in Utah? Ski. Who lives in Utah? Mormons. Thus, now that my grandfather has passed away and all we have to go on is their childhood memory of this conversation: Apparently he spent a year skiing with Mormons in Utah.
~5~
My 16-year-old Nissan Sentra, which still hasn't even broken 120,000mi, is finally completely dead. I finally took it to the mechanic this week, thinking that I could perhaps afford the repairs it surely needed, based on all the new noises and vibrations it was making.
You know it's bad when your mechanic lists off at least eight problems with your car, including two disparate brake repairs that need to be done before it's even safe to drive, then calls the beast "a hot mess."
Do widzenia, Janek! (In English: Bye, Johnny!)
Gladly accepting assistance (prayerful or otherwise) in the car shopping department, especially since I have neither time nor interest in so doing.
~6~
So, a couple months back a friend booked me to give a talk on the Year of Faith to the young adult group at her parish. I've been so slammed with work that I haven't started formally preparing the talk yet (which I knew would happen), but as questions come in from attendees and I'm making mental notes about context, it's becoming fun (again, as I knew it would). In general, I kind of find faith to be a bewilderingly vague topic, but I am finding that the additional context of this holy year is filling in the gaps. I'm becoming pretty excited about this talk, and, by extension, the Year of Faith! (Better late than never, eh?)
~7~
To close, I leave you with a chant that last night's Requiem Mass reminded me is still one of my favorites, and one of the ways Our Lord communicates His love and affection directly to my heart.
Most sweet Jesus, Redeemer of the human race, look down upon us humbly prostrate before Thine altar. We are Thine, and Thine we wish to be; but, to be more surely united with Thee, behold each one of us freely consecrates himself today to Thy most Sacred Heart.
Many indeed have never known Thee; many too, despising Thy precepts, have rejected Thee. Have mercy on them all, most merciful Jesus, and draw them to Thy sacred Heart. Be Thou King, O Lord, not only of the faithful who have never forsaken Thee, but also of the prodigal children who have abandoned Thee; grant that they may quickly return to Thy Father's house lest they die of wretchedness and hunger.
Be Thou King of those who are deceived by erroneous opinions, or whom discord keeps aloof, and call them back to the harbor of truth and unity of faith, so that there may be but one flock and one Shepherd.
Be Thou King of all those who are still involved in the darkness of idolatry or of Islamism, and refuse not to draw them into the light and kingdom of God. Turn Thine eyes of mercy towards the children of the race, once Thy chosen people: of old they called down upon themselves the Blood of the Savior; may it now descend upon them a laver of redemption and of life.
Grant, O Lord, to Thy Church assurance of freedom and immunity from harm; give peace and order to all nations, and make the earth resound from pole to pole with one cry: "Praise be to the divine Heart that wrought our salvation; to it be glory and honor for ever." Amen.
Last week, I skipped my quick takes because I had no interest in writing them. I feel no remorse for this (though I did appreciate Bob's prodding in that direction after the fact). No sense feeling beholden to something that is not actually an obligation. But I'm back for now.
~2~
I think I've driven away all my commenters by switching to writing about whatever I feel like. Or perhaps by my 11-month hiatus. If either of these are true, refrain from commenting to confirm my theory. :)
~3~
There really is something beautiful about walking places rather than driving. It's one of the things I will miss most about my current location whenever I move to another apartment (closely followed by living right behind the grocery store and bank). Not only does it provide a helpful minimum of exercise, but it puts you into contact with people in a way that's just completely lacking otherwise. Here in Atlanta, the folks you're walking past greet you, so I put on an enormous smile and greet them in return. There's just something warm and wonderful about pleasant interactions with strangers, in the midst of this world of isolation and commuting.
As a follow-up to my conference presentation in January, the director of the Notre Dame Center for Liturgy asked me whether I'd be interested in cutting up that presentation into bite-sized pieces and joining the ranks of their bloggers. The twenty-first century unpaid equivalent of having my very own magazine column! Whoo hoo!
I finally got my introduction to Tim last month, and there it is: the first in what I project to be a 17-installment monthly series. That's right, I will continue to milk my master's thesis for a year and a half's worth of blog posts!
Over the next year or so, I intend to offer a guide through the millennia from creation to eternity—with a focus on the 20th century—to see in various ages what the Church has asked for regarding liturgy and what we gave to God in that respect. With that background, I will venture to offer practical applications for several more months, so as to encapsulate the relevance of this history to today’s churchgoers.
Oh, and I opened the post with a completely relevant Monty Python sketch. No idea how I'm going to match that for the second post, which will be on the Scriptural basis of our worship and the principle of sacramentality. (I'm accepting suggestions, especially either usable or absurd ones.)
~4b~
Speaking of Tim and ND, I've recommended his pieces to you before, and this one on ending the liturgy wars is no different. He's wonderfully balanced and well thought out. A glimpse:
The problem with liturgical politics (and the liturgy wars) is that it gradually suffocates this spirit of prayer. Ironically, it turns liturgical prayer (a participation, ever so brief, in the heavenly peace of the city) into an act of war. We grow to suspect that the hymn chosen at a particular celebration of the Eucharist is intended to communicate some implicit ideological theme. We hear chant and assume that the music director is dialing back the reforms of the Second Vatican Council. We “use” the liturgy to institute our own ideas of what reform should look like, rather than celebrating liturgical prayer as an authentic encounter with the living God.
Seriously, it's worth reading. If you have opinions about liturgy, that is.
~5~
I just heard a loud scream from elsewhere in my apartment complex. Was about to be concerned... and then remembered this weekend is Halloween, observed. Never mind!
~6~
Went to a Georgia Tech football game this past weekend! It was a ton of fun. First, an entertaining photo from among the madness outside the stadium:
I snapped this during one of the very rare moments when they
weren't posing with fans. Doesn't this just scream Atlanta!?
From where we sat in back of the student section (by choice), you could see some of the Atlanta skyline, which was pretty sweet.
Those buildings are all within half a mile of the
stadium, so it makes sense they're so visible,
but it was still darn cool to have that backdrop!
I also learned about a certain George P. Burdell, who's been a "student" at Georgia Tech since the 1920s.
The administration were glad to finally get him out of the system when they switched to digital student records in the 60s, only to have an enterprising student promptly hack into their systems and restore his records. He was recognized for something or other during the game; I didn't catch what. Anyway, students have been signing into classes and events as George P. Burdell for nearly a century, so legend has it that he's earned every degree Tech has to offer, among many other distinctions. Seriously, wander over to his Wikipedia page. It's entirely worth the five minutes it will take you to read it. :D
After the parish group photo (apparently "promptly at 2:00pm" means somewhere around 3) at the (annual?) parish picnic this past weekend...
I think if you click on this, it'll show you the full size photo.
I'm on the far left in front, close by the very pregnant lady.
A couple of the guys started cajoling me into playing soccer in the parish-wide kids vs adults game. Now, I go to a traddy parish. While I do own pants, I wasn't sure admitting that in front of the entire parish was a good idea. But the trouble was, I actually wanted to play. Of course, I was wearing a cute little skirt and blouse combo that wouldn't mix well with diving to save the ball, so their cajoling was all in vain...
Until one of the guys volunteered that I could borrow the pajama pants he keeps in his trunk (which fit me so well that other friends presumed they were mine). Done! Enter: Soccer game!
Aaaaaaand repetitions of this might explain some of those scrapes and
bruises that are still healing from 5 days ago...
In retrospect, I was the only woman on the adults team. But it was enormously fun, and I haven't lost as much of my goalkeeper skills as I'd feared. Turns out, my high school coaches trained me pretty well!
(More photos of the picnic/game here, in case you were wondering. There are some fun ones of Father playing soccer in his cassock. It's nice to have a parishioner who moonlights as a professional photographer!)
Anyway, joining Jen and the gang, better late than never. Until next week, or something like that!
What? Friday is really just a terribly inconvenient day for me to blog, and I never remember to pre-write one so I can just hit "post" come Friday...
~1~
An Atlanta legend of sorts named Brother Sean passed away on Monday. He might've even been a saint, who knows?
Once a successful lawyer, Sean decided one year that he wanted to celebrate his birthday by giving pizza to the homeless people who lived around his favorite pizzeria. Long story short, he ended up literally selling all his possessions to live with the poor (he was barely better off than the homeless). He became known as "Brother" Sean not because he joined an order but because he performed works of mercy, and the homeless can be quick with nicknames. He spent all his money feeding the poor, and spent all his time just being with them. People would give him money to care for himself, and he would spend it on Atlanta's poor. He would often take groups (usually church or school-related) around to feed the homeless, always including that most uncomfortable--and most important--linchpin of spending time with the homeless, of just talking with them.
The poor have human dignity, too, which is often forgotten, especially by those who can't or won't give money to panhandlers. Just saying hello, smiling, chatting, or promising a prayer is often at least as helpful as money or food. Encountering Brother Sean turned the location of my apartment from convenient enough, even if there are beggars nearby, to a blessedly constant opportunity buy food for our wonderful homeless people and sometimes chat with them a bit. Seeing them now genuinely bring joy to my heart, and for this I have Brother Sean to thank. Requiescat in pace.
~2~
So I was commissioned to write a piece about how Sacrosanctum Concilium impacted my life, for the 2014 edition of this fairly useful-looking product. Took me a while to pull my thoughts together, but ended up writing about how I grew up with what I termed "ethnic envy," that is, feeling boring because I was white and thus didn't have a cool cultural history like most of my friends did... until I discovered in college that Catholicism is a culture, and I'm perfectly entitled to it. This changed rather a lot, in my experience of the world. (I'm rather pleased with the piece, and am somewhat impatient for it to come out!)
On a theoretically unrelated note, I've been reading the Torah lately... It's turned out not to be unrelated it all. Just as the centuries of Catholicism are my culture, so too are the Hebrews' years of wandering in the desert! I could have sworn I'd read these books before, but now I'm suddenly understanding minutiae that never struck me before - the arrangement of the twelve tribes, the year of jubilees, the practical usefulness of a lot of the strange-sounding laws, including those of ritual purity. All of this, too, is my heritage, and it's exciting and fascinating. I always knew I loved our Jewish roots, but wow! :D
~3~
New favorite saint alert! St St Stanisław Szczepanowski, or (if you're less comfortable in Polish) Stanislaus of Cracow, or Stanislaus the Martyr. As bishop of Kraków (one of the first Polish-born bishops in Poland), he excommunicated the king for brutalizing his subjects, so the king ordered him killed. The soldiers were hesitant in the face of Stan's holiness, so the king slew the bishop himself - while he was celebrating Mass.
Awesome.
~4~
At my new freelance client's office, the guy who sits at a desk across the room heard the following twice this week:
*clap* "Yes!"
That's right: The glorious combination of sounds that means I successfully killed that bug (in this case, gnats) on the first try. I'd be lying if I said I weren't proud of myself. :D
~5~
So, Year of Faith, whoo! Totally didn't even realize until about last week that it was in celebration of the 50th anniversary of Vatican II (oops). I've been thinking I ought to, like, care about this whole year of faith thing, but really lacking the motivation to do so. Then a friend booked me to give a talk to a group at her parish about the Year of Faith. Enter: Excellent motivation. Whoo hoo!
~6~
Another vaguely work-related take. For one of my clients, the proofreading projects frequently require me to look up one-verse Scripture passages. It makes me very grateful for that song I learned as a child about books of the Bible, and for the shoutouts I added to include the Deutero-Canonical books (it was on some cassette about bees, for the two of you who are wondering)...
Well. Every time a passage is cited from either letter to the Thessalonians (or sometimes just when I flip past Thessalonians), I pull a Larry the Cucumber. I can't help it. Just wanted to confess that publicly on the internet.
Either skip to 48 seconds, or click this link. I can link to the middle of the video, but I don't have the skillz to embed from the middle of a video. Sorry for its poor quality, but really, the audio is all you need there. Yeah.
~7~
If you had asked me 7yrs ago, when I was singing them at least weekly, whether I'd ever forget the words to such Ann Arbor classics as the Te Deum and Born Into a Battle, I'd've laughed. My memory for all the verses of a hymn is definitely above average... and yet, after having tried to sing these and others in my car last night, I actually had to look up their lyrics. Wow.
It occurs to me that, in order to put into perspective what people meant when they scorned Jesus eating with tax collectors and sinners, we might want to consider the modern-day equivalents: lawyers (and/or maybe politicians).
No offense intended to lawyers and politicians; there are some genuinely good people in the batch, at least a few of whom I would positively enjoy spending time with. But consider the stereotype, the reputation: corrupt quasi-government officials, taking advantage of their positions of influence to fleece innocent people out of their money...
Think about it. Wouldn't it seem at least a bit weird for Jesus to go eat dinner with a bunch of lawyers, when so much of his ministry was to the poorer classes, and so much of his remaining time spent with priests and religious leaders?
What? I'm making up for lost time! I'm relatively confident these will actually be somewhat quick, as opposed to my usual Friday fare... Okay, at least some of them will be.
~2~
So today is Plaidurday, invented last year by some guy "to celebrate plaid. To bring together all the wonderful plaid-wearing people of the world." Too hilarious a holiday for me not to celebrate!
...Except I was rather surprised to discover that I own almost no plaid. I mean, I know, I wore it day in and day out for eleven of my twelve years at Catholic school (preschool required no uniform), but I like to think I've gotten over that. However, my entire stock of plaid consists of a gingham shirt, two hats, and some underwear. I might have to go shopping before next Plaidurday.
~3~
My sister's been telling me for weeks that her school is ranked by the Princeton Review (or somebody equally impressive, give me a break, I'm no guidance counselor) for being one of the Prettiest College Campuses in the USA. It's not so much that I doubted her as that I wasn't sure what to expect.
It's pretty. This particular photo (which, of course, doesn't do justice to the real view) shows part of a section of campus known as The Colonnades. Unsurprisingly, this impressive colonnade is whence these dorms get their common name.
~4~
Speaking of my sister's school, one of their eateries makes these fantastic muffins--which are really just the socially acceptable form of eating Chocolate Cake for Breakfast...
Anyway, as part of their meal plan, they get a certain number of free food items from the non-cafeteria eateries on campus, called "swipes" because the food costs one swipe of the card.
...which resulted in my sister offering all weekend to swipe me a muffin. Totally legit. Did not get old!
On second thought, that might've been a "you had to be there" moment, but at least it gave me a reason to link you to one of Bill Cosby's most memorable comedy sketches...
~5~
While I've mentally returned to my sister's campus, I can't help but recall how wonderful it was to see my family this weekend. Not only was it delightful to be in their company again all together, with no one else to distract us, something possibly more important: it felt so profoundly normal!
Probably it felt this way because the routine of a college visit became familiar to me during undergrad, when they visited close to every semester, but there's something wonderful about an adult visit with your family wherein it's just good old-fashioned family time, no distractions; wherein your adulthood is neither negated nor ignored, yet the stresses and changes of adult life are not present. It was fantastic. I miss them already. :)
~6~
But it's back to reality! My newest freelance client, in metro Atlanta, wants me to come into the office for about 30 hours each week. It's great to have the structure and the social element of an office environment (not to mention the consistent work), but wow does transitioning to a normal work schedule take a toll on you! I'd forgotten quite how tired those first few weeks are.
~7~
However, there are other fun perks to this job. I don't want to give away too much detail, but suffice it to say that I've been organizing a sort of inventory of saints for them. The inventory was put together piecemeal over several years and by various people, and as a result, it's an impossible-to-navigate mess. A simple example: St. Matteo and St. Matthew have separate categories, as do St. Cecilia and St. Cecila. Don't even get me started on the collection of Saints Catherine!
Because of this project, I've gotten to dabble in translations of names. Some are simpler: The Latin Jacobus produced both Jacob and James. Emmerich (or Emeric) = Imre* = Henry. Eduvigis = Hedwig! (Believe it or not, I backed into Hedwig via Spanish and Polish, two languages in which I have very limited competence.)
*I swear, the name Imre came up in some fiction I've consumed within the past several months. Or perhaps something that sounds very similar? My sincerest gratitude to anyone who can figure it out...
~8~
Most entertaining website that I came across in the aforementioned search to confirm saint names in various languages? This one.
Seriously tempted to buy one of these for my gambler uncle for Christmas, just because...
~9~
So, between my trip out to see my sister and my return to a commuting lifestyle, I have found a way to solve my aforementioned literary dilemma: Les Mis from audible.com! It's actually been pretty fantastic (notwithstanding nearly two hours about the Battle of Waterloo, most of which I lacked the military jargon to understand, and whose entire purpose, I think, was one five-minute scene that helped to firm up the despicable character of Old Man Thenardier). I'm about 18 hours in, and it's a 60 hour book, so I have some hope of finishing it by mid-December...
I forget this whenever I'm not reading very much: My life is always better with fiction. Movies and TV aren't the same at all. I suspect part of this comes from the fact that most of the fiction I'm reading is at least a generation or two old, so it's of some quality, having stood the test of time. But I think it's largely just that encountering the world and its truths in that particular medium takes me out of myself and causes some reflection.
~10~
Speaking of reflection, I realized quite suddenly this week (and with some surprise) that I positively disbelieve in the Hegelian dialectic. For those of you who did not take that class with me (or, perhaps, at all), it is from Hegel that we derive the notion that society is always improving, that "progress" is inherently good. Hegel posited that the new ideas popular in society form into a sort of "thesis," which is followed by a backlash, by people trying to turn back the clock--the "antithesis"--and the two slowly meld and become the "synthesis," which essentially means progress. (I'm no philosopher, but that's how I understand it, anyway.)
I looked with ambivalence on the idea when I first learned of it, but it wasn't until this past week that I realized that I completely disagree. Shaped as my worldview is by a desire for virtue and the belief that original sin has dogged humanity since the beginning of time and will until the Parousia--albeit perhaps in different forms--the idea that life in previous centuries was so bad, and things are getting better and better... it just took me by surprise how patently ridiculous is the whole idea.
After all, that's what blogs are for, right? Making the internet read whatever you feel like sharing with it?
~11~
If any of y'all are still reading, you're quite the troopers. While I'm still talking about surprising moments while reading Les Mis... *~*SPOILER ALERT!!*~*
Okay, I'm only a few books in; Jean Valjean and Cosette have just moved to Paris at present. So I've really only encountered Javert in Montreuil-sur-Mer. I've also gotten the full dose of the Thenardiers. I remembered coming into things that both are pretty terrible characters, but that was all I remembered.
Well. The Thenardiers actually didn't make me all that angry, as book characters go. But Javert! During the scene where he arrests M. Madeleine at Fantine's bedside, I actually dropped at least one F-bomb on him--out loud! I was SO furious at him!
With a bit of reflection, I've concluded two possible reasons for the intensity of my reaction: 1) The Thenardiers barely pretend to be "good people," whereas Javert thinks he's being righteous in his utter lack of mercy (or human courtesy). 2) Or perhaps the crux of the matter is that the Thenardiers treat everyone more or less equally (the difference only being the best method to bleed a man dry), whereas Javert has a very strict code wherein some people are sub-human.
The more I think about it, the more I vote for explanation number two. Bonus points for Jennifer Fulwiler's latest article, conveniently timed for my musings. I must be influenced by Hugo's views on society creating its criminals (which I want to say Dickens also spread?), because I have no sympathy for people treating them any differently. Or maybe by Catholic social teaching, which explicitly abhors anything that denigrates any person's human dignity. But let's cut off this rant before it begins...
*~*END OF SPOILERS*~*
~12~
I believe I promised last week to report on my marshmallow brownie experiment. When I put it in the oven, I was entirely certain that I had messed up by putting WAAAAAAAAAY too many marshmallows in the brownie. Instead, what I pulled out of the oven was actually boiling on the top. The marshmallows had all melted and risen to the top, and taken a lot (though not all) of the chocolate chips with them. The result was that the top layer of brownie was almost caramelized (sticky but not hard), while the bottom 2/3 was much cakier than usual. It made a good brownie (I love me some foolproof desserts!), but it wasn't at all what anyone expected.
~13~
Another update: The bunch of us who built the St Francis Scarecrow went to visit him at the Atlanta Botanical Garden last night! It was an enormous amount of fun (and they waived the $18 ticket price for all of us, whoo hoo!). St Francis was nestled down below the path, but near the front of the maze of scarecrows. (I use the word scarecrow loosely. Most of the "scarecrows" submitted bore little to no resemblance to the traditional scarecrow; they were just sort of themed statues cobbled together out of stuff...)
Note the button on his lapel that says "Ask me a question, I'm Catholic."
Don't note the three of our gang who are (presumably illegally) behind the gate...
But he looked great in the Garden, and whenever one of our gang dawdled inconspicuously near St Francis to eavesdrop, they noticed that people were stopping to take a closer look at him, which we found encouraging. One pair of ladies nodded approvingly, one saying to the other, "And on his feast day, no less!" while they clinked their classes and drank to St Francis. What a perfect Catholic moment!
~14~
Like all good things, this must come to an end, despite the fun I've had writing it. At the Botanical Garden last night, I kind of checked something off my bucket list:
Meeting a carnivorous plant! It would have been way cooler if we'd actually seen any of the pitcher plants eat anything, of course, but it was still cool (especially since the quail in the other exhibit eluded our sight, though they were quite vocal).
Anyway! That's more than enough of me for two weeks. The rest of these Quick Takes (which are still probably quicker than mine) are at Jen's home page. Until next time!
And for another take on Jen's brilliant quasi-cop-out!
~1~
I don't want to say too much, because the situation is only temporary, but... let's just say that I've got work enough to keep me in Atlanta for another couple months, at least. :)
~2~
Pleasant acquaintances from my parish threw a housewarming party last weekend. There were many high points of this party, but the cutest was definitely their four-month old, whom I got to hold for several hours. Apparently I have the "magic touch," because she doesn't fall asleep for people easily, but did for me twice... Her parents are thrilled to have a babysitter, and I'm thrilled to have both new friends and a baby to play with. They're really adorable at that age. :D
~3~
So one of the gals in my Bible Study group got an email several weeks ago from the Atlanta Botanical Garden, asking if her community organization wanted to participate in Scarecrows in the Garden this year. I think she said yes without even asking us, because seriously? How fun!
And it was indeed!
What scarecrow is complete without use of power tools?
Best snippet of conversation all evening:
Guy 1: Do we have a staple gun?
Guy 2: Yeah, I brought my staple gun, it's right here.
Guy 3: Wait, we have a staple gun and we haven't been using it!?
Needless to say, the staple gun was used gratuitously from that point forward.
Kind of the anti-scarecrow, St Francis is...
Full story to follow via Dorothy's blog, but I just couldn't resist. I don't know how you spent your Tuesday night this week, but I'm quite certain mine was cooler. :D
~4~
Due to a passing idea mentioned by a friend, I am all set up for a brand-new batch of experimental brownies: Bursts of marshmallows! All the recipes I've found online are for a layer of marshmallows, but the challenge is to have them hidden throughout the brownie. I'd forgotten how relaxing yet exhilarating it is to explore making up a new dessert recipe, with a willing audience!
Okay, I was about to talk this fall being "a good year for lit majors," as Liz mentioned in an email, but Laura beat me to it, and did a much better job. So, for the three of you book nerds who aren't too lazy for an extra click, head on over to read a bit, and watch trailers.
However, I will say: Both Hobbit and Les Mis come out December 14. I'm only going to have a chance to reread one of them. The Hobbit is the one of the two that I remember better... but it's also about 1200 pages shorter than Les Mis...
Also: Just this minute discovered that I don't own the Hobbit. Really? How on earth did that happen? (Aside from, you know, having read my dad's copy years ago and then moved out of the house...)
Fortunately, ThriftBooks sells bothbooks for $4 each and free shipping! (Perhaps by "fortunately," I mean "dangerously"...)
~6~
Got a freelance gig this week that actually makes good use of my collection of obsolete Magisterial documents! You know, the slightly-less-awesome-than-one-might-hope ones that came out after the Council on subjects like architecture and liturgicalmusic, and have since been replaced by better-even-if-still-not-ideal ones? Those! I'm actually searching for equivalent quotes in the new documents, for the second edition of a book. It pleases me much to report that the stranger and more touchy-feely parts of the old documents are quite absent in the newones, which aren't so bad after all. :)
~7~
I probably won't do one of these next week, because I'll be leaving early Friday morning to visit my sister for her college's Family Weekend. By stating this now, I am officially dispensing myself from next week's obligation. Nag all you want, but ya' probably won't see me. Ciao!
So you know how the internet is full of addictive stupid games that provide no benefit whatsoever except perhaps some semblance of relaxation?
Enter FreeRice.com. For every question you answer correctly, 10 grains of rice are donated to hungry people. It's not a lot, but it's kind of a neat concept. My favorite game: Identify Countries on the Map. (It's my favorite because I'm absolutely terrible at it, and it's a real challenge. Seriously, just try it. If you get to 200 grains with no errors, I'm duly impressed. I usually get to about 30.)
~2~
Twice in the past month I've discovered that the lady with whom I was pleasantly chatting is either a minister or a seminarian. Having grown up in Jersey, where very nearly everyone I knew fit into one of four groups---cultural Catholic, practicing Catholic, non-Christian religion, or religiously apathetic---this is an unusual happening. And, having two degrees in Catholic theology myself, I have plenty of background to have an interesting discussion of theology with them.
And yet all I find myself wanting to ask is, But what do you study!? I can't wrap my mind around a degree in theology without the solid grounding in tradition that the Catholic Church has given me. Obviously, I can't ask that question because it's rude and probably disrespectful. Yet I'd be very interested to use these moments as an opportunity to learn about our Protestant brethren. Any suggestions on how I can use this curiosity and the commonality in our faiths to actually talk to people?
~3~
So this week I celebrated a birthday. There are birthday celebrations still to come (and most of my relatives haven't even put cards in the mail yet, I'm sure), but thus far I've gone out to dinner four times with different small groups of people: Mexican, American (pub), Thai, and Italian. AND one of my dearest friends down here bought me roses! My favorite kind, the yellow ones with pink around the edges - she could not possibly have known they were my favorite! (An aside: When I mentioned this to my mom, her response was, "Yes, you have always had a particular affection for those." Cracks me up.)
~4~
My taste in music has become significantly more indie folksy since I discovered NoiseTrade.com. Legal free downloads (donations requested but not required), and the only catch is they give the artist whose much you downloaded your name and zip code. I've picked up a few artists I'm really pleased with.
I found one today that's a really cool concept album. I'm not quite sure yet whether I like the guy, but I appreciate that each track is a tribute to a different C.S. Lewis book (you can listen to each full track without downloading, just click the Play arrow). He clearly has been influenced by many genres. I look forward to listening more closely and picking up the lyrics.
~5~
It's that time again! Arguably my favorite feast of the liturgical year: the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross! My annual tradition is to read the Anglo-Saxon epic poem The Dream of the Rood, and this year I'll even have friends with me to read it aloud, which is definitely my favorite way to celebrate!
This gentleman reads the first seventeen lines; I approve of both his pronunciation and his inflection, so though there's no translation on the screen, you can just listen to how high-class English sounded in the 7th century.
~6~
Arabian Nights: Update
I had mentioned a few weeks ago that I'm reading Arabian Nights via DailyLit.com, and have been enjoying it. Well, based on some reader feedback, I thought I'd continue with some semblance of a book review with an eye to its usefulness as bedtime stories for a contemporary American Catholic family.
It would be easy enough to find a good place to stop each night, because it's a story within a story within a story within a story within a story (approximately), so there's constantly a new part either beginning or ending. The one constant in every single story is the presence of the supernatural--mostly genies, but sometimes ordinary enchantresses or giant magical animals. There is also a LOT of infidelity, which is always presented as a bad thing (and is usually punished); it's (nearly) always the woman who is unfaithful, which is a bit one-sided. It's set in a clearly Muslim society, which is a perk for things like the sanctity of marriage and the importance of prayer and family underrunning every story, but you still may want to wait until your kids are old enough to handle questions of Truth and different religions (for, of course, the Muslim religion is the true one, according to any character who speaks of it).
Still, it's been a very interesting read (I say this now, less than 1/6 of the way through), and I do recommend it to anyone who's curious.
~7~
Last but most certainly not least, the hands-down winner for best birthday card this year:
I've been traveling in liturgical circles for a little while now. So while this new translation of the Missal didn't take effect until this past Advent, I've been familiar with quite a number of the texts since the fall of 2007.
Yet it still caught me completely off guard when I was catching up with a dear friend, then finishing her notiviate with the Carmelites, and she asked me what my favorite part was of the new translation. Well, I don't know. The whole thing, really. I'm a huge fan of this whole formal equivalence principle of translation, wherein the English kind of sounds like the Latin does, only, ya' know, in English. She, in response, had some incredibly profound reflection on how one particular phrase was a real testament to God's incredible love for us (unexpected profundity has always been one of her strong suits, but still).
I don't generally have "favorites" very often, of anything, yet her question stuck with me. And now, that I've been praying this translation day in and day out for months, I do have a favorite part: "poured out," during the consecration of the chalice.
take this, all of you, and
drink from it, for this is the chalice of my blood, the Blood of the new and
eternal covenant, which will be poured out for
you and for many for the
forgiveness of sins. do this in memory of me.
We used to pray "which will be shed." Most (possibly all) of the English hand Missals printed in the 19th and early 20th centuries, used by parishioners to pray in English what Father prayed in Latin, translate that as "shed." Even hand Missals being produced now for the traditional Mass seem to all say "shed."
Part of the rationale given for the change was that "shed" is inferior because it only works for blood, not for wine (you can't really shed wine), so "poured out" is better because it's more symbolic and evocative and whatnot. That's all well and good, and entirely true, but still falls short of the fullness of the Latin original.
The Latin original of the word in question is effundetur. I'm no great Latinist, but they tell me effundetur means more than "shed," more even than "poured out." It means emptied out of every last drop. Think of when Our Lord was scourged, then crowned with thorns, then crucified, and even then, after He had died, the soldier pierced his heart with his lance, and more blood (and water) flowed out. He gave and gave and gave until he quite literally had nothing left to give, no blood that had not been spilled for our sake.
THAT is how we are called to love in His image: to give of ourselves, for the love of Him and of His children whom He has entrusted to us. We are to give and give and give -- and even when we're completely at the end of our rope and couldn't possibly give any more, to give just a little bit more. He'll be right there, giving us the strength to do it, just as He did on that Good Friday so many years ago.
You'll never read this, Sr Teresa Margaret, but I can now tell you: my favorite part of this beautiful new translation of the Roman Missal is that reminder of the fullness of His sacrifice -- literally to the last drop. Thank you for putting that question in the back of my mind all those months ago, and for your prayers which probably led me straight to this reflection. I only pray that each day I may pour myself out for Him half as lovingly as He did for me.
I started this blog as my own writing outlet, to keep my brain working. With the introduction of these Seven Quick Takes (h/t Jen), the accountability and friendliness of doing this with Liz and Sana has really begun to change the way I look at blogging. (Also, writing a post like this that's about my life takes less time and--more importantly--less mental energy than a complicated post about liturgical minutiae. Don't worry, I'm sure those will come back eventually. I start lots of such posts in my head...)
All that being said, thanks to you strange people who do bother to read! ("Strange" is quite an affectionate term, by me.) I'll do my best to act like a real blogger and actually reply to your comments and stuff. :)
~2~
This week, I discovered a website called DailyLit. You go through their catalog of books, and decide which ones you want to read (there are a lot of classics - yay for public domain! - and also a lot of P.G. Wodehouse), and they deliver you a small portion of the book each day. You can choose either email or RSS. The only downside I've found thus far is that I can't just click to go to the website and keep reading for hours on end...
~3~
Speaking of DailyLit, I've been using it to read Arabian Nights. Ya' know, one of those books you've heard about for years and years but don't know anyone who actually read it. Well, now I'm reading it, and it's pretty good. I may want to buy a physical copy eventually to use parts (not all!) for bedtime stories.
...and I've been waking up with that song stuck in my head for most of the week. Or occasionally Arabian Nights instead. I must have been exposed to more Middle Eastern culture than this as a child, right? Right?
~4~
You may have seen this someecard making the facebook rounds, and/or similar sentiments expressed in status updates:
The extension basically allows you to filter out statuses and links (though not pictures, unfortunately) based on a simple keyword search. Lest you get too excited, it didn't work perfectly, but it definitely seems to have done something...
Not quite that bad, but surprisingly close.
I have found that going beyond complaining to use self-discipline and avoid reading even the headlines of anything political whatsoever has had the surprisingly calming affect of detoxing my experience of facebook. I do recommend it (the self-discipline for sure, the extension for maybe).
Bonus: Social Fixer allows you to permanently block certain elements of facebook, like the ads and the other sidebar things that try to get you to like random pages or friend people with whom you have one friend in common. Useful!
~5~
Whoever thought to make tiny O-shaped pasta in a generous proportion to tomato soup was brilliant. Seriously. Spaghetti-O's = delicious comfort food.
Lunch!
~6~
Randall Munroe is seriously a genius. The man makes a living drawing stick-figure comic strips three times a week. He once stated that he sometimes spends as little as ten minutes on each strip.
Anyway, this strip hit home because, though I've never heard that simile, I've been using that method for years. 90 seconds for a minute and a half (what, saves a keystroke and uses an infrequently used button!)... Yes, I am weird. :)
~7~
In honor of the higher-than-usual proportion of dreams I've been having this week, I leave you with a brief poem by Bill Watterson, from The Indispensable Calvin and Hobbes (unfortunately, I wasn't able to find the image online, so you'll have to click through to the Google Book for it).
At night my mind does not much care
If what it thinks is here or there.
It tells me stories it invents
And makes up things that don't make sense.
I don't know why it does this stuff.
The real world seems quite weird enough.
And that's a wrap! Time to eat my Spaghetti-O's. :D
Jersey girl who lived in the Midwest for 6yrs and the South for a year and a half, happily in NYC for 5yrs and counting. Two theology degrees (catechetics and liturgy), 5+ years in publishing, currently reinventing myself to be a programmer. The desire to blog has skyrocketed since I stopped working for the Church, go figure. Every feminaprovita on the internet is me. Life is crazy, but generally pretty good.
