Worth a Thousand Words: Flamingo Eye

Flamingo Eye
taken by Wayne Grazio
Creative Commons License

Worth a Thousand Words: Three White Mice and a Feather

Ohara Koson, Three White Mice and a Feather, early 20th century
Via Arts and Everyday Living

Chu-Bu and Sheemish / The Oval Portrait

Lord Dunsany and Edgar Allen Poe, together at Forgotten Classics podcast.

Final Lord of the Rings Discussion at SFFaudo

As we wend out weary way home to the Shire, the SFFaudio fellowship of Jesse, Seth, Maissa and Julie ponder the end of the masterpiece The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien.

For the People of Paris: O Liberty, can man resign thee once having felt thy generous flame?

Lately Tom has been playing Edith Piaf songs from archive.org. It is also where he put together a terrific playlist of Xavier Cugat tunes for us.

It came in handy last night as we watched with horror the terrible news of the attacks on the free people of Paris.

Last night we played Piaf's rousing rendition of La Marseillaise while we raised a glass of brotherhood. As Tom says, this is the version to be blasted into the streets before you march.


Edith Piaf - La Marseillaise from behlulcandanga on Vimeo.

You can read the lyrics in English here. (That's where the headline came from.)

Right now, other than fellow feeling, we can offer nothing more powerful than prayer. And I do pray for the victims and the French people and those brave souls who wage the fight against terror.

The Champs-Elysées, from Concorde to Grande Arche of La Défense

From The Anchoress comes a beautiful prayer of succor for the people of Paris. Here is part of it...

Notre Dame de Paris, pray for the people of your city! Our Lady of Grace, you who showed yourself to Saint Catherine Laboure and brought miracles, who smiled upon Saint Therese of Lisieux and created a missionary, in your holy Motherhood, please intercede for your fearful and endangered people; bring your consolations to the people of Paris and all of France. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, hear us.

Saint Therese of Lisieux, Patron of France, pray for them
Saint Joan of Arc, Patron of France, pray for them.
Saint Martin of Tours, Patron of France, pray for them
Saint Remigius, Patron of France (pray for them)
Saint John Vianney …
Saint Jeanne Jugan …
Saint St Genevieve…
Saint Denis…
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux …
Saint Germain Cousin …
Saint Peter Julian Eymard …
Saint Louis …
Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque …
Saint Peter Fourier …
Saint Madeleine Sophie Barat …
Saints Louis and Zelie Martin …
Saint Jane Frances de Chantal …
Saint Catherine Laboure …
Saint Rose Philippine Duchesne …
Saint John Eudes …
Saint Vincent de Paul …
Saint Hilary of Poitiers …
Saint Isaac Jogues …
Saint Jane de Chantal …
Saint Jean-Baptiste de La Salle …
Saint Benedict Joseph Labre …

Coptic Martyrs, victims of ISIS, pray for them

All you holy men and women, pray for France, and pray for us.

St. Michael the Archangel,
defend us in battle.
Be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the Devil.
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray,
and do thou,
O Prince of the heavenly hosts,
by the power of God,
thrust into hell Satan,
and all the evil spirits,
who prowl about the world
seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.

Well Said: I was not yet in love, yet I loved to love

All men were by nature foolish who were in ignorance of God,
and who from the good things seen did not succeed in knowing him who is,
and from studying the works did not discern the artisan;
But either fire, or wind, or the swift air,
or the circuit of the stars, or the mighty water,
or the luminaries of heaven, the governors of the world, they considered gods.
Now if out of joy in their beauty they thought them gods,
let them know how far more excellent is the Lord than these;
for the original source of beauty fashioned them.
Or if they were struck by their might and energy,
let them from these things realize how much more powerful is he who made them.
For from the greatness and the beauty of created things
their original author, by analogy, is seen.
But yet, for these the blame is less;
For they indeed have gone astray perhaps,
though they seek God and wish to find him.
For they search busily among his works,
but are distracted by what they see, because the things seen are fair.
But again, not even these are pardonable.
For if they so far succeeded in knowledge
that they could speculate about the world,
how did they not more quickly find its Lord?

Wisdom 13:1-9

I read this in this morning's readings and immediately picked up my study Bible to mark the passage. Too late! I'd already marked it.

It is fittingly paired today with Psalm 19, my favorite.

The heavens declare the glory of God;
the firmament proclaims the works of his hands.

Day unto day pours forth speech;
night unto night whispers knowledge.

*There is no speech, no words;
their voice is not heard;

A report goes forth through all the earth,
their messages, to the ends of the world.

All these voices echo and reinforce each other. We are being called, sought, spoken to in every way possible. It is because of our own distractions, preoccupations, noise that we don't hear.

So it seemed predestined when I saw that today's GoodRead's quote was a fitting summary of how we get it wrong, from another favorite of mine, St. Augustine.

I was not yet in love, yet I loved to love...I sought what I might love, in love with loving.

Augustine of Hippo

Prayer Request

Tom's aunt asks our prayers for her son, Tom's cousin:

He has been in the hospital for 8 days. He is not expected to recover. Ask God for a miracle.

This news comes as a shock to us. Please pray.

What We've Been Watching: Justified and Phil Rosenthal

I'll Have What Phil's Having

Phil Rosenthal, creator of Everyone Loves Raymond, takes a culinary of 6 cities around the world. This isn't a new idea. The Food Network thrives on it and Anthony Bourdain met mainstream America with such culinary sightseeing.

The difference here is Phil. He is a total nerd, but in the best, most lovable way. His enthusiasm is genuine and you can see why he has so many friends. When he looks at the camera with that intense, delighted gaze you wind up laughing in sympathy. And wanting to try all those restaurants he just visited.

We only saw the last of the 6-episode series, set in L.A., because I already was recording Castle in this show's time slot. (Off topic, Castle has finally hit their "we're done but don't know it yet" season. We'd kind of realized that but were still watching out of inertia.) Anyway, we kept forgetting to watch this show real time.

But what we saw made us eager to watch the rest of the series which is streaming on PBS.

Justified

Deputy U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens is reassigned to Eastern Kentucky after dispensing old style justice too publicly in Miami. The problem is that Raylan winds up in the childhood town he fled, hoping never to return. So in addition to the culture of poor, rural coal-mining towns, you've got some very interesting ghosts in Raylan's life.

We've slowly been sampling recommended shows and finding them lacking (Longmire - too predictable, like a 1970s cop show. Deadwood - so determined to be edgy that edge is all they've got; there's no one to genuinely care about.)

So I came to Justified with a certain amount of cynicism which just increased my delight at the excellent pilot. Smart dialogue, layered stories, multidimensional characters, and prodding the audience to make connections themselves. When I saw it was based on an Elmore Leonard story and that he was Executive Producer I understood why it was so good. That has held up through the first season. Every time we're surprised by the smart/stupid, bad/good characters who seem both cartoonish and realistic, I remind myself, "This is just like watching an Elmore Leonard short story."

It streams free on Amazon Prime.

Worth a Thousand Words: The Red Tree

Avond (Evening): The Red Tree, Piet Mondrian, 1910

Well Said: The Whole World Listened

But when the fairy sang the whole world listened to him. Stephen felt clouds pause in their passing; he felt sleeping hills shift and murmur; he felt cold mists dance. He understood for the first time that the world is not dumb at all, but merely waiting for someone to speak to it in a language it understands. In the fairy’s song the earth recognized the names by which it called itself.

Susanna Clarke, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

This is so beautifully written and says so much to readers about the nature of fairy magic (as opposed to English magic). But mostly I love it for how it took hold of my imagination.

Worth a Thousand Words: Captain, Hussar Armor

Captain, Andrzej Wiktor –
The characteristic half plate armour of the hussars
is shown on a regimental officer here.
He wears a delia coat and carries a horsemen’s hammer as a mark of office.

This is via Dappled Things, which you should definitely check out. Art, poetry, interesting articles — all Catholic.

Well Said: What Works in Marriages

We can tell what doesn't work in marriages. So often today people ask, "Who will make me happy?" But what we should ask is, "Who will I love so much that I will sacrifice myself to make them happy?"

Father Roch Kereszty

Paraphrased from the incredible homily that Father Roch gave at Hannah and Mark's wedding. It was too good to keep private. This is the sort of revolutionary truth that is easy to forget.

Worth a Thousand Words: Love's Messenger

Love's Messenger, 1885, Marie Spartali Stillman

Via Lines and Colors where you will find a lot of information about the artist, more images, and lots of links to explore.

What I've Been Reading: Nonfiction!

I do read nonfiction, of course, but it tends to be very categorized: religion and cookbooks.

I just finished two books in a different category, however.

Browsings: A Year of Reading, Collecting, and Living with Books by Michael Dirda

I have long enjoyed Michael Dirda's book reviews in various collections, The Washington Post (online) or even The Wall Street Journal. He's usually got enthusiastic recommendations for everything from Greek classics to the newest bestseller to weird fiction. And a guy who counts Georgette Heyer among classics everyone should read is my kind of guy.

These essays are from a series Michael Dirda wrote for "The American Scholar" website in 2012-2013. Whether propelled by a power outage or memories of bike riding, Dirda always winds up jumping from one book to another in a way that makes me want to go spend a small fortune at a bookstore. As usual I came away with a long list of authors and books to search for.

I also really enjoy the fact that Dirda's all about the books. In the past I have always appreciated the fact that if he had a political preference or sociological judgment I didn't know it. Halfway into this book he did begin including some of his political views but it was in such a way that it didn't come off as judgmental or harsh. That's because he generally was pondering how he can agree so much with someone whose beliefs are so opposite from his own. (Been there, pondered that.) And, yes, it was book and author selections that provided the bridge upon which he pondered. Nicely done.



The Storytelling Animal: How Stories Make Us Human by Jonathan Gottschall

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was such an engaging and informative book ... up to a point. The first few chapters were real eye-openers. I never thought about toddlers' play as a sign of how embedded story is in our basic make up. Or about sports reporting as story telling. Or about the fact that our dreams are stories in themselves. Somewhat incoherent stories much of the time, but stories nonetheless.

However, a lot of the book was an expansion on points made in the beginning. I didn't need it to enhance my understanding of the points already made. Those who enjoy reading through scientific study summaries (engagingly told, to be sure) might enjoy those chapters more than I did. It almost felt as if the topic should have been covered in a long article instead of a book.

Also, the author was unable to be even-handed about topics with which he had a problem, such as religion. "The Moral of the Story" chapter was fascinating (do not skip it) but I could have done without the little swipes at the "three major monotheisms" ... to be fair he's judgmental about a lot of things but usually while presenting justification. For religion, it was delivered as hand slaps.

None of this is to say that the book isn't good or worthwhile. On the contrary, it is both and I definitely recommend it. It's just one I'm not going to buy for my own shelves.

Wish your son or daughter would return to the Church?

Brandon Vogt has a BIG new project called RETURN: How to Draw Your Child Back to the Church. It's full of tips and strategies for parents to solve one of the most pervasive and heartfelt problems today: young people leaving the Church.

Here are the basics.

What is RETURN ?
The Catholic Church is hemorrhaging young people. Half of young Americans (50% exactly) who were raised Catholic no longer identify as Catholic today. Four out of five Catholics who left the Church left before age 23.

Today, millions of parents grieve their fallen-away children and describe their situation as "helpless" and "hopeless." They feel helpless because their children tune them out or ignore them whenever they bring up religious topics, and they feel hopeless because they think it's impossible their children would ever come back. These parents are desperate to do something—they just don’t know what to do.

That's why Catholic evangelist Brandon Vogt spent several months researching the problem, talking with experts and those who have left and returned, all to determine what really works to draw young people back. The result is a collection of resources which pull together the best tips, tools, and strategies.

Brandon's got a free video series running from 11/3 - 11/12. Check it out and sign up.

Blogging Around: The "Treats" Edition

Catholic Book of the Month Club

Sophia's Book-of-the-Month Club is our way of sharing with you the fundamental elements of the Catholic Faith at the lowest possible price - $15 per month. Every month we will send you one of our new releases, and we will even cover the costs of shipping for US mailing addresses.

Every month we will send you one of our new releases - each guaranteed to enkindle in you a love of the Church and a desire to grow in holiness and in love with Our Lord.

I saw this on the back of the latest Sophia Institute catalog and it seemed like such a good idea I wanted to be sure you knew about it.

Guillermo del Toro's Guide to Gothic Romance

To chime with the recent release of his creepy, goth thriller Crimson Peak, Guillermo has curated a syllabus of the Gothic and Gothic romance novels, short stories, and engravings that influenced the making of the film. He sent us these recommendations with the following words: “I hope you enjoy some of these as fall or winter reads by the fireplace.”

This piece from Rookie (via Scott Danielson) is right down my alley. I've had Uncle Silas on my mind since I've never read it and anyone who says Jane Eyre is his favorite novel is completely trustworthy. Plus he loves Dickens. 'Nuff said. Read this!

Good Summary of the Synod on the Family

The Synod of Bishops on the Family concludes and you don’t know what to think? Some media says one thing, other media says another. Or, you didn’t follow it at all and would like to know what took place, but don’t know where to start with the vast and various coverage. Well, a good place to start is going to the official source itself: the “Relatio finalis,” the final document published at the conclusion of three weeks of lively discussion and prayer. But it’s only in Italian?! Don’t let that deter you. Listen up on Catholic Bytes to discover just what the Synod taught, or better yet reaffirmed.

Good stuff. Both the podcast and this particular episode.

Merriam-Webster Word of the Day

Near the end of 2010, the Associated Press announced that its stylebook, used by many newspaper editors and writers, would now allow for the use of drive-thru instead of drive-through. At an editor's conference in 2014, there was an audible gasp in the room when this was mentioned (never mind that it was a few years old): the decline of English in action!

Hardly. The spelling of through has gone through a number of changes since it first appeared in English around 700 AD: acquiring an o, moving the r around a bit, claiming a g, dropping each of these things willy-nilly. In fact, the spelling thru predates through by over 100 years. Why?

I have been really enjoying the daily emails from Merriam-Webster which usually manage to interest me in an unexpected way. Sometimes with bonus links to articles like the one above about How Thru Turned Into Through and Back Again. Sometimes with their main entry for the day like flimflam which I didn't realize was very old and possibly related to Old Norse.

Blogging Around: The "Tricks" Edition

"Tricks" a.k.a. stuff that makes me feel as if someone egged my house.

You can’t pay your rent with “the unique platform and reach our site provides”

HuffPost: We’d like to publish a story you wrote!

Me: Cool! What do you pay?

HP: Oh, we can’t afford to pay, but EXPOSURE!

Me: How about no.

Wil Wheaton hits the nail on the head ... short, succinct, and worth remembering

Everything Old Is New Again: Processed Meats Not Good For You

Some background: the IARC has so far reviewed more than 900 agents for carcinogenicity and only one was found to be not carcinogenic. Other carcinogens or probable carcinogens identified by IARC? Coffee and wine (alcohol).

It’s important to understand exactly what this designation means. It does not mean that consuming red meat will give you cancer. It means that one or more compounds found in a very diverse category of foods (one that includes everything from fast food burgers to grass fed bison) has the potential to cause cancer. It says nothing about how much or what type of red meat increases your risk of cancer, what the magnitude of that risk might be, or the extent to which other foods in your diet offset that risk.

Leave it to the Nutrition Diva to sort through the latest sensational headlines. As for myself, the idea of putting hotdogs on the same level as cigarettes is laughable. When I'm chain eating a pack of hotdogs a day, then I'll worry. If you have to elevate dangers just to get attention, then that's a sign your news is far too well known to bother people with.

Also, this "old news" just in: study links sugar to conditions that lead to diabetes, heart disease in children.

Well, duh.

My Prison Job Wasn't About The Money

Within this close context, my prison work assignment actually made me feel like a human being. Every other woman with whom I worked felt the same way. Jacques D’Elia, a former prisoner in California who fought wildfires in the state for approximately $2 a day, didn’t care about the low pay either. In August he told a reporter from the Marshall Project, the criminal-justice news organization, that it was an honor to prove his worth through his prison job. I felt the same way.

Debate over how we use inmate labor has intensified lately, with people focusing on the fact that 30%-40% of the firefighters battling California’s wildfires are inmates, paid substandard wages. The activist group US Uncut has released a list of seven household brand names, like Whole Foods, Wal-Mart and Victoria’s Secret, that cut costs by selling products made with low-paid prison labor.

I had to read this article carefully because the idea of protesting low pay for prisoners was a completely new one to me. Don't just go by this excerpt, though it does capture the essence of the issue. Once again we see a lack of thorough understanding can lead to disastrous consequences, no matter how good the intentions.

Worth a Thousand Words: The Offering

Saturnino Herrán (1887 - 1918), La ofrenda (The offering)
via Lines and Colors

Worth a Thousand Words: Autumn

Autumn
taken by Remo Savisaar

I was scrolling through Remo's photographs and this one stopped me in my tracks. It is so heartbreakingly beautiful. Do go see it in full size at his blog.

Worth a Thousand Words: Portrait of Marie Breunig

Gustav Klimt, Portrait of Marie Breunig, 1894
via Arts Everyday Living