A Delightful Book of Essays

PEOPLE I HAVE LOVED, KNOWN OR ADMIRED by Leo Rosten

I have posted a few excerpts from this book but they in no way are truly representative of the wide range of people that Leo Rosten wrote about. From dime-a-dance girls to I AM worshippers ("Arcturus, we greet thee!"), Groucho Marx to Leonardo, there is no end to the sorts of interesting personalities which fascinated Rosten enough to chronicle.

My personal favorites were both soldiers. Private Coby Clay could not be coerced to make his bed while in the Army because that was something that wasn't fitting for a grown man to do. Your mother should do it for you was his reasoning. Harry Miller's story is told first from the point of view of a small Japanese boy, encountering for the first time an American "warrior" for the first time. The soldier encouraged him to perfect his English and go to America, which became a goal that changed the boy's life. When Miller is tracked down by Rosten for his point of view it is simple and touching and quite perfectly American.

Much thanks to The Anchoress for recommending this.

This is #10 of books read in 2006.

UPDATE
The author of SC&A was kind enough to send me this link to wonderful article about Leo Rosten. Well worth reading, I am including this snippet because it tickles me.

Although it was also Rosten’s habit to ignore reviews, he was so touched by [Evelyn] Waugh’s interest in a work so foreign to everything that Waugh himself had written, that he wrote to thank him and invite Waugh and his wife to have tea with the Rostens in the flat they had taken temporarily in London. “I got back a postcard,” Rosten recently told this reporter. “The postcard read: ’From E.W. to L.R.: Alas, impossible. E.W.”’ I thought for a long time how one should answer so economical a communication. What I finally sent back to the man I consider one of the greatest writers of our time read like this: ’From L. R. to E. W. Quite. L. R.”’

The Anchoress on Confession

Finally, finding myself in an unfamiliar church during Confession hour I said, “this is it…” I poured it all out to a wonderful friar who listened intently and understood. He spoke consolingly for a few minutes, no big harangue (I know there are bad confessors out there, and shame on them, but I have always been blessed with good priests) and then he said, “Let this be an end…” It was precisely what I needed to hear.

We are body, mind and spirit. Confession - like other Catholic and Orthodox practices - serves not just the soul but the mind, and yes, even the body. Sometimes you need to physically hear it all - the sin, the consolation, the prayer, the absolution. I wonder, sometimes, if the “victim mentality” we have seen grow over the last few decades, and the dependence upon therapists haven’t grown so large, so quickly, simply because so few take understand or take advantage of the release and freedom that comes from the Sacrament of Confession, and the grace the sacrament provides in helping to avoid those sins in the future.

She's always good but this is brilliant. Go and read it all.

We Interrupt This Blog to Announce...

Quite a lot of troll activity sighted in the Happy Catholic vicinity this morning. Droppings are everywhere and I hope you haven't accidentally stepped in any before I got the place tidied up.

Thanks for your patience.

At Last ...

"The new phone book's here!"

Ummmm, I mean Pope Benedict's new encyclical is here. Print out, sit back and enjoy. As noted everywhere in St. Blog's parish.

If Only Everyone Were As Wise

It is a pleasure for me to salute [this] benefactor of our inhuman race:

J. Irwin Miller, chairman of the board of Cummins Engine Company, whom I watched in a television "talk" show as he patiently tried to explain his views to three condescending panelists, indubitable highbrows, who insisted on demolishing points Mr. Miller had not made, and persisted in ridiculing policies Mr. Miller had never propounded.

When he saw that he could not persuade the deep thinkers to desist from their eloquent irrelevances, the deadpan businessman finally cleared his throat and sighed, with exemplary kindness: "In my house, we all try to follow a rule I have once suggested to my children. The rule goes like this: "You can disagree with a man's position as much as you want -- after you have been able to state it, to his satisfaction."

I consider this dictum, which belongs in all anthologies of great quotations, the best statement ever made about the basic rule men of reason ought to follow during an argument...

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

I concur.

If Jack Bauer was gay, his name would be Chuck Norris.

Forget the Chuck Norris list, y'all. Jack Bauer rocks harder. But we knew that already, didn't we?

I couldn't pick a few favorites. I loved them all so have reprinted the entire list below from this comments box. Much thanks to The Anchoress for pointing me to this list. She totally rules ... the cloister, that is.

Some random facts about Jack Bauer:

1. If you wake up in the morning, it's because Jack Bauer spared your life.
2. If Jack Bauer was in a room with Hitler, Stalin, and Nina Meyers, and he had a gun with 2 bullets, he'd shoot Nina twice.
3. Upon hearing that he was played by Kiefer Sutherland, Jack Bauer killed Sutherland. Jack Bauer gets played by no man.
4. Jack Bauer's favorite color is severe terror alert red. His second favorite color is violet, but just because it sounds like violent.
5. Jack Bauer once forgot where he put his keys. He then spent the next half-hour torturing himself until he gave up the location of the keys.
6. Jack Bauer got Hellen Keller to talk.
7. Jack Bauer killed 93 people in just 4 days time. Wait, that is a real fact.
8. Jack Bauer was never addicted to heroin. Heroin was addicted to Jack Bauer.
9. 1.6 billion Chinese are angry with Jack Bauer. Sounds like a fair fight.
10. Superman wears Jack Bauer pajamas.
11. Jack Bauer doesn't miss. If he didn't hit you it's because he was shooting at another terrorist twelve miles away.
12. Let's get one thing straight, the only reason you are conscious right now is because Jack Bauer does not feel like carrying you.
13. When you open a can of whoop-ass, Jack Bauer jumps out.
14. If Jack says "I just want to talk to him/her" and that him/her is you -- well amigo, you're f****d.
15. Killing Jack Bauer doesn't make him dead. It just makes him angry.
16. When life gave Jack Bauer lemons, he used them to kill terrorists. Jack Bauer f*****g hates lemonade.
17. In grade school, a little boy punched Kimberly Bauer, and Kimberly ran home to tell her dad. That little boy's name? Stephen Hawking.
18. Jack Bauer does not sleep. The only rest he needs is what he gets when he's knocked out or temporarily killed.
19. No man has ever used the phrase, "Jack Bauer is a p***y" in a sentence and lived to tel-
20. In kindergarten, Jack Bauer killed a terrorist for Show and Tell.
21. Jack Bauer literally died for his country, and lived to tell about it.
22. As a child, Jack Bauer's first words were "There's no time!"
23. Jack Bauer's family threw him a surprise birthday party when he was a child. Once.
24. If you are still conscious, it is because Jack Bauer doesn"t want to carry you.
25. If you get 7 stars on your wanted level on Grand Theft Auto, Jack Bauer comes after you. You don't want to get 7 stars.
26. Guns don't kill people, Jack Bauer kills people.
27. Everytime Jack Bauer yells "NOW!" at the end of a sentence, a terrorist dies.
28. Jesus died and rose from the dead in 3 days. It took Jack Bauer less than an hour. And he's done it twice.
29. If you send someone to kill Jack Bauer, the only thing you accomplish is supplying him a fresh set of weapons to kill you with.
30. Jack Bauer could get off the Lost island in 24 hours.
31. If Jack Bauer was gay, his name would be Chuck Norris.
32. After arguing over what was the better show, 24 or Walker Texas Ranger, Chuck Norris went to attack Jack Bauer with his trademark roundhouse kick. Jack Bauer caught it.

UPDATE
Disputations throws down over Jack's coolness.

For this to work first you have to have a hero that anyone has heard of lately for this to work, so I think he may be at a slight disadvantage. Now, if we are going for old-timey heroes that never are outdated I'll take The Avengers.

But let's not fool ourselves ... Jack's the man.

FURTHER UPDATE
More Jack Bauer Facts. Thanks Buckley!

It's a Guy Thing

Hannah has been watching the second season of 24 on DVD over at her friend Michael's house. They watch with another friend, Addison, who lives across the street and Michael's older brothers and his father. She says that half the fun of watching it is seeing the guys' reactions to Jack Bauer's heroics. He pulls off some outrageous stunt and the air is full of, "Jack's the man!" They love Jack.

Michael was over tonight and I mentioned that I quit watching the second season after the episode featuring a chain saw and then a head in a bowling bag. He laughed, and said, "Oh that's because you don't have a house full of boys. We loved it!"

That was real revelation for me. It tied in exactly with watching Jurassic Park a couple of weeks ago (can you believe Rose had never seen it? We had to remedy that hole in her cultural education as soon as we heard it). Every time something gross happened the little girl was disgusted and the little boy loved it.

I'm not sure of the demographics watching the show but I'd bet it is definitely being enjoyed on two different levels. The women are enjoying the plot and action. As for the guys, they have that and Jack, the proto-hero, ratchets it up a notch.

I'm sure it must be equivalent to the way women reacted to Sydney Bristow in the first two seasons of Alias (these are the only good seasons). Tom would watch occasionally and complain about the giant plot holes. We didn't care. It was all about Sydney.

I like getting that little window into the guys' world. Thanks Jack. You are the man.

UPDATE
This tells much the same tale of Alias versus 24 differences.

Meanwhile, Back in the Kitchen...

... you can find a Cream Cheese and Jalapeno Tart recipe and a link to the winners of the 2005 Food Blog Awards. Check it out.

Daniel, We Hardly Knew Ye

Friday's fourth episode of The Book of Daniel went virtually unsponsored, forcing NBC to fill commercial breaks with a veritable festival of in-house promotions for attractions ranging from the Olympics to daytime soaps.

"The Mattress King has stepped up and he's going to sponsor the entire hour," Mr. Reilly cracked. "And God bless him."

The Book of Daniel, about a dysfunctional family headed by a Vicodin-addicted Episcopal priest, has drawn heavy fire from the American Family Association, which urged advertiser, station and viewer boycotts. After his press conference, Mr. Reilly said he didn't know if Book of Daniel would be back this Friday. Lack of advertiser support and diminishing audiences might well be a fatal combination, he said.

Dallas Morning News

Capitalism has spoken. And, I'm really ok with that.

Is it Hot in Here?

Or is it just him?

Thank you Lion Brand!

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

Good Vibrations: A Little Radiation Can Be A Good Thing

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

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

The Politically Incorrect Guide to Science

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

Quick Looks at Books

THE CLEVELAND CONNECTION by Les Roberts
DEEP SHAKER by Les Roberts

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

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

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

Can I Live?

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

Let them live. Lord, hear our prayer.

Is the Christian Life Hard?

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

The Princess Bride

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Beatles and Benedict Both Begin With "B"

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

We have Little Flower Power.

We believe in love and unity among all people.

We believe in worshiping together.

We believe in communal living.

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

I Think I've Accrued 1.5 Points

From my inbox. Thanks Alicia!

A man dies and goes to heaven.

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

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

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

"Okay," the man says,

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

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

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

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

"One point!?!!"

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

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

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

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

"Bingo, 100 points! Come on in!"

The Brotherhood of the iPod

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

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

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

Me and my iPod. Making friends everywhere yesterday.

Blogger Spotlight

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

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

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

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

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

Asleep at the Wheel

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

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

More Anguished English by Richard Lederer

This One Hit Me Right Between the Eyes

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

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

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

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

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