What Were Once Vices are Now Habits*.
Eve Tushnet sheds some interesting light on habit, addiction and ritual.

*Still my favorite Doobie Brothers album.

Rough Night in the Midwest!
Last night provided the weather that reminds me not to be so condescending and ask why people live where there are volcanoes, earthquakes, hurricaines, etc. The sweet middle of the United States isn’t always the safest place to be. I think most people live where they are born (more ore less). [I was born and have lived my forty-eight years never moving more than five miles inland from the shores of Lake Michigan. Port Washington, WI -my birthplace- once had several city blocks taken out by a tornado.]

I’m glad I wasn’t looking at the TV. I don’t want to know who idiot was who asked, “Don’t people there know where to go when the weather turns bad?” Duuuh. She obviously is not from anywhere from the Dakotas southward. Everyone grows up knowing where to go when a tornado is coming. The problem is sometimes..........well, they just kind of sneak up on people. You can’t live your whole life in the bathtub or under the basement stairs. Except for those of us who spend a lot of time in the laundry room, which just happens to be under my basement stairs.

VH1 Video Review
R. Kelly “Ignition”
Tuneless illustration of six deadly sins. OK, I’ll round it out and supply the anger.

Yes, I’m one of those nasty Chicago area folks who are ready to send him to prison based on media evidence. And this video sure ain’t no character reference.

HELP WANTED: IRISH PRINCESS
Bridget is in the market for a new job. Her unhappiness with her situation reached the point where I could no longer keep encouraging to go to work for a somewhat abusive boss with a labile temper. After 15+ months, I think she has learned a lot about human nature and getting along with people. And now it is time to move on.

I realized just how dreaful her job had become (despite the fact that it did involve some nice stretches of driving around beautiful neighborhoods listening to her choice of CD’s) when I pondered applying for her position myself and arrived at the conclusion that a substantial increase in pay was not worth the emotional wear and tear. Church-lady work is too satisfying to leave behind. (Not that I can convince Bridget to apply for any jobs at church. Or the library. Quote: “That would be great wouldn’t it? I could work at the church part-time and then at the library. I could be a total church/library nerd.” Sorry, Embot, I just quote what I hear. I think working at the library is the next best thing to working at church!)

Pres. Rummage addendum
I forgot to mention the large, stainless runcible spoon!

Rev. Richard P. McBrien looking for affirmative action in the canonization ‘process’
Since 95 percent of the human race marries and raises a family, it is only logical that the church should present for universal emulation individuals who lived ordinary married lives in an extraordinarily virtuous way.....
If the church canonizes too few individuals with whom the overwhelming majority of people can identify, the point and purpose of their canonization are negated.
Aaaargh.
Link via Fr. Bryce Sibley

Two words...........Presbyterian Rummage!
This is not becoming a blog to document every purchase that I make. Do, though, bear with me. I’ll try to be brief.
onepairBrooksBrotherskhakipants;threeEddieBauermen’spiqueknitpoloshirts;
eightboyscasualshirts(mostlyGAPKidsandL.L.Bean);fourpairboys’khakishorts;
tenstainlessspoonstoreplaceallthemissingones;aminiaturewhiteramekin;oneof
thoseplungertypemeauringdevicesasasseenonGoodEats;twoArmetaleserving
platters;copyofChristisPassingBybySt.JosemariaEscriva;St.TeresaofAvilaby
MarcelleAuclair;ModernSaints:TheirLivesandFacesbyAnnBall
(Bk1andBk2)
.......all for slightly more than the price of one of the Saint books! Not a bad shopping spree to be had with the proceeds of my ‘spare change’ jar. Martha found some books, too. And a vinyl copy of Oklahoma - autographed by Gordon MacCrae. Let’s find that Fisher-Price record player.

Who told Michelle we were discussing what movie to watch tonight?
If I watch this one, I watch alone.....'cuz everybody else knows how it ends. Duh. Party Poopers.

you are 'it's a wonderful life'!


which old movie do you belong in?
brought to you by Quizilla

It’s like an amusement park except there are never any lines....
I thought that was a funny tag line on an ad inserted in the explanation of the Dante’s Inferno test. Between levels 7 and 8.

Martha almost bought a copy of Dante’s Inferno during our morning trip to the Presbyterian Rummage. Just like her mother, she ran out of money before she ran out of potential books.

I asked her if it was an autographed copy. She wasn’t sure whether to laugh or gently explain that Dante is long gone. Poor silly mother. (I thought it was a cute question, considering the fact that she bought an Oklahoma soundtrack album that happened to have been autographed by Gordon MacCrae.)

Friday Five

1. Name one song you hate to admit you like.The Bitch is Back....or maybe that new song by Lisa Marie Presley.

2. Name two songs that always make you cry.No. There is no song that always makes me cry.

3. Name three songs that turn you on.I think not.

4. Name four songs that always make you feel good.Good Day Sunshine, Pange Lingua, Tenth Avenue Freeze Out, April in Paris

5. Name five songs you couldn't ever do without.Rhapsody in Blue, Faure’s In Paradisum, Help, Hard-Headed Woman, Anything Goes.

Let's assume...
'living large' doesn't mean dress size. And that I have been helped by my failure to eat out several times a week.
The Dante's Inferno Test has sent you to Purgatory!
Here is how you matched up against all the levels:

Level	Score
Purgatory (Repenting Believers)	Very High
Level 1 - Limbo (Virtuous Non-Believers)	Low
Level 2 (Lustful)	Low
Level 3 (Gluttonous)	Moderate
Level 4 (Prodigal and Avaricious)	Very Low
Level 5 (Wrathful and Gloomy)	Moderate
Level 6 - The City of Dis (Heretics)	Very Low
Level 7 (Violent)	Moderate
Level 8- the Malebolge (Fraudulent, Malicious, Panderers)	High
Level 9 - Cocytus (Treacherous)	Very Low

Take the Dante's Divine Comedy Inferno Test
Link via Kathy the Carmelite

TIme to get cracking here...
Another busy day. Must finish setting up May altar in living room. This is Rick’s last chance to move that funky little killer fish off of the cherry-wood chest in the living room. That is where we make the May altar and the fish is just not appropriate. I want him moved in any case. His little tank is making rings on the wood. He used to live on top of the dining room bookcase - next to the gerbil. I like to think that they enjoyed watching each other. But we needed to put the tadpole on top of the book case, making the fish something of an itinerant.

VH 1 Review of the Day
Kid Rock is a poseur.
His low class, trailer-park affectations are convincing.
But I’ve seen Behind the Music. I saw the yearbook pictures.
What a testimony to how low a person can go if he is determined.

I knew.......
this wasn’t a Catholic church. Why? Because I had to read to the fourth paragraph to find out where it happened. If it had been in a Catholic church the word Catholic would have appeared in the headline. With every implication of conspiracy.
Arsenic was deliberately placed in the coffee served at a Maine church that killed one man and sickened at least 15 others, officials said on Thursday as they began a homicide investigation.
OK, seeing the town named as New Sweden in paragraph two was a tip-off that we might be dealing with a homicidal Lutheran.

1 down; six to go....
6:25am. First envy attack of the day.
Not to worry. Driving around the high school and parking at Church will take of the anger...

Some said that at 9 years old, Sho Yano was too young for college. Then he graduated in three years. Summa cum laude. This June, the shy 12-year-old, who speaks barely above a whisper, will defy the skeptics once again when he becomes perhaps the youngest student to enroll in a medical school. He has been awarded a full scholarship to the University of Chicago.

After processing tons of CCD applications in which every other child is extremely gifted I’m fascinated reading about this really different child. As much as I wanted to dislike him, he strikes me as a nice, decent kid. And I’m sure his talents will bring burdens in equal measure.

“People just need to know my talent is from God," he said in his quiet tone one day on campus, "and I will use it for other people as much as I can."

Then with his mom and sister by his side, he walked on in his determined way, his head held down.

This-or-That Tuesday
A day late. Usual for me.

1. Lying down on the couch, or stretching out on a recliner?Gotta love that couch. I love it so much that I am ordering a real, store-bought slipcover for it. It’s just a little too big and complicated to cover with table cloths. The couch is going to be Embot’s bed for the summer, so I decided this would be a good time to make it a little more pleasant. (Maybe I should put a little Febreeze on the shopping list, too. Just to freshen things up. It’s not that far removed from being the stinky couch that VW used in the funny ad with the 2 guys driving around picking up junk.)
2. Going barefoot or wearing soft slippers?Can I count my EVA web thongs as slippers? Please?
3. Eating ice cream, or pizza?Pizza.
4. Watching on TV...a classic movie or a reality show?Classic movie. (If you need psychodrama, a good Mommy Dearest session is better than any reality show.)
5. Wearing: blue jeans or sweat pants?What, no khaki category?
6. A long, soothing bubble bath or a quick, invigorating shower?Shower.
7. Furniture: leather, or something more on the fuzzy side?Fuzzy.
8. Soft, classical music, or upbeat rock & roll?Both.
9. Darkness or light?Both.
10. Thought-provoking question of the week: You get married, or otherwise begin cohabitating with a significant other. S/he moves into your place, but brings with them the UGLIEST chair you have ever seen! You really don't want this thing in your home, but SO says it is the most comfy chair s/he has ever sat in, and no way will they part with it. Do you: grin and bear it, or scheme to get rid of the montrosity somehow? Experience has proven that no thing lasts forever. So grin and bear it is the charitable thing to do. It’s also good to remember when married, it is now our place, not my place. And I’d have a lot of children quickly. Not only are they a gift from God - they have the side ‘benefit’ of speeding the depreciation of the furniture.
And this might be a good time to learn to sew slipcovers out of table cloths.

This is one of those growth moments in marriage. I can’t remember a particular piece of ugly furniture RIck brought to our home (OK- all of our furniture was pretty bad) but I remember the navy blue dishes he bought while working in the Customer Service Dept at Dayton’s in Minneapolis. Why would someone return these dishes? Because they were so UGLY.
As I said, no thing lasts for ever. Haven’t seen a trace of that nasty stoneware in a decade. With no malfeasance on my part. I just let time take its toll.

Today’s VH1 Music Review
Why would Brazil allow Snoop Dogg and his skanky entourage into their country? Nothing ‘Beautiful’ to be found in this video. And I suppose we had to let them back into the USA. An interesting piece of work. They all look angry. They’re undulating about in a beautiful country, wearing expensive clothes and jewelry. Surrounded by appealing women. They give the impression that mind soothing drugs are involved. But they all look disgruntled. Don’t bother writing me that all these things don’t make one happy. We all know that don’t we? But I don’t think that was the theme in Mr. Dogg’s head when he made this.

PS - Mute “Born to Diva” promos - they are so irritating. And they upset the dogs.

PPS - Madonna doesn’t look too happy, either.

Must watch out for rabbit holes while working in yard

You are Alice


The heroine of the Wonderland tales, you are filled
with curiosity and random inquiry.


What Alice in Wonderland Character Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Link from Michelle and
Alicia

If...
I were a bride, I'd be interested in this.

Beeswax preserved flowers aren't just for brides. They are for all occasions.

Since I must ask, "How much?," I obviously can't afford them....

They look gorgeous - but somehow the description makes me think more of Eva Peron or Lenin - miraculously preserved through a unique technique. Just a tad creepy.

The world...
is a most puzzling place. From the pictures on the news this morning...half the world is wearing masks to avoid contracting SARS. The other half is stripping off everything and climbing in a department store window.

I remain, as always, the odd duck. Totally clothed. Unmasked.

Lame Idea of the Week
Or whenever.
That JLo video rip-off of Flashdance. [It does say something about Flashdance that it can be reduced into a 3 minute product - try that with Doctor Zhivago or The Godfather] The song is totally nothing. The video is just an excuse for her to undulate. (you know, kids, from the Latin unda=wave) The only thing missing is a body/dance double ‘scandal.’

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
Sit down, Saddam, you evil putz. I’ m talkin’ about my baby sister. 44 today!

What's with all these variants of "Helen"?
Parents of today pull out all the stops when naming their children, in the mad delusion that somehow if their child is not given a unique name, then that child will fail to be unique and special and accomplished and wealthy enough to take care of them when they retire. Except for one stop: the middle name.
So what’s my middle name? MARY - and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Fr. Bryce Sibley is kind enough to point us to the Institute for Naming Children Humanely
So I couldn’t resist checking out how I did with the spawn.......
Emily - OK - Dates back to Chaucer
Frances - not on their charts; what are they thinking?
Bridget - OK -Although there has never been a dark-haired "Bridget" in history (not as long as our Princess is stalking the Clairol aisle.)
Martha - OK - Apparently, "Pat" is a nickname here. Hmmm
Charles - OK - Plenty of famous namesakes, from Darwin to Brown
Edward - OK - Use "Ted" as a nickname for "Theodore" (oops, too late for us. We have a Ted, as in Edward - gulp - Kennedy. Everyone knows the nickname for “Theodore” is “Beaver.”)

And the middle names? Smith Louise Caroline Lenor RIchard Smith Nicholas Smith.

Busy week-end...
Martha, Chuck and I had a wonderful Saturday attending the Institute on Religious Life meeting at Mundelein Seminary near Chicago. Chuck was a little hesitant but I convinced him that this was too good an opportunity, too close to home, to pass by. I also offered to give him ‘school credit’ for attending. Fr. C. Frank Phillips from St. John Cantius is Chicago gave a two part presentation on Gregorian chant. (Extra Latin credit right there!)

Byzantine Abbott Nicholas gave a fascinating (though we were starting to lose Chuck) talk on the “Importance of Culture in the Catholic-Orthodox Dialogue.” I tried to convince Martha to pull out a pen, take some notes and whip up a great extra credit paper for her World Civ class. That subject, combined with Fr. Mitch Pacwa’s presentation on evangelizing to Muslims, covered a lot of territory that could have been worked into something appropriate to hand in at the local public high-school. Oh, well, I led the thirsty little souls to water.......but I can’t make them compose a tome on the what they learned. (I suppose I could with Chuck, but with Martha I’m just that pushy mother....)

Lunch was fun. We shared a table with several nuns. Fun for Martha and me.
A bit on the painful side for a shy 13 year-old who is not terribly at ease around strangers, especially ‘girls,’ - religious or not. For all her protests that I can take her to this event every year, but I’ll never turn her into a nun (but that’s not my job, really, is it?) Martha has a good time chatting with the sisters and visiting the exhibits set up by various orders. There were some interesting vendors there, too, and the kids convinced me to treat myself to a new scapular (because the old one is getting ‘ratty’ - like anybody sees it?), some holy cards and a reprint of a prayer book issued to the US Marines during WWII. My father had that book, but it is too worn to carry around with me. This reprint is a nice reminder of Dad plus it has all the basic prayers I’d like to tote in my purse at all times in a nice purse-friendly size. (Don’t tell the Marines I said that.)

After lunch Fr. Robert Barron talked about the liturgy. He was, as always, fascinating. I heard him speak at our parish on Wednesday night. This morning, Martha ran into my room to tell me that he was on Channel 7. This was getting to be a bit much for Martha, provoking her to ask if he is stalking us or are we stalking him? Neither. Just a really, really good coincidence.

The highlight of the day would have been Mass celebrated by Cardinal George. I’m sure it was the highlight of the day for others. Martha started to get a migraine and the Imitrex was at home. I decided that the prudent thing would be to leave before Mass, not to wait and then drag her out half-way through. Both kids were wailing that it was important to ‘tough it out for me,’ and I was telling them I was making this trip for them.

If I had let Martha go to Mass with an incipient migraine, it probably would have been for my own ‘pleasure.’ Not just to be at Mass celebrated by the Cardinal, but to bask in the smug glow of my children singing in Latin. At this point, I knew it was time to go home. Smug-Ellyn was getting out of control, starting with the morning’s first chant session. I took just a bit too much pleasure in hearing Chuck and Martha intone the Pater Noster in their most flawless Latin. At any moment, I was expecting a beam of light to enter the auditorium and focus (ever so softly, of course) on my head.

Was it more than coincidence that I turned on AMC at bedtime finding Mommy Dearest at the moment when Joan Crawford’s paramour asks why everything has to be a contest with her? Ouch. Double ouch. Ten days after the ‘Pange Lingua nosebleed’ and I’m back to me old tricks.

Ego issues notwithstanding, we had a delightful day. We all learned a lot. We ran into people we knew and met some new people. I even met a woman whose name I recognized from one of the homeschooling e-mail lists to which I subscribe. It was a very good day. And I went for a full 7+ hours without once saying to Chuck, “Wouldn’t you like to go to school here?”

Efficient and dedicated?
Then why I am doing internet quizzes when there is so much real stuff to do?

You are Pope Pius XII. You're efficient and
dedicated, but not very approachable.


Which Twentieth Century Pope Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla
Thanks to Michelle for leading me astray again.

Oh, and I'm plenty approachable. Just watch my daughters between paydays.....

Well, I started it on Friday.........
just too busy to post anything.
Friday Five

1. What was the last TV show you watched?ER

2. What was the last thing you complained about?falling asleep during ER.

3. Who was the last person you complimented and what did you say? Most likely one of the children. Most likely something about their intelligence, wit, charm, good-looks and fine genetic material. Or maybe it was the dog. And then it would have been a high-pitched, “Aren’t you just the cutest thing?”

4. What was the last thing you threw away?Not quite finished bottle of Tea Rose perfume. I had it too long. Too much time, light, temperature had taken its toll and as much as I hated to admit it, the product in the bottle had become Rancid Rose.

I shall just keep my eyes open for another bargain bottle. Tea Rose is one of the best fragrances in the world, because it smells like........roses. (A friend told me I smelled like Padre Pio’s glove. I knew it was a compliment, but I’m not sure the fine people of The Perfumers’ Workshop would know what to make of it. For the spring, I shall coast on the Crabtree & Evelyn Lily of the Valley that Franny gave me for my birthday. That is a great scent, too.

5. What was the last website (besides this one) that you visited?I don’t remember. And if I did, I wouldn’t say. That would be like naming favorite children, friends or Christmas gifts. No way to be diplomatic....

From the BIg Book of British Smiles....

United Kingdom (Britain) -
One of the longest-standing nations in history, it
has survived several centuries and kept its
traditions alive.


Positives:

A Long History Full of Tradition.

Well-Renouned.

Strong and Respected.


Negatives:

Viewed as Pompous and Aristocratic.

Bitterness of Others About Past Transgressions.

Bad Teeth.



Which Country of the World are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Link from Michelle

Dietary laws aren't enforced this Passover in Jerusalem
It is Passover, and displaying or openly selling leavened products such as wheat, barley, oat and rye in Israel is against the law during the weeklong holiday that began last Wednesday. But this year, secular authorities did not dispatch inspectors or levy fines.

The change reflects the growing influence of the determinedly secular political party called Shinui, the only part of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's coalition government that campaigned promising to separate religion from government affairs. A Shinui Cabinet minister declared that officials had no business inspecting people's eating habits.

That reminds me.........I bought some Coke that was Kosher for Passover. I hope I can explain this correctly...regular soda made with high fructose corn syrup is not Kosher (for Passover) because the corn syrup contains a miniscule amount of fermented corn byproduct. Or something like that. I have it on the highest authority. My husband learned this from a rabbi who is the editor of a magazine for Kosher homemakers. So I think I have it straight.

Anyway, this would make this particular Coca-Cola more appealing to purists who think that high fructose corn syrup is an abomination and only Coke made with sugar (cane, beet, whatever) tastes like the real thing. Supposedly, Coke from Mexico is made with sugar. I have no experience with this since Martha forgot to transport home the bottle of Mexican Coke that my sister had put aside for me.

I can’t really say that I detected a taste difference. This could be affected by the fact that it was canned and not bottled. We all know that Coca-Cola from a glass bottle is the gold standard. So I would rate the Kosher for Pasover Coke as very good. Not as good as the $4 bottle of Coke that I had at a cafe in Paris. That was from a bottle. Opened tableside by the waiter and decanted over several perfect, rock-solid ice cubes. The ultimate cola experience.

No further taste testing will be done. The rest of the six-pack disappeared quickly, having the appeal of a high-priced curiousity. Next Passover, I shall attempt to find the Kosher Coke in glass. That will be the true test.

So much for tolerance.

New York's ambitious drive to phase in some of the nation's toughest high-school graduation requirements has come to a crossroads as state educators decide whether to revise a policy that raises passing grades in 2004 from 55 to 65 for three of five Regents exams needed for a diploma.
I know I’ve been out of school awhile, but back in the day, 65 was failing.

Personally, we call it a runcible spoon (as coined by Edward Lear)
yeah, it’s me........You are a spork! You are a mismatched hodgepodge of a personality, and as such, utterly useless.


what kitchen utensil are YOU?
Link thanks to Michelle

April 23...Feast of St. George


Would like to come up with a nice little surprise for my Pastor on the feast day of his namesake. He already has a lovely St. George collection. Perhaps these would be good:

No comments:

This-or-That Tuesday!
1. Yummier: Chocolate ice cream or strawberry cheesecake? What part of c-h-o-c-o-l-a-t-e don’t you understand?
2. Better to watch on TV: Movies or sports? Movies.
3. A better web browser: MSIE or Netscape (or tell us your own favorite!)Netscape
4. A better way to travel: Automobile or bus/train?I’d really prefer plane, but I guess I’ll take auto. Every bus trip I’ve been forced to take has been Fellini-esque - from the first day of kindergarten (wrong bus, wound up at wrong school) to the bizarro trip I made from Hudson WI to Madison WI just to spare my sister (post-op, of course) from having to get me to the airport. Rick offered to pick me up in Madison. He knew I wouldn’t make it all the way to Chicago or even Milwaukee.
5. Your preferred camera: Digital or film? Film. Until I can get a digital.
6. A Cooler Vehicle: Motorcycle or sports car?Sports car
7. More fun: Video games or board games? Video games when alone. Board games with family and friends. Love that personal interaction and cut-throat competition.
8. Sexier: A perfect body or an intelligent mind?Mind. Always pay attention to the mind.
9. A stinkier smell: Skunk or gasoline (petrol)? Skunk!!!
10. Thought-provoking question of the week: What is more important to you: making a ton of money and being at the top of your field, or finding your soulmate and living a comfortable but not wealthy life? Could I just cobble together my own choice: top of the field, comfortable but not wealthy. Skip the soulmate stuff. I just think the soulmate is an Oprah-ish, cloying construct that has no place in the development of a mature life.

Hope I didn’t offend anyone by saying that I don’t believe in ‘soulmates.’ At least not in the way the average modern woman is looking for one. I think you can throw more of a wet blanket on a party by disavowing a belief in ‘soulmates’ than in asserting blatant atheism. Society is generally quite tolerant of those who chose not to believe in God.......but people who don’t believe there is just one absolutely ideal special sweet lovey-dovey left-shoe-to-your-right-shoe aren’t just wrong, they’re mean and crazy and just don’t understand.

Oh
I guess it's Earth Day. I must tell you all about how my high school celebrated the first Earth Day. And the time Paul Ehrlich came to speak on the evils of overpopulation.
My brain remained unwashed....

There is....
a prodromal tingling sensation in the back of my throat.
Let’s all chant:
I am not getting sick.
I am not getting sick.
I am not getting sick.
I am not getting sick.
I am not getting sick.

I was feeling kind of funny last week, too. But I keep battling it back with prayer, OJ and handfuls of OTC drugs. I’m certainly not going to blow off work this morning because I have an odd sensation in my throat.

Other things that might be making me feel unwell: the SweetTarts that topped off breakfast, the R. Kelly video that just slimed its way across my TV screen, that black dog.

Animal Control is still stalking the neighborhood looking for the black dog. I am starting to think that the guys in the Animal Control van are spies.

Time to set up the school stuff for the day.
I forgot to prep the Shakespeare theme for the week. That may have to wait until tomorrow. I did buy a new DVD at Target. Something I really liked, with an ‘A’,....was it All’s Well that Ends Well, As You Like It, Much Ado about Nothing? I think it is Much Ado about Nothing. You know, the one with Kenneth Branagh and Denzel Washington.

I noticed when I took a bunch of the kids to see Much Ado at Barat’s College’s Shakespeare on the Green some years back, that the ribaldry floats right past ears not accustomed to Shakespearean English and British accents. Maybe I’ll have RIck set the boys up watching a portion of the DVD this afternoon.

I must remember to write about last week’s viewing of Godspell. For me it was a lovely blast from the past - the boys saw it differently. (Actually, Eddie slept thru 2/3, so he hardly saw it at all!)

New Arrival in the Athanasius household!
Check out Summa Contra Mundum for some good news and pics that are a delightful way to start the day. Wishing them much happiness....

No, really.........
when Mom says wear your helmet, she means it.

Copyright © 2003, Chicago Tribune

Too Sad
Freight train kills Lake Forest boy, 11
An 11-year-old Lake Forest boy was killed Saturday afternoon when he was hit by a train as he and a friend tried to cross the tracks on their way to a McDonald's, police said.

Steven Malin was struck by a northbound Canadian Pacific freight train around 1:30 p.m. in the western section of the affluent North Shore suburb, near Telegraph and Everett Roads.

I had to line up altar servers for a supper hour memorial service tomorrow evening. This was not an easy task, considering how over-booked the local kids are. But just about each child I talked to paused and whispered into the phone, “Is it for......that boy?” No. It was for a middle-aged man. So the thought of serving was manageable for them. If not doable on account of their tutoring, lessons, sports, etc. Tomorrow night’s deceased is close enough to Rick’s age. I shall refrain from too much chatter about it.

Having boys close to this age (9 and 13), I shudder every time I think of this accident. This is another one of those times that reality encroaches on our safe little world. Children in the city get hit by trains. Children out in the ‘sticks’ get hit by trains. But not children in near-to-perfect Lake Forest. (Is it little wonder that the hometown of the Walgreen family, of the “Welcome to Perfect” series of TV ads, is Lake Forest?) Children in “Perfect” can’t die. Children in “Perfect” can’t get hit by trains. It can’t happen.......but it does anyway.

In our “Perfect” niche, a memento mori always catches us off balance. For the kids, it is almost impossible to ponder.

No, this is one veterinary job benefit we don’t want!

Befriend a veteterinarian to kill yourself.

Veterinarians in Australia and Zealand are outraged at suggestions by a leading euthanasia proponent that people wanting to kill themselves should befriend a vet because they have access to lethal drugs.
Link via Jeff Miller.

And here we’ve just been joking about getting a free flea-dip for Eddie...
Not to mention the samples of nutritional supplements, fiber biscuits, discount Heartgard and Frontline.

The Quiz I Couldn't Pass By...
thinking of my father - artist, printer, photographer, typesetter - both desk-top publishing and the real-deal, back in the day........
[Loren H. Smith 1925-1993]

Comic Sans - You are easy going and have a good
sense of humor. You are a nice change from the
norm. Beware of becoming too cliche.


What Font Are You? (Standard Fonts)
brought to you by Quizilla


Link via Dylan

''If Catholics want to remove their headgear that's their business. But the veil is part of what makes Muslim women special, and France must accept that,'' said a young, veiled woman....

French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy drew boos and whistles at a Muslim gathering by insisting that Muslim women must remove their veils for identity photographs.

I think someone's missing the point of the photo ID. It shows your face. It is much more........hmmm, honest, than something like filling in a line with hair color or weight. (Yes, I did add ten pounds when I renewed my license last month. But considering I had never changed the weight after 24 years of marriage (and the concommitent name change), 6 babies, multiple addresses, etc. I still fell short of honest. (Or should I fell far lighter than honest.)

Oh, the humanity!
The weather man said my headache (how did he know?) was probably caused by low pressure. Funny, I’m feeling a lot of pressure.

And, then I have to work tonight. All the good things happen on Monday night.
I think I’ll be missing Lucy’s wedding on 7th Heaven. (I’ve missed the rest of the season, so I guess it doesn’t matter....)
Then there is Mr. Personality. Why must I miss that? I think we’re just enjoying the ads for the show immensely because we all know what ‘personality’ really means. You know, it starts with an ‘a’ and ends with an ‘e’ and it’s not Aristotle.

This is mostly a beauty quiz...........men may not relate to the first questions......
No snarky comments, please, Embot! We look too much alike!

You come from Heaven. You're the purest of pure, a
saint. You're probably an angel sent directly
from Heaven.


Where Did Your Soul Originate?
brought to you by Quizilla
link via Michelle
I may have started in Heaven. But I've been here long enough to have had it take a certain toll. And I have seen the "bowls of Hell."
Those must be what Bridget leaves in her bedroom with three day old Lucky Charms floating in fluorescent congealed milk, right?
Seriously, the quiz said "bowls of Hell." I don't usual rag on misspellings, but that was too good to pass by.
There are a few of those bowls in my kitchen right now. Perhaps I should be attending to them instead of playing with the computer....

Just don't change my last name to "Beauregard!"

VIOLET You surround yourself with art and music and are constantly driven to express yourself. You often daydream. You prefer honesty in your relationships and belive strongly in your personal morals. Find out your color at Stvlive.com!

link via Flos Carmeli

Happy Easter!
I forced myself to stay away from the computer for the Triduum and Easter. Just to give myself over to mover meditation and less blather. But it’s Easter Monday, so I’m free to blather on, right?

Part of my silence was caused by my internal snit over not being able to attend the Easter Vigil Mass. Out of the 52 Saturday nights in a year, this was the night that Embot’s future in-law’s invited us to dinner to celebrate their engagement. After an initial stab at rescheduling, I decided that I was not going to make this a battle of wills between Em and me. And as much as I wanted to be at Church on Saturday night, I figured being the only family member to not show up at the dinner would not be the sort of Christian witness I wanted to make. I doubt that I would blow everyone away with my piety.........I’d just make the loyal Catholic contingent look like rude bad eggs.

So I decided to offer up my disappointment, though I did find myself rhapsodizing to those who called the rectory for Mass times on Saturday morning. I described the Vigil Mass in more detail than asked for..........stopping just short of saying, “I’d go if I were you - I’d be there if I could....”

We had a great time. The food was great. I must take the boys to Chinatown for a little field trip. While we’re there, I’ll grab an order or mayonaise shrimp with candied walnuts. And keep the boys out of the ‘glass tree’ store. For obvious reasons.


And...pride goeth before the brief nasal hemorrhage.....
I was the lector on Holy Thursday. I did OK. Pumped full of ibuprofen, so I would not limp in the procession. One of the deacons tried to convince me to join in the recession with the rational that Jesus likes a ‘crowd.’ Not just because of the touchy hip - though that was a consideration - I took that one to the Pastor. My rational - Jesus doesn’t like a ‘burlesque.’

And my dear late mother would have been proud. Laughing at inappropriate times (especially in Church) was a specialty of mine back in my tender years. (i.e., up to the time of my marriage) I didn’t crack a smile when someone’s cell phone went off during the first reading. Playing an especially absurd tune. I didn’t smile - nor make eye contact with my family - when I read the words ‘loins girt.’ The kids think loins is funny. This may have something to do with my receiving phone calls from people looking for “E-loin.” I also bit my tongue and didn’t throw in an ad lib comment about our Flower Fairy being the person who delivered and arranged the flowers for the Altar of Repose. That would have been..........well, you know what it would have been. Ad libbing lectors are a prickly spot with me. (And heaven knows I have a lot of prickly spots.) Besides, as my dear father used to say, “You know it and God knows it - that should be enough!”

So I could stay in the pew. Which is where I wanted to be after spending the afternoon reviewing the Pange Lingua and Tantum Ergo with the boys. I reviewed ever so briefly the legend that the Pange Lingua derives its tune from a Roman marching song. I certainly didn’t need anyone bursting into “Ecce, Caesar nunc triumphat qui subgegit Gallias” by mistake. I can see now that I had a lot of my personal pride invested in this. Which I didn’t realized until the second verse of the Pange Lingua. I was kneeling there feeling like Mrs. Perfect POD Homschooling Mom - just knowing that my children were singing in Latin, without the Missalette. At that moment, Chuck taps me on the arm and I turn and see that he is in the midst of a sudden torrential nosebleed. The rest is something of a blur. Lots of Kleenex and nose pinching. Couldn’t really leave the pew because the Eucharistic procession was heading toward us. Chuck’s fine. My moment of glory was pulled out from under me. Which is precisely what I needed.

RIck took the twitchy contingent home soon after Mass. I stayed another hour. I had a lot to discuss with the Lord.

Badger State Update:
Wisconsin safe for Badgers, perilous for Easter Bunnies...
Police responded to the Wausau Center mall after a 29-year-old Wausau man, working as the mall's Easter Bunny, reported Saturday that an unknown man got him in a headlock, punched him in the mouth three times and fled the scene.

I caught a little of this on C/SPAN. My advice to Tim Robbins..........keep the bathroom window open while coloring your hair. The fumes may be getting to you....

Whatever...

You are Ratbert.
Your goal is to make people love you, but you only
succeed in making a fool of yourself as you
try. You're the butt of everbody's joke, but
that's ok : you can take it and still be
cheery.


Which Dilbert character are you ?
brought to you by Quizilla

Shakespeare Month...
continues. Rick and the boys watched A Midsummer’s Night Dream. The movie set in Tuscany in the late 19th century. I like it. And it was readily available at the library. Rick prefers the BBC version from the ‘70’s with Diana RIgg. Most likely for all the reasons that a fellow going through puberty in the ‘70’s was a ShakespeareDiana Rigg fan.

Remember.....
that black dog in The Omen? The one that the nasty ‘nanny’ keeps in the house? Well it just moved into my neighborhood.

Said dog was walking down the street when I came home at 9:00 last night. I just saw it in the small wooded area behind my house. It was stalking us all week-end. My husband has seen county animal control take it away - twice. And it keeps coming back. It has a collar and tags. But it keeps leaving home and hanging around here to menace us. This is your stereotypical menacing black dog. A dachsund or schnauzer just wouldn’t have the gravitas to unnerve the people it stalks. (Can you imagine the dispatcher at the sheriff’s office attempting to keep a straight face/voice while receiving this call, “There is a wiener dog following me and watching my family?”)

The worst thing about this dog is that he makes the neighbor’s new German Shepherds (The Captain and Tenille, I kid you not!) bark. Cody and Scrappy rarely bark. Except when those Shepherds are barking. Then everything here is up for grabs. This was not funny at 10:30 last night.

While I’m invoking media memories........
does anyone remember that annoying techn-pop disco-ish song that accompanies those two loser dudes on Saturday Night LIve? Some endless refrain of ‘baby don’t hurt me.’ Right around the time the dogs were calming down and I was sweeping the last of the popcorn left over from the evening showing of A Midsummer Night’s Dream from my bed, a vehicle with an ungodly sound system parked itself in the apartment complex (about 100 yards away.) Blaring that dreadful song. This song went on for well over 5 minutes. When it finally stopped I approached the window to yell out - at this point I was losing any patina of refinement. The offenders deserved a sarcastic thank you. Just as I had my head in the window, it started over again. Baby, I was ready to hurt them. Someone else came out to terminate the party. Just when I was about to join it.........in my nightgown, never mind the formalities of a trenchcoat.

I woke up with a vague feeling of illness. For a moment I contemplated staying home with the boys and curling up to watch the Godspell DVD that I brought home. Then Scrappy had an asthma attack, launching me out of bed. I don’t feel so rotten. I may as well keep going.

Between school assignments, I want Rick to keep an eye out for that black dog. I think we’re safe from the techno-pop party boys. I bet they’re sleeping in....

The Lady in Red?

The My Heart Will Go On theme from the Leonardo di Caprio movie is among a number of songs being barred from marriage ceremonies in the Kerry diocese of the Roman Catholic church.

Also dumped are the Lady in Red and The Wind Beneath my Wings.

Couples in the affected part of south-west Ireland will have to be content with more traditional music, including Ave Maria and Panus (sic) Angelicus.

The message has been spelled out to them in a new set of guidelines from Kerry Catholic authorities.

Things haven’t changed. People still must be saved from their own crassness and desire to make choices that will come back to haunt them.

I grimace everytime I hear Billy Joel’s Just the Way You Are. How many weddings did we attend where that was the ‘touching selection’? A song that he wrote for his first wife. If I had had that song at my wedding, I think it would make me gag (more than it already does) every time I heard it. Even if I were still married.

Oh, well, I think Purcell’s Trumpet Voluntary holds up well. Though there are bad Sundays when singing All Creatures of Our God and King can give me a weird flashback. Then I look at the spousal unit and realize that he doesn’t even recognize a hymn that was sung at his only wedding. Must be a male/female brain thing....

About a thousand abortion opponents kneeled and prayed Saturday on the sidewalk outside Chicago Planned Parenthood, while a dozen other church leaders countered by denouncing the vigil as an act of intimidation.

Amid a protest described by Planned Parenthood as one of the largest ever outside the clinic at Division and LaSalle Streets, women ducked quietly in through the front door. Those leaving looked down and hurried away.

The demonstration came the day before Palm Sunday. It was a timely event, said abortion opponents, who called Planned Parenthood a "place of crucifixion."

"The unjust killing of the unborn is a great and deep suffering," said Julie McCreevy, an organizer for abortion opponents.

Abortion-rights supporters held a news conference nearby to say demonstrations outside the clinic were inappropriate.

Though I missed this prayer vigil, I have been to similar events sponsored by Miss McCreevy’s organization (The Helpers of God’s Precious Infants). There are no signs. No ‘demonstrating.”

"No woman should feel intimidated when going into a clinic to obtain health care," said Rev. Randall Doubet King, chairman of Planned Parenthood in Chicago. Doubet King was among those who held a news conference in a gated area behind the clinic during the protest.

There should be no implied intimidation in prayer. That would be in the hearts of those who know in some sense that what they are doing is wrong. If a thousand people were praying outside the hospital if I were giving birth, receiving a transplant or dispensing with a gangrenous gall bladder, I would not feel intimidated. I would feel heartened and encouraged.

"The majority of religious people are pro-choice," said Dan Coleman, a Church of Christ minister from a Hyde Park congregation. The protesters "give you a sense that they speak for all religious communities," Coleman said. "They don't.

Says who?
And could Jesus sue the Church of Christ for misrepresentation?

So that’s why we have the peeling paint problem!


You are Turkish coffee. You are STRONG, BITTER,
and you peel paint off walls. Some people
adore you. Many find you a bit strong for
their taste.


What Kind of Coffee Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla


Links courtesy of Kathy.......

Huh?
The director of a U.S. Catholic archdiocese ministry wants to put President George W. Bush on trial for war crimes because of his Iraq policy.

In his most recent newsletter, Frank Fromherz, of the Peace and Justice Commission for the Portland Archdiocese in Oregon urged like-minded Catholics to back an ecumenical group's request that "the International Criminal Court indict and prosecute our own president as a war criminal."

Mr Fromherz said, "We must be in solidarity with the social power of active nonviolence among the people who make their home along the Tigris and Euphrates,” which would lead me to think he hasn’t read article in the new Vanity Fair about Saddam Hussein’s sons. There a lot of “not nice” people afflicting the people who make their home along the Tigris and Euphrates. George Bush is not one of them.

I am a bit compulsive about reading while I eat (when alone, of course - I’m not a total boor) The article about Saddam’s sons was not conducive to pleasant digestion.

But here’s the encouraging news.........Fromherz and the commission's other two employees lost their jobs this week along with 15 others in a round of archdiocese layoffs attributed to budget cuts.

Value-Added
Just a little bit of gossip. I know Embot may be interested. A house in which we used to live is coming on the market....for $3.4 million. (Hint, Em - it ain’t the house on Hilbert in Cedarburg!) A friend who just happens to be in real estate (kindly bear in mind that I’m writing from a town in which every other woman is in real estate) approached me while I was in line for confession yesterday morning. She happens to be the listing agent and thought I’d be interested. Tuesday is the ‘broker’s open house’ but she thought I might want to walk through just to see what marvelous things the new owners have done. (Marvelous things indeed if they have quadrupled the cost of the house in less than 5 years.) Oh, well, just one more sin to haul into the confessional. Who do I envy? The agent? The sellers? The potential buyers? Everyone who doesn’t live in a three bedroom town-house?

I may pass on the open house. It would be more than just a walk down memory lane. I might start muttering to myself and anyone else around about how tres tacky/nouveau riche the fountain in the front yard is. There would be the temptation to collar any willing broker and talk to her (chances 9 to 1 being that the broker would be female) about the provenance of this ‘one-of-a-kind’ house on the lake. Let’s see............there was the fact that a real human being, with who knows what potential to be president/Pope/pop star, was born in the first floor guest room. The lower roof that an pre-adeolescent Em climbed out on to protest the fact that she was not given a wine glass for her cranberry juice one Thanksgiving. The spot on the back clapboard where I left a chunk of my face after tripping on garden stake (Mea culpa - I shouldn’t have been running into the house, through the garden, 8 months pregnant) So many memories. So many Merry Christmases, Happy Birthdays. I would pass on th bad stuff......colorful, but I’d keep it under my metaphorical hat. (You know,Em, like the sister that was dropped off on the back porch in a dangerous degree of intoxication. The time the police came to investigate a potential kidnapping when one of your sibs was taken to school screaming. That kind of thing.)