Is it Hot in Here?

Or is it just him?

Thank you Lion Brand!

Thanks also to Terri for sending this choice photo my way!

Good Vibrations: A Little Radiation Can Be A Good Thing

One does not think of science as being subject to fashion. But it is, and nothing could be less fashionable than hormesis. This phenomenon was identified over a hundred years ago, and then was slowly forgotten. It has been so widely observed that it deserves to be called a law of nature. But it rubs environmentalists the wrong way, and few people have heard of it. In outline, hormesis is simple: things that are toxic in large doses are beneficial in small doses. And that seems to be true across the board -- from alcohol to dioxin to mercury to nuclear radiation...

Hormesis contradicts a reigning assumption of public health and public policy. It is both dogma and law that something toxic in large doses will continue to be toxic in smaller and smaller doses. The relationship between dose and response is said to be linear. The EPA has further decreed that if the substance is a carcinogen, there is no "threshold." No dose, however low, is considered to be safe.

The Politically Incorrect Guide to Science

More later about hormesis and radiation. I will simply observe here that if the EPA applied their no tolerance rule to vitamins we would have to make do without vitamins A & E because in large doses they're quite toxic (no doubt there are others toxic in large doses but these are just the ones that occur to me at the moment).

Quick Looks at Books

THE CLEVELAND CONNECTION by Les Roberts
DEEP SHAKER by Les Roberts

More of theMilan Jacovich mysteries. In The Cleveland Connection Jacovich investigates the disappearance of a grandfather which, predictably, turns into a murder investigation after the old man has been found as the apparent victim of gang-style execution. This takes us to an examination of the deep seated hostilities between Serb and Slovenian ethnic groups, both in their homelands and in Cleveland. Deep Shaker looks at Jamaican drug peddlers and the way that the drug trade preys upon school children as Jacovich helps out an old friend whose son has fallen in with the wrong crowd.

VEGETABLE LOVE by Barbara Kafka
An extensive tome that is lightened considerably by Kafka's winning personality which is evident throughout the book without ever becoming too cute, which is a trap into which many less experienced authors might fall. Just because the book is about vegetables doesn't mean that meat is eschewed. The recipes are designed to showcase vegetables but it is not a vegetarian book by any means, although there would be plenty that vegetarians could use here. It is worth reading simply for the introduction to many new uses Kafka presents for vegetables that have escaped the general American home cook, such as Jerusalem artichokes. I'd recommend checking it out of the library for a test run, if at all possible, as this is quite pricey. I won't be buying it but am glad that I read it.

These are #7, #8 and #9 of books read in 2006.

Can I Live?

On the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, I present again this must see music video.

Let them live. Lord, hear our prayer.

Is the Christian Life Hard?

Buttercup: You mock my pain.
Westley: Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something.

The Princess Bride

In the process of a continuing theological email conversation with one of my favorite regular debaters, he rather surprised me with this...

Once last thing however - I see being a part of the church makes life better AND harder. Being a Christian is hard, I wouldn't consider it a burden, but it is hard. It's meant to be. Being a Christian (regardless of your stripe) means to live against the grain of this fallen world. To live against one's urges and to turn from temptation is far harder than giving into our sinful natures. A life of premarital sex, getting drunk and thieving is far easier - but we know it leads to death. If you don't see this as hard, you truly are blessed. As far as I'm concerned, things are tough all over but through the grace of Christ alone can we make it.

Now I am definitely a newbie here, having been Catholic only since 2000 and a Christian only since about ... maybe 1998 (?). We all know that sh*t happens, whether you're Christian or not. The good, the bad, and the ugly, it's all part of just being alive.

My life in Christ, especially since the CRHP retreat (see sidebar for CRHP explanation), has made all that so much easier. Despite being asked to serve, being asked to stretch, being asked to do things I haven't wanted to sometimes ... it all has been so much more rewarding than going it alone and I have been able to see so much good come from it.

In fact, after the CRHP retreat I discovered that I was no longer afflicted with a problem that I had been struggling with for some time. It took me a while to figure it out but what a blessing that was. In fact, fairly recently, I realized just how much I had changed in general outlook toward life.

For most of my life I have been a "glass is half empty" girl. Always quick to see the negatives of any situation ... oh, and even more attractive, quick to dwell on those negatives.

My revelation of how much I had changed is found here.

Does that mean my life is always sunshine and lollipops? Pffft. Of course not. My personal feeling is that I have been set free. Certainly I can't agree that "to live against one's urges and to turn from temptation is far harder than giving into our sinful natures" because to give in to the particular urges that I suffered from made me so very tired, hopeless, and, occasionally, self loathing. The help, forgiveness, mercy, and ... yes, sheer grace of God that I have experienced in my struggles has made everything much easier than it was before.

But that is just my personal experience. I know that I have been so very blessed and have been brushed very lightly by suffering while I have watched others struggle under very heavy burdens.

So what has everyone else's experience been with this?

Is the Christian life harder than giving in to our sinful natures? Is living in sin easier?

Beatles and Benedict Both Begin With "B"

We have our own version of Love Beads – the Rosary.

We have Little Flower Power.

We believe in love and unity among all people.

We believe in worshiping together.

We believe in communal living.

Lee at From the Back Pew has found the cosmic connections between Pope Benedict XVI and The Beatles. Far out. Be sure to read it all.

I Think I've Accrued 1.5 Points

From my inbox. Thanks Alicia!

A man dies and goes to heaven.

Of course, St. Peter meets him at the Pearly Gates.

St. Peter says, "Here's how it works.

You need 100 points to make it into heaven. You tell me all the good things you've done, and I give you a certain number of points for each item, depending on how good it was. When you reach 100 points, you get in."

"Okay," the man says,

"I was married to the same woman for 50 years and never cheated on her, even in my heart."

"That's wonderful," says St.Peter, "that's worth three points!"

"Three points?" he says. "Well, I attended church all my life and supported its ministry with my tithe and service."

"Terrific!" says St.Peter. "That's certainly worth a point"

"One point!?!!"

"I started a soup kitchen in my city and worked in a shelter for homeless veterans."

"Fantastic, that's good for two more points," he says.

"Two points"!? Exasperated, the man cries.....

"At this rate the only way I'll get into heaven is by the grace of God."

"Bingo, 100 points! Come on in!"

The Brotherhood of the iPod

You know, when I first would go places with the ear buds in and my iPod in my pocket, I'd get the oddest looks. Gradually it ocurred to me that people thought I had a hearing disability. I've never heard such clearly spoken English in my life. it was an interesting insight to the sorts of encounters that handicapped people must have a lot of the time.

However, yesterday it was all different. I was going to the dentist. As I left the office, the construction workers that wouldn't meet my eyes when I was going to work that morning, suddenly would look in my direction and smile at me (I'm going with the smiling versus laughing at me idea, here).

On the way to my car when leaving the dentist, listening to my iPod, I encountered a couple of guys strolling across the parking lot. Obviously not office workers by the way they were dressed, they looked more like the sort of guys you want to steer clear of so you don't get mugged. Remembering that I was supposed to appear self confident in the event of encountering muggers (oh and then there's the whole Christian brotherhood thing), I looked over and smiled. Then I saw that they had on headphones. They grinned at me and waved their MP3 players in my direction.

Me and my iPod. Making friends everywhere yesterday.

Blogger Spotlight

THIS NORMAL LIFE
This is a fascinating look at a family's daily life in a place that we usually only see on the evening news ... Jerusalem. We get insights into everything from immigration to shopping to religious observances to rites of passage, such as this in Red Lines.

It was only a matter of time before one of our kids demanded access to what may be the most rebellious, dangerous and terrifying activities known to parents in Israel.

In this case, the culprit in question was twelve-year-old Merav, and her act of teenage defiance? She wanted to ride the bus.

There are also little things that give me an insight into my own life and, indeed, my faith. Such as when the children talk to the father and call him "Abba." Right from the original "Our Father" ... and every time the children call their father by that word it reminds me of the trust and true relationship we are meant to have with God.

But that's just me. Swing by, peruse the archives, and see what strikes you about This Normal Life.

Asleep at the Wheel

Back before World War II, the conservative Saturday Evening Post ran an article written by the wife of a billiards professional. She told how part of her job as her husband's assistant was seeing that all was in order for his exhibitions. Among her duties, she had to make sure that the billiard balls were exactly at room temperature.

The Post's makeup editor decided that a subhead was needed here, so he wrote: SHE KEEPS HIS BALLS WARM. Nearly a million copies had gone out before someone woke up.

More Anguished English by Richard Lederer

This One Hit Me Right Between the Eyes

Faith is something we have to practice. It should shape all our decisions, big or small, at the same time it will usually show in the way we undertake our ordinary daily duties. It is not enough for us to give assent to the great truths of the Creed, to have good formation. We need besides, this to live our faith, to put it into practice. It should give birth to a life of faith, which should be both the fruit and the manifestation of what we believe. God asks us to serve him with the whole of our life, with deeds, with all the strength of our body and soul...

The practice of the virtue of faith in our daily lives adds up to what is commonly known as supernatural outlook. This consists in a way of seeing things, even the most ordinary, apparently quite commonplace things, in relation to God's plan for each person as regards his own salvation and the salvation of many others. It leads us to accustom ourselves to undertake our daily activities as though we were constantly glancing at God to see whether what we are doing is really his Will, whether ours is the way He wants us to do things. It leads us to get used to discovering God in people, to recognize him behind what the world calls chance or coincidence, in fact, to see his mark everywhere (F. Suarez, On being a Priest)...

The Christian's life of faith leads him, therefore, to be a man who has human virtues, because he practices his faith in his ordinary activities. He will not only feel moved to make an act of faith as he sees the walls of a church in the distance, but he will turn to God to ask him for light and help when confronted with a problem at work or at home. He will know how to attune his thinking when he has to accept a setback, when faced with pain or sickness, when offering up some joy, when he continues, for love, the work that he was about abandon through tiredness...

Ordinary Time Weeks 13-23 (In Conversation with God, Vol. 4)

This is from yesterday's devotional reading (ahem ... I'm running late on several things right now), but without daily practice of our faith then what is to distinguish us from anyone else? Nothing. Because if Christ doesn't change our lives and help us to see differently then our faith is nothing but hollow, hypocritical words. And, let me tell you, I fail often but I shudder to think of how little peace I would have if I didn't also succeed at least part of the time in turning to God and living my faith through all the parts of my day.

The Unusual Silence

Power was out at work most of the day and, of course, that happened just as I was close to being done with the work I was slammed with that made all other things fade into the background. The power just recently came on long enough for Tom to copy the files so he can bring them home to me.

So, I'll be working at home tonight to catch up. And then catching up some more tomorrow morning.

If I haven't worked my way to anyone who has emailed me, rest assured I will do so but it will be tomorrow. Thanks, y'all!

HOWEVER ... I will still be watching Lost and getting a few comments posted about it. I'm just busy. I haven't died.

What Would You Choose for Your Last Meal?

Check it out at Meanwhile, Back in the Kitchen.

Never Say Never: Podcasts

As some with those memories may remember (yes, Curt Jester, I'm talkin' to you), I previously swore that never would a podcast soil my dainty ears.

So if I sprinkle a lot of sugar on those words, will eating them be any easier?

Yeah, I didn't think so.

Truth is, not only do I have limited time to listen to podcasts and also prefer to get my info in writing, but I was intimidated by the technology. I just couldn't figure out how to get the darned things into my iPod.

When Dom Bettinelli mentioned the podcasts that he listens to, I tried one more time. Lo and behold, I figured it out (actually very simple using iTunes for most podcasts).

I do not listen to many but have gotten hooked on four of them, which thankfully do not update more than once a week.

• LOST - the official podcast from ABC, this features the executive producers of the show who are the most enjoyable couple of geeks around. Not only are they fun to listen to but they will drop a few hints here and there about what is happening with the show. Update: Thanks to comments boxes intervention by Dom I see that if you search for Lost on iTunes and be sure to put "official" in the search as well, eventually you can find the official podcast from ABC. Whew! So much easier than what I was doing. (Also we find out that if you misstate something and put his name next to it ... then Dom comments ... AND you find out that he actually reads your blog sometimes. *screaming like a Beatles fan at a concert, y'all.* )
  


• BRENDA IN JAPAN - my all time favorite thus far. Brenda does these podcasts about her life in Japan for her family. Luckily for us she also posts them on iTunes. You get Brenda's top 10 countdown of favorite Japanese things, her tips on traveling, and much, much more. Not the least of which is Brenda's charming personality. I wondered how she was such a polished speaker and have just found out that she is a university professor and thus is used to public presentation. Go to iTunes' podcast directory and search for Brenda in Japan. You can subscribe from there.


• REEL REVIEWS - Insightful commentary about a really eclectic assortment of movies. This guy really loves movies and that is contagious. He actually had me considering renting "Ran" for a while. I definitely will be renting Murderball which I am not sure would have been a blip on my radar otherwise. Subscribe via iTunes (link on their sidebar).


• GRAPE RADIO - This is the most hit or miss of the bunch because I am not very knowledgeable about wine and these are wine geeks. Often the conversation is aimed at someone just like me and then it is fascinating. However, occasionally these guys have a guest who is more concerned with impressing everyone with who he knows or how long he has been in the wine biz than on informing. The hosts' enthusiasm is what keeps me coming back. Subscribe via iTunes (link on their side bar.) Also via Dom.


• BATTLESTAR GALACTICA - We are working our way slowly through the DVD of the first season (a welcome Christmas gift). When we get to the 9th show, which is where it looks as if the podcasts begin, then I will give these commentaries by the producer a shot. Mostly because they are recommended by Dom who was spot on with the Lost podcast recommendation. Subscribe via iTunes.
  

Let's Just Be Clear About This ... Jesus Founded the Church

Did he plan to "found" a church? Or is the church a thoroughly human movement that can only be associated with Jesus post facto? ...

Explanations of the origins of the church that assume Jesus himself had no intentions of founding a church are simply implausible.

I start out here to make a very basic point: Jesus followers who wish to eliminate, reinterpret or reduce the church face the problem that nothing in the New Testament is on their side. Seeing Jesus as the guru of individual Christians, or the church as some kind of accidental fan club that institutionalized a spontaneous spiritual experience, simply cannot be done without doing radical surgery on Jesus himself. A church-less Christianity requires such an edited, reworked Jesus, that the New Testament could no longer be read with any kind of integrity. This needs to be faced squarely and honestly.

I conclude that Jesus, from the outset, intended to found a continuing movement, and that movement is the church as we see and experience it, imperfectly and often far removed from Jesus, in history.

The Internet Monk begins by wondering how he became identified as being with the emergent church (which I still do not understand) and, in the process, proceeds to give us cogent reasoning that Jesus founded the church and intended us to be a part of it.

Thank you! Recently I have come across an odd trend among a few people that ask questions such as do we follow Jesus or do we follow the church that Paul founded? Or to say that Jesus worshipped as a Jew so the only way to really follow him is to follow Jewish customs ... or perhaps to become Jewish. Then we have people who say that they don't need to go to church ... they can worship God without any church. I have seen these sorts of ideas raised in more than one blog.

Talk about bewildering ... to me, anyway. Paul was the first to point the way to Jesus whenever anyone tried to do otherwise, to say that he was simply living and teaching what Jesus taught and revealed. Yes, his writings and teachings helped explain what Jesus revealed but we are "Christians" not "Paulists."

As for the idea of worshiping as Jews, Jesus was the Messiah, which they deny. Yes he worshiped as an observant Jew but He completed and fulfilled the law ... which to me at least necessarily indicates that he moved it along into something new. Baptism. The apostolic leadership. The Eucharist. Knowing that Jesus is the Son of God ... both fully human and fully God. Jesus gave us these things.

Probably the most commonly heard of these three ideas is that people don't need to go to church to worship God. That is both true and false. You can worship God from anywhere you are, at any time of day or night. On the other hand, it is meeting in communion with our brothers and sisters in Christ that keeps us centered, keeps us focused, keeps our eyes and heart on God. I need the Eucharist. I need the support and advice and admonitions and reminders of my priest and my fellow worshippers. It feeds my soul in a totally different way than solitary prayer and worship. That is how we are made. Jesus knew it and provided for it.

I thoroughly realize that I am not saying any of this very well and certainly am being sketchy in supporting my thinking. There is much that I am leaving unsaid. That is why I am pointing people toward the Internet Monk. He has doctrinal issues with Catholicism but at the base he has more solid understanding of Christian theology than many Catholics I know.

Go. Read. Jesus founded the church for us to worship and serve in together ... as Christians.

My Quote Journals

I have been asked by a few people about the quote journals that I refer to in my daily "Background Music" posts.

This is where I am low tech. I buy a blank book with lines on the pages. As I come across quotes I like I write them in the journal. There is no particular order. As they come up, I enter them. It is as simple as that.

One person has mentioned that is not an easy way to retrieve the quotes. True. But that is not the point of the journals. It is simply to keep the quote I like (and we all know that I am all about quotes, right?).

The quotes are predominantly Catholic or Christian inspiration. However, as time has gone by (I am almost done filling a second journal) I have taken to adding significant scripture as well as a few quotes that amuse me. (Not the sidebar quotes. Those I keep in some unpublished Blogger files.) For me to take the trouble of handwriting a quote, especially some of the longer ones, it has to really hit me where I live. Often weeks will go by without my entering anything.

The quotes that appear in Background Music are in order as I go through from the beginning, alternating between the two journals daily.

And that's really all there is to it.

It's a Lovely Day in the Neighborhood

ANOTHER SON TO BECOME A FATHER

I have for some time thought about the priesthood, and I can now say that yes, I will be a priest. That is where I want my life.

It's a good thing that Darren's mother is a careful reader. I totally missed this declaration of vocation at A Catholic Life. Congratulations Moneybags ... this has me grinning!

WELCOME HOME OWEN
Owen of Luminous Miseries and his family were received into the Catholic Church yesterday. Well I remember how wonderful that time was for me and I am joyful in welcoming these new brothers and sisters.

Owen has taken us with him on the journey from being a Protestant minister with unavoidable questions as he has made his way toward crossing the Tiber. I am looking forward to getting a glimpse of how things proceed on this side.

In the News: The Elephant in the Room

WHO'S ACTING WHITE?

Go into any inner-city neighborhood, and folds will tell you that government alone can't teach kids to learn. They know that parents have to parent, that children can't achieve unless we raise their expectations and turn off the television sets and eradicate the slander that says a black youth with a book is acting white.

Sen. Barack Obama, Keynote Address, Democratic National Convention, 2004

Economist Roland G. Fryer has a fascinating editorial about the peer pressure faced by black and Hispanic students to perform poorly to fit in.

I'D CONVICT

Angry about the way an ex-girlfriend used his car and parked it without locking the doors, Gerome Alexander left a brief message on her telephone answering machine: "I'm going to catch you, and you're going to get yours."

That one call could send Mr. Alexander to prison for the rest of his life.

The 35-year-old Garland man is one of 59 convicted sex offenders in Texas who were released from prison and placed under civil commitment after being deemed sexually violent predators.

I don't know a single person who would make a telephone call like that. Considering this guy was released early and this is how he acts? Back in the slammer. No question.

Read the rest of the story and you'll discover that he has admitted to viewing pornography, drinking, and more that are all parole violations. How about having a girlfriend at all? That was off limits. Or having a car? Also off limits. It looks to me as if this lawyer wants to make her name on one issue. Shame on her.

What made me madder than all the rest is the way the story is written. It begins with that seeming attempt at showing the injustice of it all, "That one call could send Mr. Alexander to prison for the rest of his life." Don't even. Because if you don't read any further you will take away the impression that this poor guy is being hunted down for nothing. Nothing could be further from the truth. Shame on them for bad journalism.

IT DON'T COME EASY

Differences among Catholics, Orthodox, Anglicans and Protestants over issues such as homosexual activity, abortion, euthanasia and other moral questions "are not on the top of the hierarchy of truths" -- like the belief in Jesus as savior is -- "but they are very emotional and, therefore, very divisive," [Cardinal Walter Kasper] said.

Just five or six years ago, he said, Catholic bishops and leaders of some other churches seemed ready to explore concrete steps their communities could take toward organizational unity.

Since then, however, it has become clear that "both the ecumenical mood and the ecumenical situation worldwide have changed so radically as to virtually run counter to the ecumenical movement toward unity," he said.

Thank you, Cardinal, for pointing out what the rest of us always knew was gonna be a problem. Even when I wasn't Christian at all I wondered about that call to ecumenism. We can all get together on some things but the whole reason there are different denominations is that we can't agree on the big basic issues at one level or another. Otherwise why be Catholic? If what the Faith stands for is just the same as everyone else, well, then what difference does it make? And it does make a difference.

Via that vicarious blogger, Rick Lugari.

I Didn't Remember to Tape 24 ...

... which is very necessary to help with our Prison Break hiatus replacement needs. Hmfph!

I see that it is being rerun on Saturday so if I tape the second installment tonight then we can catch up. Whew!

Would that all my problems were so small and so easily fixed!

Parents and Knitters

The top ten ways why being a parent is like being a knitter.

1. You have to work on something for a really long time before you know if it's going to be okay.
   


2. They both involve an act of creation involving common materials, easily found around the house.
   


3. Both knitting and parenting are more pleasant if you have the occasional glass of wine, but go right down the drain if you start up with a lot of tequila or shooters.
   


4. With either one, you can start with all the right materials, use all the best reference books available, really apply yourself, and still get completely unexpected results.
   


5. No matter whether you decided to become a parent or a knitter, you are still going to end up with something you have to hand wash.
   


6. Parents and knitters both have to learn new things all the time, mostly so that they can give someone else something.


7. Both activities are about tension. In knitting, the knitter has control of the amount of tension on the object in progress. In parenting, the opposite is true.
   


8. No matter how much time you spend at knitting or parenting, you are still going to wish you could spend all your time at it. Which is odd, since both activities are occasionally frustrating that you want to gnaw your own arm off.
   


9. Knitting and parenting are both about endurance. Most of the time it's just mundane repetitive labor, until one day, you realize you're actually making something sort of neat.
   


10. One day, you will wake up and realize that you are spending hours and hours working at something that is costing you a fortune, won't ever pay the bills, creates laundry and clutters up your house, and won't ever really be finished ... and the only thing you will think about it is that you can't wait to get home and do more.
    

Yarn Harlot : The Secret Life of a Knitter
by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

Meanwhile, Back in the Kitchen...

... a few links to some recipes that looked quite tasty can be found.

Now, except for checking comments, I am outta here until Monday. Have a good weekend, y'all!

Prayer Request

Quite recently I have gotten very involved in our parish's youth ministry. It is at a low ebb right now and in the process of rebuilding and revamping.

I am enjoying every second and I think there are some very exciting things that will be happening quite soon. I cannot wait to get some of these programs started. They are going to be so much fun, y'all! (Not that this is about me ... riiiiight.)

Of your kindness, if it happens to cross your mind, please say a prayer for the program, the kids, the priest who is running it, and me. I want to do right by this. Anyone who knows me also knows that the teenagers in our parish (and outside of it too) have long been on my heart. However, I also want and need to balance time with my family, our business, and ... ahem ... my addiction (aka this blog).

I think this is totally do-able and also, as far as I can tell, God's will. But I am praying ... that we all may do His will in this in all ways.

My Newest Addiction to an Author

THE DUTCH by Les Roberts

Milan Jacovich is an old style detective in Cleveland. Ellen Carnine was a singularly homely woman who seemed, nonetheless, to have been perfectly happy. So why did she do The Dutch (police slang for suicide)? When Ellen's distraught father comes to him and asks Jacovich to find out why his daughter committed suicide, it doesn't seem like too much trouble. Of course, there isn't much of a mystery in that simple story and soon Jacovich discovers that the apparent suicide is actually murder.

The author also takes an interesting philosophical look at the role that appearance plays in American women's lives as well as the desperate measures that lonely people are driven to in this day of internet chat rooms. Roberts does an excellent job of discussing distasteful subjects such as pornography, on-line sex, and more without making the reader dive into sordid details.

Interestingly, Amazon reader reviews kept mentioning a shocking plot twist which I, in my infinite mystery reading jadedness, thought could not possibly be that shocking. Wrong. Luckily I was skimming the page when that plot point was revealed, thinking that I probably didn't want indepth information about that particular bit (the only part of the book like that I might add). But the twist was truly shocking.

Not only does Roberts weave a fascinating mystery, but Jacovich is an honest and interesting character who loves Cleveland, justice, his sons. He has just enough ties to mob bosses to get him the information he needs and the trouble that he doesn't. Milan Jacovich reminds me to some degree to another of my favorite detective characters, Spenser (before Robert Parker pounded his formula into the ground). I especially like his inherent respect for each person and the way he views each as having value, even if that person happens to be a hooker without any apparent heart of gold.

I never thought about Cleveland much one way or the other but I found myself picturing some of the classic Kansas City downtown buildings as Roberts fondly describes this Midwestern city. That may not be too interesting if you don't have Midwestern ties but it certainly sets a complete scene if nothing else.

Roberts' books do not seem to stay in print long and, as I discovered when dropping by Half Price Books, people must be hanging onto them because they aren't being recycled. Luckily the library has a fair number and I hope to catch up on Jacovich's earlier adventures.

This is #6 of books read in 2006.

Last Chance to De-Lurk For No Good Reason!

Created by Paper Napkin to encourage the quiet ones among us to leave a comment, De-Lurker Day has been extended to an entire week to give everyone a chance. It is a lot of fun for me having those quiet readers surface just for a moment to make a remark.

I'll have a "sticky" post at the top of the blog all week to remind all those quiet people out there that it's ok to comment. Via Quiet Life.

The Decadence of 1st Century Rome...

... is swimming before my eyes ...





You know, the subject matter makes it very difficult to write practically any remark ("what's up with that?" "what's the world coming to?"). I'll just settle for, "Ick!"

Via Catholic Packer Fan and Confessions of a Hot Carmel Sundae.

UPDATE
I just read this from Catholic Exchange's Words of Encouragement. What a perfect commentary on the above decadence.

Psalm 121:2
My help comes from the LORD,
who made heaven and earth.

--------------------
Today's verse comes just after one of the most misquoted passages in Scripture. That passage reads, "I lift up my eyes to the hills./From whence does my help come?" We've seen it, seemingly millions of times, decorating greeting cards that invariably have pictures of Judean hills bathed in the warm glow of sunset. The sentiment seems to be that we can "draw strength" from contemplating the beauty of nature in the mountains etc. etc.

That is a lovely sentiment and a perfect reflection of the notions of Romantic poets like Wordsworth or John Denver. Unfortunately, it has less than nothing to do with the actual meaning of Psalm 121. In fact, it is close to the opposite of what the Psalmist intended. For him, the hills were not sources of strength but sites of idolatry. When he lifted up his eyes to the hills he saw "high places" where idols to Baal, Asherah, or Moloch were erected and their rites of worship were carried out.

Thus, today's verse, so far from being an expression of squishy sentimentality, is an act of brazen defiance against the culture of death that surrounded the ancient Israelite faithful to the LORD. Make that act of defiance your own the next time our culture tempts you to worship at the high places of money, sex, or power. For our culture also masks the appeal of these three gods in squishy sentimentality and delivers them through commercials and television programs as warm and fuzzy as a greeting card.

Ask Jesus For More

Do you have an ongoing relationship with Jesus? Is your experience of him moving you to leave everything behind to follow him? Do you see him alive and at work in your life and in the world? If you feel this may be lacking in your life, ask Jesus to give you more. And for heaven’s sake, don’t feel guilty for asking! Trust that Jesus wants to be generous with you. Believe that he wants to convince you that he is worth everything.

Don’t be afraid to ask him to fill you with more of his presence. In faith, go ahead and tell him that you need to know him more and to touch his love more fully. Remember: Jesus demonstrated himself over and over again to his disciples. He was for them—and he is for us—a great treasure to be discovered and rediscovered day after day after day.

Read the whole daily devotion at
Word Among Us

I always forget about Jesus demonstrating things repeatedly for the disciples (or DUH-sciples, as our deacon reminds us). I like the fact that they were so normal and that provides a good example for me. If they can persevere so can I. And if they can ask him what looks to our eyes in hindsight like stupid questions ... then surely so can I. Paraphrasing Mother Teresa: I'm not here to be smart, I'm here to be faithful. That's reassuring.

It Ain't Necessarily So: Radioactive Material

The long half-life of radioactive material is often cited as the most dreaded aspect of nuclear power, rendering contaminated sited uninhabitable for eons. That is false. The key variable is the rate at which particles radiating from a given volume of radioactive material strike the body. At a low rate they are harmless — they may even be beneficial. Natural background radiation subjects us all to a low-level bombardment anyway.

Unfortunately, government policy decrees that there is no safe level of radiation, and in so doing it has created a rationale for the anti-nuclear activists to oppose any and all man-made radiation, even when it is lower than that found naturally. In the Rocky Mountains, where uranium is abundant, natural radiation is relatively high. Bernard Cohen of the University of Pittsburgh offered to eat some plutonium if Ralph Nader, the activist's activist, would eat the same amount of caffeine. Nader, who had said that a pound of plutonium could cause eight billion cancers, refused the offer. Cohen later offered to eat plutonium on television, but producers and reporters were not interested. Yes, plutonium is dangerous, because you can make an atom bomb out of it, but its long half-life ensures that its radioactivity is not toxic to humans.

The Politically Incorrect Guide to Science

More Miss O'Neill

The most astonishing thing about Miss O'Neill was that she proceeded on the assumption that she could teach a pack of potential poolroom jockeys how to write clear, clean, correct sentences, organized into clear, clean, correct paragraphs -- in their native tongues.

I do not think Miss O'Neill had the slightest awareness of her influence on me, or anyone else. She was not especially interested in me. She never betrayed an iota of preference for any of her captive and embittered flock.

Nor was Miss O'Neill much interested in the high, grand reaches of the language whose terrain she so briskly charted. She was a technician, pure and simple — efficient, conscientious, immune to excuses or flattery or subterfuge. Nothing derailed her from her professionalism.

And that is the point. Miss O'Neill did not try to please us. She did not try to like us. She certainly made no effort to make us like her. She valued results more than affection, and, I suspect, respect more than popularity...

I think Miss O'Neill understood what foolish evangelists of education are bound to rediscover: that drill and discipline are not detestable; that whether they know it or not, children prefer competence to "personality" in a teacher; that communication is more significant than camaraderie; that what is hard to master gives students special rewards (pride, self-respect, the unique gratification of having succeeded) precisely because difficulties have been conquered, ramparts scaled, battles won; that there may be no easy road at all to learning some things, and no "fascinating" or "fun" way of learning some things really well.

People I have loved, known, or admired by Leo Rosten

This was written in 1970. Thirty six years later we are still waiting ...

It's Funny Because It's True

Go check out Sigmund, Carl and Alfred's advice about do-it-yourself home renovation.

Why the Lion is Beating the Ape at the Box Office

THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE
It's a better movie.

I read the book when I was in my early 20s, prompted by many who told me how good it was. Maybe you had to be either a kid or Christian to like it. I was neither. Or maybe I just wasn't in the right mood that day. Whatever the reason, it didn't grab me.

Consequently I wasn't all that interested in seeing the movie. However Rose definitely was. So Sunday afternoon she, Hannah, and I trekked to the nearest theater showing it.

Wow.

I loved the movie in a way that I never loved the book.

Maybe it's because I'm Christian now. Maybe I was just in a better mind set generally. But ... wow.

Many reviews have been done by many people so I will just set down my favorite bits, among the many there were to enjoy. Which means ...

SPOILERS

How about the Queen's lion fur cape made from Aslan's shaved fur? A couple of things occurred to us here ... evil can imitate good, can put on it's "clothes" so to speak, but that is not enough to make it the real deal.

When Aslan went to the Queen's castle to release the frozen soldiers all three of us were struck by the similarity to Jesus going to release the souls that had been waiting for him ... so they could go to heaven ... before he returned to be with the disciples.

Did anyone else notice that Aslan did that cat thing of squeezing his eyes shut in a long blink at someone when he was fond of them? Loved it ... and being used to seeing it from our cat, all three of us picked up on it.

I liked the Queen's point when she told Mr. Tumnus (the faun) that Edmund had betrayed him "for sweeties" which is usually the sort of basic, immediate gratification that it is so easy to be tempted by and give in to on a daily basis.

That little girl playing Lucy was adorable. Period. I especially liked the fact that during grand moments when the other three children would be looking appropriately awed, solemn, or whatever, she'd have a giant grin of joy on her face.

My vague memories of the story included Aslan's death and resurrection, but they did NOT include the plot point that brought him to that pass. When the Queen said that she was due the death of any traitor I suddenly put it all together and it took my breath away. I mean, Edmund had willingly, knowingly, thoughtlessly betrayed everyone "for sweeties" ... he owed that price. Aslan knew all that and paid the price anyway. Ouch!

NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

The anguished cry is heard throughout Happy Catholic-land as Rick Lugari announces that he will stop blogging.

*sob*

The only bright spot is that he purposely excluded Musum Pontificalis from that announcement.

And that ain't much of a bright spot, I've gotta say.

Miss O'Neill

Miss O'Neill was dumpy, moonfaced, sallow, colorless, and we hated her. We hated her as only a pack of West Side barbarians could hate a teacher of arithmetic. She did not teach arithmetic — but that is how much we hated her.

People I have loved, known, or admired by Leo Rosten

The Church in the Future

Game of Fox and Lion
by Robert Chase

Benedict paused as if contemplating the full extent of the scene he had described. "Nobody wanted war. All were acting in what they perceived to be their best interests. Yet their perceptions were so warped by their sins — you don't like that word, Chiang. Most of us don't. Perhaps I should date my conversion from the instant I realized that moral theology gave a more accurate account of human conduct than any school of psychology, because it understood that the basis of evil is intentional self-delusion."

Not exactly the sort of statement that we are used to reading in science fiction, is it? However, this riveting book has the Church and Catholic teachings in the background the entire time, although they are rarely expounded upon as in the above excerpt.

Jon Lei Chiang, a powerful leader, kidnaps the last of the specially enhanced Multi-Neural Capacitants, Paul Niccolo Renard. Renard had joined an order of terraforming monks as Brother Benedict which is the first of the unexpected twists that Chiang experiences. In indenture to Chiang, Benedict must help him win a war against both his political enemies and also against the Bestials who are warring with human civilization. The Bestials also are "enhanced" humans who have been changed so much that there is much argument over whether they can be considered to be human or not.

This book covers much ground with many plot twists that are surprisingly timely, especially considering the current debates over manipulation of genetics. I found the last twist to be rather predictable but it is still a good read for all that. Definitely recommended.

Defending the Faith: Dialogue

Dialogue is the means by which a truth living in one mind becomes a truth living in another. It involves listening as well as speaking, receiving, and giving. The apologist who dialogues with a non-Catholic should listen to what the non-Catholic's faith means to him, as well as present arguments for Catholic beliefs. He should take the time to hear what his non-Catholic discussion partner says, to understand the non-Catholic's worldview and the full force of his objections before responding to them. The key to dialogue is for both participants to understand one another, where they agree, where they disagree, and why.

How Not to Share Your Faith:
The Seven Deadly Sins of Apologetics

"In Truth, Peace"

According to CWNews, the main points covered in Pope Benedict's State of the World Address are as follow:

1. Commitment to truth is the soul of justice.
2. Commitment to truth establishes and strengthens the right to freedom.
3. commitment to truth opens the way to forgiveness and reconciliation.
4. Commitment to peace opens up new hopes.

A good summary of the speech can be found here. I'm looking forward to seeing the full translation of the speech text later.

Spero News has quite a bit of the speech.

Here's the whole enchilada.

Meanwhile, Back in the Kitchen...

... a recipe for a fantastic Tamale Pie and my comments on the first book I began and couldn't make myself read this year. Check it out.

Stay Slim Without Dieting

It's the American dream and, so they say, the French reality. My review of some helpful diet books from both sides of the Atlantic is up at Spero News.

Ten Ways to Anger a Knitter

Ten quick and easy ways to make a knitter angry.

1. Consistently refer to her work as a "cute hobby."


2. When the knitter shows you a Shetland shawl she knit from handspun yarn that took 264 hours of her life to produce and will be an heirloom that her great-great grandchildren will be wrapped in on the days of their birth, say, "I saw one just like this at Wal-Mart!"


3. On every journey you take with your knitter, make a point of driving by yarn shops but make sure you don't have time to stop. (This works especially well if there is a sale on.)


4. Shrink something.


5. Tell her that you don't know why she knits socks, that it seems silly when they are only $10 for five pairs and they're just as good.


6. Tell the knitter that you are sorry, but you really can't feel a difference between cashmere and acrylic.


7. Tell her that you aren't the sort of person who could learn to knit, since you "can't just sit there for hours."


8. Quietly take one out of every set of four double-pointed needles that she has and put them down the side of the couch. (You can't convince me that you aren't doing this already.)


9. If you are a child, grow faster than your knitter can knit. Requesting intricate sweaters and then refusing to wear them is also highly effective.


10. Try to ban knitting during TV time, because the clicking of the needles annoys you.
    

Yarn Harlot : The Secret Life of a Knitter
by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

Stormy Weather

Windfall (The Weather Warden, Book 4)
by Rachel Caine

The fourth installment in the Weather Warden series involving people who can influence weather (or other elements such as fire) to save humanity from the worst of the natural elements. Aided by Djinn, who tradition dictates are the slaves of whoever holds their bottles, they work for good. Or do they? Things have heated up by this time to include packs of renegade free Djinn, criminal elements, and Wardens turning their backs on their duties. All with feisty, stubborn, rebellious Joanne in the center of the action as always.

Lightweight? Yep.

Fun to read? Oh YEAH.

A word of warning. If it's been a while since you picked one of these up, the back story is sufficiently complicated that you might want to flip through the last book before starting this. I was, frankly, lost for a little while until I started remembering where the last book left off.

Why Am I in a Mood to Entertain?

Check it out at Meanwhile Back in the Kitchen.

Other than checking comments, I am outta here for the weekend y'all. We've got Christmas decorations to pack up and a bunch of other things going on.

Back Monday!

Oh Look ... Some People Who Actually Watched a Show Before Condemning It Out of Hand!

Now there's a rarity. I have seen two common reactions to The Book of Daniel throughout the blogosphere. Outright condemnation based on a short summary, a trailer, and hearsay ... OR ... a wonderment over the outrage that this terrible show is any worse than the rest of the dreck on television (also pronounced by people that have never seen it).

Frankly, I found the professions of wonderment more than a little disingenuous. After all, this show does have Jesus as a character. I'm guessing that the potential for outrage is just a bit more since the writers could put quite heretical statements in God's mouth rather than having it come from mere humans.

In vain have I waited for someone who actually watched the show to pronounce it either good or bad. Now, far from the scenes of the main pronouncements, I find a few bloggers had the interest and honesty to do that very thing. Check out these reviews from:

• TO at Lamland. Scroll down toward the bottom of the post .
• Minivan Dad at What Is and What Never Should Be
• Nathan at Sacramentum Minimum
• Red Guy in a Blue State
• From the Back Pew
• An Aid to Memory

As for me, I had minimal interest in the show but was interested to see the knee-jerking spreading quickly throughout the Christian blogosphere. I meant to tape it but real life got in the way of remembering to set up the VCR. And I doubt that my interest will be piqued because it is the sort of soap opera-ish show I don't really enjoy.

But it sure was nice to get reaction from real television-watching Christians instead of hearsay. Thanks guys!

The Real Scoop on the Three Kings

Fascinating.

Mmmm, Mmmm, Good!

A recipe for Kansas City Steak and Vegetable Soup is up over at Meanwhile, Back in the Kitchen.

Defending the Faith: More Dialogue

A final point about dialogue: it can help foster what has been called "ecumenical apologetics." Ecumenical apologetics is not apologetics engaged in by ecumenists; it is a way of engaging in Catholic apologetics. It begins with the elements of truth in non-Catholic religions and tries to show that the full, integral expression of those truths is found in Catholicism ... Ecumenical apologetics does not start out with "You're wrong, and let me show you where you went astray." It begins with something like this: "What do we agree about? Let's look at that. Then you can tell me where you think the Catholic Church is off the mark or where you have problems with it. Then I'll tell you why I think the Church is correct and where it seems to me you may be missing something."

How Not to Share Your Faith:
The Seven Deadly Sins of Apologetics
by Mark Brumley

A Hack With Pretensions

... it is possible, with lots of hard work, dedication, and timely help, to make a good writer out of a merely competent one.

I'm afraid this idea is rejected by lots of critics and plenty of writing teachers, as well. Many of these are liberals in their politics but crustaceans in their chosen fields. Men and women who would take to the streets to protest the exclusion of African-Americans or Native Americans (I can imagine what Mr. Strunk would have made of these politically correct but clunky terms) from the local country club are often the same men and women who tell their classes that writing ability is fixed and immutable; once a hack, always a hack. Even if a writer rises in the estimation of an influential critic or two, he/she always carries his/her early reputation along, like a respectable married woman who was a wild child as a teenager. Some people never forget, that's all, and a good deal of literary criticism serves only to reinforce a caste system which is as old as the intellectual snobbery which nurtured it. Raymond Chandler may be recognized now as an important figure in twentieth-century American literature, an early voice describing the anomie of urban life in the years after World War II, but there are plenty of critics who will reject such a judgment out of hand. He's a hack! they cry indignantly. A hack with pretensions! The worst kind! The kind who thinks he can pass for one of us!

Critics who try to rise above this intellectual hardening of the arteries usually meet with limited success. Their colleagues may accept Chandler into the company of the great, but are apt to seat him at the foot of the table. And there are always those whispers: Came out of the pulp tradition, you know ... carries himself well for one of those, doesn't he? ... did you know he wrote for Black Mask in the thirties ... yes, regrettable ...

On Writing by Stephen King

I am not really reading this for the writing tips, valuable though they are. I am reading this because I simply love reading Stephen King's nonfiction writing. I remember how much fun he made the history of horror in Danse Macabre, which I will be rereading sometime this year. I read it long ago when it first came out and was enchanted. This is just as enjoyable.

It's Like He Read My Mind

How did he know that I've been collecting mosaic images for months? (Not!)

College Catholic predicts the year ahead for many fellow bloggers. These are dead-on funny with my favorites being his predictions for LA Catholic and the City of God.

Blonde Joke

This has got to be the greatest blonde joke ever told.

2005 Food Blog Awards ... Polls Are Open

Go vote here.

If you're not familiar with the food blogging world, this is a great chance to check out some of the best, or find some new favorites.

Resurrecting an Idea

This was traveling around St. Blog's Parish last March. I like it and am posting it again.

Describe yourself with three quotes - serious, ironic, humorous, whatever - from various literary sources. I remember that some people described themselves physically. I preferred to go for the "inner man" (so to speak).

Here are mine:

"When I get a little money I buy books; and if any is left I buy food and clothes."
Desiderius Erasmus

"If you have an important point to make, don't try to be subtle or clever. Use the pile driver. Hit the point once. then come back and hit it again. Then hit a third time; a tremendous whack."
Winston Churchill

"We are not necessarily doubting that God will do the best for us; we are wondering how painful the best will turn out to be."
C.S. Lewis

Like it? Pick it up and pass it on!

The Muse

What follows is everything I know about how to write good fiction. I'll be as brief as possible, because your time is valuable and so is mine, and we both understand that the hours we spend talking about writing is time we don't spend actually doing it. I'll be as encouraging as possible, because it's my nature and because I love this job. I want you to love it, too. But if you don't want to work your ass off, you have no business trying to write well — settle back into competency and be grateful you have even that much to fall back on. There is a muse,* but he's not going to come fluttering down into your writing room and scatter creative fairy-dust all over your typewriter or computer station. He lives in the ground. He's a basement guy. You have to descend to his level, and once you get down there you have to furnish an apartment for him to live in. You have to do all the grunt labor, in other words, while the muse sits and smokes cigars and admires his bowling trophies and pretends to ignore you. Do you think this is fair? I think it's fair. He may not be much to look at, that muse-guy, and he may not be much of a conversationalist (what I get out of mine is mostly surly grunts, unless he's on duty), but he's got the inspiration. It's right that you should do all the work and burn all the midnight oil, because the guy with the cigar and the little wings has got a bag of magic. There's stuff in there that can change your life.

Believe me, I know.

*Traditionally, the muses were women, but mine's a guy; I'm afraid we'll just have to live with that.

On Writing by Stephen King

It Ain't Necessarily So: Nuclear Power, Pollution, and Subs

Compare a thousand-megawatt coal-fired plant with a nuclear plant of the same capacity. Here is what each emits in the course of a year:

Carbon Dioxide:
Coal - 7 million tons
Nuclear - none

Sulfur Dioxide:
Coal - 12,000 tons
Nuclear - none

Nitrogen Oxides:
Coal - 20,000 tons
Nuclear - none

Solid Waste:
Coal - 750,000 tons
Nuclear - 50 tons

Meanwhile, the use of nuclear power continued without interruption in the U.S. Navy. Today 83 ships are equipped with 105 reactors, and there have been no incidents. These warships are welcomed at 150 foreign ports without encountering the local equivalents of Jane Fonda. On nuclear submarines, sailors work and sleep with their bunks only feet away from shielded reactors. They are allowed to receive an additional radiation dose of up to 5,000 millirems a year and report no ill effects.

The Politically Incorrect Guide to Science

Defending the Faith: Trying to "Win"

Few of us enjoy being bested in argument. Sometimes the experience can push a person further from the truth. As Archbishop Fulton Sheen used to say, "Win an argument, lose a soul." In fact, it is much better to let someone discover the truth for himself than to try to browbeat him into submission to your case for the truth.

How Not to Share Your Faith:
The Seven Deadly Sins of Apologetics
by Mark Brumley

Oh Yeah, He Blends

Remember the trailer for Mel Gibson's movie, trailer Apocalypto? And how people said that you could see a spot where Mel had inserted himself into it?

I remember reading a few people saying what a glory hound Gibson was. A friend just went back and looked through that trailer frame-by-frame. He pulled the frame with Mel ...


All hound. No glory.

Totally funny.

Glyphnotes

Glyphnotes has a new address and it has been a while since I first posted this so I'm mentioning it again for those who missed it before.

• We’ll just match that PMS 2935 with a screen mix. Huh?


• What the heck is RSS? (Not to be confused with ROUS.)


• I figure there are three type of computer users:
  1. Those that know all the keyboard shortcuts and use them.
  2. Those that use the right mouse button, instead.
  3. Those that have trouble remembering all but the most basic commands.
  If you are in the third category, this short article opens a whole new world into using your computer.

Glyphnotes is Tom's answer to all the questions we see repeatedly in the course of doing graphic design work for print and on the web. Drop by and see what's up over there. It is pretty nifty (and this is not just the devoted wifey speaking). Just click on the sidebar to go to any article. Be sure to let him know if you like it or not ... we love feedback!

Winston and Me

The dauntless warrior was an unabashed sentimentalist. Throughout his life, he kept a picture of his Nanny in his bedroom. In the corridors of Commons, he discussed Hitler's savagery to the Jews, with tears rolling down his cheeks. During the Battle of Britain, returned form a town where he had seen the shambles of a small house and shop, all the walls blown off by a Nazi bomb, he cried to his Cabinet, "We must do something about that, now!" (This led to the novel and notable War Damages Commission.) It was typical of Churchill that he could not bear the unfairness of letting workers or tradesmen suffer losses as individuals in a war in which the nation's survival was at stake. And again, his car passed a long queue of shopgirls shivering in London's winter twilight, with the sirens howling and frantic searchlights stabbing at the ominous skies, and he asked what on earth the girls were buying, lined up at a time like this. An aide said, "Birdseed." Winston wept.

People I have loved, known, or admired by Leo Rosten

Talking with someone this weekend about a project we are soon to undertake together I got all fired up. This is something I have been hoping our parish would undertake for over two years now.

Let's face it, even without "wait and see" circumstances having pent up my ideas and hopes for so long, I tend to get ... passionate shall we say ... about my enthusiasms. The person I was talking with mentioned someone I've never met but with whom I share the exact same name. He said, "She's a lot like you. But less emotional."

Ouch!

I knew what he meant. He's right. Tom told me that it is a good quality since I don't let it run rampant (isn't he just the best husband? and with a good sense of survival! ha!). At any rate, reading the above about someone I admire like Winston Churchill somehow made it all ok. That's how he was. And it's how I am.

Just look at what he accomplished. May I be allowed to accomplish even a small fraction as much for this project.

Note: I'm reading this book because The Anchoress said that she loves it. I can see why. I'm hooked. Highly recommended.

So Many Opposites and Most of Them Have Married Each Other

There are two kinds of people in the world:

People with One Left Foot and One Right Foot,
and People with Two Left Feet

Note: the dancers and non-dancers always marry each other. Nobody knows why.

----------------------------------

There are two kinds of people in the world:

Dog People and Cat People

Don't trifle with either kind!

----------------------------------

There are two kinds of people in the world:

High Maintenance People — and Low Maintenance People

(For further insights into this concept see the movie When Harry Met Sally.)

----------------------------------

There are two kinds of people in the world:

People Who Will Spend Hours to Find That
Three Cents Needed to Balance the Checkbook —
and People Who Will Round Off to the Nearest Hundred Dollars
Just to Be Done With It

Tip: Don't argue about it. Neither of you will ever change the other!

1001 Ways to Be Romantic

Neither of us dances, Tom is for dogs and I am for both cats and dogs, we're both fairly low maintenance but I am much higher maintenance than Tom is (what a shock!), and Tom will always find that last three cents while I ... well, I won't go to the nearest hundred dollars but definitely have been known to just trust the bank and round off sometimes.

The Original Knit Wit

Yarn Harlot : The Secret Life of a Knitter
by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

If you have ever read the author's blog then you have a good idea of whether you'll like this book. She obsesses about her "stash" which fills the house, writes about the people she knows through knitting, and is either funny or touching about it all as the occasion warrants. An easy, light read, especially if you have ever knit anything in your life.

Busy, busy, busy ...

... having a life with my family at the moment (what a concept!). So I will be updating HC later ... got some gooood excerpts from things y'all ... and answering the many emails I glimpsed that I can't wait to read (Alexa, this means you!).

More later!

My Newest Favorite Photo of Papa

This makes me smile just looking at it. Via Shrine of the Holy Whapping.

Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God

Image from Chant Art

All the feasts of Our Lady are great events, because they are opportunities the church gives us to show with deeds that we love Mary. But if I had to choose one from among all her feasts, I would choose today's, the feast of the Divine Motherhood of the Blessed Virgin ...

When the Blessed Virgin said Yes, freely, to the plans revealed to her by the Creator, the divine Word assumed a human nature, with a rational soul and a body, formed in the most pure womb of Mary. The divine nature and the human were united in a single Person: Jesus Christ, true God and, thenceforth, true man: the only-begotten and Eternal Son of the Father and, from that moment on, as Man, the true son of Mary. This is why Our Lady is the Mother of the Incarnate Word, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, who has united our human nature to himself forever, without any confusion of the two natures. The greatest praise we can give to the Blessed Virgin is to address her loud and clear by the name that expresses her highest dignity: Mother of God.

St. Josemaria Escriva, Friends of God

The Order of Brilliant Bloggers

This is a grassroots group of excellent bloggers dedicated to recognizing and sharing sites and posts of others in efforts to support great work. They have blog awards voting running from January 1-5.

I am surprised and pleased to say that Happy Catholic was nominated for the December's Best Spiritual Blogsite excellence award (thank you Miss Cellania!).

It is an interesting site as they evidently have awards for all categories on a monthly basis. Go by and check it out.

I'm Not Funny ... But I Know Who Is...

Tom at Disputations is taking it to the edge before 2006 (and maybe over). Check out his 3-D faith-mapping diagram.

Just looking at it hurts my head and Tom kindly gives us the necessary precautionary measures.

Julie:

Thanks for reminding me. Everyone: you'll need to get a pair of anaglyph stereo glasses (the kind with red and blue lenses) by Monday. To get the full effect, it would also help if you practiced blinking at 15 Hz.

You have been warned.

Plain Jane is All That

Just a Catholic band (yes, I said CATHOLIC ... heck I'd have settled for Christian) that totally rocks. Found by Darren. I think we're music soul-mates considering our mutual devotion to DC Talk.

Go check it out, along with some of the other great music he's turned up. Darren thoughtfully has posted samples of these bands (I also like Cheer Up Charlie, but Plain Jane rules.)

He's promising more tune samplings soon. I'm gonna hold him to it.

It's the Little Things

That make life worth living, right? I'm so thankful for those little things that all add up to a big and happy life for me right now. Specifically right now...

• Rose wanting to fix dinner. She picks very different meals than I would. And it's fun to cook with her.
• Hannah's responsible use of her new freedom now that she has her license. She always calls to let us know what's up and has been early (!) for each deadline we've set.
• Tom using his laptop for work so that he could watch the Battlestar Galactica miniseries with us last night ... also his little sarcastic comments that let me know he was enjoying the show.
• Email conversations with friends, especially blogging pals, about nothing much ... but so much fun nonetheless.
• Pandora which provides my work music — jazz yesterday (Louis Armstrong "channel") and bluegrass today (The Boy Who Wouldn't Hoe Corn by Union Station "channel").
  

Just For the Record ... Limbo is Not Catholic Doctrine

And it never was.

I don't know why it keeps popping up. It was theological theory, nothing more. Never part of the Church's teachings.

So let's move along, there's nothing to see here ...

UPDATE
I thought that everyone had been as inundated as I had by mentions of Pope Benedict preparing to eliminate teaching about Limbo. Evidently not, so for those who hadn't seen the reason for this post, this'll help explain.

More 2006 Patron Saints

Over at A Catholic Life where Moneybags and his friend are valiantly trying to keep up with demand (over 60 requests so far) as people request special patron saints for the new year. I so appreciate what they are doing and want to extend my special thanks to them for this ministry.

In the meantime, Rose was chosen by Saint Peter of Verona. I'll be curious to see if there is a connection or if she's going to be exposed to something entirely new for 2006.

New Year's is Coming ... Favorite Movies

Yikes, I thought I posted this yesterday ... better late than never though.

Favorite Movies of 2005
(in no particular order ... some of these may be older movies but I saw them for the first time this year)

• Serenity


• Hitch


• Infernal Affairs


• Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit


• Hero


• Payback


• Equilibrium


• Millions


• Spanglish

Gazing Into Her Crystal Ball

The Anchoress is making predictions for 2006. Some are more believable ...

9) Somebody’s gotta get serious with Iran. W will do it. Ungrateful Europe and leftists will curse him for it, while wiping their brows in relief before driving to their next Bush-bashing engagement.

... than others (at least I hope so!)

12) Rick Santorum will lose his bid for re-election. He will enter a seminary program for the permanent diaconate in the Catholic Church, and write books.

Hmmm, good idea. I am going to ponder predictions and get back to y'all.

It Ain't Necessarily So: Nuclear Power

So let's look at nuclear power in a new series of excerpts. Actually I have no idea if this information will upset anyone. Most of it didn't seem like anything earth shattering to me. However, I honestly didn't realize this ...

In 1979, Columbia Pictures released The China Syndrome, starring activist actress Jane Fonda... Two weeks later, there was a real nuclear accident, at Three Mile Island outside Harrisburg, Pennsylvania...

Not surprisingly, fact and fiction became blurred in the public mind, and today, few people seem to realize that disaster was averted and no one in the plant or the Three Mile Island neighborhood was hurt. There was a small release of radioactivity, but the average dose received by a nearby resident was nine millirems — far less than received in a chest X-ray...

Seven years later a Soviet reactor in Chernobyl, Ukraine, exploded and about fifty people died. There were no confirmed deaths outside the plant itself. Radioactivity spread to the immediate area, and there were reports of thyroid cancer. But there was also an iodine deficiency — a risk factor for thyroid cancer — in the area. Today, the background level of radioactivity at Chernobyl is lower than that emitted by the granite of Grand Central Station...

[Theodore Rockwell summarizing the latest findings from the UN's Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation] :
"Some people died from the original explosion, some from fire, and I don't doubt some died from radiation. But they were all inside the plant. So it was an industrial accident, and we have seen far worse. As to the general public, they checked for iodine in the thyroid, and sure enough they found 1,800 children with thyroid nodules. But that part of the world is iodine-deficient — they were already having a serious public-health problem. Two kids with thyroid nodules were brought in and they died. But it turns out they were nowhere near the radiation. A third child died of something else entirely. As to the 1,800 people, they did not correlate with radiation dose at all. Some high-dose kids had no nodules, some low-dose did have. So it's not at all clear that they were ever related to the radiation, and the chairman of the original UN committee doesn't think they are related."

The Politically Incorrect Guide to Science

Rod Dreher Likes It, He Really Likes It!

Brokeback Mountain, that is. This editorial with Rod Dreher endorsing Brokeback Mountain as a work of art was both surprising and also welcome (I like to see people who will find out for themselves if it seems indicated).

My friend Victor Morton turned me around. On his "Right-Wing Film Geek" blog (www.cinecon.blogspot.com), Victor wrote a long, impassioned post that said, in effect, Don't believe the 'Brokeback' hype, from either side! The film is good, not great, Victor argued, but what makes it worthwhile is its fidelity to the tragic truth of its characters, not its usefulness to anybody's cause.

Intrigued, I found on the Internet a link to the Annie Proulx short story on which the movie is based and was shocked by how good it was, especially at embodying the "concrete details of life that make actual the mystery of our position here on earth" – Catholic writer Flannery O'Connor's description of what true artistry does. Though director Ang Lee's tranquil style fails to capture the daemonic wildness of Ms. Proulx's version, I came away from the film thinking, this is not for everybody, but it really is a work of art.

Will I go see it? Nope. I don't like sad stories and I often don't care about "art." Do go read the entire editorial. Free registration is required but don't let that stop you.

UPDATE
Tom Kelley likes Rhonda Lugari's referral for this article so well that he urges me to put it on the main blog ... so here ya go!

Getcha Saints Right Here!

Actually, not right here, but over at A Catholic Life there is a new post with more saints' selections of people to be special patrons for in 2006.

If you have requested a saint and don't see your name there, Moneybags' friend is struggling to keep up with the unexpected demand. This is when we all have to practice that patience that is such a virtue, right?

My Catholic Reflections

Darren just started up a few days ago but already has an interesting place set up. Drop by and welcome him to St. Blog's Parish.

New Year's is Coming ... Favorite Fiction

Favorite Fiction of 2005
(in no particular order)

• Anansi Boys : A Novel by Neil Gaiman
  The best thing he's written since Neverwhere and that's saying something. About the sons of one of my favorite "tricksters" ... Anansi the Spider.


• Magic Street by Orson Scott Card
  I'll never look at A Midsummers Night Dream the same way again.


• Valley of Bones by Michael Gruber
  We all remember how excited I was by this book right?


• Tropic of Night by Michael Gruber
  The precursor to Valley of Bones and just as excellent (and complicated) but with a major voodoo emphasis instead of Catholicism. However, the theme of mercy is still very much emphasized. I found it to be very "Christian" under everything.


• Home to Harmony by Philip Gulley
  Like the stories from A Prairie Home Companion but better and told from a Quaker minister's point of view. Very cozy.


• Sunshine by Robin McKinley
  Baking, vampires, a quest ...


• Our Lady of the Lost and Found: A Novel by Diane Schoemperlen
  A writer who lives a quiet life walks into her living room one day to find Mary (yes, the Blessed Virgin) standing in her living room with a suitcase. She needs a vacation to rest up before May begins with all the celebrations devoted to Mary. I think of this as a story of what Mary does in "ordinary time."


• Corpse de Ballet : A Nine Muses Mystery: Terpsichore by Ellen Pall
  More depth than the average mystery and a fascinating look behind the scenes developing a ballet.