To Think That I Just Discovered This Comic

Wondermark
(Click on the cartoon to enlarge or click through to see it at Wondermark)

Much thanks to David Malki for permission to share these with everyone. Via DarwinCatholic who hit me where I live with the cartoon they shared.

Worth a Thousand Words

Papaveri Rossi by Manuela Valenti

You know, you think that you're just ranting away in the "relative privacy" of someone's comment boxes and then ...

... you get outed.

And then ...

you get outed again.

Regardless, I stand by my "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!"

You can tell it's serious because of all the exclamation marks. I usually abhor any past one. I'm low-key that way. Can you tell?

How do you get amazing taste in your meals?

Actually, it's pretty easy.

"Ankh if you love Jesus" bumper stickers

Is there anything better than good word play?

No. No, I don't think so.

Just one more reason to check out Signs and Mysteries by Mike Aquilina. No, he's not making the puns, but you'll find the fodder there. (ha!)

Now This is What I Call a Keyboard!

Why have this?

When you could have this?

There's just somethin' about steampunk, isn't there? Ahhh ...

(I must stop here and thank Tony at StarShipSofa podcast for hosting the series of nonfiction segments. In one of those, I was introduced to the whole steampunk concept ... thereby enabling me to get one up on the girls, who hadn't heard of it at all.)

The original steampunk keyboard can be seen here.

If you'd like your own, this enterprising gentleman will be happy to produce one for you.

Though perhaps you will want to wait for him to finish developing ... The Archbishop!

Worth a Thousand Words

Watercolor Study for Del Sol by Belinda Del Pesco

"Why are we doing this again?"

I'm still not sure about how these commercials are biting back at the "PC and Mac" ads but they are highly entertaining if nothing else.

Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld get "real."

Good News for Movie Lovers

Jeffrey Overstreet has a new monthly column at Christianity Today, Through a Screen Darkly. Observant readers, with loooong memories, might remember Overstreet's book of the same name which I loved.

Overstreet not only clues us in to The Island, a move that it sounds as if Christians will love (no not that Island with Ewan McGregor ... this is a different Russian movie) but also ... even more excitingly ... tells us about a movie distributor, Film Movement, that offers movies too often missed by American distributors.

He set out to find buried treasure all over the world so he could mail it out to moviegoers, inspiring questions and conversation. "We don't want our movies to be available only in the big cities," he says. "Our movies are available theatrically in cities like New York and L.A., but there are a lot of people who don't have an arthouse theater near them."

Along the way I saw names of several movies in the article that I am going to look for. Read the article and check out the links. Sounds as if we can look forward to some modern forgotten classics being pointed out.

Gov. Palin and Senator Clinton address the nation ... on SNL

Remember folks, this is Saturday Night Live ... it isn't in line with their crudest stuff but if you're easily offended then skip it. I thought it was hilarious. (You have to watch the 30 second ad and then it should start.)

Worth a Thousand Words

A bike called Gazelle by Edward B. Gordon

Here's How Big Hurricane Ike Is

The reporters in Galveston are just about now venturing outside because there are still dangerous gusts of wind. We have been feeling the effects in Dallas this morning already with rain and the wind getting steadily higher. Not bad yet, but we'll be staying in this afternoon for sure.

That's a danged big storm.

Still keeping all in the path in our prayers. Especially Hannah in College Station...

A Still, Small Voice: An Alternative to Ecstasy

I began rereading this last night and it is chock-full of common sense. I had forgotten how really good it is so am glad that I was prompted to pick it up again. For one thing, when I first read it I was a relatively new Catholic and wasn't familiar with many of the revelations to which Father Groeschel refers. Now that I am better informed, I can appreciate Groeschel's insights even more.

Naturally, I'll be sharing some of my favorite bits along the way. For instance, I have always remembered this solid advice from the introduction:

An Alternative to Ecstasy

In my final chapter I offer an alternative to unusual and extraordinary ways of knowing the things of God. There is a normal, everyday opportunity open to those who seek God, called religious experience. This is the action of grace operating in the context of a human life. If we allow it, grace will elicit deeply-moving responses and become a powerful source of virtue. this is the meaning of the words of Saint Therese of Lisieux:

"To ecstasy, I prefer the monotony of sacrifice."

Notice she does not use the passive verb "accept." She prefers the plain fulfillment of one's duties. the active reception of the innumerable signs of grace that surround us, the faithful carrying out of responsibilities, and the willingness to work on daily repentance make a symphony of religious experience, which is appreciated by those who are willing to take the time and make the effort. Perhaps many who are clinging to or seeking the reassurances given by extraordinary experience might be much better off if they knew how to grow and be enriched by the ordinary experience of God and the Holy which are available to all. Saint John of the Cross, the mystical Doctor of the Church, who warned people to assume that extraordinary experiences came from the forces of evil unless the opposite could be proved, would enthusiastically agree.

An appreciation of and sensitivity to ordinary religious experiences frees a person from the possibility of serious error and spiritual price. Therese of Lisieux hardly ever had extraordinary experiences, and yet her life was filled with a profound awareness of the presence of Divine Love. She even regarded falling asleep at her prayers as religious experience. The monotony of sacrifice, fidelity, and generosity may be the safest and most productive of all religious experience, and it is there waiting for us all.

A Still, Small Voice:
A Practical Guide On Reported Revelations
by Father Benedict J. Groeschel, C.F.R.

Did I Miss You? Yes ... YES I DID!

Only the best fudge cookies ever.

EVER!

So. Much. Better. Than. Oreos.

Hands down.

And now I see that they have been revived to celebrate the 100th anniversary.

Excuse me. I have to get to the store. Right now.

Hurricane Ike ...

Hmmm ... I think that I'll drop by the store on the way home, rather than waiting until tomorrow.

Along with the rest of the Metroplex no doubt.

Hurricane Ike on Storm Pulse.

Praying for all those in the storm's path and those rescue workers out there. As well as for the reporters on the scene. I think I might know one of them, depending on how they were assigned to cover this.

Prayer Request

For all those in the path of Hurricane Ike ... especially those at College Station, including my darling Hannah at A&M.

More at Aggie Catholics where they are battening down the hatches.

September 11: Our Memories and Our Determination

Much of this is reposted and somewhat updated from previous years because I think this stands as the tribute I want to make. I will update it as I come across other tributes.

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• A movie for today: World Trade Center
• A book for today: The Onion Files

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I see that the year before last, I got an email last week mentioning that a deadline was September 11. Maybe it's silly but seeing that date attached to a deadline shocked me. No reason not to have it be a deadline but it seemed ... somehow ... irreverent to have the usual business of the day on that date.

Last year a similar thing happened, except that since I remember September 11 was a Tuesday and happened around 9:00 in the morning, I was stunned momentarily when making a vet appointment for our dog. I commented on the fact that it would be September 11 and the young receptionist had an indifferent silence and then merely encouraged me to continue making the appointment, which stung even more than the memory.

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To me, it is sad that the best tribute I saw in the newspaper both last year and this year was a paid Open Letter by a local car dealer (website no longer available). It is too long for me to include in its entirety.

... But I also recall that for a few short weeks, America came together. Republicans, Democrats and all the other parties were united in the message GOD BLESS AMERICA. I saw more American flags flying than I had ever seen in my life. People who had not owned a flag in years flocked to stores to put one in front of their home, their businesses and in the back of their pickups. for those few short weeks, we put aside our personal problems and focused on helping those killed in this brutal attack.

Now six years later, I wonder where all those flags are? My guess is that most are in their closets gathering dust along with those feelings we felt on that fateful day. ...

Find time today to reflect on the day we were attacked. At 9:03 AM today, the time of the last plane crash in Pennsylvania, all my employees will gather in front of my dealerships for a moment of silence to honor those who innocently died that day. I hope you'll find the time to do the same or feel free to join our family ...

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That time is always mixed for me with images of hospitals and personal emotions in another way because Tom's father had a massive stroke two days after September 11. We left the girls with friends and drove to Houston for what proved to be a harrowing time. No matter what else was happening, the television in the hospital was on, whether with the sound on or not.

Here is a sample of what others were living through as we watched in horror.

In my dress and non-sensible shoes I climbed (my grandmothers will forgive me) in the least dignified fashion, over the barrier. I crouched next to a man with a green striped oxford cloth shirt. I helped him cut it with my Swiss Army Knife scissors so he could put a piece over his nose and mouth. We shared water. He tried to use my cell phone to call his wife or girlfriend. It didn't work. Everyone started praying. Jesus' rang out all around me. I didn't care. My prayer was to see Andrew and Aaron again. This moment was the only time I thought I was going to die.

I kept thinking about the crying woman with the screaming baby. I kept hearing babies crying--no adults...how do you protect a 6-month old from all of this damn ASH?

It was hard to breathe. I couldn't always see the water, so close by, maybe eight...ten feet down? It was so dark. I thought, very carefully and precisely:

• I could jump in the water if the fire comes.
• I could get some debris and hold on and float to Brooklyn...I think that's where the current goes from here.
• There is no debris to use. I haven't seen anything larger than my fingernail fall to the water.
• I could jump in the water and swim.
• I don't know how cold the water is. How long could I last? How fast is the current? How much deeper would my breaths be in cold water? Is it better to stay on the land?
• How do I get back to Brooklyn? My husband and baby are there.
• They're going to bomb the Brooklyn Bridge next aren't they?...and then the Statue of Liberty...and maybe The Empire State Building and Central Park...if they're trying to break us, they'll go there. They'll hit the places we love.

We heard the fog horns of the ferryboats. The man to my right panicked and thought the ferry was going to hit us. Everyone got up fast and then realized we were better off under the edge again. We shared our water bottles and started climbing back down. Silence closed in around us and I could hear tiny pieces of debris and ash plink into the water.

At some point I looked up and to my left and could see the white disk of the sun above me. I tapped the Muslim man next to me and pointed up. Our eyes smiled at each other over our handkerchiefs. Briefly there was blue in front of me then it was gone again.

excerpt from Heather Ordover's firsthand account
(she was a teacher at a school next to the towers)

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For some reason, the image that sticks with me from driving down there and back, aside from all the American flags, was the beat up pickup truck with the gun rack and Confederate flag stickers that had "We are all New Yorkers today" written on their windows. For a Texan to write that ... well, at that moment we realized that the terrorists had no idea what they had done.

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NPR's StoryCorps recorded many remembrances of those who lost loved ones in the September 11 attacks. Go to the link and select the September 11 category to listen to them.

“He was tough on the outside—big, big, soft guy on the inside.”

“When I met Michael I was 14 years old.”

“When he was five, we went into a candy store…”

“When I used to hug him, the whole world disappeared…”

“Her eyes sparkled to me. One day they were blue; the next day they were green.”

“He was a high adventurer.”

“His sister idolized him.”

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The Anchoress remembered last year ...

I haven’t forgotten. I have too many firefighter friends to ever forget. I haven’t forgotten watching the tape of the first Tower burning and saying to my pal, over the phone, “it’s a beautiful clear day; no plane is going to accidentally hit the WTC - this is NOT an accident,” and both of us gasping because, just as I said it, the second plane hit. I haven’t forgotten because my husband was on a plane that morning, traveling on business, and for a little while we didn’t know what flights we were looking at, exploding before our eyes. Those of us who had loved ones in planes heard about the Pentagon, and about a plane going down in Pennsylvania - there were reports (false) that a car bomb was discovered outside of the Supreme Court. My friend called me back, pleading and in shock - “what is happening, what is happening in our country!” Finally the phone call from my husband, trapped in Atlanta, and I was able to call my kids schools and tell the offices, “please, please tell my kids that their father wasn’t on any of those planes, that he is alright!”

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... and she remembers this year too.

As I do every 9/11, I began this morning praying the Office of the Dead, from the Liturgy of the Hours. The psalms this year seemed to speak poignantly of the torment of the victims, and of those who waited, and waited, and who now wait to be re-united in glory. This year, I have made a podcast of the prayer for anyone who wishes to use it....

She has some links to other bloggers and you should go read all of what they wrote, just as I did. With the seeming vacuum in our newspaper and regular "business as usual" going on, it is nice to know that under it all plenty of people remember.

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Who can read this article (link no longer active) by Peggy Noonan in painting with words and not be swept back in time?

Flight 93 flight attendant Ceecee Lyles, 33 years old, in an answering-machine message to her husband: "Please tell my children that I love them very much. I'm sorry, baby. I wish I could see your face again."

Thirty-one-year-old Melissa Harrington, a California-based trade consultant at a meeting in the towers, called her father to say she loved him. Minutes later she left a message on the answering machine as her new husband slept in their San Francisco home. "Sean, it's me, she said. "I just wanted to let you know I love you."

Capt. Walter Hynes of the New York Fire Department's Ladder 13 dialed home that morning as his rig left the firehouse at 85th Street and Lexington Avenue. He was on his way downtown, he said in his message, and things were bad. "I don't know if we'll make it out. I want to tell you that I love you and I love the kids."

Who among us does not stop, whether a tribute is seen or not, and remember where we were, what we were doing, at that heart-stopping moment when everything changed?

I turn on the TV and watch as the plane slowly flies into the Tower.
Hail Mary, full of grace
My daughter wanders downstairs, shoes in hand,
Turns to look at what has me transfixed on a weekday morning.
The Lord is with thee.

Read it all here

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A time when even the most public figures struggled with what it meant to be "normal" and "go back to work. When we remembered what united us more than what divided us? When we felt our humanity.

I plucked these photos from those found at The Doctor is In.

I am very glad that Project 2,996 happened and that I saw so many heartfelt tributes done for so many different kinds of people. It reminds me that the number of people who died is not just a number. Each was a soul, valuable in the eyes of God and to the people all around them. Valuable to us.

"All of you saw today what happened in New York. Consider how many firefighters died today. You will never be able to claim that you don't know what this job is about. Every single day you go out there you don't know what's going to happen or if you'll make it home. Those who responded today planned to go home after their shift...and instead, we're going to be watching funerals of firefighters for weeks. You know what this job is about and you know the risk. So after witnessing something like this, if some of you, or all of you, choose not to come back tomorrow, we will all understand."

Adoro te Devote

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I continue to be struck by the hard, ongoing work done by others to keep us safe, of the many months of patient work that go in to discover conspiracies still underway.

The 4th of July isn't the day the 13 Colonies won their independence from Britain; it's the day they declared their independence. On the 4th we celebrate their eventual victory, but more than that we celebrate the resolve, vision, and determination which led to that victory.

Today, September 11th, we remember those thousands of innocent American civilians who died in the brutal attack on the Twin Towers. But 9/11 is more that. It is the day we resolved, as a nation, not to knuckle under to the terrorist threat -- and more than that, to stomp it out.

We must not turn 9/11 into a simple day of remembrance. We have not earned that blessing.

We must not lose our determination.

The View From the Foothills

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We remember not only to honor the victims. We remember also to fuel our determination which can sink low after a seemingly long "safe" time. We need also to remember that time when the things that divided us seemed so much less important than the things that unite us. When we were one people, when hurting any of us hurt each one of us.

We must never forget.

30 More Movies You Might Have Missed: 6-10

Continuing yesterday's list. In no particular order, just as they occurred to me.

6. What's Eating Gilbert Grape

The movie that convinced me Leonardo DiCaprio could act.

Johnny Depp is a teenage boy who loves his 400 pound mother, his mentally retarded brother (DiCaprio), and his restless sister but the weight of their combined needs results in crushing responsibility. Stuck in the backwater of tiny Endora, he sees no way out of his situation. The answer to his problems is not what one would anticipate and is as understated as Depp's performance in many ways. Along the way, we are shown each person in greater depth and as we do the quirkiness becomes less important than the different aspects of humanity. Life affirming and it will stick with you.

7. A New Leaf

One of Tom's favorite movies and one that I am glad he insisted I watch. Matthau is a wealthy playboy and confirmed bachelor who has run through all his money. To keep afloat, he decides to marry a wealthy woman and murder her later. Elaine May, who also wrote and directed, plays Matthau's clumsy and adoring bride. He discovers she is being cheated blind by her household staff and, while setting things straight, begins to find a different facet of himself. Not that he gives up on the murder scheme though. Hilarious and perhaps Matthau's best performance.

8. Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang

A film that mocks film noir cliches while at the same time being a very satisfying mystery/action/buddy noir-ish film in its own right. Robert Downey Jr. is a small-time thief who stumbles into an acting audition when on the lam from the cops. He aces the audition and is sent to Hollywood where he soon finds himself neck-deep in a murder mystery involving his childhood sweetheart. While shadowing detective Val Kilmer to learn more about his acting role, Downey Jr. becomes heavily involved in a second mystery as well. Great fun, with fast-talking dialogue that will keep you on your toes. A nice companion piece to Brick; though completely different in feel, both movies mimic noir style while still standing on their own two legs.

9. King Kong (1933)

Reject all imitations. The original King Kong is one of my all-time favorite movies and a true classic in its own right. It is a simple story: intrepid filmmaker, Carl Denham, leads an expedition to Skull Island where they discover a 50-foot gorilla who becomes enamored of Ann Darrow (Fay Wray). He is captured and brought back to New York City as the "8th wonder of the world" where he inevitably runs wild with Ann clutched in one hand and meets his death atop the Empire State Building. The skill of the movie makers is such that it is still thoroughly enjoyable some 70 years later. Fay Wray has a scream that could stop a freight train; you could hear it over practically anything that the movie threw at it. The animation was star quality at the time and you soon discover that it is not the animation but the story that carries a movie. (My review is here.)

10. Double Indemnity

A famous film that I, nevertheless, have to beat people over the head to watch. The screenplay is by director Billy Wilder and Raymond Chandler and the dialogue crackles with iconic film noir style.

Fred MacMurray is the insurance salesman who comes up with the perfect murder scheme to rid femme fatale Barbara Stanwyck of her husband's annoying presence. Edward G. Robinson is MacMurray's boss, a wily insurance investigator who feels that things don't quite add up. Told in flash-back, the film still maintains dramatic tension the entire time. Ironically, all three stars did not want to do the film. MacMurray and Stanwyck because they were cast against type as evil. Robinson because he was not the main star ... yet he carries the film at the end as his line sums up the movie perfectly.

Coming Friday (hopefully):

Next: 11-15

The Onion Files

Listening to The Onion Files from Podiobooks certainly is timely. Set in the months right after the terrorists' attacks on the Twin Towers in Sept. 11, 2001, it follows a retired U.S. intelligence agent, Jim Buchan, and his computer whiz-kid son, Mike, as they combine skills and uncover another terrorist plot that is about to be put in motion. The story is told in a very straight-forward fashion and is read without embellishment by the author, Major General Val Pattee. The Onion Files refer to a layered computer program designed to wreak havoc across the United States. It is similar to one that Jim had foiled many years ago and he suspects the same terrorist is generating it. The story also takes us into the heart of Al-Qaeda and their recruiting tactics within the United States so that we see both sides of the story unfolding.

As I mentioned, this story is told in a very straight forward fashion, yet there was something about it that I just could not stop listening to. I ran through it in about five days, addicted as chapter after chapter revealed a new layer of the onion. Unexpectedly, about halfway through the book, the plot suddenly began revealing Pattee's own onion layers as unsuspected directions were taken, throwing the reader off guard.

As the father-son team travels the world to meet with other intelligence workers, Pattee reveals not only his depth of experience (just read his bio ... very impressive indeed) but his love and appreciation for many of the places he has visited such as Turkey and Russia. As well, I found a sheer depth of patriotism and love for basic American citizens that threw me off guard in feeling my own patriotic response and remembrance of the terror of Sept. 11 well up inside. That was when I realized that I was experiencing this story in the same week when Sept. 11 would be remembered once again. It is a fitting tribute to the intelligence workers, military, and everyone who has put their life on the line in helping to keep us safe.

As well as a thumping good read (or listen).

Worth a Thousand Words

Hope and Beauty

Taken by the folks who know all about both, at Full House, Full Hands, Full Hearts. This looks best big so click on it or click through the link above for a larger view.