Odysseus

2012-01-19T19:58:00.000-07:00

Finally following in family footsteps (my father was a pharmacist and my mother was an RN), I took my first quiz in my first nursing prerequisite class today. The countdown begins. Three years to go.

Feast of the Nativity

2011-12-25T11:43:00.001-07:00

The Fix Is In

2011-12-21T21:01:00.000-07:00

Now, with the Iowa caucuses so close, the media shows its hand and goes to assassinate the character of the only man I would even consider voting for: Ron Paul. I said it when Obushma gave all the nation's wealth to the banks. This country is dead. The media is just the establishment's voicebox. I don't usually allow myself to get so worked up, but this attack sickened me. The nancy boys in Washington will win again and keep sucking everything good out of this culture.

First Sunday Of Advent

2011-11-26T21:12:00.000-07:00

Starting over again.

Sing, Angel

2011-10-31T21:09:00.000-07:00

Sing, angel, and tell of how Odysseus, on the eve of his fortieth year, driven and derided by vanity, did repent of pride even as he indulged it and despaired of ever being free.

Revenge

2011-10-30T09:59:00.000-07:00

On American Political Discourse

2011-08-01T16:14:00.000-07:00

When will you all realize that it’s the other side that’s partisan? It’s the other side who are hypocrites. The other side is only posturing to court votes. The other side is pure evil. The other side is acting like Nazis. The other side is un-American. The other side wants to destroy the country. The other side is greedy and selfish. The other side is fanning fear. The other side isn’t a political philosophy, it’s a mental disease. The other side can’t face reality. The other side has always engaged in racial pandering. The other side are nothing more than domestic terrorists. The other side are a bunch of entitled crybabies. The other side cherry-picks facts to suit their agenda. The other side only represents a minority of Americans. The sheeple who vote for the other side don’t realize they’re voting against their own interests.
Well, I’d expect you to say that, being that you’re a loudmouth white-trash teabagging FAUX News-watching Republicunt Austrian School wingnut Koch-head conservatard. It’s all the right’s fault. The 2008 elections were a clear mandate. We’re in this financial mess because the top 2% don’t pay enough taxes. Your personal problem is that you can’t stand to see a black president.

Ahh, but your Alinskyite tactics won’t work on me, you screeching ghetto hoochie-mama socialist pond scum MSNBC-watching Dim-o-Crat Keynesian moonbat Soros-zombie libtard. It’s all the left’s fault. The 2010 elections were a clear mandate. We’re in this financial mess because the bottom half don’t pay any taxes at all. Your personal problem is that you’re too scared to admit a black president can fail.

SHUT the fuck up. ALL of you.

Never in world history have more retarded people called other people retarded in more retarded ways. Never have people called one another unintelligent while misspelling so many words: “Your not smart enough to notice their to stupid.” It’s Beavis on one side, Butt-head on the other. To observe this sort of discourse is to watch conjoined Mongolian idiots hocking loogies in one another’s face. We’ve reached rock-bottom on the dumbing-down.

-from Jim Goad at Taki

From Cities of The Plain, by Cormac McCarthy

2011-07-23T11:13:00.000-07:00

Your kind cannot bear that the world be ordinary. That it contain nothing save what stands before one. But the Mexican world is a world of adornment only and underneath it is very plain indeed. While your world...totters upon an unspoken labyrinth of questions. And we will devour you, my friend. You and all your pale empire.

The Heart of the Matter, by Graham Greene

2011-07-20T05:59:00.001-07:00

He took her wrists and held them furiously. He said, "You can't get out of it that way. I believe, I tell you. I believe that I'm damned for all eternity - unless a miracle happens. I'm a policeman. I know what I'm saying. What I've done is far worse than murder - that's an act, a blow, stab, a shot: It's over and done, but I'm carrying my corruption around with me. It's the coating of my stomach."
-Scobie, explaining his damnation to Helen

Can't Get This Song Out Of My Head

2011-07-16T06:25:00.000-07:00

By this propitiatory act, may the demons be placated and remove this song from my mental playlist. We ask this in the name of Fleetwood Mac.

Why I Quit Teaching - Part II - The Kids

2011-06-12T20:27:00.000-07:00

I spent fourteen years teaching, mostly in upper elementary and middle schools. I endured the last year as a high school English teacher. That year definitely confirmed some notions that I had about the educational system.
Given the title of this post, you might think I am going to rant about how awful kids are today. Well, they are awful but I won't rant about the fact. I think they have probably been awful ever since adolescence was invented a hundred years ago so there is little new there for me to say in that direction.

My favorite students were, for the most part, those that did poorly in my class. This bothered me a great deal. It wasn't that they were unintelligent. In fact, these favorite students of mine were generally very bright. They just didn't buy into the bullshit set-up that higher education is or has become. Mostly boys, these students were simply putting up with school until they could join the military or get a vocational job. However, when I spoke with them, I could see and hear their innate intelligence and, in many cases, a sort of wisdom others might call street smarts.

My best students, the ones that kept their grades up and carefully reviewed all grade reports to make sure that they were accurate, were awful people. Sure, they possessed a certain body of knowledge and were able to complete assignments on time and more than adequately. But they were also uninspiring, boring and small-minded. Equally disenchanted with the educational system as my worst students, they had long ago surrendered to despair and dryly tapped out their lifeless writing assignments and other paperwork so that they could qualify for whatever scholarship or school they sought.

Of course, the student body did not exist in this perfect dichotomy. There were good students that were also pleasant people and plenty of scumbags that did poorly in my classes. But the trend noted above was significant and disturbed me all year.

Now, it would be easy to blame me for this issue and say that I should have struggled to inspire those favorite students of mine so that they would perform. And I admit I am not a perfect teacher and that maybe someone else could have turned things around. I certainly tried to do so. But in my opinion, after so many years in the classroom, the problem is with the system.

Why I Quit Teaching –Part I

2011-06-05T12:37:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I resigned my teaching position at the local public high school.

Whenever someone asks me why I did something, I usually tell them that it is an irrelevant question. (Yes, as you may have guessed, conversations with me are not any fun. Oh, they’re fun for me, of course.) When I worked as a volunteer in refugee shelters in El Paso and Ciudad Juarez, people often asked me that question and that was when I came up with my snarky answer. But, while mildly off-putting, it’s the real answer for a few reasons.

First, the question is irrelevant because I never do anything for just one reason. In fact, I have multiple motives for just about anything serious that I do in life. I suspect other people are the same way but some of them are happy condensing all of their reasons into one glib remark. I’m not. Usually, there are so many reasons behind my actions that it would take a ridiculously long time to answer a question that probably was not asked in earnest anyway (my misanthropic tendency shows a bit, doesn’t it?). Sometimes, I am afraid to admit, I cannot even find the words to state my motives; so what is the point of answering?

Second, the reason I continue to do something is often completely distinct from the reason I began to do it. This was certainly the case in Juarez, when I worked in a Mexican homeless shelter called Casa Peregrino. I am pretty sure that I came there, fresh out of college, in order to save the world. I stuck around for a year and a half for a succession of reasons that eventually withered up and died before I quit and moved on. Sometimes, when asked the dreaded question, I would reply, “Ask me why I stay. I’m not the same person who arrived here last year, so there’s no point in telling you why he came.”

Third, I don’t like answering a question like that because, if it is asked in earnest, then the person will usually try to spar with me over a decision I have already made, and I don’t discuss things that I have already decided. For instance, if I told an inquirer that I left teaching because I didn’t feel that the public education system was properly serving children, then I might suddenly find myself in an argument about how I could change the system from the inside. (Picture me gagging in jest as I gesture toward my open mouth with my index finger.)

But I am going to try to work out why I have quit teaching twice in the last four years and, on this most recent occasion, in the middle of an economic recession.

New Blog

2011-06-05T11:50:00.001-07:00

As a starter location for an education website, I have created a blog about world history. Here's a link. It's also on the sidebar. Presently I have only completed a few posts about ancient history.

Malick is God

2011-05-16T17:56:00.000-07:00

The Lord is Risen!

2011-04-23T19:09:00.001-07:00

Fifteen Years - The exile continues

2011-03-06T16:11:00.000-07:00

That's me at graduation from the University of Arizona, Summer 1995. I'm on the right, still drunk from the night before.

February 2011, tending my youngest, who was in the throes of one of those scary fevers they get every once in a while, when you think their temperature might spike and you'll lose them.

Lent

2011-03-05T11:31:00.001-07:00

Last weekend before Lent.

Time to get drunk.

Come My Little Son

2011-02-14T18:42:00.002-07:00

Come my little son and I
Will tell you what we'll do.
Undress yourself and get into bed
And a tale I'll tell to you.

It's all about your daddy, he's
A man you seldom see,
for he's had to roam far away from home,
Away from you and me.

CHO: But remember lad, he's still your dad
Though he's working far away;
Working day and night upon the site
Of England's motor way.

To buy your shoes, your daddy built
A length of railway track.
He built a hydro dam to buy
The clothesupon your back.
The motor highway buys the food,
But the wages soon are spent,
And though we have to live apart
It helps to pay the rent.

CHO: But remember lad, he's still your dad,
And he's working far away,
In the cold and heat, eighty hours a week,
On England's motor way.

Sure we need your daddy here
And sure it would be fine
To have him working nearer home
And to see him all the time.
But beggars can't be choosers
And we have to pay our load
For we need the money your daddy earns
Working on the road.

CHO: But remember lad, he's still your dad
And he'll soon be here to stay
For a week or two with me and you
When he's built the motor way.

The Feast of the Nativity

2010-12-24T12:49:00.001-07:00

Why You Should Homeschool Your Child

2010-12-22T11:33:00.003-07:00

Any parent who presently homeschools could probably write books just listing reasons for removing their children from the public school system. This essay will attempt to elucidate just a few of those reasons.

It seems that only a little time needs to pass between controversies regarding curricular content in public school districts across the country. Whether the topics are evolution vs. creation or sex education vs. abstinence, school boards are constantly embroiled in heated confrontations about one issue or another. Homeschool parents can thank God not only for the certainty of teaching their child the right side of any such discussion, but also because they can completely avoid the exhausting emotional battles that their coreligionists, still trapped inside the government school system, must undertake in vain attempts to save their children from the dominant paradigm in our prevailing system of education.

Adjunct to preoccupation about curricular content in the classroom is concern about the quality of that content. Once upon a time, children in school read the classics. If a more modern work was to be read, then it would be chosen from a corpus of work that had survived some modicum of competition and criticism through the years, from authors such as Charles Dickens, Rudyard Kipling, T.S. Eliot or Ernest Hemingway. Now textbooks are crammed with stories and poems that agree with whatever politically-correct gospel is presently espoused in universities and teacher certification programs. Homeschool parents, armed only with a library card, can rest assured that their child will only learn from the greats.

Homeschool parents not only save their children from undesirable content but also from undesirable peers. It’s not news to anyone that there are a number of real, physical dangers present every day in our public school system. School bullies and deranged shooters top the list of potential threats. Furthermore, many schools, both urban and rural, are rife with drug problems and addicted teens. Sexual promiscuity among our youth is also problematic and exacerbated by the public school environment, which facilitates “hook-ups”. A significant fraction of teenage girls becomes pregnant before graduating high school and many of them have also contracted sexually transmitted diseases. Homeschool parents can breathe a sigh of relief each day as they consider how many bullets, both figurative and literal, that their children have dodged by staying at home to learn.

Homeschooling also saves children from losing that most precious non-renewable resource: time. Any public school teacher or student can attest to the great amounts of time lost and wasted during the average school day. Some of this wastage is inevitable due to the format. No one would deny the necessity, given the environment, of taking roll at the beginning of each class and making sure everyone is where they are supposed to be. Certainly, announcements are important to keep the student body informed (though a brief listen to morning announcements at your local school would also surely demonstrate that some of these constitute more wasted time.) Other losses of time are less easily defended: pep rallies or the lackluster, guaranteed-not-to-offend-anyone holiday celebrations. Necessary or not, the end result is that great swaths of your child’s academic day is used for non-academic reasons. Homeschooling not only uses your child’s time more effectively, but it gives time back to the parents and lets them choose how to utilize it. Everything done in seven hours of public school can be done in four hours at home. After lunch, parents can decide on more academics, more family time, or that opportunity longed-for but seldom seen in public schooling: real-life application of skills learned in school.

This essay is not an exhaustive list of the reasons for homeschooling but hopefully underlines some of the more dramatic justifications considered by parents when making the momentous decision as to how their children should be schooled. Certainly, the above demonstrates that the decision is more than just an accommodation for certain books or environments, but truly a determination of a child’s safety, both academic and personal.

Advent - Here We Go Again

2010-11-27T16:20:00.001-07:00

Pelear por el...es todo un honor!

2010-07-28T08:10:00.003-07:00

My Older Brothers Used to Dress Like These Guys

2010-07-13T16:18:00.000-07:00

The Pendulum: or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Novus Ordo

2010-07-04T03:07:00.000-07:00

Okay, it's been one of those nights. I couldn't sleep so I spent a certain amount of time lying in the dark, wallowing in regret and shame (hey, I'm Catholic). Then I punished myself with work (curriculum for the fall. I'm a teacher). Then I started drinking. Finally, two dead soldiers later, I figured: it's time to write the next post.

Anyway (no, keep reading, it gets better), I'm updating some sorry story I wrote years ago about my "reversion", when that was a big thing on the blogosphere. So, I've been in this back-and-forth with "tradition" and the present General Quarters situation of the Church. Off and on, I would steel myself to "only attend the ancient liturgy" in some far off hole twenty miles from my home and ignore my parish, a small, run-down sort of place with banal liturgy at best and the occasional heretic priest just barely escaping the lightning bolts that God must regularly send his direction. And all the ladies in flip-flops serving hors d'oeuvres and wine while the Priest does his Corpus Christi thing. Then, I would feel shame (nothing new there) and go back to my parish until somethingt terrible happened (priests stossing the vessels around, discussing WO - and I ain't talking about Wyoming) and so I would throw a hissy fit and run back to big Latin Mama.

Three dead soldiers. Man, I'm a lightweight. Where did my feet go?

So, now, I am back at my NO parish. And I am keeping the NO Liturgy of the Hours. That's the Divine Office for you Latin massers. Officium Divinum). And I am going to try and stay now. Even when the retired priest comes and talks about Rama and Siva and Kali (I kid. He never mentioned Kali).

You see, (Here comes the shitty, stupid part where I try to make you feel bad about my childhood), (like the extra comma?), I grew up pseudo-half-Catholic and rediscovered the Church in college. It was a pretty liberal Dominican Newman Center set-up but I thought it was all "ancienty" because I grew up on McDonald's and Voltron. So I was pretty fascinated. Later, I learend about Tradition and oooooooooooh how I regret it, not because it's bad but what a rift in my soul. If only I had never known. I was so happy thinking that my bland, saccharine prayers and devotions were so ....old.

So, now I am tyrying the novus ordure thing again. And you know what? I just want to be with a bunch of people from my area, a bunch of catholics, good and bad, and try to get on, in my desperation. And simultaneously, I derive comfort from those sorry, simple books that came out of the seventies. Don't get me wrong. IF it was an election, I would vote LEFebrve everytime. But I grew up with the red vinyl NAB and the ....other stuff. So, now, eveen if I seem to display some sort of "traditio" veneer, remember I sing Haugen songs on Sunday (or Saturday evenings, cbecaus eit's conveneient).

Yup

2010-06-16T22:53:00.001-07:00

A New Political Party

2010-06-07T17:27:00.000-07:00

Announcing a new political party for the 2010 mid-term elections:

The GOMDLP (Get Off My Damn Land Party) will try to seat Robert Paxton in Congressional District 1 in the Great State of Arizona.

No Campaign Promises.

No Party Platform.

Just get off my damn land.

Now That's What I Call Anti-Clericalism!

2010-05-27T12:31:00.001-07:00

(in regards to events in Frankish Syria, c. 1150)

-The Patriarch Aimery of Limoges (Latin Patriarch of Antioch) ...was extremely proud and dictatorial...he did not conceal his contempt for the new Prince (of Antioch, Reynald of Chatillon). When Reynald heard the things the Patriarch had to say about him...he had Aimery seized by his soldiers, and not content with flinging him into prison, had him flogged until he bled and then exposed on a tower in full sunlight, smeared with honey to attract wasps and flies.-

from Les Croisades, by Zoe Oldenbourg

Apparently, the King of Jerusalem, Baldwin III, secured Aimery's release, but the patriarch decided not to stay in Antioch. :-)

Too much in the sun

2010-04-18T13:05:00.000-07:00

My oldest son and I cleaned up the yard first, cutting weeds and dismantling an old fence we didn't need anymore. Then we brought the two younger boys out to play on the grass. I sat in the shade to watch them and drank water from a chipped glass, no lord or king on Earth more powerful than I.

Great Rock

2010-04-09T20:46:00.002-07:00

Feast of the Resurrection

2010-04-04T10:18:00.002-07:00

Holy Saturday

2010-04-03T11:55:00.000-07:00

Holy Saturday seems a bit awkward. We are not required to keep the fast and abstinence of Good Friday, but it also seems absurd to start celebrating. Yet, with the beautiful weather today in Northern Arizona, it is hard to focus on the absence of Christ. He seemed so wonderfully present as I played with my sons behnd the house today - He was in the sun, the flowers, the intermittent creakings of the swingset and the wind that blew at opportune moments, refreshing any too-still moment with the sudden chaos of swirling dust and dancing grass.

Reflection on the Liturgy of the Lord's Passion

2010-04-03T11:49:00.000-07:00

Last night I went to the Good Friday liturgy for the first time since college. Since I don't remember my college days all that well, it was all new to me. Now, I frequently go the Easter Vigil mass and will again tonight. One thing that I have always liked about that mass is watching the change in the altar and the return of the Eucharist.

Last night however, a few minutes into the service, I was disturbed by the emptiness of the tabernacle. Of course, I am always disturbed by this at the Easter Vigil mass; but I am consoled by the knowledge that, by the end of mass, the Eucharist will be returned. It was altogether more disturbing last night, realizing that I was going to leave in an hour, and the tabernacle would remain empty. I had to walk out of the church and leave an empty tabernacle behind.

I didn't like the feeling. I'm sure I was meant to feel that way.

Good Friday

2010-04-02T08:58:00.000-07:00

Iesus

Nazarenus

Rex

Iudaeorum

Holy Thursday

2010-04-01T20:29:00.001-07:00

Palm Sunday

2010-03-27T20:44:00.002-07:00

from Lauds

2010-03-20T20:02:00.000-07:00

Wash yourselves, be clean, take away the evil of your devices from my eyes: cease to do perversely,

Learn to do well: seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge for the fatherless, defend the widow.

And then come, and accuse me, saith the Lord: if your sins be as scarlet, they shall be made as white as snow: and if they be red as crimson, they shall be white as wool.

O lost, and by the wind grieved, ghost, come back again!

2010-01-21T21:03:00.000-07:00

-from the 1962 Roman Catholic Daily Missal

2010-01-12T19:04:00.000-07:00

From all time, the Canon has been recited silently. The congregation present can contribute nothing to the sacrificial act itself; the people are present before a mystery which it is for the consecrated priest alone to accomplish. The Priest has entered alone into the Holy of Holies to pray and offer sacrifice for the whole Church.

Feast of the Circumcision

2010-01-01T09:36:00.000-07:00

Merry Christmas

2009-12-24T17:55:00.001-07:00

First Sunday of Advent

2009-11-28T17:12:00.000-07:00

I love starting over.

No Cancer

2009-11-15T18:17:00.000-07:00

The Good News: I don't have cancer.

The Bad News: I had to have a colonoscopy to find out.

Great Quote

2009-10-25T21:32:00.000-07:00

"The state is a Protestant substitute church."

Found at A Conservative Blog for Peace, but I'm not sure if Serge actually making the remark or quoting someone else.

September 14: Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross

2009-09-13T12:49:00.001-07:00

My Youtube Page

2009-07-11T20:52:00.000-07:00

I have begun posting my fiction as montages/slideshows on Youtube.

You can check it out here.

The Old-Fashioned Way, or What Has Happened to Us?

2009-07-02T12:42:00.000-07:00

Eye-opening...

2009-06-21T21:38:00.000-07:00

Nothing so pretty...

2009-06-12T12:05:00.000-07:00

Nothing so pretty as vanished fear.

-Nothing By Chance, Richard Bach

I Got Another Job

2009-06-08T20:17:00.000-07:00

We praise thee, O God
we acknowledge thee to be the Lord
All the earth doth worship thee
the Father everlasting.
To thee all the angels cry aloud
the heavens and all the powers therein.
To thee cherubim and seraphim continually do cry
Holy, Holy, Holy,
Lord God of Sabaoth;
heaven and earth are full of the majesty of thy glory.
The glorious company of apostles praise thee.
The goodly fellowship of the prophets praise thee.
The noble army of martyrs praise thee.
The Holy Church throughout all the world doth acknowledge thee;
the father of an infinite majesty;
thine honourable true and only Son;
also the Holy Ghost the comforter.
Thou art the King of Glory, O Christ.
Thou art the everlasting Son of the Father.
When thou tookest upon thee to deliver man, thou didst not abhor the Virgin's womb.
When thou hadst overcome the sharpness of death, thou didst open the kingdom of heaven to all believers.
Thou sittest at the hand of God in glory of the Father.
We believe that Thou shalt come to be our Judge.
We therefore pray thee, help thy servants, whom thou hast redeemed with thy precious blood.
Make them to be numbered with thy saints in glory everlasting
O Lord save thy people
and bless thine heritage.
Govern them and lift them up for ever.
Day by day we magnify thee;
and worship thy name, ever world without end.
Vouchsafe, O Lord to keep us this day without sin.
O Lord, have mercy upon us, have mercy upon us.
O Lord, let thy mercy lighten upon us, as our trust is in thee.
O Lord in thee have I trusted let me not be confounded.

My reading schedule for the next couple months...

2009-05-31T20:25:00.000-07:00

Week One (May 31-June 6)

Psalm 103, Genesis 1, Psalm 148
Psalm 32, Genesis 2, Psalm 8
Psalm 1, Genesis 3, Psalm 50
Psalm 15, Genesis 4, Psalm 49
Psalm 68, Genesis 5-9, Psalm 17

Week Two (June 7-June 13)

Psalm 7, Genesis 10-11, Psalm 54
Psalm 66, Genesis 12, Psalm 14
Psalm 143, Genesis 13-14, Psalm 9
Psalm 22, Genesis 15, Psalm 126
Psalm 4, Genesis 16-17, Psalm116

Week Three (June 14-June 20)

Psalm 10, Genesis 18-19, Psalm 110
Psalm 24, Genesis 20-21, Psalm 137
Psalm 70, Genesis 22-23, Psalm 21
Psalm 5, Genesis 24, Psalm 137
Psalm 144, Genesis 25-26, Psalm 111

Week Four (June 21-June 27)

Psalm 70, Genesis 27-28, Psalm 129
Psalm 138, Genesis 29-30, Psalm 30
Psalm 16, Genesis 31-33, Psalm 64
Psalm 143, Genesis 34, Psalm149
Psalm 93, Genesis 35-36, Psalm 124

Week Five (June 28-July 4)

Psalm1, Genesis 37, Psalm 21
Psalm 76, Genesis 38, Psalm 142
Psalm 11, Genesis 39, Psalm 122
Psalm 6, Genesis 40-41, Psalm 63
Psalm 127, Genesis 42-45, Psalm 132
Psalm 32, Genesis 46-50, Psalm 150

Week Six (July 5-July 11)

Psalm 1, Numbers 1-2, Psalm10
Psalm 15, Numbers 3-4, Psalm 32
Psalm 33, Numbers 5-6, Psalm 31
Psalm 43, Numbers 7-8, Psalm 46
Psalm 64, Numbers 9, Psalm 92

Week Seven (July 12-July 18)

Psalm 99, Numbers 10-11, Psalm 105
Psalm 108, Numbers 12, Psalm 119
Psalm 120, Numbers 13-14, Psalm 59
Psalm 146, Numbers 15-16, Psalm 63
Psalm 45, Numbers 17-18, Psalm 111
Psalm 18, Numbers 19-20, Psalm 36

Week Eight (July 19-July 25)

Psalm 143, Numbers 21, Psalm 135
Psalm 3, Numbers 22-24, Psalm 9
Psalm 79, Numbers 25-26, Psalm 34
Psalm 65, Numbers 27-30, Psalm 19
Psalm 22, Numbers 31, Psalm 17
Psalm 91, Numbers 32-36, Psalm 118

*Psalms are given in traditional numberings as found in the Douay-Rheims translation..

Scripture Plan for Year Three

2009-05-31T20:19:00.000-07:00

General Plan

I. Pre-Advent (From Pentecost to the Saturday before Advent - approximately 180 days): Historical and Wisdom books from the Old Testament.

II. Advent (First Sunday of Advent until December 23rd - approximately 25 days): Prophecies from the Old Testament

III. Christmas (December 24th until the Tuesday before Lent - between 45 and 70 days): One gospel

IV. Lent (Ash Wednesday until Holy Saturday - 44 days): A spiritual text, papal encyclicals, or books that were not completed during Pre-Advent or Advent.

V. Easter (Easter Sunday until Pentecost - 50 days): Books of the New Testament.

Year Three 2009/10
(Pre-Advent)
1. Genesis
2. Numbers
3. Ruth
4. Tobias
5. Judith
6. Esther
7. Job

(Advent)
8. Ezechiel
9. Daniel

(Christmas)
10. St. Luke

(Lent)
11.

(Easter)
12. Colossians
13. 1 Thessalonians
14. 2 Thessalonians
15. 1 Timothy
16. 2 Timothy
17. Titus
18. Philemon
19. Hebrews

Now I have this stuck in my head...

2009-05-31T20:16:00.000-07:00

Newly Discovered Epistle of St. Paul to Phil?

2009-05-26T11:59:00.000-07:00

Paul, a slave of Christ the Lord and a soldier of His Gospel, to Phil, stalwart supporter and himself a gift of God in our mutual work inspired by the Holy Spirit. The peace of Christ be ever with you, until the last trumpet sounds and we join in the air in adoration of God the Father Almighty forever.

I give thanks and rejoice in the Lord that I am once again able to send you an e-mail, though I am burdened by these earthly chains in a false imprisonment. False, as I was long ago freed by the power of the Lord, the source of all life.

It has come to my attention that Onesimus, my constant companion in several journeys, my strength as we carried light into darkness, my vigor in setting captives free, to whom I owe much in this work of the Lord, is himself indebted to you and your company, due to the heavy use of his credit card.

I assure you, his expenses were necessary to our mission. Without these expenditures our work would have suffered greatly and we would not have been able to carry out the Lord’s command and bring the gospel to all nations. You will note how many of the purchases are for plane tickets and meals in restaurants near airports.

I ask of you, though some might conclude that I am certainly capable of commanding you, to consider a more affordable rate of interest. Perhaps you might even investigate aiding him through balance transfers or debt-consolidation, since he has a number of other credit cards and none of their CEO’s follows the Way. This assistance would be greatly appreciated, and I would be happy to overlook your recent non-donation to the collection for the poor in Jerusalem.

I know that you will do all this and more. Please send a similar card for me with a higher limit. Epaphras, Mark, Jimmy and Luke, all fellow prisoners of the Lord, say hi. May the grace of Christ be with you always.

Maybe, if I post it, it will go away.

2009-05-09T19:24:00.000-07:00

I can't get this song out of my head. The drums at 2:35-2:45 are just awesome. There's a video of someone playing the drums for this song below.

...And Laid Off Again!

2009-04-15T17:29:00.000-07:00

I immediately got an interview with a Catholic school in Phoenix, though. Pray for me.

Exultet

2009-04-11T22:50:00.000-07:00

Exultet iam angelica turba caelorum:
exultent divina mysteria:
et pro tanti Regis victoria tuba insonet salutaris.

Gaudeat et tellus tantis irradiata fulgoribus:
et, aeterni Regis splendore illustrata,
totius orbis se sentiat amisisse caliginem.

Laetetur et mater Ecclesia,
tanti luminis adornata fulgoribus:
et magnis populorum vocibus haec aula resultet.

Quapropter astantes vos, fratres carissimi,
ad tam miram huius sancti luminis claritatem,
una mecum, quaeso,
Dei omnipotentis misericordiam invocate.
Ut, qui me non meis meritis
intra Levitarum numerum dignatus est aggregare,
luminis sui claritatem infundens,
cerei huius laudem implere perficiat.

Vers. Dominus vobiscum.
Resp. Et cum spiritu tuo.
Vers. Sursum corda.
Resp. Habemus ad Dominum.
Vers. Gratias agamus Domino Deo nostro.
Resp. Dignum et iustum est.

Vere dignum et iustum est,
invisibilem Deum Patrem omnipotentem
Filiumque eius unigenitum,
Dominum nostrum Iesum Christum,
toto cordis ac mentis affectu et vocis ministerio personare.

Qui pro nobis aeterno Patri Adae debitum solvit,
et veteris piaculi cautionem pio cruore detersit.

Haec sunt enim festa paschalia,
in quibus verus ille Agnus occiditur,
cuius sanguine postes fidelium consecrantur.

Haec nox est,
in qua primum patres nostros, filios Israel
eductos de Aegypto,
Mare Rubrum sicco vestigio transire fecisti.

Haec igitur nox est,
quae peccatorum tenebras columnae illuminatione purgavit.

Haec nox est,
quae hodie per universum mundum in Christo credentes,
a vitiis saeculi et caligine peccatorum segregatos,
reddit gratiae, sociat sanctitati.

Haec nox est,
in qua, destructis vinculis mortis,
Christus ab inferis victor ascendit.

Nihil enim nobis nasci profuit,
nisi redimi profuisset.
O mira circa nos tuae pietatis dignatio!
O inaestimabilis dilectio caritatis:
ut servum redimeres, Filium tradidisti!

O certe necessarium Adae peccatum,
quod Christi morte deletum est!
O felix culpa,
quae talem ac tantum meruit habere Redemptorem!

O vere beata nox,
quae sola meruit scire tempus et horam,
in qua Christus ab inferis resurrexit!

Haec nox est, de qua scriptum est:
Et nox sicut dies illuminabitur:
et nox illuminatio mea in deliciis meis.

Huius igitur sanctificatio noctis fugat scelera, culpas lavat:
et reddit innocentiam lapsis
et maestis laetitiam.
Fugat odia, concordiam parat
et curvat imperia.

O vere beata nox,
in qua terrenis caelestia, humanis divina iunguntur!¹

In huius igitur noctis gratia, suscipe, sancte Pater,
laudis huius sacrificium vespertinum,
quod tibi in hac cerei oblatione sollemni,
per ministrorum manus
de operibus apum, sacrosancta reddit Ecclesia.

Sed iam columnae huius praeconia novimus,
quam in honorem Dei rutilans ignis accendit.
Qui, licet sit divisus in partes,
mutuati tamen luminis detrimenta non novit.

Alitur enim liquantibus ceris,
quas in substantiam pretiosae huius lampadis
apis mater eduxit.²

Oramus ergo te, Domine,
ut cereus iste in honorem tui nominis consecratus,
ad noctis huius caliginem destruendam,
indeficiens perseveret.
Et in odorem suavitatis acceptus,
supernis luminaribus misceatur.

Flammas eius lucifer matutinus inveniat:
Ille, inquam, lucifer, qui nescit occasum:
Christus Filius tuus,
qui, regressus ab inferis, humano generi serenus illuxit,
et vivit et regnat in saecula saeculorum.

Amen!

Rejoice, heavenly powers! Sing, choirs of angels!
Exult, all creation around God's throne!
Jesus Christ, our King, is risen!
Sound the trumpet of salvation!

Rejoice, O earth, in shining splendor,
radiant in the brightness of your King!
Christ has conquered! Glory fills you!
Darkness vanishes for ever!

Rejoice, O Mother Church! Exult in glory!
The risen Savior shines upon you!
Let this place resound with joy,
echoing the mighty song of all God's people!

My dearest friends,
standing with me in this holy light,
join me in asking God for mercy,

that he may give his unworthy minister
grace to sing his Easter praises.

Deacon: The Lord be with you.
People: And also with you.
Deacon: Lift up your hearts.
People: We lift them up to the Lord.
Deacon: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
People: It is right to give him thanks and praise.

It is truly right
that with full hearts and minds and voices
we should praise the unseen God, the all-powerful Father,
and his only Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.

For Christ has ransomed us with his blood,
and paid for us the price of Adam's sin to our eternal Father!

This is our passover feast,
when Christ, the true Lamb, is slain,
whose blood consecrates the homes of all believers.

This is the night
when first you saved our fathers:
you freed the people of Israel from their slavery
and led them dry-shod through the sea.

This is the night
when the pillar of fire destroyed the darkness of sin!

This is the night
when Christians everywhere,
washed clean of sin and freed from all defilement,
are restored to grace and grow together in holiness.

This is the night
when Jesus Christ broke the chains of death
and rose triumphant from the grave.

What good would life have been to us,
had Christ not come as our Redeemer?
Father, how wonderful your care for us!
How boundless your merciful love!
To ransom a slave you gave away your Son.

O happy fault,
O necessary sin of Adam,
which gained for us so great a Redeemer!

Most blessed of all nights,
chosen by God to see Christ rising from the dead!

Of this night scripture says:
"The night will be as clear as day:
it will become my light, my joy."

The power of this holy night dispels all evil,
washes guilt away, restores lost innocence,
brings mourners joy;
it casts out hatred, brings us peace,
and humbles earthly pride.

Night truly blessed when heaven is wedded to earth
and man is reconciled with God!

Therefore, heavenly Father,
in the joy of this night,
receive our evening sacrifice of praise,
your Church's solemn offering.

Accept this Easter candle,
a flame divided but undimmed,
a pillar of fire that glows to the honor of God.

(For it is fed by the melting wax,
which the mother bee brought forth
to make this precious candle.)

Let it mingle with the lights of heaven
and continue bravely burning
to dispel the darkness of this night!

May the Morning Star which never sets
find this flame still burning:
Christ, that Morning Star,
who came back from the dead,
and shed his peaceful light on all mankind,
your Son, who lives and reigns for ever and ever.
Amen.

Something light before the end of Lent

2009-03-30T20:59:00.000-07:00

Ash Wednesday

2009-02-24T21:01:00.000-07:00

The Lord does not wish the sinner to die,
but to turn back to Him and live.

I Got a Job

2009-02-18T16:00:00.000-07:00

Also feeling this way

2009-02-15T13:20:00.000-07:00

And with the early dawn
Moving right along
Couldn't buy a eye full of sleep
And in the aching nights
under satellites
I was not received
Built with stolen parts
Telephone in my heart
Someone get me a priest
To put my mind to bed
This ringing in my head
Is this a cure or is
this a disease?

Nail in my hand
From my creator
You gave me life now
Show me how to live [ 2 ]

And in the afterbirth
On the quiet earth
Let the stains remind you
You thought you made a man
You better think again
Before my role defies you

Nail in my hand
From my creator
You gave me life now
Show me how to live [ 2 ]

And in your waiting hands
I will land
And roll out of my skin
And in your final hours
I will stand
Ready to begin

Feeling this way now

2009-02-15T13:16:00.000-07:00

On a cobweb afternoon
In a room full of emptiness
By a freeway I confess
I was lost in the pages
Of a book full of death
Reading how we'll die alone
And if we're good
we'll lay to rest
Anywhere we want to go

(Chorus)
In your house
I Long to be
Room by room patiently
I'll wait for you there
Like a stone
I'll wait for you there Alone

On my deathbed I will pray
To the gods and then angels
Like a pagan to anyone
Who will take me to heaven
To a place I recall
I was there so long ago
The sky was bruised
The wine was bled
And there you led me on

(Chorus)

Alone

And on I read
Until the day was gone
And I sat in regret
Of all the things I've done
For all that I've blessed
And all that I've wronged
In dreams until my death
I will wander on

Ulysses - by Alfred Lord Tennyson

2009-01-28T09:25:00.000-07:00

It little profits that an idle king,
By this still hearth, among these barren crags,
Match'd with an aged wife, I mete and dole
Unequal laws unto a savage race,
That hoard, and sleep, and feed, and know not me.
I cannot rest from travel; I will drink
Life to the lees. All times I have enjoy'd
Greatly, have suffer'd greatly, both with those
That loved me, and alone; on shore, and when
Thro' scudding drifts the rainy Hyades
Vext the dim sea. I am become a name;
For always roaming with a hungry heart
Much have I seen and known,-- cities of men
And manners, climates, councils, governments,
Myself not least, but honor'd of them all,--
And drunk delight of battle with my peers,
Far on the ringing plains of windy Troy.
I am a part of all that I have met;
Yet all experience is an arch wherethro'
Gleams that untravell'd world whose margin fades
For ever and for ever when I move.
How dull it is to pause, to make an end,
To rust unburnish'd, not to shine in use!
As tho' to breathe were life! Life piled on life
Were all too little, and of one to me
Little remains; but every hour is saved
From that eternal silence, something more,
A bringer of new things; and vile it were
For some three suns to store and hoard myself,
And this gray spirit yearning in desire
To follow knowledge like a sinking star,
Beyond the utmost bound of human thought.

This is my son, mine own Telemachus,
to whom I leave the sceptre and the isle,--
Well-loved of me, discerning to fulfill
This labor, by slow prudence to make mild
A rugged people, and thro' soft degrees
Subdue them to the useful and the good.
Most blameless is he, centred in the sphere
Of common duties, decent not to fail
In offices of tenderness, and pay
Meet adoration to my household gods,
When I am gone. He works his work, I mine.

There lies the port; the vessel puffs her sail;
There gloom the dark, broad seas. My mariners,
Souls that have toil'd, and wrought, and thought with me,--
That ever with a frolic welcome took
The thunder and the sunshine, and opposed
Free hearts, free foreheads,-- you and I are old;
Old age hath yet his honor and his toil.
Death closes all; but something ere the end,
Some work of noble note, may yet be done,
Not unbecoming men that strove with Gods.
The lights begin to twinkle from the rocks;
The long day wanes; the slow moon climbs; the deep
Moans round with many voices. Come, my friends.
'T is not too late to seek a newer world.
Push off, and sitting well in order smite
The sounding furrows; for my purpose holds
To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths
Of all the western stars, until I die.
It may be that the gulfs will wash us down;
It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles,
And see the great Achilles, whom we knew.
Tho' much is taken, much abides; and tho'
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are,--
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

Week One, Third Reading

2009-01-14T13:51:00.000-07:00

Psalm 139(140), Mark 1:12-13, Psalm 140(141)

And here remain most of us: baptized, tempted, overwhelmed. Unlike saints, we do not get beyond this stage because we do not see, know or accept that the angels minister to us.

Week One, Second Reading

2009-01-13T14:12:00.000-07:00

Psalm 130(131), Mark 1:9-11, Psalm 118(119)

In humble obedience to God, Jesus receives baptism. All that he does, even the miraculous, is an example for us. It starts easy: it is easy to be baptized, profound though it us. It is harder to accept crucifixion.

Concerning the psalms, it is often useful to identify with whatever we read in scripture, to associate the accounts we read either with our own lives as they are or as they should be. When reading the Gospel, this is easy to accomplish on an intellectual level, at least. Even if we never manage to practice what we learn, it is not difficult to mentally connect the dots and say, "Oh, this passage means that I should..."

For an American in the 21st century (and we're all Americans now, right?), identifying one's own experiences with those of the psalmist may not seem so easy.In fact, the psalmist may often sound like a bitter, paranoid loser.

I have recently found, though, that if I am truly honest with myself, I do indeed have much in common with the psalmist. When he speaks of those who 'lay traps' or 'dig pits' I do not, of course think of shadow-skulking assassins tracking me through back alleys (I live in a rural area. No back alleys). But, especially now, are there not forces which seek to ruin me and my family? When the credit card company raised my rates to 30%, I certainly felt that way. When banks and utilities began to charge outrageous fees for various services, I felt cornered, angry, harassed. When a mountain lion invaded my kids' school and killed their goats, I felt unsafe.

As it turns out, it is not so difficult to understand the psalmist some times.

Week One, First Reading

2009-01-12T21:23:00.000-07:00

Psalm 2, Mark 1:1-8, Psalm 105

Psalm 2 seems to flow well into the beginning of any Gospel, particularly Mark's since it lacks an infancy narrative and almost immediately begins to relate the adult life of the King of Kings.

John, whom Jesus regards as the greatest born from woman, is in the wilderness.He is as poor, in a material sense, as one can be. Barely clothed, nearly starved and without a home. This is the great man of our story here.

He makes me think of those Starving Buddha statues I have seen in pictures of the Far East. Like an Eastern mystic, John is barely alive by our standards, yet the most truly alive of anyone.

Must we all, in some sense, become as bare and vulnerable as John is in order to properly welcome Christ?

Can I?

PS - Psalm 105, in its recounting of the heroes of the books of Moses, reminded me of how the Bible is divided into two parts, Old Testament and New Testament. The books of Moses, the five books of the Pentateuch, are also so divided. Genesis sets the story up, and then the following four books tell of the savior, Moses, and how he gets Israel out of its predicament. Is this a type of the whole of scripture - Genesis representing the Old Testament and the next four books prefiguring the New Testament, in particular the Gospels?

A Reading Schedule

2009-01-11T22:09:00.000-07:00

Since we are in Ordinary Time now, I thought someone might be interested in reading Mark's Gospel (slowly, carefully and prayerfully) between now and Ash Wednesday (February 25th). So I prepared a little something:

January 11-17

Psalm 2, Mark 1:1-8, Psalm 105
Psalm 131, Mark 1:9-11, Psalm 119
Psalm 140, Mark 1:12-13, Psalm 141
Psalm 16, Mark 1:14-20, Psalm 23
Psalm 38, Mark 1:21-28, Psalm30
Psalm 57, Mark 1:29-34, Psalm41
Psalm 70, Mark 1:35-45 , Psalm 65

January 18-24

Psalm 51, Mark 2:1-12, Psalm 116
Psalm 143, Mark 2:13-17, Psalm 138
Psalm 50, Mark 2:18-28, Psalm 27
Psalm 28, Mark 3:1-6, Psalm 32
Psalm 8, Mark 3:7-12, Psalm 115
Psalm 118, Mark 3:13-19, Psalm 117
Psalm 121, Mark 3:20-35, Psalm 1

January 25-31

Psalm 67, Mark 4:1-20, Psalm 40
Psalm 27, Mark 4:21-25, Psalm 32
Psalm 37, Mark 4:26-34, Psalm 33
Psalm 69, Mark 4: 35-44, Psalm 29
Psalm 70, Mark 5:1-20, Psalm 66
Psalm 88, Mark 5:21-43, Psalm 107

February 1-7

Psalm 13, Mark 6:1-6, Psalm 36
Psalm 11, Mark 6:7-13, Psalm 4
Psalm 26, Mark 6:14-29, Psalm 10
Psalm 131, Mark 6:30-44, Psalm 147
Psalm 114, Mark 6:45-56, Psalm 124

February 8-14

Psalm 119, Mark 7:1-23, Psalm 112
Psalm 223, Mark 7:24-30, Psalm 118
Psalm 6, Mark 7:31-37, Psalm 31
Psalm 5, Mark 8:1-10, Psalm 105
Psalm 12, Mark 8:11-21, Psalm 17
Psalm 7, Mark 8:22-26, Psalm 18
Psalm 115, Mark 8:27-38, Psalm 110

February 15-21

Psalm 19, Mark 9:1-13, Psalm 20
Psalm 39, Mark 9:14-29, Psalm 40
Psalm 43, Mark 9:30-37, Psalm 44
Psalm 53, Mark 9:38-50, Psalm 54
Psalm58, Mark 10:1-12, Psalm 59
Psalm 91, Mark 10:13-16, Psalm 99
Psalm 36, Mark 10:17-31, Psalm 113

February 22-24

Psalm 124, Mark 10:32-45, Psalm 107
Psalm 28, Mark 10:46-52, Psalm 108

Feast of the Baptism of the Lord

2009-01-11T10:21:00.000-07:00

Hats Off and Good Luck

2009-01-07T12:11:00.000-07:00

Okay, I didn't for for Mr. Obama.

But after the election I told my kids (the older, rational ones), "There will not be one disrespectful word in this house about our new President. I will probably disagree with him many times, but we will never permit any insults or verbal mistreatment of the man himself." After all, we aren't whiny, craven grumblers like many other people out there. I tell them they must always respect their leaders, even if they disagree with them.

I must say that I have moved beyond that grudging acceptance to a certain amount of cautious admiration. Yes, he does support abortion, even pledging to pass the FOCA bill (essentially turning abortion into an undeniable human right) and his socialist tax ideas scared me off during the campaign.

But I was impressed, first of all, by his choice of Rahm Immanuel for his chief of staff. I obviously have philosophical differences with the man, but I was happy to see that Obama didn't pick some pie-in-the-sky, dream-befuddled nice guy. He picked a real @$$hole to be his chief of staff. And I like people like that. Maybe it comes form my years in education and administration: I like straightforward people who come right at you; hence my disregard for most Democrats.

Since then he has done, I think, a good job at picking his lieutenants. We are going to have, at least, knowledgeable people running things, even if I disagree with some of them about their goals. And he is apparently going to avoid the mistake politicans made in the 1930's, raising taxes in the face of a recession and turning it into the Great Depression.

I wish my new President luck in his endeavours, and I vow to pray for him.

Feast of the Epiphany

2009-01-06T08:50:00.000-07:00

From Matins for the Feast of the Epiphany

2009-01-03T23:37:00.000-07:00

from Psalm 71 (72)

For he shall deliver the poor from the mighty:
and the needy that had no helper.
He shall spare the poor and the needy:
and he shall save the souls of the poor

"Youths"

2009-01-03T22:37:00.000-07:00

This story cracks me up.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20090103/wl_time/08599186939200

There were 43,000 cars burned in France in 2007, about 118 per day. And the press would have you believe that it was all done by "disdvantaged suburban youths", the same "disadvantaged suburban youths" which have been causing problems since the 1970's. Nowhere, will you see them mention that these youths are, uniformly, zealous muslims. No, that would be wrong. Instead, by omission, they cause the uninformed to think that all these riots are being caused by kids in baggy pants and skewed baseball caps. In between listening to their Avril Lavigne and Justin Timberlake albums, I'm sure.

If you wanted to see France, I recommend you get there soon. It will be gone before you know it, destroyed by...

Youths!

Great Quotes X

2008-12-28T13:36:00.000-07:00

When television viewers these days see the typical sociologist on their screen, adopting a predictably provocative position on some controversial issue, their most common response is not belief but wonder at how someone with views so divergent from ordinary intelligence ever got a job at a university in the first place.

Keith Windschuttle, The Killing of History

Feast of the Nativity

2008-12-24T08:20:00.001-07:00

Merry Christmas!

Morning Prayer for December 18

2008-12-18T09:11:00.000-07:00

From the Reading

It is now the hour for you to wake from sleep, for our salvation is closer than when we first accepted the faith. The night is far spent; the day draws near. Let us cast off deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. - Romans 13:11-12

Firefox rocks!

2008-12-16T20:34:00.001-07:00

I just installed Firefox. I am used to waiting five or six minutes for each page to load. Firefox is like internet explorer on amphetamines! I love it!

Asia is not just a continent

2008-12-14T20:35:00.000-07:00

You were just using me,

There is no one you can use now!

Avery Cardinal Dulles, SJ, dead at 90

2008-12-12T15:13:00.000-07:00

The theologian passed away today.

Requiescat in pace.

Flagrant Commercialism

2008-12-11T20:57:00.000-07:00

Buy my books! Buy my books! Buy my books! Buy my books! Buy my books! Buy my books! Buy my books! Buy my books! Buy my books! Buy my books! Buy my books! Buy my books!
Buy my books! Buy my books! Buy my books! Buy my books! Buy my books! Buy my books! Buy my books! Buy my books! Buy my books! Buy my books! Buy my books! Buy my books!
Buy my books! Buy my books! Buy my books! Buy my books! Buy my books! Buy my books! Buy my books! Buy my books! Buy my books! Buy my books! Buy my books! Buy my books!
Buy my books! Buy my books! Buy my books! Buy my books! Buy my books! Buy my books! Buy my books! Buy my books! Buy my books! Buy my books! Buy my books! Buy my books!
Buy my books! Buy my books! Buy my books! Buy my books! Buy my books! Buy my books! Buy my books! Buy my books! Buy my books! Buy my books! Buy my books! Buy my books!
Buy my books! Buy my books! Buy my books! Buy my books! Buy my books! Buy my books! Buy my books! Buy my books! Buy my books! Buy my books! Buy my books! Buy my books!

LMAO

2008-12-11T09:53:00.000-07:00

GOP hopes rise, Dems hit rough patch

It's not even inauguration day and they are already falling apart. I predicted that they would destroy themselves during the first two years of the new administration, but even I didn't think they would start so early!

From Evening Prayer I, Second Sunday of Advent

2008-12-06T21:50:00.000-07:00

The Reading

May the God of Peace make you perfect in holiness. May He preserve you whole and entire, spirit, soul and body, irreproachable at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

He who calls us is trutworthy, therefore he will do it. (1 Thess 5:23-24)

from The Intercessions

Free us from the tyranny of change and decay.

2012

2008-12-06T21:43:00.000-07:00

Romney - No

Huckabee - Maybe

Thompson - No (But he's great on Law and Order. Go get 'em DA Branch!)

Palin - Maybe

Guiliani - No

Jindal - Yes (for Vice-President only. He's still gonna be really young.)

Crist - No

Gingrich - No

Did I forget anyone?

Rest in Peace, Alexei II

2008-12-05T10:00:00.000-07:00

Patriarch of Russian Orthodox Church dies.

Depressing!

2008-12-04T13:33:00.000-07:00

New post here.

First Sunday of Advent

2008-11-29T19:54:00.000-07:00

Rejoice!

Rejoice!

Emmanuel

Shall come to thee, O Israel!

Obama may delay tax-cut rollback for wealthy

2008-11-23T12:36:00.000-07:00

LOL

Things That Annoy Me III

2008-11-20T20:54:00.001-07:00

Today's old people.

When I was a kid, and I met an old man, there were some typical attributes of which I could be fairly certain.

He was probably a war vet, either WWII or Korea. His politics were likely conservative, but in those days that didn't automatically mean Republican. He wore his hair a certain way - usually not a crew cut but neither was it very long. It was likely he smoked and said all sorts of unpolitically correct things, either as jokes or because he just didn't give a rat's ass for what anyone thought about what he said. He liked beer, Sinatra and sports on television.

Nowadays, when I meet "an old person" (now someone separated from me by just one generation rather than two), the encounter is altogether different.

Grandma might have a mohawk (I'm not kidding. I once had a parent/teacher conference with mohawk-grandma). Then there is biker-grandpa, who just did a little time for a little weed. My favorites are the AC/DC parents, still wearing their concert T-shirts, sporting their Nazareth tattoos and their "accident" child ("We don't understand why our daughter is so troubled!" Oh boy, if only I could have been honest.)

I wonder what it is like for my kids. For me, old people were always stodgy curmudgeons who wanted me to watch my manners and keep quiet. Now, they are scary, unpredictable creeps who want to have cybersex or sell you dope. Now it's the older generation that seems loose, leaving me to look like an old man before his time, telling the kids to mind their p's and q's.

Great Quotes IX

2008-11-19T10:30:00.000-07:00

The inadequate and biased transmission of news, and the profitable dissemination of nonsense, barred the general public from any intelligent or concerted participation in politics, and made democracy impossible.

- Will Durant, on newspapers of the 17th century, in The Age of Reason Begins

Sound familiar?

Things That Annoy Me II

2008-11-18T12:45:00.000-07:00

Motion Activated Towel Dispensers

Was it really so difficult to crank them out? And why do I have to humiliate myself by waving at a machine in return for paper towels?

Greatest Rock Song Ever

2008-11-13T10:52:00.000-07:00

Okay, it's definitely in the top three, anyway. The Rolling Stones' Honky Tonk Women can conceivably compete for the title, as can Led Zeppelin's In My Time of Dying. These are fairly non-partisan statements for me. I am neither a Kansas nor a Stones fan. I don't have any of their albums. Led Zeppelin, on the other hand, is one of my favorites and I have their entire collection.

Now, if you want to suggest some others, let's get the rules clear. Candidate songs must be rock and roll, but that is wide-category. I would, personally, even include the Cure or Country Joe and the Fish. But, it is inappropriate to elect a song merely because you like it. For instance, I love Pink Floyd and have almost all their albums. But I wouldn't even include them in my top five. To be "up there", a song has to have something special that elevates it beyond the group by which it is performed (and Pink Floyd, much as I love them, are always Pink Floyd and their songs are always their songs.)

Now, look at Kansas' Carry On. This song has an energy and a spirit that simply takes it right out of Steve Walsh's and Keri Livgren's hands. Honky Tonk Women is also a good example. There is a guitar lick in that song which is of divine (or diabolic) origin. I refuse to believe that a human composed it without aid. Of course, Zeppelin never wrote any of their great songs, as dozens of impoverished black blues singers could attest, were they still with us.

So, that said, don't nominate a Kiss song. Kiss is rock, sure, but it's a gimmick. No Kiss song has any class. Same goes for hundreds of bands. I will tolerate the candidacy of Warren Zevon's Werewolves of London, though I would never nominate it myself. However, there will be no waxing poetic about his death. Warren Zevon's death (requiescat in pace) was not poetic. Johnny Cash dying - that's poetic. Warren Zevon just died. Stop acting like he was Lord Byron lost at sea and get over it.

I always vote for the loser

2008-11-04T20:19:00.000-07:00

First time I vote for a Republican and he loses. The only time I remember voting for a winner was Clinton in 1996. People should pay me to vote for their enemies.

Things That Annoy Me

2008-11-04T13:06:00.000-07:00

White guys that call me bro.

I am not your bro.

Black guys can call me bro, but not you.

Let's Go Vote

2008-11-04T08:14:00.000-07:00

Employment Rollercoaster and Alleluia

2008-11-01T19:19:00.000-07:00

Last Tuesday I was informed that I had been laid off from my part-time job cleaning offices. There just hasn't been enough tourism to justify my employment.

It meant the loss of about $800/month or basically 10K/year. That's big hit for a guy with a stagnant business and four kids, two of them in private school and a lot of taxes due the government. Basically, last night we had a big Halloween with lots of candy while I sat thinking that some very dark times were coming. The November house payment was suddenly in jeopardy.

Then, my boss called this afternoon and said that the company was going to go with four nights of work each week and he gave me all the nights. That's basically what I was working before, only now I will have to work during the week rather than the weekend, which is hard with having only a few hours of sleep before sending my wife and kids off while I watch the babies on schooldays. But...

I have discovered that there is one thing worse than cleaning offices and restrooms at one o' clock in the morning, and that is being unemployed! So, without further ado, I give thanks where thanks are due.

Te Deum laudamus: te Dominum confitemur.
Te aeternum Patrem omnis terra veneratur.
Tibi omnes Angeli; tibi caeli et universae Potestates;
Tibi Cherubim et Seraphim incessabili voce proclamant:
Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus, Dominus Deus Sabaoth.
Pleni sunt caeli et terra maiestatis gloriae tuae.
Te gloriosus Apostolorum chorus,
Te Prophetarum laudabilis numerus,
Te Martyrum candidatus laudat exercitus.
Te per orbem terrarum sancta confitetur Ecclesia,
Patrem immensae maiestatis:
Venerandum tuum verum et unicum Filium;
Sanctum quoque Paraclitum Spiritum.
Tu Rex gloriae, Christe.
Tu Patris sempiternus es Filius.
Tu ad liberandum suscepturus hominem, non horruisti Virginis uterum.
Tu, devicto mortis aculeo, aperuisti credentibus regna caelorum.
Tu ad dexteram Dei sedes, in gloria Patris.
Iudex crederis esse venturus.
Te ergo quaesumus, tuis famulis subveni: quos pretioso sanguine redemisti.
Aeterna fac cum sanctis tuis in gloria numerari.
V. Salvum fac populum tuum, Domine, et benedic hereditati tuae.
R. Et rege eos, et extolle illos usque in aeternum.
V. Per singulos dies benedicimus te.
R. Et laudamus nomen tuum in saeculum, et in saeculum saeculi.
V. Dignare, Domine, die isto sine peccato nos custodire.
R. Miserere nostri, Domine, miserere nostri.
V. Fiat misericordia tua, Domine, super nos, quemadmodum speravimus in te.
R. In te, Domine, speravi: non confundar in aeternum.

O God, we praise Thee, and acknowledge Thee to be the supreme Lord.Everlasting Father, all the earth worships Thee.All the Angels, the heavens and all angelic powers,All the Cherubim and Seraphim, continuously cry to Thee:Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Hosts!Heaven and earth are full of the Majesty of Thy glory.The glorious choir of the Apostles,The wonderful company of Prophets,The white-robed army of Martyrs, praise Thee.Holy Church throughout the world acknowledges Thee:The Father of infinite Majesty;Thy adorable, true and only Son;Also the Holy Spirit, the Comforter.O Christ, Thou art the King of glory!Thou art the everlasting Son of the Father.When Thou tookest it upon Thyself to deliver man,Thou didst not disdain the Virgin's womb.Having overcome the sting of death, Thou opened the Kingdom of Heaven to all believers.Thou sitest at the right hand of God in the glory of the Father.We believe that Thou willst come to be our Judge.We, therefore, beg Thee to help Thy servants whom Thou hast redeemed with Thy Precious Blood.Let them be numbered with Thy Saints in everlasting glory.

V. Save Thy people, O Lord, and bless Thy inheritance!
R. Govern them, and raise them up forever.
V. Every day we thank Thee.
R. And we praise Thy Name forever, yes, forever and ever.
V. O Lord, deign to keep us from sin this day.
R. Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us.
V. Let Thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us, for we have hoped in Thee.
R. O Lord, in Thee I have put my trust; let me never be put to shame.

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-31T20:35:00.000-07:00

Is This Supposed To Scare Us?

2008-10-27T17:56:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The U.S. military conducted a successful strike into Syria on Sunday to kill a suspected al Qaeda facilitator, a U.S. official said Monday.

"We will not bow for America. No, No, No for America," reads a sign during a funeral in Syria on Monday.

The American official, who would not be identified but who has access to U.S. intelligence, identified the intended target of the attack as "Abu Ghadiya," an Iraqi whose family the official said has been active in smuggling money, weapons and foreign fighters across the Syrian border into Iraq.

Syrian foreign minister Waleed Mouallem disputed the explanation.

"This is lies from the United States," Mouallem said.

Earlier, Mouallem had said at a news conference in London, England, that the United States violated international law and Syrian sovereignty.

"Killing civilians in international law means terrorist aggression," he said. "We consider this criminal and terrorist aggression."

The U.S. official, who asked to remain anonymous because of the classified nature of the operation, also confirmed that U.S. helicopters and military special operations forces carried out the attack.

Further acts of aggression will not be tolerated, Mouallem said. "If they do it again, we will defend our territories," he said.

Oooh, I'm so scared! Look at me, I'm trembling!

Great Quotes VIII

2008-10-27T12:04:00.000-07:00

Great Quotes VII

2008-10-21T07:28:00.000-07:00

No one thought of letting the people rule; politics was - as always - a contest of minorities to determine which should rule the majority.

- Will Durant, The Age of Reason Begins

Night Office

2008-10-19T11:23:00.000-07:00

My night job involves a lot of driving between the offices and restrooms I have to clean.

Initially, I was trying to get in evening prayer by taking a break in one of the offices and reading from my copy of the Liturgy of the Hours. But I realized that was really stealing from my boss, who isn't paying me to pray. So I started saying the rosary as I drive. At first, it was just the usual five decades of one set of mysteries. Now, I try to say all four sets of mysteries (Joyful, Luminous, Sorrowful and Glorious).

Of course, with all that I am doing, I often lose track of just where I am. I am sure I don't get all the Hail Mary's in, or I say too many. But I figure this bootleg rosary is better than indulging my own wicked thoughts or listening to talk radio.

New Blog

2008-10-07T21:54:00.000-07:00

I have decided to start blogging about this new Depression we seem to be entering. Hopefully, it will be for naught and I can erase the blog when we all realize that these latest problems were just minor "corrections" and economic recovery and prosperity were always right around the corner.

The link is at the right. In the meantime, if you can spare a dime, have you noticed my books for sale? Have you seen my four kids? The books are good. I swear.

News Flash!

2008-10-05T19:40:00.000-07:00

Liberation Theology sues Vox Nova for copyright infringement.