A Wonderful Variation on Striped Sock Yarn

Swinging by Jimmy Beans Wool to pick up another ball of Bunny Hop to finish out my first-ever Christmas-deadline knitting, I found these yarns. Yes, I fell prey to picking out one of the Saturn variety to try out. My first stashing, y'all. I don't know whether to laugh or cry!

Jupiter Natur Color

Regia Galaxy Jupiter has swirls and pools of colour in shades inspired by the patterns of Jupiter's clouds.

Regia Galaxy Saturn Janus

Each of the colorways seems to be named after the moons of Saturn and reflect their spirals and ellipses.

Introverts and Extraverts: The Light Bulb Goes On

Then a few years ago Dr. Richard D. Grant taught me the difference between introverts and extraverts.

Introversion and extraversion don't refer to shyness and boldness. They refer only to how you charge your emotional batteries. Introverts gain energy from internal contemplation, centering, and quiet time. Extraverts gain energy from external people, places, and things.

...

Books are written for introverts. Audiobooks are recorded for extraverts.

Introverts rarely say what they are thinking.
They say only what they have thought. Introverts think to talk.

Extraverts talk to think.

This was a very enlightening way for me to consider the differences between these two personality types. I will be copying part of this into my quote journal as a reminder. Go read ... or listen to ... Roy H. Williams' Monday Morning Memo here.

Twilight Before Christmas

Well, that didn't take long ... and from reading Twilight in 15 Minutes, I have a feeling this is probably about as good as the move.

I've Got the Joy, Joy, Joy, Joy Down in My Heart ...

We all know, I'm not always happy. I know full well that my crosses are so much lighter than those of others and I am grateful for it. Generally, like most people, I soldier on in my own little arena of struggles, and do not dwell on them too much. This is possible because of the joy and optimism that growing closer to God has brought me.

As I said, we know it is not possible to always be happy. Last week the convergence of a number of factors hit me in just the wrong way at the wrong time and I was overcome with sorrow. In fact, I remember a distinctly odd moment of sending a garbled reassurance to Jesus that it wasn't that I lacked faith or trust but I had to get through this moment first ... right before I bent over the kitchen sink and sobbed for a while. I realize that Jesus needs no such reassurance. I was actually clarifying things for myself while giving in to emotional distress.

However, perhaps because of that same garbled emergency message, I had the experience of receiving consolation while giving in to sorrow. In my mind's eye, there was an arm round my shoulders gently patting me, a head tilted against my own, and a murmuring "There, there, Jules. It's ok... ." Notice there were no promises of making everything ok, of me getting to sit back and let someone else take up the problems. I didn't expect that. I also didn't expect such clear consolation and sharing of my moment either, however.

After a good cry cleared my system, I was able to move on through my day. It wasn't miraculously filled with joy. Actually, I was not in the best of moods. However, I was able to overcome the impulse to snap at people, to ignore what I didn't want to face, and to avoid shutting myself off from the world. In short, I was given the grace I needed to fight my battle of the moment. It was enough. By the afternoon I had regained much of my usual optimism.

In the week that followed, the memory of that consolation would occasionally float into my mind and it was warming. I have never had such a clear indicator of "not walking alone." Usually a memory of sorrow does not bring joy but this memory did. The difference was that Jesus was there with me.

Which all brings me to the point that yesterday was Gaudete Sunday, which reminds us to rejoice always in all situations. That memory flooded through me as I was in front of the tabernacle during Mass and it was a cryative time (crying and sensitive ... Rose's term). And joyful.

Yesterday's readings from In Conversation with God just underscored my experience even more.

The world's happiness is a poor and transitory thing. The Christian's happiness is profound and can exist in the midst of difficulties. It is compatible with pain, with illness, with failures and contradictions. our Lord has promised: Your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. (John 16:22) Unless we separate ourselves from its source, nothing and nobody can take away this joyful peace.

To have the certainty that God is our Father and wants all that is best for us gives us a serene and joyful confidence even in the face, sometimes, of unexpected hardships. In those moments which a man without faith would consider to be meaningless and deadly blows of fate, the Christian discovers God, and with Him a much greater good than he seems to have lost. How many obstacles vanish, when in our hearts we place ourselves next to this God of ours, who never abandons us! Jesus' love for his own, for the sick and for the lame is renewed, expressed by different sufferers in different ways. "What's the matter?" he asks; and we reply, "Its my ..." At once there is light, or at least the acceptance of his will, and inner peace. (J. Escriva, Friends of God, 249)

We will have difficulties, as everyone always has, but whether they are great or small these contradictions will never be able to destroy our happiness. We have to expect the setback as part and parcel of ordinary life, and we cannot put off being happy until some impossible time arrives in which there are no contradictions, temptations, or sorrows. What is more, we should have no opportunities at all for growing in virtue if we had no obstacles to overcome.

We need a firm foundation for our happiness. It cannot depend exclusively on changeable circumstances like good news, good health, peace and quiet, enough money to bring up the family comfortably and having all the material possessions we would like. All these things are good in themselves if they do not separate us from God, but they are unable to provide us with real happiness.

Our Lord asks us to be happy always. Let each man take care how he builds. For no other foundation can anyone lay other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. (1 Cor 3:11) Only he can be the support of our whole life. There is no sorrow which he cannot alleviate: Do not fear, only believe, he says to us. (Luke 8:50) He knows everything which is going to happen in our lives, including those things that will result from our stupidity and lack of sanctity. But he has the remedy for them all.

Very often, as we are doing now in this time of prayer, we shall have to come to him in the Tabernacle and have a conversation with him which is both serious and intimate. And we shall need to lay bare our soul in Confession, and in personal spiritual direction. There we shall find the source of happiness; and our gratitude will show itself in greater faith, in an ever-increasing hope which banishes all sadness, and in our care for other people. For yet a little, just a very little while, and He that is to come will come, and shall not delay; (Heb 10:37) and with him come peace and joy; with Jesus we find meaning in our life.

This is the cause of our joy. This is what we long to share with others who have not yet found Jesus. "Lift up your heart, lift up your voice; rejoice, again I say, rejoice."

An Eyewitness Account from Basílica de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe

These young sisters dressed as
indigenas peregrinas (Indian pilgrims)
for el Día de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe,
celebrated every December 12.

Read this wonderful account at Mexico Cooks! of the feast day celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe right where Juan Diego met Our Lady.

Note to self ...

... when one has been in the habit of always sending Halloween cards to college-bound children's friends, one must not think that just because they are juniors that they will not miss those cards. This evidently results in said child receiving many queries about missing cards.

I still love y'all ... and I am not going to make that same mistake at Valentine's!

Another Reason to Visit Pittsburgh

I love strolling through cemeteries no matter the size but monuments like this one in the Allegheny Cemetery just call out to me. Who would have thought that there would be so many interesting memorials there? Of course, in the summer, it would be that much more inviting for lingering and speculating upon why this gentleman feels he must go on working even now.

Accepting Nominations - Catholic New Media and Innovation Awards

Who is the best in Catholic New Media? Where are the innovators in Catholic evangelization? I want the world to know. So this year I am rolling out the first annual Catholic New Media and Innovation Awards. The purpose is to find and highlight the best in Catholic New Media and acknowledge those using innovate ways to evangelize the faith.

This is something I have wanted to do for some time now. It is my hope that this informal award will bring attention to those working tirelessly and unselfishly to promote the good works of the Catholic Church and share the gifts of our faith.

Here are the rules:

1. Open Nominations
2. There are no specific categories. I prefer to keep the nomination field broad and defined only to new media and innovation. It will be fun to see what suggestions people send to us.
3. Jury Panel = me. The awards are subjective but based on my experience, expertise and input from those who are kind enough to send me their thoughts.
4. Winning entries will be posted on this blog and will receive a glowing email with congratulations from yours truly. Wow!

OK, so there's no red carpet, banquet, or celebrities fawning over the winners. Just me and my platform to share the good works of generous people. I'll probably announce the winners on a Catholic radio program or perhaps EWTN or Catholic TV if they'll have me. First things first. Send me your nominations. I promise to thoroughly review them and announce the winners in early January.

I set up a special email account for nominations and related correspondence. Please send you suggestions and comments to: awards (at) lovetobecatholic (dot)com

Looking forward to hearing from you.

I got this via email, but you can check it out here also. This will be interesting.

Worth a Thousand Words

Ball Point Pen: Study for New Mother by Belinda Del Pesco

Dignitas Personae, the Vatican's New Instruction on Bioethics

Find it here.

That link should take you to the English translation. If it does not, simply scroll down.

Or you can read it LifeSite.

Among the topics covered in the instruction are in vitro fertilization, cloning and stem cell research. I am printing this out and will read it with much interest.

John Allen has a summary and some commentary.

You Spell It Pittsburg. I Spell It Pittsburgh.

Actually I tend to spell it both ways. Then I am embarrassed for spelling it whichever other way I did before.

Now, I find that I am not the only one with Pittsburgh spelling confusion.

Father Pitt has the whole story.

Why have I been spelling Pittsburgh at all?

That, dear readers, is something which I shall reveal in the very near future.

Just What I've Been Wanting for Christmas!

Advertisement

From Dr. Boli's Celebrated Magazine where it is a toss up as to which is funnier, the advertisements or the Letters to the Editor.

Rest in Peace, Cardinal Dulles

We have received news from the New York Province of the Society of Jesus of the death of Avery Cardinal Dulles, SJ, the dean of American theologians, and the first American Jesuit named a cardinal, has died this morning at the Jesuit infirmary at Fordham University.

RIP.

I received this email from Father James Martin just now. My first reaction ... "Oh no!" I had no idea of Cardinal Dulles' age or state of health. Looking at the photo in the linked article, I see that he is older than I imagined him from reading his excellent writing. He shall be greatly missed and I pray that his time in Purgatory is short and he is soon enjoying the Beatific Vision (a.k.a. Heaven).

Update: More personal reflections can be found on their blog.

Worth a Thousand Words

Moon Beam, Potawatomie Indian Maiden, 1909, found at Old Picture of the Day

We Read the Presidential Citizens Medal List With Interest This Year

We were interested in Erwin Morse and Jeffery L. Miller who are the founders of the Honor Flight Network. It transports veterans to Washington, D.C. to visit and reflect at their memorials. Top priority is given to the senior veterans – World War II survivors, along with those other veterans who may be terminally ill.

Of course, everyone on the Presidental Citizens Medal list was worthy of interest but our special interest came because Tom did the Honor Flight website. So we're proud to have a part in this noble venture.

I also was pleased to see Gary Sinise on the list. I was very impressed with a radio interview I heard a while back where he talked about his ongoing efforts to supply Iraqi children with school supplies (and he's a Catholic convert ... so that just makes it better).

The Selfless Stranger and the Four Year Old Boy

Sounds like a Christmas story doesn't it? In a sense, it is the truest sort of Christmas story, the sort that Christ himself prompted.

Christopher Closeup has the story up on their podcast feed of Tisha Young, a woman who donated her kidney to a 4-year-old boy she didn’t even know, thereby saving his life – and Tami Gappa, the mother of the 4-year-old, talking about what that choice has meant to her family.

I happen to be a bit more attached to this story than most, though all their interviews are interesting (and now in iTunes! Woohoo!). A friend of mine knew of the Gappas story and it was her prayer request on Happy Catholic that brought the story to Tony Rossi's attention.

The Insights We Can Gain From Atheists

Author and Rolling Stone journalist Randall Sullivan's personal experiences of the supposed apparition site at Medjugorje. The best writing I've encountered on spiritual themes. Hugely entertaining. Occasionally infuriating. Impossible to pin down. Honest. Brave. Sullivan has that rare quality in a writer, the quality of the genuine. If only Christian writers could write like this. But that's the thing. When God uses an atheist, sometimes the atheist, after a genuine conversion, will reveal a light in our faith that the rest of us have never seen.

I've seen several people mention The Heelers Diaries lately, from whence comes the above insightful comment and recommendation of The Miracle Detective. Check out the complete list at the link.

It is horrifying to think that an image that had received so many prayers over the centuries could be so blithely destroyed. Then again, the Church could reply that works of religious art are intended to be not receptacles for prayer, but windows to a higher reality; that one prays through, not to, an image. A statue of Mary is not Mary, and maybe it's better to melt down the images from time to time before they turn into idols.

I am reminded that I reviewed The Miracle Detective long ago, as well as Virgin Trails which is about an atheist who nevertheless becomes interested in going on Marian pilgrimages. Heeler Diaries' observation applies to both books, as you might surmise from the above excerpt from Virgin Trails.

Both are books that earned a permanent place on my groaning bookshelves and which I need to reread. And, of course, both are recommended.

Sweet Deal for HC Readers from Aquinas and More Catholic Store

Because there are only two weeks left before Christmas, we'd like to help make the rest of your Christmas shopping easier by giving you and your readers a coupon for free priority shipping on orders over $55 at our store.

Just enter the code BloggerSpecial into the coupon field during checkout.

In order to ensure delivery by Christmas, we're encouraging our customers to place their orders by Thursday, December 18 at the latest if they want priority shipping (this date is only applicable to in-stock items). Don't wait too long to get great Catholic gifts for everyone on your list!

Have a blessed Advent!

Thanks y'all!

Worth a Thousand Words

False Barbed-Wire taken by DL Ennis of Visual Thoughts

DL says, "Actually these are seed heads on an ornamental grass…in my garden." Nature. So amazing. Especially when revealed by an excellent photographer.

Daybook ... HC style

Cooking: Curried Beef with Potatoes and Peas ... so good I made it twice in the last two weeks. Next up will be Turkey Bone Gumbo that Sara Roahen kindly sent me the recipe for. I'm having to break it up into steps as I never have all the hours in one day that a true gumbo needs.

Talking: Serve the People: a Stir-Fried Journey Through China ... the lagniappe offered over at Forgotten Classics.

Reading:

• Just finished the above-mentioned Serve the People.
• Also finished Mason-Dixon Knitting Outside the Lines. It's like someone took the Summa Mamas and got them to knit and talk and write it all down, with simple patterns. Look for a little lagniappe to be posted over at Forgotten Classic in the near future from this book.
  
• Getting ready to dive into Eating India.
  
• Thoroughly enjoying rereading A Jesuit Off Broadway for our Catholic women's book club.
  
• Also getting so much from Mother Teresa's Secret Fire ... honestly I could practically excerpt every page here. Except then they wouldn't be excerpts would they?

Listening: it's a toss-up.

• Christmas music, especially the newly purchased Tony Bennett's "A Swingin' Christmas." iTunes had a song from it as last week's free download and it was pretty good. Tony's no Dino, but good enough and Count Basie's band backing him up sealed the deal. Plus look at that cover. So good in so many ways.
  
  
  
• The January Dancer by Michael Flynn. The guy knows how to tell space opera, y'all ... AND how to examine story telling while telling a story. So far - brilliant.
• The Catholic Foodie ... yes, you read that right. Catholicism and Food. Two of my favorite things ... in a podcast from Jeff Young. He's only on episode two but I'm likin' it so far. Also, he has some good stuff on his blog. The story about the baked potatoes cracked me up! Here's a tip from James Beard that has never sent me wrong ... one hour at 450 degrees, Jeff. Not 350.
  

Watching: finally saw Hellboy. Entertaining but it was no Pan's Labyrinth. I liked the Father and Son stuff though and the fact that Hellboy's free will was tied to the fact that "Son" was his truest identification with the person who truly loved him for who he was (that would be the Father, y'all). I'll watch Hellboy II ... when the library has it!

ALSO watched Craig Ferguson from Monday night. It was his first night back after attending his mother's funeral in Scotland and he spent the show talking about her. As he told the camera, he's always tried to be honest and it didn't feel right to be "on" when he didn't feel it. It was a combination of humor, reminiscence, and a son's love for his mother. Not the usual late night fare and we really appreciated his honesty. Which is why we watch him in the first place ... well, and the fact that his honesty usually is funny.

Congratulating: Chase Bank. Yes, our bank. Either we have the friendliest, most helpful Chase branch in the U.S. or they have radically improved banking customer service above the competition. Stopped in this morning to try to unsnarl a knotted tangle created by a family member (who shall remain unnamed) who is handling household expenses for the first time. Turns out it was not all their fault as the bank hadn't linked checking to the promised overdraft protection. Chase was so helpful and we looked through all our other accounts as well for any problems. And banking lessons will continue in our home when all gather for the holidays. Doesn't that sound like so much fun? (ha!)

Knitting: I never have been one of those people who had lots of projects "on the needles." Until now. Knitting Rose's afghan, I also cast on a simple hoodie for Hannah to provide something simple when my brain couldn't handle complications. Then I found I really missed knitting socks, so cast on one that I am halfway through because then ... talking to my mother, who always has scoffed at the idea of knitting socks, she mentioned that she was waiting for that pair of socks I said that I'd knit to keep her feet warm on winter nights. SCREEEECH to a halt with all else, order yarn ASAP, and start knitting like the wind. Yes. The. Wind. Almost done with the leg of the second sock. Whew! Then I have to work my way back to finishing some of these other projects!

Worth a Thousand Words

Day of the Dead - Papercuts

This is just one of many bewitching pieces of similar art. Check it out at BibliOdyssey, linked above. You can find out more about this Mexican tradition here (link from BibliOdyssey post).

Experienced Mexico travelers recognize a sure sign that a local fiesta is in progress whenever they spy a churchyard or stretch of roadway bedecked with lines of bright tissue paper cut-outs. Papel picado-- an enchanting Mexican popular art form with roots in the country's ancient cultures--lends a festive air for many types of celebrations. ...

No one to blame but ourselves

From this morning's reading in In Conversation with God: Advent and Christmastide, comes a reflection that dovetails completely with my readings yesterday from Mother Teresa's Secret Fire. That book has some tremendously helpful ways to show how it is possible to see Jesus in the people around us. I am going to be sharing pieces of that very soon. Here is what hit me this morning, which really needs no backup.

... To contemplate Jesus will especially help us not to be arrogant, and not to lose our tempers when things go wrong.

We must not make the mistake of thinking that this "bad temper" of ours, which bursts out in very definite circumstances and times, depends on the character of the people around us. The peace of our spirit does not depend on the good nature and kindness of other people. Our neighbors' good nature and kindness are in no way subject to our control of opinion. That would be absurd. The tranquility of our heart depends on ourselves. The ability to avoid anger, with all its ridiculous effects, has to come from within ourselves and not be dependent on the nature of other people. The power to overcome the evil in our character must not depend on some perfection outside us, but on our own virtue. (Cassian, Constitutions, 8)

Guilty, as charged. However, I sometimes am victorious in stuffing that bad temper down until the moment passes by contemplating either Jesus or Mary (the perfect disciple), which is a definite improvement!

Ten Most Fascinating Catholics of 2008

No one has tagged me but I have seen this making the rounds ... and began thinking about what qualifies someone as a fascinating Catholic of this year in particular.

The best I can come up with, personally, is who I'd like to meet ... let's say perhaps be seated next to on an airplane for a few hours of convivial conversation? Which means that I find them fascinating enough to want to be able to talk to them, right? (I'm excluding bloggers ... let's just take that as a given, ok?)

1. Pope Benedict 16. Well, duh.

2. Bishop Kevin Farrell, Dallas's bishop, and as Mama T put it with wanting to meet her Ft. Worth bishop, one who is breathing new life into our diocese.

3. Mike Aquilina, writer. He has been very kind in sending work to our company as well as unflaggingly enthusiastic whenever we are in contact. I know him "virtually" but would like to make it a face-to-face thing.

4. David Scott, writer. Met him (again virtually) via Mike Aquilina and David also has sent much work our way. There is no one better to have a phone conversation with. I'm just tellin' ya. Also, he wrote one of the most-ignored but best books I have ever read about Mother Teresa.

5. Dean Koontz , writer. His writing is getting more complex and nuanced and shows so clearly his Catholic soul. Plus, his very occasional podcast lets me know that he is funny, realistic, and self deprecating. A truly fascinating combination.

6. Jim Caviezel, actor. Everything I've read and heard from people who are in his parish tells me that he is a genuinely nice person who loves his faith. And, as you may know ... he's hot.

7. Michael Flynn , writer. Writes some of the best science fiction I've ever read and the careful Catholic reader sees his faith reflected in his work.

8. Aaron Neville, singer. He took me by complete surprise when listening to a brief podcast where he spoke of his life. Among all the many singers I heard on that show, he was the one who spoke of his faith and it was compelling. I later found out he is Catholic and has a devotion to St. Jude, whose medal he wears as an earring.

9. Peggy Noonan, writer. I especially liked her book about John Paul II and her faith.

10. John C. Wright, writer. I have liked the two books of his that I have managed to get my hands on, though I am under no illusions I could keep up with him conversationally I think it would be a blast.

Worth a Thousand Words

Czar Nicholas II of Russia (1868-1918) and his wife Alexandra Feodorovna
wearing state robes during ball at the Winter Palace. St. Petersburg, Russia, 1904

scribble ... scribble ...

Deacon Greg has surprised and honored me with the Superior Scribbler's Award (which saves me the trouble of tapping him for it!). He says, "One of the prettiest and pithiest and most engaging blogs around..." Oh you flatterer! And, of course, I love it!

I see that I am in very high level company ... which just makes this little baby even more precious.

Now, for my pick of five, which several of DG's choices took off my list ... so many excellent writers, so few slots. Ok, here goes ...

1. Conversion Diary: Musings of a Former Atheist
   Because of her recent religious journey and her continuing contemplation of the changes that her new-found Catholic faith has made in her life overall, Jen is one of the most compelling, honest, and thought provoking bloggers out there. She's a darned fine writer and I never miss one of her posts.
   
   
2. Practicing Catholic
   I met Heather when she bravely showed up for the Roe v. Wade pro-life march last year on the strength of responding to a post I wrote. What a pleasure it was to share that new experience with her and feel that I had come out of it with a new friend as a bonus. Then I read her blog and found her to be a thoughtful writer who is not afraid to bare her soul when necessary. Another one I never miss.
   
   
3. The Silver Key
   Brian Murphy discusses books, movies, and much more. I'll just say it like this. The guy reviewed an audiobook of Beowulf in such a way that I now can't wait to get my hands on one. Beowulf! I ask you! So, yes, he's a compelling writer who opens your eyes to hitherto unknown realms.
   
   
4. Good News Film Reviews
   I know that I must sound like a broken record sending you to Scott's reviews but, seriously, people! He can deliver an entire review in one pithy sentence as witness this for Encounters at the End of the World.
   
   If you're really into listening to the unintentionally laughable musings of a wealthy, over-hyped German over mostly boring footage of his trip to Antarctica, you're in luck.
   
   When that's just the beginning, then you know you're on to a good deal.
   
   
5. The Mad Tea Party
   March Hare has the knack of reviewing movies and books both intelligently and with an eye to Catholic sensibilities. She doesn't strain at a gnat while being faithful (which is a big plus to me). Even more important, she isn't afraid to speak up for something she sees has value even when the majority rule, whether secular or Catholic, might be bashing it as a knee-jerk reaction to "what everyone knows." In short, she has a brain and isn't afraid to use it.
   

Ok, now the mandatory posting of the rules:

• Each Superior Scribbler must in turn pass The Award on to 5 most-deserving Bloggy Friends.
• Each Superior Scribbler must link to the author & the name of the blog from whom he/she has received The Award.
• Each Superior Scribbler must display The Award on his/her blog, and link to this post, which explains The Award.
• Each Blogger who wins The Superior Scribbler Award must visit this post and add his/her name to the Mr. Linky List (scroll down). That way, we’ll be able to keep up-to-date on everyone who receives This Prestigious Honor!
• Each Superior Scribbler must post these rules on his/her blog.

Mark Shea is Coming to Dallas in January!

SWEET!

From Mark Windsor comes the news of Mark Shea's upcoming visit to his parish.

It's confirmed. Mark Shea will be at St. Anthony's in Wylie on January 24.

Festivities commence at 9:45 with 101 Reasons NOT to be Catholic.

Continuing at 10:45 with This is My Body: An Evangelical Discovers the Real Presence.

Lunch (hotdogs...nothin' too fancy) at 11:30.

The final talk is at 11:45 - Making Senses Out of Scripture: Reading the Bible as the First Christians Did.

I will ... repeat will ... be there! (Not to mention that I will get to see Mark Windsor again who is a heckuva interesting guy to chat with. So it's a double bonus.)

Sign up info to follow.

Are You Wearing Blue?

My youth group leader was giving a talk one night and he said, "There are over a billion Catholics in the world. If Catholics decided to wear the color blue tomorrow, everyone would be like...Blue is a cool color." And that made me have this crazy idea.... What if all of us Catholics actually did that? So I decided in honor of our mother Mary, on December 8th, which is The Feast of The Immaculate Conception, we will all wear the color light blue. Please help me accomplish this goal! Invite all your Catholic friends! Even if you are not Catholic and you want to honor Mary...that's cool too. Join us in this movement and be a witness to the world!

"If you are what you should be, you will set the whole world on fire. Let the truth be your delight...proclaim it...but with a certain congeniality."

-- Saint Catherine of Siena

Today's the day, people. I have to admit that I couldn't find a single blue thing at Target that didn't look dreadful ... so my "blue" is actually a teal. However, I do have my eye on a lovely mail order light blue sweater that I am going to have ready for next year.

As for now, get that blue on (or the closest equivalent) and flaunt it!

Catholic New Media Celebration to be in San Antonio for 2009?

I got an email saying that this was mentioned on Catholic Family Podcast but can't find anything "in writing" (so to speak) about it.

Anyone out there know about this?

Because if so, I could actually swing a trip to San Antonio for it ... c'mon people, give us the skinny on it!

A Smorgasbord of Cinema Awaits You

Bohemian Cinema is hosting this week's Carnival of Cinema and my review for Slumdog Millionaire is included. There are all sorts of interesting posts and reviews linked to and I highly recommend checking it out.

1st Sofanaut Awards

With the recent 52nd episode of Aural Delights, StarShipSofa has now delivered a year's worth of poetry, short fiction and fact articles. What better time than now to hold the first ever StarShipSofa awards: The Sofanauts!

The Sofanauts will recognise listener favourites from the first 52 Aural Delights shows. You can access all of these shows here.

Nominations for the following categories are now open:

• Best Flash Fiction
• Best Main Fiction
• Best Poetry Contributor
• Best Fact Article Contributor
• Best Narrator

You may nominate as many stories and contributors in each of the categories as you like. To make your nominations, please visit this online voting poll. Alternatively, you can head over to the StarShipSofa forums and list your favourites in each of the categories.

The top five stories and contributors receiving the most nominations in each category will make up a shortlist. Every nomination counts, so if someone on the forums has already nominated one of your favourites, you'll still need to nominate it yourself to give it the best chance of making the shortlist.

You will be able to vote on the shortlist in an upcoming online poll. Stay tuned to StarShipSofa for further details.

Nominations will be open from the two weeks following Aural Delights #53.

What have been your favourites in a year's worth of Aural Delights? Please get involved and have your say.

I'm a StarShipSofa fan ... ahem ... and also a narrator. Not that I'm asking for votes. Oh no! For one thing, my vote would go to Jim Campanella but that's beside the point. If you listen to the Sofa, head on over and make your voice heard.

Worth a Thousand Words

Raspberry Bismarck No. 2 by Duane Keiser

I think we would call this a jelly doughnut ... either way it's a great painting, isn't it?

The Blue Movement: Wear Blue on Monday to Honor Mary

My youth group leader was giving a talk one night and he said, "There are over a billion Catholics in the world. If Catholics decided to wear the color blue tomorrow, everyone would be like...Blue is a cool color." And that made me have this crazy idea.... What if all of us Catholics actually did that? So I decided in honor of our mother Mary, on December 8th, which is The Feast of The Immaculate Conception, we will all wear the color light blue. Please help me accomplish this goal! Invite all your Catholic friends! Even if you are not Catholic and you want to honor Mary...that's cool too. Join us in this movement and be a witness to the world!


"If you are what you should be, you will set the whole world on fire. Let the truth be your delight...proclaim it...but with a certain congeniality."

-- Saint Catherine of Siena

This is a Facebook group so I'm bringing this out into the larger blogosphere.

Wear blue on Monday to honor Mary ... now I have to think if I have anything that is light blue. Oh well, I'm off to Target to do some Christmas shopping. Hopefully they'll have something.

What's in My Earbuds?

Yep, The January Dancer ... the newest Michael Flynn book, thanks to Scott at SFFaudio keeping in mind what a Flynn junkie I am. So I got their review copy. Nice!

And, it's space opera. Uh huh.

Worth a Thousand Words

Girl Eating Pie

From Old Picture of the Day which also has this nice reflection. I highly recommend the blog, by the way.

This picture was taken in 1899 and shows a little girl eating pie. I find the photograph fascinating, in that it really could have been taken yesterday. It is amazing to me that for all that things change, some things remain the same. You know her parents adored her, and you can not help but wonder what things she saw in her life.

Savage Chickens does Day of the Ninja ...

... with hilarious results as always. Browse Savage Chickens for more Chuck Norris and, of course, more ninjas.

Something for Hannah and Rose

For Hannah: Parrot Pets Kitty
Via Miss Cellania.



For Rose: Atlas Shrugged

It’s a novel! It’s a philosophy! It’s the instruction manual for a crazy cult! Atlas Shrugged could be all of those things. Then again, maybe it’s just about a little Russian girl who really hated growing up around Bolsheviks.

Mental Floss Blog takes a look at the masterpiece and its author.

Some Wonderful Movie Posters ...

... can be found here.

You keep saying "free speech." I don't think that means what you think it means.

Recently, I was interested to read the lead editorial in the Wall Street Journal explaining about a legal suit that Singapore won against them.

Let us begin with an apology to our readers in Asia. Unless they are online, they will not see this editorial. For legal reasons, we are refraining from publishing it in The Wall Street Journal Asia, which circulates in Singapore.

Our subject is free speech and the rule of law in the Southeast Asian city-state -- something on which the international press and Singapore's government have often clashed. We can't say which side would prevail if the Singapore public could hear an open debate, but the fact is that we know of no foreign publication that has ever won in a Singapore court of law. Virtually every Western publication that circulates in the city-state has faced a lawsuit, or the threat of one. ...

Click through above to read it all. Clearly, Singapore has a different understanding of "free speech" than we have here in America.

Then this morning I outright laughed out loud reading this letter from no less a dignitary than the Ambassador of Singapore to the United States. He says a lot ... repeatedly ... but here's the money quote.

... We do not fear or stifle criticism of our policies. But we will not allow our judiciary to be denigrated under the pretense of free speech. ...

Worth a Thousand Words

The Artist’s Cat Deceived
Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797 – 1861)
Mid-1840s

Does this mean when I stop by Kuby's for pimiento cheese I'm going to have to shove the Secret Service out of my way?

Bushes confirm purchase of Dallas home in Preston Hollow

The White House confirmed Thursday that the Bushes have purchased a house in Dallas’ Preston Hollow neighborhood for the couple to live in after his presidency ends in January.

First lady Laura Bush’s office declined to specify where the house is, but it appears likely the couple will live on Daria Place, a cul-de-sac in the upscale neighborhood.

The story is at the Dallas Morning News. I can see President Bush dropping into Kuby's of a morning to grab breakfast as so many are doing when I whisk buy to buy the best bologna and hotdogs in town ...

It would be my chance to tell him that I think he's the bees' knees.

Uh Huh. Take That Pagans!

Many Christians think that Christians celebrate Christ’s birth on December 25th because the church fathers appropriated the date of a pagan festival. Almost no one minds, except for a few groups on the fringes of American Evangelicalism, who seem to think that this makes Christmas itself a pagan festival. But it is perhaps interesting to know that the choice of December 25th is the result of attempts among the earliest Christians to figure out the date of Jesus’ birth based on calendrical calculations that had nothing to do with pagan festivals.

Rather, the pagan festival of the “Birth of the Unconquered Son” instituted by the Roman Emperor Aurelian on 25 December 274, was almost certainly an attempt to create a pagan alternative to a date that was already of some significance to Roman Christians. Thus the “pagan origins of Christmas” is a myth without historical substance. ...

Check out Calculating Christmas over at Touchstone.

A single death is a tragedy, a million deaths is a statistic. -- Joseph Stalin

His face wracked with sobs as he cries for his mother, tiny Moshe Holtzberg has had a miraculous escape: He was inside the Jewish centre stormed by Islamic militants during last week's Mumbai attacks.

His rabbi father and mother were both murdered by the militants. Moshe was rushed to safety - drenched in blood - after his nanny found him crying by their bodies.

Read the whole story here

Even one or two hundred become a statistic if they happen far enough away. This photo of little Moshe puts the human face back on the butchery perpetrated in the name of religion by the terrorists in Mumbai.

Darwin Catholic puts it well and I am lifting this post from him ... (you can always count on the Darwins for clear thinking and if you are not visiting their blog regularly then you're missing out).

One of my co-workers, an immigrant from northern India, is a Jain. He eats no meat, including fish and any other animal. He once rescued a roach I was about to kill in the office and took it outside.

But he supports the death penalty, because although the terrorist attack in Mumbai last week were unique in scale and in happening in one of India's major financial centers, they're hardly unique in recent Indian history. I think one figure I read was that more than 4000 Indians have been killed in terrorist attacks since 2001.

When one of my American-born liberal co-workers asked him how he could be so emphatic on preserving life in all other cases, but support the death penalty he replied, "When someone comes into your village, and enters your house, and kills everyone in your family because they do not like your race, or they do not like you faith, they have crossed a line."

While I accept the wisdom of our Church's leaders that the death penalty is seldom needed in modern society -- but seldom is not never. If any of the perpetrators of last week's terror attacks in Mumbai failed to be escorted off this mortal coil by the Indian commandoes who sought to rescue their hostages, I could certainly find it in me to hope that they receive a short trial and a long rope.

I also was much struck by this Wall Street Journal editorial examining the mainstream media's role in adding fuel to terrorists' anger.

For purposes of self-justification, Azam Amir Kasab, the only terrorist taken alive in last week's Mumbai massacre, offered that the murder of Jews in the city's Chabad House was undertaken to avenge Israeli atrocities on Palestinians. Two other terrorists cited instances of anti-Muslim Hindu violence as the answer to the question, "Why are you doing this to us?" before mowing down 14 unarmed people at the Oberoi Hotel. And if dead terrorists could talk, we would surely hear Abu Ghraib mentioned as among their reasons for singling out U.S. and British hostages.

One suspects the terrorists spent far too much time listening to the BBC World Service.

Let's hasten to add that by no means should the BBC alone be singled out. When it comes to terrorists and their grievances, nearly all the Western media have provided them with a rich diet on which to feed. ...

Would that the media would take a bit more care anyway, but definitely when reporting inflammatory facts that are not facts at all.

Being Dead is the Least of His Problems

I lent this audiobook to a friend. Later, listening to me waxing enthusiastic over the book, he said in a dubious tone, “That’s the book where the zombies and vampires are fighting?”

Hardly.

It is true that vampirism is a key element of detective Joe Pitt’s character as practically everything he does entails watchful details to stay alive and undetected for what he is. Already Dead is, first and foremost, heart and soul, a hard-boiled detective novel. One might be forgiven for thinking that Charlie Huston is merely another author taking advantage of the recent trend featuring vampires as key characters in fiction. However, they would be dead wrong. What becomes very clear is that Huston is taking advantage of this fantastical setting to examine good versus evil, rising to humanity versus sinking to the level of animals, the societal urge to define oneself by the group one joins, and, of course, what constitutes true love. It is no surprise then to find that some of the greatest intentional evil is perpetrated not by vampires but by mere human beings. All of these themes are set forth for us in crackling dialogue that hearkens back to the best of Raymond Chandler and Billy Wilder, who one is irresistibly reminded co-wrote the screenplay for the film-noir classic Double Indemnity. In fact, a scene toward the end of the book between Joe and his girlfriend Evie is a noir-style dialogue masterpiece that sends thrills through the listener and that would not be out of place in that movie.

Already Dead by Charlie Huston is for adults (unlike Twilight) and you can read my complete review at SFFaudio.

Worth a Thousand Words

Ferris Wheel is Back by ParisDailyPhoto

Isn't this fantastic? Now, let's add Paris ... on the Champs Elysee ... ohhhh, how I wish I were there to see it in person.

Jesus Meets Obama's Transition Team

Here are my rough notes (sorry for the scribbling) of the relevant answers from the questionnaire for Jesus of Nazareth. ...

10.) Please list, and if readily available, provide copy of each book, article, column or publication you have authored.
Unpublished. No paper trail. We all approved of this. Want more applicants like this guy.

11.) Please identify each instance in which you have testified before... legislative, administrative, investigative or regulatory body, and specify the subject matter...
Appeared before governor ("procurator") of Judea, as well as the (local) king. Bad news here. Annoyed almost every authority he met. When asked, "Are you the Son of God?" he said, "It is you who say so." What will Senate confirmation hearings be like for him? On other hand, vague is good.

Father Jim Martin has much more ... this cracks me up. Thanks to Michelle for the heads-up on this one!

Wallace and Gromit ... The Puns Alone Are Worth the Price of Admission

Wallace & Gromit star in a brand new adventure ‘A Matter of Loaf and Death’

Wallace & Gromit have started a new bread baking business, ‘Top Bun’ and converted 62 West Wallaby Street into a granary with ovens, robotic kneading arms and an old-fashioned windmill on the roof. The transformation is perfect.

Although business is booming, Gromit is concerned by the news that a dozen local bakers have ‘disappeared’ this year – but Wallace isn’t worried. He’s too distracted and ‘dough-eyed’ in love with former beauty and bread enthusiast, Piella Bakewell.

While they enjoy being the ‘Toast of the Town’, Gromit soon realises his master’s life is in jeopardy, and turns sleuth to solve the escalating murder mystery – in what quickly becomes ‘A Matter of Loaf and Death.’

Here's the official site.

A Little Wolverine ...

For March Hare, Hannah, and Rose ... who all appreciate Hugh Jackman. Yes, he's ok in other roles (take that shirtless Hugh Jackman in Australia) but bad boy Wolverine is where Jackman really steals my heart.

I picked up this photo from First Showing where there also are other photos from X-Men: Origins.

Jaap van Zweden ... I Forgot That He's Dutch

I tend to think of him simply as Dallas's symphony conductor, who incidentally seems to get fantastic reviews where ever he goes. However, it is interesting to see the first few minutes of this profile done by a Dutch classical music company. Especially as it is "in full-on Texan" for the first minute or two, as the Observer's Unfair Park blog noted (which is where I picked this up in the first place0.

If My Life Were A ...

... Short Story

... Play

... Poem

... Novel

Then which ones would it be?

Back to the little game that Enbrethiliel was playing which took my fancy but which I couldn't get back to until now after doing the poem section.

I don't want to risk never getting back to it so I will finish now. Except for the play, which I am still pondering because I don't get out to plays much.

Novel: The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. I, too, was hardhearted and rather sour like Mary until she entered the secret garden and learned the secret of looking out for something besides oneself. As I mentioned a while back in a somewhat round about way.

Short Story: The Secret Life of Walter Mitty by James Thurber. This isn't exactly the same as Walter Mitty used fantasy to escape the harsh reality of a nagging wife. I am not using fantasy but doesn't every Christian have that interior sense of a dual reality? They see things (if they can or are lucky) through Heaven's eyes, they offer prayers, they look at motives and actions filtered through a completely different reality from the secular world. If that makes sense, then you're there with me!

Worth a Thousand Words

Christmas Fair taken by Budapest Daily Photo

Christopher Closeup Radio

I wanted to let you know that an upcoming episode of “Christopher Closeup” had your blog as its starting point. I read about Tisha Young donating her kidney to 4-year-old Sam Gappa on your web site and was motivated to request an interview with Tisha and Sam’s mother Tami on the show. It’s scheduled to be put up as a podcast at the end of next week and air on Sirius-XM on Dec. 28. I just wanted to give you a heads up since you played a role in this.

I am thrilled to have had any part in this. All too well I remember being impressed at Tisha Young's selflessness in donating her kidney to little Sam Gappa. It is a story of sacrificial love for a child that Tisha didn't even know. I will be waiting impatiently until next week to hear this interview. In the meantime, you can hear many other great stories at Christopher Closeup.

Thanks Tony!

Advent Series

Catch it over at The Anchoress's place

Patron Saints 2009

The Pious Sodality of Church Ladies are at it again.

It's time again for the most popular Church Lady event, the distribution of patron saints for the new liturgical year.

On the first of January a new calendar year begins. On the first Sunday of Advent the new year of the Church begins. Therefore, the Saturday preceding the first Advent Sunday has something of the character of a New Year’s Eve. One of the old customs is to choose a patron saint for the new year of the Church.
[Maria Trapp, Around the Year with the Trapp Family]

In keeping with the year of St Paul, this year's saints include the Apostle and his companions. I hope you enjoy learning more about your new patron by reading Acts and the Pauline epistles and looking at images of St Paul in art.

Leave a message in their comments box to get your saint assignment.

UPDATE
I have been chosen by:

St Mark the Evangelist

Pray for the Church in Africa

Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is helpful to me in the ministry. [2 Tim 4, 11]

Worth a Thousand Words

Glasgow University from Flickr Scotland

What does a slumdog know? The answer.

In the case of Jamal Malik, the answer he knows is not necessarily the one that will win him millions of rupees on the Indian version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. The answers he knows are loyalty, love, perseverance, and truth.

In a story largely told in flashbacks, the movie opens with Jamal being tortured by the police as they are sure that no uneducated slumdog would know the answers to win 10 million rupees. As the detective takes him through the background for the answer to each question, we see that Jamal's life has extraordinarily prepared him for this moment. Each answer is the linchpin to a hardwon bit of information in key events of his life which begins as a tyke in the Bombay slums. Jamal and his older brother Salim exemplify brotherly love in this Dickensian tale which shows us modern India in a way that surpasses documentaries. To a point that is. We watch warily as Jamal retains his tenacious grip on truth and loyalty while Salim is only to willing to use brutality to achieve his goals. In the mix is Latika who the brothers encounter as children and who Jamal loves for herself in contrast to Salim who uses her as a playing piece for his own purposes.

As the story begins to catch up to current time, the viewer then finds many other questions such as how Jamal got on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire at all and why he is doing it. This is where the story picks up speed and intensity as the past gives way to the future which the movie characters don't know either.

As with Charles Dickens' way with a story, Slumdog Millionaire shows us a classic tale of adversity and the human spirit told with passion and peril. Yet, despite the bleak slum setting there always are swirling the gleams of hope and humor that keep this story from being depressing. Directory Danny Boyle uses his trademark "canted shots" (Rose has the correct name for everything, being fresh from film classes), swift cuts, close-ups and speed to convey the spirit which carries the film. Anyone who has watched even a few movies set in India knows to expect vivid color and vivacity. Boyle uses this to great effect not only to show us past and modern India, but to express life which is always moving forward despite what has preceded it.

In fact, it just occurred to us that the current tragedy in Mumbai (Bombay) of which Get Religion says, "India, of course, is a culture soaked in religion. It should not be surprising that this massacre is soaked in religious content and imagery..." is reflected to a degree in this movie as well. As modern as the techniques being used by terrorists are, the fact remains that human nature and India are timeless.

Allow me to drop the hint not to miss the credits which express India in a way unique to the movies. Also, the soundtrack deserves credit for keeping us definitely in place. I want it for my repeated enjoyment, but then I'm a sucker for modern Indian music.

The movie is rated R and the rating is earned. However, I will add that Boyle used inference to a large degree for some of the most disturbing scenes and it was these that honestly brought Charles Dickens to mind. There is not much in that movie at which Dickens would not have nodded knowingly. The types of poverty may have changed over the years but the human capacity for both vileness and love have not. I have seen PG-13 movies which have shown greater explicitness than this movie. It is the content of Slumdog Millionaire which is adult, as it rightly should be. This is a story with themes which should be pondered by adults. Those who do so will find themselves enriched on many levels.

Highest recommendation.

Saturday at the Movies

We're getting ready to hit the Magnolia Theater and see Slumdog Millionaire ... I've been really looking forward to this movie.

Twilight
I have not had any desire to watch Twilight ... not due to the vampires which I see that various folks are cringing at for many of the same reasons they cringed at Harry Potter (magic! gasp!). No, my reasons are due to cringing at bad writing and acting, according to all accounts. (I got enough bad writing listening to DarkFever, which was not written for little girls, by the way ...).

For those who, like me, do not cringe at the occasional explicit word, I refer you to Cleolinda's Movies in 15 Minutes where you will see an absolutely hilarious send up of the movie by someone who saw it. Here's a sample to get you in the mood. For this, one must know the context that the real reason vampires don't go out in the sunlight is that their skin sparkles and that would give them away. Bram Stoker is busy turning in his grave right now ...

EDWARD: I AM VAMPIRE. HEAR ME TWINKLE.

BELLA: Oh, wow, I spent like $60 at Sephora trying to get sparkle like that. What is that, Urban Decay?

EDWARD: NO!

BELLA: Oh, so it's a drugstore brand?

EDWARD: THIS IS THE SKIN OF A KILLER, BELLA!

BELLA: FINE. WHATEVER. But the lipstick, that's gotta be Cargo, right?

EDWARD: *FLOUNCE*

The Spirit
For something with a whole lotta style that has us interested at the moment, check out these trailers for The Spirit. Loved Frank Miller's style in 300 and I'd watch Sin City but the girls assure me that I'd hate the extreme violence in all except one segment. I bow to their judgment. I have high hopes for The Spirit though ...

Worth a Thousand Words

Forgotten by Manuela Valenti

Worth a Thousand Words

Aural Delights, the little sibling of the audio science fiction magazine StarShipSofa, is one year old. To celebrate this occasion, StarShipSofa will have a new SF art cover designed each month by science fiction artist Skeet Scienski.

I love this magazine-cover style illustration. I am also quite fond of StarShipSofa as should be any fan of audio science fiction. Be sure to check it out.

You know, Columbia College is the most amazing sounding school for film majors ...

... Tom was talking Rose through "don't forget this" and "think about that's" before she took off on the L for O'Hare to fly alone for the first time (on the busiest day of the year at one of the busiest airports in the world).

He says they also talked movie stuff, as does everyone she talks with these days. She told me that one of her teachers was the executive producer of "Secondhand Lions". (Not the same guy who does Lifetime movies.) Only one of our favorite imaginative, heart warming movies. Wow.

Story Corp's National Day of Listening on Nov. 28

I thought you and your readers might be interesting in a new initiative StoryCorps in launching to make conducting these interviews easier. This November 28th, the day after Thanksgiving, StoryCorps is launching the first-ever National Day of Listening. We’re asking Americans to set aside an hour to record a conversation with a friend, family member, or loved one. We've launched a separate website with more tools and tips, a downloadable guide, and an instructional video for recording family and friends the day after Thanksgiving and beyond. Thank you again for helping us build a movement to honor the people in our lives through listening to them!

StoryCorp is one of my favorite podcasts and this is a great idea. Check it out!

Something Shiny for the Christmas Tree

Yes, it's too early ... but once Bill C. kindly emailed me with this notice, I had to grab one for a fellow Firefly fan. You never know how long these will be in supply, much less available for half price!

I present ... the Firefly grade ship, Serenity.



Someday I really am going to knit Jayne's hat for my pal.




The original place where I found the pattern has vanished, so I found this pattern instead.

However, until then, I think he'll like the ornament.

Thanks Bill!

Worth a Thousand Words

From Art Knowledge News

A New Novella by J.J. Campanella

This week Uvula Audio premieres an SF novella from J.J. Campanella. The actual podcast gives the full history of the story which dates back about 12 years in its writing, but essentially the story asks what might happen if the Islamic Jihad against the west succeeded. In short,what if the terrorists won? Would there be anything left of Western civilization to stand in their way to total domination? What might arise out of the dust of the west that could resist the martial efforts of a dozen nations.. . ? This story suggests one possibility.. . . By the way, that wonderful crusader pictured in the web page photo above was painted upon the nosecone of a WWII fighter plane. It can be observed in the flesh at a hangar in the New England Air Museum. (Rated M for mature themes and violence.)

You won't hear a better narrator anywhere than J.J. Campanella (ok, Scott Brick is my new crush as a narrator but otherwise, I'm sayin'!). I loved his book The Standards of Creation (my review is here. This will be a treat!

Pick up the podcast here. Just scroll down.

Thanksgiving Sale at Aquinas and More

You don't have to wait in line, you don't even have to leave the house ... and they're checking everything twice to make sure it is faithfully Catholic. Sounds like a great deal to me!

It starts tomorrow evening the 26th (5pm mountain time) and runs through Sunday night the 30th until 9pm. All our jewelry, DVDs, rosaries and chaplets, crucifixes and crosses, and a selection of our statues will be 20% off during the sale. Our Bible studies and Oxford Bibles will be 15% off, and some of our apparel will be 10% off. You can read more details and links to the sections of sale items here.

As always, we offer free shipping on orders over $55.

Thank You President Bush

Sherry at Semicolon has a list of the many things she is thanking President Bush for ... and I heartily agree. I read this article the other day in the Wall Street Journal and it made me think over all the reasons I have supported and liked President Bush these past eight years. So I'm on board with Sherry.

Count me in the whatever-small-percentage of Americans today who heartily approve of the job President George W. Bush has done in leading our country for the past eight years. No, he hasn’t been the perfect president. Yes, I’ve disagreed with him on some issues. But right now I want to say thank you , President Bush for:

Swing by her place to read the list.