In which all is revealed. Well, not "all" (get your minds out of the gutter) ...

...but everything we need to finish our "half-clad Martian warrior maids invading Earth" adventure at Forgotten Classics podcast. Enjoy!

I Rarely Watch Videos But I'm Glad I Watched This

Via my sis on Facebook.

Well Said: Gentlemen, I am a Catholic ...

From my quote journal.

Gentlemen, I am a Catholic. As far as possible, I go to Mass every day. This [taking a rosary from his pocket] is a rosary. As far as possible, I kneel down and tell these beads every day. If you reject me on account of my religion, I shall thank God that He has spared me the indignity of being your representative.

Hilaire Belloc, 1906 speech in Salford

He won the election. I like his moxie.

Blue Rider

Wassily Kandinsky, 1903, Blue Rider
via WikiPaintings

WikiPaintings' commentary points out something I hadn't noticed:

The painting’s intentional abstractness had led many art theorists to project their own representations onto the figure, some seeing a child in the arms of the blue rider. Allowing viewers to participate in the representations of the art was a technique that Kandinsky would use to great fruition in his many later works, which became more and more abstract as his career wore on.

This puts me in mind of a large painting my parents had which was very abstract. I looked at it idly all through my youth, sometimes seeing the inside of a cave with stalactites, sometimes seeing a river and waterfall, occasionally wondering what the painter intended and what other people saw in the painting when they looked. I'm not sure but I think it might have been titled Mirage. Why I never asked anyone else in my family what they saw in the painting, I don't know. It was an internal meditation which I never felt needed airing.

In that spirit, is the rider going to something or away? Are the shadows an encroaching threat or receding in the face of the light? Obviously this is a painting which could reward the viewer with something new many times.

Mark Bible Study - Index

MARK

• Sources used
• The Author and Manuscript [Updated]
• Mark the Lion
• 1:1 - The Beginning of the Good News
• 1:4 - Word Study: Repentance
• 1:9-11 - The Baptism of Jesus
• 1:12-14 - Tempted in the Wilderness
• 1:16-20 - Choosing the Disciples
• 1:21-22 - The Synagogue
• 1:21-22 - The Law
• 1:21-22 - The Scribes
• 1:21-28 - Jesus' Assault on the Powers of Darkness
• 1:40-45 - Leprosy
• 2:1-12 - The Paralyzed Man and His Four Friends
• 2:7 - Forgiveness is Active
• 2:13-14 - Matthew the Tax Collector
• 2:23-28 - About the Sabbath
• 3:1-6 - Healing on the Sabbath
• 3:13-19 - Choosing the Twelve
• 3:28-30 - Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit
• 4:1 - Broadcasting Seed Upon the Soil
• 4:1-20 - Plowing the Soil
• 4:10-12 - They See But Do Not Perceive
• 4:26-29 - Parable About the Seeds
• 4:30-32 - The Mustard Seed
• 4:35-41 - The Storm
• 5:1-20 - Jesus Heals the Gerasene Demoniac
• 5:35-39 - Witnesses and Death Customs
• 5:40-43 - Hearing Jesus' Voice
• Chapter 6 - Unbelief and Power
• 6:1-3 - Degrees of Relationship
• 6:14-16 - John the Baptist's Self-Offering
• 6:16-29 - An Evil Woman's Revenge
• 6:35-44 - Feeding the Five Thousand
• 6:45-52 - Rowing Against the Wind
• 6:53-56 - Running to Jesus
• 7:14-23 - Real Defilement Comes From Within
• 7:14-23 - What Makes a Man Unclean
• 7:24-30 - Table Scraps
• 7:32-33 - The Deaf and Dumb Man
• 8:1-10 - Understanding the Second Miracle of Loaves
• 8:14-21 - Only One Loaf
• 8:22-26 -  Gradual Journeys
• 8:34-35 - The Cost of Discipleship
• 8:38-9:1 - When the King Comes Into His Own
• 9:2-8 - Transfiguration as Suspension of Miracle
• 9:2-8 - On the Mountaintop
• 9:2-8 - Radiant Glory and the Cloud
• 9:2-8 - Transfiguration and the Disciples
• 9:2-8 - Transfiguration and Jesus
• 9:14-29 - Foreshadowing the Resurrection
• 9:32-35 - True Ambition
• 9:38-40 - He Who Is Not Against Us Is For Us
• 9:41-42 - The Millstone
• 9:42-48 - Hell
• 9:49-10:1 - Salt, Salt, and More Salt
• 10:46-52 - Healing is a Sign of the New World
• 11:11-12 - Jesus Curses the Fig Tree
• 14:10-11 - Judas' Motivation
• 14:22, 24 - This is My Body. This is My Blood.

With Design This Good I Almost Don't Care About a Story: S. by J.J. Abrams and Doug Dorst

S. by J.J. Abrams, Doug Dorst



I can't rate this book yet because I just got it home from the library and took a good look at it.

That "good look" took me 15 delighted minutes.

Why so long? Because this "1949" book, perfectly designed in the style of the time, has a correspondence going on in the sides of the pages, between two biblophiles who discuss the author and learn about each other by leaving notes in the library book.

Flipping carefully through to see a few of the postcards, newspaper articles, and photographs left in the pages of the book (as part of the reading experience, of course) made me even more excited.

Based on reviews, people either love the story or find it disappointing. All give full credit for the amazing book design. Obviously, I am so hoping I'm one of the people who loves the story because the layout and design are enough to make me give it 5 stars without reading more than the title page and two pages of the introduction.

It is so authentic looking that when I showed it to one of my favorite librarians (yes, I have favorite librarians. It happens when you visit your library at least once a week for years), she opened it, saw the library stamp and the "Book for Loan" stamp and said, "When was this written?" She looked it up on her database before believing it was new.

Now, if there is one thing I know about J.J. Abrams it is that he can be more style than substance. (Yes, Lost, I gave you three seasons of my life before quitting.)

If there is a second thing I know, it is that he can tell a helluva good story sometimes (Alias, Person of Interest, Almost Human, the Star Trek reboot). All while maintaining that nice, shiny style that is so alluring.

This book is going to take a while to read, as most reviewers have remarked. But I am already intrigued enough to make this a "slow read" commitment and work my way through it.

One thing is definite. This is a love letter to books, turning pages, writing notes, and tucking reminders between the leaves. You couldn't do this with a Kindle, folks. All the postcards would fall out every time you turned it on!

Here's a video that shows the inside of the book.

Notes on Mark: Jesus Curses the Fig Tree

MARK 11:11-26
The whole incident of the cursed fig tree has never really made sense to me, seeming quite out of character for Jesus. This sheds a little light at least in terms of examining that fig tree in my own life.

Jesus' cursing of the fig tree has always been a difficult text for Bible commentators, especially in view of Mark's comment that "it was not the season for figs." It seems odd that Jesus would curse the fig tree when it was not the time to bear fruit...

The barrenness condemned by Jesus can cause us problems as well. We are called to bear fruit; Jesus wants that fruit. If we are willing to be satisfied with legalistic observances, we will remain barren. We can never plead that it is not the proper season to bear fruit, that we have no time for prayer, no need for repentance, no reason for faith. We can argue that we go to church on Sunday, that people call us Christians, that we observe certain religious rituals. God, however, wants faith that bears fruit.

Mark: A Devotional Commentary
(The Word Among Us)

Note: the link above goes to Word Among Us's book store. For some reason it gives a security certificate warning, but when I bravely went ahead, there I was ... where I could buy a book if I liked. Be not afraid!

Happy Feast Day, St. Francis De Sales!

Scott and I read this saint's classic book for everyday people, Introduction to the Devout Life. We discussed it a year ago on his feast day on our podcast. (Coincidence? I think now!)

Today Scott sent me a couple of beautiful quotes from his notes. Naturally, these are too good to keep to myself so I'm sharing them with you:

It is an error, nay more, a very heresy, to seek to banish the devout life from the soldier’s guardroom, the mechanic’s workshop, the prince’s court, or the domestic hearth.

+ + + + + + + + +

Day is continually turning to night, spring to summer, summer to autumn, autumn to winter, winter to spring; no two days are ever exactly alike. Some are foggy, rainy, some dry or windy; and this endless variety greatly enhances the beauty of the universe. And even so precisely is it with man (who, as ancient writers have said, is a miniature of the world), for he is never long in any one condition, and his life on earth flows by like the mighty waters, heaving and tossing with an endless variety of motion; one while raising him on high with hope, another plunging him low in fear; now turning him to the right with rejoicing, then driving him to the left with sorrows; and no single day, no, not even one hour, is entirely the same as any other of his life.

Day of the Little Way ... St. Therese and Twitter

Here's an initiative which seems like a good way to use Twitter, which I admit I largely use just for links in case anyone there is interested in what I do here with many more than 140 characters at a time.

The Day of the Little Way will marry the ideas behind the New Evangelization and the life changing power of St. Therese’s little way. On Feb. 4, we’re inviting Catholics everywhere to share their faith through 140 little characters on Twitter by tweeting about the ways St. Therese has impacted your faith and life and by using the hastag #LittleWay.

Will you please consider joining us for the Day of the Little Way movement and help us demonstrate the enormous power of simple faith?

Check the link above for more info.

In which we track a semi-naked woman, dodge nefarious Russians, and make a surprising discovery.

Yes, the second part of Warrior Queen of Mars awaits your listening pleasure at Forgotten Classics!

Today is a Day of Prayer and Penance in the United States

Every child who, rather than being born, is condemned unjustly to being aborted, bears the face of Jesus Christ, bears the face of the Lord, who even before he was born, and then just after birth, experienced the world’s rejection. And every elderly person…even if he is ill or at the end of his days, bears the face of Christ. They cannot be discarded, as the ‘culture of waste’ suggests!

Pope Francis, Sept. 20, 2013

Today marks the 41st anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that made abortion legal throughout the U.S.

Since that decision, more than 55 million children's lives have been lost to abortion. That doesn't count those who suffer the loss after they are gone.

Hence the Church's establishment of today as a national day of penance for abortion.

“In all the dioceses of the United States of America, January 22 (or January 23, when January 22 falls on a Sunday) shall be observed as a particular day of penance for violations to the dignity of the human person committed through acts of abortion, and of prayer for the full restoration of the legal guarantee of the right to life. The Mass 'For Peace and Justice' (no. 22 of the 'Masses for Various Needs') should be celebrated with violet vestments as an appropriate liturgical observance for this day.”

– General Instruction of the Roman Missal, no. 373

My prayers are with those marching in Washington D.C. today as a visible sign . Someday I would love to be able to attend that March.

Actually, someday I'd really love to not have to have a March because our hearts have all changed enough that we value life itself for the precious thing it is, without having to "be" or "do" anything special. Just for itself.

Until that day, we work and pray.

The Dallas March for Life was this weekend and we were heartened by the huge crowds and the media coverage. Once again I cast my mind back to the first March for Life we attended when the organizers were ecstatic because they'd doubled the usual number ... to 1,000. How ashamed we were at that moment that we'd never come before. We haven't missed a March since then and have been blessed to see God's goodness reflected in the thousands who now march for life. I think there must have been something like 8,000 people there.

Whoever handles the media has stepped up their game and was able to get all the local television stations' attention, except for CBS. Extra kudos to WFAA, channel 8, for being respectful enough to call us "pro-life" marchers instead of "anti-abortion" marchers, the way the other stations did. We had lovely weather, in the 60s, unlike most of the country where it is freezing today as they march for life.

Notes on Mark: Healing is a Sign of the New World

Jesus healing blind Bartimaeus,
by Johann Heinrich Stöver, 1861

MARK 10:46-52

46 Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus

50 Throwing his cloak to the side and getting on his feet, he went to Jesus.

Mark gives his name and patronymic because he joins the disciples (verse 52) and becomes known to the Christian community in this way. This is the story of how he became a disciple. There is also an implied contrast with the unnamed rich young man, who did not follow Our Lord. This blind beggar, who had nothing to add, did. ...

Here is another of Mark's memorable "picture details," showing that this beggar, unlike the rich young man, immediately leaves behind everything that he has. He leaves his cloak behind without thought.

The Memoirs of St. Peter by Mark Pakaluk

I never thought about how the above detail fits into the whole chapter. I always just took it as part of an isolated incident as Jesus headed toward Jerusalem. Once again, this shows how Mark is telling a more complex story than he is often given credit for.

On another front, I do tend to forget this, that the healing is not an end in itself but a sign of the new world and of the internal changes taking place within us.

The healing of Bartimaeus occurs, in the structure of Mark's Gospel, in the section recounting Jesus' journey to Jerusalem. The context is important to keep in mind. Bartimaeus' healing was the last reported incident prior to Jesus' entry into the city. There, he would suffer his passion, lay down his life and take it up again. There, he would complete his ministry on earth. Just before the final act of this drama, in which Jesus accomplished the mission set by his father, we have an account of a miracle. Like all of Jesus' miracles, it is a sign that the Messiah is present. It is a sign that God saves his people...

... Faith is a gift of God. It was Bartimaeus' faith that led him to cry out to Jesus, to persist in the face of opposition, and come to Jesus when called. His faith opened him up to the work of Jesus in him, and that is an important message for us as well.

As we see the work of Jesus in Bartimaeus and in our own lives, we must remember that the healing we see is not an end or goal in itself. Rather, it is a sign of the new world that emerged from the coming of Jesus and his passion, death, and resurrection, a new world that we will know in fullness when Jesus comes again. Jesus is the door to a whole new existence for us, as he was for Bartimaeus. As great as it was for Bartimaeus to be able to see, he knew this was a sign, a call from Jesus, and he "followed him on the way" (Mark 10:52). As great as any healing is, it should be seen as a call into the new existence that Christ has won for us.

Mark: A Devotional Commentary
(The Word Among Us)

 ===== 

Sources and Notes Index 

Worth a Thousand Words: Grilled Pork, Saigon Style

Grilled Pork, Saigon Edition
from EatingAsia, taken by David Hagerman

I don't know about you but my mouth is watering. I'm so happy that the EatingAsia folks have a cookbook contract. Will I cook from it? Maybe. Hopefully. Will I read it and look at those photos over and over? Oh yeah.

Well Said: The End of Rome and the Catholic Church

I love H.V. Morton's talent for weaving his current-day travel commentary with the history of each place he visits. In this case, I was riveted by his tale of how Rome declined, the barbarians came in several waves, and the measures taken to try to shore things up. You'll know why I like this bit especially after you read it. It's a little lengthy but worth it.

Every expedient was tried by Diocletian to stave off the crash. He froze wages and prices in 301, and created a bureaucracy animated by the spirit of a century of extortion. The tax collector became the terror of the countryside. Men fled their homes rather than meet him and revenged themselves on the state by becoming brigands. Wealthy landowners, developing a technique of tax evasion, managed to exist on their estates, surrounded by serfs and armed men--a forecast of the Middle Ages--defying and bribing the Treasury.

Perhaps the worst aspect of state control was the decision to freeze men as well as prices and wages. It became illegal for a man to change his employment, and a son was obliged to follow his father's calling. All trades, occupations and professions became hereditary. A man who fled from a baker's shop, wishing to become a silversmith, would be hunted down and brought back like an escaped criminal. ...

In this grim caricature of Plato's Republic, the only place where a man ceased to be a tax-producing unit, and became a human being with an immortal soul, was the Church. The bishops were truly the shepherds of their flocks and had the courage to stand up to authority. St. Basil once offended a Praetorian Prefect by his plain words and was told that no one had ever dared to speak in such terms to him. "No doubt," replied St. Basil, "you have never met a bishop." ...

H.V. Morton, A Traveller in Rome, 1957

The Difference Between Dogs and Cats

As Deacon Greg said at his blog, which is where I saw this adorable video, it becomes obvious in how they teach their young to go down the stairs. Hilarious and adorable.



And we all knew what the cat's teaching method would be, right?

Notes on Mark: Salt, Salt, and More Salt

MARK 9:49-10:1
Salt is taken for granted in these times but not back when Jesus was speaking. Just to mention salt meant a multitude of things to the people who heard what he said.

Salt also functions as a preservative, something that was especially important to people living in a hot, dry climate without the benefit of refrigeration. The Old Testament referred to a "covenant of salt" that the Lord made with the people of Israel as a permanent condition (Numbers 18:19). Thus, salt, the preservative, signified the everlasting contract between the Lord and his people.

Mark: A Devotional Commentary
(The Word Among Us)

The Bells of Nagasaki by Takashi Nagai

The Bells Of Nagasaki by Takashi Nagai

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


After reading A Song For Nagasaki about Takashi Nagai, I thought it would be good to at least try Nagai's first and most famous book.

It begins on the morning that the bomb is dropped on Nagasaki. I was interested to see it told not only from his point of view but also from that of various other people in the countryside and from different vantage points at the teaching hospital where Nagai was dean. After helping all those they can from the immediate university area, the small band of survivors heads to the countryside to help the many people who are being sheltered by farmers and villages.

I was surprised to find myself laughing at one point. After American planes drop leaflets informing the Japanese that they dropped an atom bomb (so surrender already), Nagai instantly whirls into thought about the implications, both scientifically and to the victims. He comes out to hear the few remaining hospital staff, doctors, and students in a fevered discussion about which scientists were involved ("Einstein?"), how it would have worked ("they couldn't have had a cyclotron on a plane" "fission! it must have been fission!" "Ahhh"), and so forth. Despite the circumstances, as Nagai himself comments after reporting this exchange, they are all scientists first and deeply interested in the development.

We were members of a research group with a great interest in nuclear physics and totally devoted to this branch of science--and ironically we ourselves had become victims of th atom bomb which was the very core of the theory we were studying. Here we lay, helpless in a dugout!

And yet it was a precious experience for us. Placed on the experimentation table, we could watch the whole process in a most intimate way. We could observe the changes that where taking place and that would take place in the future. Crushed with grief because of the defeat of Japan, filled with anger and resentment, we nevertheless felt rising within us a new drive and a new motivation in our search for truth. In this devastated atomic desert, fresh and vigorous scientific life began to flourish.

I'm really glad that I read A Song For Nagasaki first so I have the context of Nagai's life in which to put this story. I think without that it could be desperately depressing. However, there are always very human moments to which we all can relate, such as when the little team is on the road back to a farmer's house and a fart starts a series of jokes, with each person capping the next.

I'd think this would be the mandatory companion to A Song For Nagasaki because I was surprised to find how much Paul Glynn soft-pedaled Nagai's reaction to Japan's unconditional surrender. Nagai in this book tells us how stunned everyone was when the news came, how he cried for 20 minutes, and how devastated everyone felt. I completely understand Glynn's overview of Nagai's overall feeling about war in general, but it did ring very true to me that one would feel a gut-punch to learn one's country had to completely surrender. For a Japanese person it would have been such a part of their very identity that it would be very hard to take. And, the way that Nagai rallied everyone would have less impact if he hadn't honestly told of his own reactions. The conclusions he drew later would be much less powerful, such as what happens after Nagai's sense of overwhelming defeat leads him to reject a man seeking medical help.

In a flash I had a change of heart. Even one precious life was worth saving. Japan was defeated; but the wounded were still alive. The war was over; but the work of our relief team remained. Our country was destroyed; but medical science still existed. Wasn't our work only beginning? Irrespective of the rise and fall of our country, wasn't our main duty to attend to the life and death of each single person? The very basis of the Red Cross was to attend to the wounded, be they friend or foe. Precisely because we Japanese had treated human life so simply and so carelessly--precisely for this reason we were reduced to our present miserable plight. Respect for the life of every person--this must be the foundation stone on which we would built a new society.

Our people had been told that they must suffer these terrible wounds to win the war; but in fact they had suffered in order to lose. Now they were thrown into the most pitiable and desperate situation. And there was no one to console them, no one to help them except us. We must stand and come to their aid. I stood there unsteadily on my tottering legs. And then the whole group stood up beside me. Our courage came back. The determination to continue our work gave us strength and joy.

There is precious little moralizing of the sort that many might expect. In fact, I saw a review somewhere where a person refused to read the book because they found out that Nagai was Roman Catholic. Nagai rarely mentions his faith other than in passing so that person's innate prejudices stopped them from experiencing a very inspirational and thought provoking book about the innate heights to which the human spirit can soar. Highly recommended.

Lagniappe: The Worst Thing I've Ever Heard Of

That's the worst thing I've ever heard. And I've heard of Nazis.

Hannah's friend Alex

This just makes me laugh every time.

Worth a Thousand Words: Siberian Jay

Siberian Jay
taken by the incomparable Remo Savisaar

I Don't Want to be a Hoo-er by Elizabeth Scalia

I Don't Want to be a Hoo-er: Essays on Faith, Family and Foolishness by Elizabeth Scalia

I enjoyed this little book and read it in one evening. It is a collection of Elizabeth Scalia's favorite blog posts and columns from over the years. As such, it is a good representation of her writing, including some of my favorite pieces including the one written shortly before her brother died. I appreciated the brief introduction that Scalia gives for each piece which helped provide context for inclusion, or in my case a reminder of when I had read many of these before.

I feel about this book the way I do about her blog The Anchoress: I love the inspirational pieces, I relate to the life experience pieces (except baseball - let's face it, I'm a football lover), and I care nothing about the political pieces. This book is a good mix of all those things and I'm glad I have it on my shelf.

It made me want to go back through my own blog posts and pull some of my favorites for rereading.

Lagniappe: In this choose-your-own-adventure ...

In this choose-your-own-adventure we call life, would you rather have me dry the dishes or fold the laundry?

Rose Davis when home for Christmas this year

It's both funny and insightful. It never occurred to me to think of my daily choices as a choose-your-own-adventure story ... but that is exactly what it is.

Notes on Mark: Hell

MARK 9:42-48
Jesus talked about hell a lot more than many people realize. Here we see the associations that would have come to mind for his listeners.

Word Study
Hell

Geenna (Gk.): "Gehenna", the valley directly southwest of Jerusalem. Jesus refers to it 11 times in the Gospels as a dreadful symbol of hell. Two associations are made with Gehanna, one drawn from the OT and the other from Jesus' contemporary setting.

1. Gehenna is a Greek rendering of the Hebrew place-name "Valley of the sons of Hinnom". It was the site of a frightful Canaanite cult that worshipped the idols of Molech and Baal by burning children in sacrifice (Jer 7:30; 19:1; 32:35).
2. In the NT period, Gehenna served as a smoldering garbage dump where refuse burned continually. Jesus evokes these associations to teach us that hell is not a place of purgation or purification, but one of fiery punishment (Mt 5:22; 18:9; 23:33). In the afterlife, the bodies and souls of the wicked will suffer in hell for eternity (Mt 10:28; 25:41; 46). Other biblical passages corroborate this horrifying prospect (Is 33:14; 66:24; Jude 7; Rev 20:10).

The Gospel Of Mark
(The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible)

Let's face it, Hell as it seems to have been traditionally taught seems old-fashioned, unrealistic, and a lot of us don't like to talk about because it is embarrassing if non-Christians are around. They hold up Hell as an indictment of a loving God.The truth is, Hell is actually God's tribute to our own free will. If we don't want to be in His company, He won't force us. Mary Healy makes it a bit clearer.

Some may be struggling with the question of how a good god could send someone to hell. But the truth conveyed in jesus' teaching is that we choose our own destiny. With every decision and action over the course of a lifetime we orient ourselves either to heaven or to hell, and at the moment of death we embrace what has truly become our choice. C.S. Lewis expresses it well: "There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, 'Thy will be done,' and those to whom God says, in the end, 'Thy will be done.' all that are in Hell, choose it. Without that self-choice there could be no Hell." But God never ceases to hold out his unfathomable mercy, even at the very moment when a person steps over the threshold into eternity.

Mary Healy,
The Gospel of Mark:
Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture

Note to Google: You're Not Helping Google Plus. You're Hurting Google.

I swung by YouTube yesterday to look at something. A rare occurrence.

So when they asked if I wanted to sign in as Happy Catholic or Julie Davis, I didn't think about it. Happy Catholic. What difference did it make?

I certainly didn't think about it when they asked if this was how I always wanted to sign in. At YouTube? Sure. Why not?

I didn't realize they meant ... sign in everywhere, for everyplace Google had its little fingers in a pie, even with different passwords.

So this morning, sending off an email to Denmark, from our office's Google email, having it come from "Happy Catholic" really undercut the whole business tone I was trying to set.

Whisking off to my profile settings, I see they offer me more ways than ever to enjoy Google Plus, but ... surprise, surprise ... I can't change my profile to the way it was just yesterday.

Look, Google, I know you're desperate. It's little stunts like this that illustrate the point.

I want to love you but you're making it harder and harder.

Cut it out.

In which we encounter Iceland, an immortal doctor, a 6'4" frozen female, and mysterious memory loss.

Warrior Queen of Mars begins at Forgotten Classics. Get your pulp-fiction goodness now!

Well Said: Love can be hated when it challenges us

From my quote journal.

God is love. But love can also be hated when it challenges us to transcend ourselves. It is not a romantic "good feeling." Redemption is not "wellness," it is not about basking in self-indulgence; on the contrary it is a liberation from imprisonment in self-absorption. This liberation comes at a price: the anguish of the Cross. The prophecy of light and that of the Cross belong together.

Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI),

Jesus of Nazareth: The Infancy Narratives

This is the continual struggle, at least for me. I can't express how much I appreciate Christ putting up with my continual back-sliding into laziness and self-indulgence.

We're Not Sure What "Funky" Is, But We Know It When We Hear It.

Muscle Shoals: The Movie is a terrific documentary about music, creativity, and life, and it's the subject of Episode 74 at A Good Story is Hard to Find podcast.

What's It All Mean? - Patron Saints and Patron Saints for the Year

When I review a book, I don't just post it here. I share the wealth by putting it at Goodreads, over at Patheos, and to just about anywhere I've got access. Which is a lot of places, now that I think of it.

At any rate my review of A Song For Nagasaki brought up some questions over at Goodreads. I had casually mentioned that Takashi Nagai was my selected patron for 2014 and that I'd chosen J.R.R. Tolkien for 2013 (click through on the review for more).

I may have equally bewildered folks here. Just in case, I thought I'd share that conversation. Keep in mind that questions are always welcome and that these answers weren't meant to be a comprehensive treatment of the subject.

What does taking someone as your patron for the year mean?

A patron saint in general is someone who you choose to guide or support or protect you. Catholics choose a patron saint when they are confirmed into the Church. It is often because one relates to the saint's life in some way or they are examples of something one likes. I chose my patron, St. Martha, because she's the patron saint of homemakers and cooks. I like both of those things. Turned out that when I was learning more about her life that we are a lot alike in personality, both in strengths and weaknesses. It's kind of like having a best friend who's ahead of you in school and who helps you through some of the hard or confusing bits. (This may all be really obvious info but better to have too much background than too little...)

Choosing a special patron saint for a new year is an old custom that has found favor again in some spots. It can be a name drawn from a hat of potential saints (one is really leaning on divine inspiration at that point) and there are several Catholic blogs out there that facilitate such choices. The idea is that one is being directed (with help) to become more aware of specific areas in life where special guidance might be necessary. Last year I took the choice into my own hands, asking J.R.R. Tolkien to give me a hand, based on the spiritual insights I received from rereading The Hobbit. I think the choice was inspired because it was so amazing for me.

We'll see how this year turns out with Takashi Nagai helping guide me ... but so far I have already been greatly assisted with a couple of areas in my life where I've needed extra awareness.

Very interesting! So was this one out of a hat then? :)

And does a patron saint for the year have to be Catholic? Or even a saint? Was Tolkien Catholic?

Easiest answer first ... Tolkien was a devout Catholic. He was a major influence on C.S. Lewis's discarding his atheism for Christianity, but was always frustrated that he didn't become Catholic.

Neither Tolkien nor Nagai are saints as recognized by the Church, although I read in a few places that Nagai is given the title Servant of God, which is the first step on the road to canonization. However, I felt that both were inspirational enough Catholics (because of their lives and works) that they could give me good, solid guidance during the year. That certainly proved to be the case with Tolkien and, as I mentioned, Nagai has definitely inspired me already this year.

The Church canonizes saints but she readily acknowledges that there are many, many saints of which she knows nothing. The ones that are recognized enough for canonization are the really big, obvious ones such as Mother Teresa of Calcutta. There are many, such as my grandfather, whose saintly qualities were recognized by all those who knew him but who expressed them through living a very normal life. My grandfather wasn't Catholic, though he was Christian, but he was definitely saintly and beloved by all.

We are all called to become saints. That, in fact, is our calling in life if one is Catholic. It seems like an impossible goal but if we are all doing God's will to our utmost in daily life then that is all that is required. ("All" ... haha!). Mothers, fathers, children, business men and women, can all be saintly wherever they are put. God put us where we are to bring Him into the world in all parts of life.

Neither Tolkien or Nagai were out of a hat. I chose both based on particular circumstances of my life at the time.

Worth a Thousand Words: Palau Baro de Quadras

Palau Baro de Quadras
taken by Carlos Lorenzo

Do go to Barcelona Photoblog for more information about this gorgeous example of Catalan modernisme. Be sure to check out the photo for the full size and glory of the original photo.

The Faithful Traveler ... in the Holy Land!

Longtime readers may recall that I'm a big fan of Diana von Glahn's The Faithful Traveler Catholic travel show to shrines around the U.S.

Her new series is in the Holy Land. They visit the holy sites and explain their history, talk about the art, architecture, and so forth. Each episode is 30-minutes, so they aren't meant to be in-depth theological looks, but instead, fun and breezy introductions. The goal is to give people the knowledge they need to either go there themselves and know what they're looking at or enable them to be entertained and educated armchair travelers.

Check out a sample here.

There is more info at The Faithful Traveler site where you can see samples of the first series and this upcoming show.

And put it on your calendar ... it begins February 17.

Happy Birthday, J.R.R. Tolkien!

In celebration, eat second breakfast. Then elevensies.

via ThinkGeek's Facebook page

Filets Mignons with Mushrooms

How we started the New Year ... get it at Meanwhile, Back in the Kitchen.

My 2014 Book Challenge List

My 2013 book challenge was so rewarding, making me pick up books I would just keep skipping over in favor of lighter reading. I'm doing it again for the third year in a row.

Some books are carried over from last year and some I dropped because ... well, I'm not married to these lists. If am inspired at all to reach higher than before, that's good enough for me.

As before, I may not get through all of them in a year, but I will be trying always read one of them despite other distractions. In no particular order.

Fiction

1. Les Miserables - Victor Hugo
   This was on my 2013 list and having begun it about a week ago, I'm enjoying it quite a bit. Unabridged. Of course.
   
   Result: oh the agony! I loved the first bit about the bishop. Then I was gratified to see that the general plot had been well represented in the musical. However, the constant meandering here and there drove me crazy. I'm not usually a "don't bore us, get to the chorus" reader but Hugo beat me. Quitting this book.
2. Rabble in Arms - Kenneth Roberts
   My second favorite historical fiction author. This is a big 'un I overlooked somehow about the Revolutionary War.
   
   UPDATE: This book wound up overlapping with my Book Bingo Challenge as A Book Based on a True Story. It kind of saved me because I really hate books based on real stories usually. But it don't get much realer than the Revolutionary War. Especially the way Kenneth Roberts tells his stories.
3. The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha - Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra —
   One of Rose's favorites which she's been pushing on me for a long time. Also, Scott from Good Story said he was interested in reading it this year. They were too much for my weak will.
   
   UPDATE: This will be one of Scott's choices for A Good Story is Hard to Find podcast for 2015 - so I don't need to keep it on a challenge list.
4. Charles Dickens novel
   Not sure which one yet. I'm wavering between Our Mutual Friend and Nicholas Nickleby.
   
   Result:  Ok, this was decided when a kind friend gave me Simon Prebble's reading of Great Expectations. Not the book I'd have chosen, but it is Dickens and that's good enough for me.
   
   I struggled my way through Great Expectations (chronicled here). Later I picked up The Pickwick Papers with the idea of something light, Dickens-wise. I raced through it in about a week, really enjoying it (as chronicled here). I'm now very slowly enjoying the novel from the other end of Dickens' timeline, Our Mutual Friend.
5. Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra, and That Hideous Strength - C. S. Lewis
   I've had this pushed at me by everyone and his brother. Never been able to get past the first few chapters of Silent Planet but recently I tried the audio. That did the trick so I have begun. I'll give myself a year. That should be long enough.
   
   Out of the Silent Planet: Thanks goodness for the audio version or I'd never have made it. As it was I went in and out of being interested in the story, primarily because I was much more interested in the world development and exploration than in Ransom's dealings with his fellow Earthmen. Lewis was fantastically inventive about what the planet and living beings were like. I didn't know he had it in him! The scientist's final letter to the author really caught my attention. In particular, his comments about death among the Hrossa were mind-blowing in their implications about our own life here on fallen Earth. I also really liked the use for "bent" instead of "evil," showing just how we are turned from what we were meant to be. However, this does seem very obviously aimed at those who have Christian interests or mindsets, just as The Screwtape Letters was. I wonder if non-Christians enjoy this book.
   
   Perelandra: Just as with Out of the Silent Planet, I found the beginning of the book fairly uninviting. However, also just as in that book, having the audio helped me past that to the point. This book is so different from Out of the Silent Planet and yet we see C.S. Lewis's vivid and inspiring imagination just as clearly. I am simply blown away by his vision of creation on Venus. For me at one point, close to the end, I kept thinking that these are almost glimpses of the sort of creativity and inspiration that we will see in Heaven. Amazing insights as to battling evil, the dance of God's creation and plan, and our part in it. I find Lewis's style rather heavy-handed. What I'd change I'm not sure. I think it is simply that these books would go on the theology shelf in my library while something like The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings would go in more general reading. It is not Lewis's fault, and in fact I now want print copies of these books for rereading, but I prefer the purer fiction style to this one.
   
   That Hideous Strength: As with the other two books in C.S. Lewis's "space trilogy" I found this one difficult to get into and, yet, once I got past the indefinable point where it was no longer a struggle, I couldn't read it fast enough. Consequently this was a 24-hour book for me. It is a testament to Lewis's imagination and writing skill as to how different all three of the books are in this trilogy, while simultaneously all carrying out the same basic theme. No wonder J.R.R. Tolkien loved them.
   
   Speaking of Tolkien, I was stunned to see Numinor mentioned twice and Middle Earth once in this book. I never dreamed there was such a deliberate, direct connection between this book and the Lord of the Rings, which was not yet published in its entirety when this book came out as Lewis says in the introduction. One can see the way these books and LOTR go hand in hand with similar themes, although expressed differently through the authors' different styles.
   
   This book itself was really terrific and left me striving to be a better person, to be truer to myself, as did the other two. Not many other books really leave one feeling that way.

Nonfiction

1. The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien — this will move to the 2015 book challenge
   I chose Tolkien as my 2013 saint last year (admittedly not a recognized saint, but at the very least as an inspiring Catholic I wanted to help me on my heaven). It was an amazing year filled with lessons that have definitely helped me. I want to know Tolkien's thoughts in his own words now instead of just reading his fiction.
2. A Song for Nagasaki: The Story of Takashi Nagai: Scientist, Convert, and Survivor of the Atomic Bomb - Paul Glynn
   Takashi Nagai isn't recognized by the Church as a saint but in my eyes he's qualified. I find him extremely inspiring and am going to spend 2014 in his company, as I did last year with Tolkien. I've begun this and it is really fascinating.
   
   Result: Superb and inspirational. My review is here.
3. Art: A New History - Paul Johnson — I'm about halfway through. This will move to my 2015 book challenge
   It's been on my coffee table for about a year. I've very slowly read some and loved it. This may help me read it more dedicatedly.
4. America: The Last Best Hope (Volume II): From a World at War to the Triumph of Freedom - William J. Bennett
   I really enjoyed the first volume last year. This is on my book stack and, as with Art, I hope this will get me to crack it open. That's all it will take, I have a feeling, to hook me.
   
   UPDATE: still sitting on my shelf. I'll get to it but not as a book challenge.
5. The Scarlet and the Black: The True Story of Monsignor Hugh O Flaherty, Hero of the Vatican Underground - J.P Gallagher
   This also was on last year's list. I am really enjoying Song For Nagasaki and hope I'll also enjoy this true story of faith under crisis just as much.
   
   Result - The story itself is fascinating. The writing is less impressive with everything strung together so fast that it can be hard to keep track of events. The book could have done with just a touch of breathing space.
   
   That said, this is still very worth reading. One realizes that although the Vatican's official neutrality had to be maintained (as did that of others highlighted in the book), there was a lot of frantic activity below the surface to save lives in Rome right under the Gestapo's nose.
6. Something that Takashi Nagai wrote. Since he wrote over 40 books I'd like to see what one of those was like. After reading A Song for Nagasaki, that is.
   
   Result: I read The Bells of Nagasaki which was really amazing. I'm glad that I read Glynn's book first and, yet, also very glad that I didn't let it rest there as Nagai's own words corrected a few things that Glynn had glossed over. My review is here.

Worth a Thousand Words: Waxwing

Waxwing
Taken by Remo Savisaar

I really love these beautiful birds and no one photographs them better than Remo.

My Top 2013 Movies

My favorite movies seen in 2013 with descriptions in 10 words or less. In the approximate order in which I saw them.

1. Looper (2012) directed by Rian Johnson, stars: Joseph Gordon-Levitt Bruce Willis
   Time travel, big themes, from a director I love. (my review here)
   
   
2. Searching for Sugar Man (2012 documentary) directed by Malik Bendjelloul
   An American musician, a South African legend, a mystery investigated. (my review here)
   
   
3. Bernie (2011) directed byRichard Linklater, stars: Jack Black, Matthew McConaughey, Shirley MacLaine
   A sweet funeral home manager, a possessive and grasping widow ... a true story. (my review here)
   
   
4. Argo (2012) directed by Ben Affleck, stars Ben Affleck and a big cast of "hey, it's that guy!" actors
   Smuggling six Americans out of the Iranian revolution ... a true story (my review here)
   
   
5. Erroll Garner: No One Can Hear You Read (2012 documentary)
   Erroll Garner's genius in improvising, communicating joy, and inspiring others through jazz. (My review here)
   
   
6. Of Gods and Men (2010 French: ‘Des hommes et des dieux’) Directed by Xavier Beauvois
   Trappist monks must decide whether to flee Algeria from terrorists or stay and serve God ... a true story (My review here; the A Good Story is Hard to Find podcast discussion here.)
   
   
7. 12 Angry Men (1957) directed by Sidney Lumet, starring: Henry Fonda
   A classic, "must see" for a reason. Simply wonderful. (My review here.)
   
   
8. Attack the Block  (2011) directed by Joe Cornish
   Solid alien invasion, monster movie set in British council block (a.k.a. "the projects). (my review here)
   
   
9. Gravity  (2013) directed by Alfonso Cuaron, stars Sandra Bullock, George Clooney
   An immersive emergency in outer space ponders gravity on several levels.
   
   
10. Muscle Shoals: The Movie  (2013 documentary) directed by Greg 'Freddy' Camalier
    A man who's lived the blues, the Swampers, shattered stereotypes ... and lots and lots of music. (My review here)

Top 2013 Audiobooks

My favorite audiobooks from 2013 with descriptions in 10 words or less. In the approximate order in which I heard them.

1. The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins
   Classic mystery with unexpectedly hilarious characters. Read by B.J. Harrison at The Classic Tales Podcast, my review here.
   
   
2. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
   Listening to this much-beloved book gave it new depth (Read by Rob Inglis)
   
   
3. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
   I've never enjoyed the last book of the trilogy ... until now. (Read by Rob Inglis. My review of Return of the King here which reflects my experience listening to the entire trilogy.)
   
   
4. The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett
   Perfect noir listening for our vacation travels together. (Read by William Dufris' whose "fat man" has to be heard to be appreciated.) 
   
   
5. The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury
   Enchanting tour of Halloween history with boys on a mission. (Read by Bronson Pinchot.)
   
   
6. The Poison Belt by Arthur Conan Doyle
    The apocalypse in Victorian times told by a master storyteller (Read by Gildart Jackson. My review here)

Best (Print) Books of 2013

Top print books I read in 2013 with descriptions in 10 words or less. In the order I encountered them throughout the year. (Audio books will have a separate post.)

1. Take Five with Pope Benedict by Mike Aquilina and Kris Stubna
   Wonderful daily resource that refocused me on what really matters. (My review here.)
   
   
2. Watch series by Sergei Lukyanenko
   Only Russian novels I've ever enjoyed. (Good Story podcast discussion. My reviews here: Night Watch, Day Watch, Twilight Watch, Last Watch)
   
   
3. The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold
   Fantasy, adventure, romance wrapped in theological science fiction.  (my review here)
   
   
4. King Peggy: An American Secretary, Her Royal Destiny, and the Inspiring Story of How She Changed an African Village by Peggilene Bartels
   The subhead says it all. I've read it twice. (review here)
   
   
5. The Woodcutter by Kate Danley
   A new, yet familiar, fairy story where true love conquers all. (review here)
   
   
6. Galactic Pot-Healer by Philip K. Dick
   Lovecraftian elder god gathers team to benefit mankind. (SFFaudio discussion here. My review here)
   
   
7. Save Send Delete by Danusha Goska
   Catholic and atheist debate faith in emails. Unputdownable. (my review here)
   
   
8. Middlemarch by George Eliot
   Marriage seen through the lens of "What do we live for, if it is not to make life less difficult to each other?" (my review here)
   
   
9. The Last Policeman by Ben H. Winters
   Why investigate a murder if the world is ending? (my review here)
   
   
10. Countdown City by Ben H. Winters (sequel to The Last Policeman)
    Still asking questions in the face of the apocalypse  (review here)
    
    
11. Kirinyaga by Mike Resnick
    Can utopia be created by one man? Also African folktales.  (review/discussion at A Good Story is Hard to Find)
    
    
12. Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens
    A contender with Bleak House as my favorite Dickens novel.  (excerpts and comments at Goodreads)

Yep. I cheated on just a few for that 10 word limit, most notably Middlemarch. Had to happen. Be sure to go through and read the reviews of anything that looks interesting. I promise there are a few in there that surprised me by winding up on this list.

ALL THE 2013 BOOKS
Here's my year in books according to Goodreads, where I may not have always written a review but I did keep pretty accurate track of what I read.

The Last Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko

I'm really surprised I forgot to share my reactions on this book since I was so eager to share the first three. Making up for that now!

The Last Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


As with the other books in the series, Last Watch is made up of three novellas. Unlike the other books though, these act as connected pieces in one overall story. Although Anton goes to Edinburgh and then to Uzbekistan, his missions are all in service of solving one big puzzle. What possible plot could cause an alliance between a powerful Inquisitor, a Higher Light One, and a Master Vampire?

I thought I understood what the title Last Watch was about but, as with every other time, Sergei Lukyanenko surprised me. In the end this turned out to be a story about the depths to which love drives us, especially when we feel we have failed it, and the ultimate power of forgiveness.

I eagerly await the translation of the final book in the series, New Watch.

Worth a Thousand Words: Pine Grosbeak

Pine Grosbeak
From my favorite nature photographer, Remo Savisaar

Y'all, You Guys, or Youse? Our Time Waster for This Morning.

We spent a very enjoyable hour going through this word quiz as a group. Then we saw that at the end they will give you their best guess on where you are from. So I went and took it myself. (Warning, the last map with the overall conclusion loads super slowly compared to all the other maps ... be patient or you'll lose the whole thing.)

I wound up with Spokane, Tacoma, Portland which were way off based solely on the word "kitty corner", but the map does show a very high match to Kansas where I grew up and North Texas, where I now live. I could see real connections on certain words to my time in Houston and my parents' Cincinnati / Illinois connections also.

Then I saw you could link to the specific map results and so took it a second time to try to capture the map, was asked a few different questions in the mix. I wound up still with stubborn Spokane but two more realistic cities about my word learning: Des Moines and Wichita.

None of this is as good as the Dictionary of Regional English which would be my wish if a bookish fairy godmother showed up to ask what very expensive books I'd love to read for the next year. But its fun enough and interesting. Enjoy!

The Poison Belt by Arthur Conan Doyle

The Poison Belt by Arthur Conan Doyle

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Strangely enough, I wound up listening to this apocalyptic book while wrapping gifts. Talk about making me grateful for Christmas with my family! This review is from SFFaudio whence came the review book. Needless to say (I hope), this is my uninfluenced opinion. 

What would you do if you had discovered that the planet was about to be engulfed in a belt of poisonous "ether" from outer space? Professor Challenger invites a hand-picked crew of adventurers and scientists to his home outside London.

I like Sherlock Holmes but I am much fonder of Arthur Conan Doyle's other fiction. He was a skilled teller of "weird tales" and I have heard he was proudest of his historical fiction which I really enjoy. The Poison Belt is the second in a series of fantasy and science fiction novels featuring the brilliant and overpowering Professor Challenger.  It functions very well as a stand alone novel.

Having assembled a newsman, big game huntsman, and another scientist to explore South America in their first adventure, The Lost World, it is only logical that Challenger would call upon the same group for this scientific emergency. Professor Challenger puzzles them when he asks each to bring along a cylinder of oxygen. They are well acquainted with Challenger's eccentricities but little do they suspect that he anticipates an apocalyptic event.

I'd say more but I think reading the whole description would have ruined my astonishment and interest in the story as it unfolded in this superb audiobook. In fact, having grabbed this review book solely based on my enjoyment of The Lost World, I hadn't read the description at all. I was stunned to find this was such an apocalyptic novel. It is really well written and thought through. I was frequently surprised as various events occurred because I simply hadn't thought through the consequences of an apocalypse in 1913 England.

Part of the enjoyment of The Poison Belt comes from the adventurers' interactions. Doyle is very good at inserting humor, often through the two scientists' bickering over conclusions, and at other times in hunter Lord John's casual comments as in this instance when Challenger has asked the group to look at an amoeba through a microscope.

Lord John was prepared to take him on trust.

"I'm not troublin' my head whether he's alive or dead," said he. "We don't so much as know each other by sight, so why should I take it to heart? I don't suppose he's worryin' himself over the state of OUR health."

I laughed at this, and Challenger looked in my direction with his coldest and most supercilious stare. It was a most petrifying experience.

"The flippancy of the half-educated is more obstructive to science than the obtuseness of the ignorant," said he. "If Lord John Roxton would condescend----"

"My dear George, don't be so peppery," said his wife, with her hand on the black mane that drooped over the microscope. "What can it matter whether the amoeba is alive or not?"

"It matters a great deal," said Challenger gruffly.

"Well, let's hear about it," said Lord John with a good-humoured smile. "We may as well talk about that as anything else. If you think I've been too off-hand with the thing, or hurt its feelin's in any way, I'll apologize."

Part of the humor comes across thanks to the excellent narration by actor Gildart Jackson. As is often the case with actors, his reading is rife with expressive accents, subtle nuances, and changes of pace. This isn't a very long book and goes along at a rattling pace. I was hooked from the beginning.

I don't know when I've enjoyed an audiobook more and I hope that Dreamscape is considering more of Arthur Conan Doyle's fiction for the future.

Worth a Thousand Words: Cosette

Portrait of "Cosette" by Émile Bayard,
from the original edition of Les Misérables (1862).
Via Wikipedia

I have begun reading Les Miserables. Inspired by yesterday's portrait of Tolstoy, I went looking for portraits of Victor Hugo and found this along the way. I was so surprised to see that what I thought was a modern image of Cosette actually had been with the novel from the beginning. As Wikipedia tells us:

French illustrator Émile Bayard drew the sketch of Cosette for the first edition, and this engraving was prepared for an 1886 edition. The image has become emblematic of the entire story, being used in promotional art for various versions of the musical.

A Lovely Piece of Advent Fiction: A Shepherd I Will Remain

It is irresistible. We walk to Bethlehem, bells ringing, bringing our sheep. My uncle carries the injured one on his shoulders, and we travel familiar, narrow by-ways that keep us, always, at the margins of the city—away from marketplaces and inns, for we know our place; we are shepherds; we stink of the sheep.

We find the hewn place, like a cave, and again there is light or not light, precisely—oh, how do I tell it? It is a kind of mist of brightness, and it is alive; it contains a hum, a buzz, a fizz that is like pulsing life, and it is everywhere, and it bathes everything and everyone in its warm glow.

From Elizabeth Scalia comes a very good short story, almost just a snapshot really, of the Nativity from a shepherd boy's point of view. Read it at First Things.

What I like about this so much is that Scalia paints the place so vividly. I could hear the fire crackle, feel the rough trails under my feet, and see the young mother's pride. I especially liked the way that details were introduced which followed very logically but which I hadn't thought of before ... such as the fact that shepherds would naturally take their sheep with them.

Scalia is an expert nonfiction writer who often inspires me ... but I think we need more fiction from her. She's good.

In which we go on the carrier's rounds, enjoy a picnic, meet Caleb's daughter, and see an unimaginable sight.

That's right, Chirp the Second of The Cricket on the Hearth is ready for your listening pleasure at Forgotten Classics podcast.

Christmas in the Air

This makes me laugh every time. Many thanks to Doug Savage for sharing his humor with us and allowing me to pass it along to you.

No Internet + No Phone + Waiting at Home All Day for AT&T =

a) Getting a lot of Christmas gifts wrapped.

b) Accidentally recording 50 minutes of Leaf By Niggle (for myself because you can't find it on audio) because I thought the AT&T tech was just stepping out for a few minutes so I thought I'd read until she got back.

c) No blogging.

d) All of the above. CORRECT ANSWER

I have to give the AT&T technician credit though. She just didn't give up. She kept trying and trying and finally figured out our problem, even though she showed up at 9:00 and wasn't done until after 3:00. I was really impressed.

Following the Cowboys

I like what Stephen Tobolowsky tweeted after the Cowboys' game.

Following the Cowboys is like dating an alcoholic.

Precisely. I had the same lack of expectations, the raised hopes that things would be better, the disbelief at the disintegration which was so familiar to watch, the anger at letting myself get sucked in.

So why do I keep dating them? Aaargh!

I had lunch today with a longtime Cowboys fan who pointed out that if Jerry Jones had a General Manager who hadn't turned up with a playoff team in 17 years ... he'd have fired them long ago.

When I think of the string of coaches who have come and gone in that time, I think of the Cowboys' General Manager and wish someone would fire him for the team's good. Are your ears burning ... again ... Jerry?

Well Said: The Ghost of Christmas Lost

Tis the time of year to celebrate Santa being allowed back in Texas schools. Or to read about schools who insist on having no religious songs in Christmas - excuse me - holiday pageants. Or even, as Tom pointed out the other day, to watch Lexus ads which tell us "winter is the season to buy a new car." (Winter is the season? Really? Are they going to run these in February? Now they can't even say "holiday?" Brother, did we laugh.)

All this made me think fondly back to actor Stephen Tobolowsky's Christmas Reflection, part of which I share with you here.

A few years ago I was driving the carpool to school. It was the day of the Christmas program. I told the kids I was eager to come to the show. I asked what Christmas songs they were singing. There was a lengthy pause followed by the innocent reply, “We’re not singing any Christmas songs. Our teacher says that they are too religious. We are only singing songs about the Winter solstice.

It was one of those moments I wished I carried small caliber weapons. I took a breath and said, “Who is your teacher?”

Alex answered back, “Mr. Webster.”

I said, ”Alex, you know Mr. Webster probably doesn’t know this, but the Winter solstice is religious too. It celebrates Paganism. So if he really wants to cut out religion he should just stick to Beatles songs.”

Alex was silent. He recognized the signs of an adult quietly flipping out while driving. I was too angry. I couldn’t stop. I calmly said, “Alex. I have a question for you to ask Mr. Webster. Tell him that Mr. Tobolowsky wanted to know many songs Johann Sebastian Bach wrote in honor of the Winter solstice? How many paintings of Michelangelo were inspired by the solstice? In fact I would like Mr. Webster to cite one reference to the solstice in the works of Charles Dickens, George Eliot, and Jane Austen. Just one.”

The decision to remove Christmas songs from a children’s Christmas show was the definition small-minded. I shouldn’t have been surprised. It was the kind of choice you expect from an expensive private school in Los Angeles.

I dropped the kids off. They ran inside for another date with meaninglessness.

As anyone knows who listens to The Tobolowsky Files, Stephen Tobolowsky is too good a story teller to leave us with just that ending. Go read the whole thing at his blog.

My Interview at Catholic Mom

Sarah Reinhard interviewed me as part of the Catholic Blogger series at Catholic Mom.

Sarah did a very flattering intro and I am always extremely honored that Happy Catholic was an inspiration for her to begin blogging. She's such a dynamo of blogging and book writing that if it wasn't me, it would have been another Catholic blogger who inspired her. But I'm glad it was me. Especially since we are now friends. And that's even better than her blogging and writing.

To be honest, I did this interview some time ago and had forgotten all about it.

So I was interested to read my own answers. And, hey, I held my own interest! (Which says something either about my short memory or my self interest or ... maybe, just maybe ... it means the interview was ok).

Check it out and see for yourself.

In which we meet the Perrybingles ...

... Boxer, a poor toymaker, a crabby toymaker, an unusual parcel and ... the cricket. Chirp the First for your listening pleasure at Forgotten Classics podcast.