ashleyopening
Originally uploaded by LostLuthien

This is Ashley, standing in the entrance/exit to Plunge Pool, which is a smallish cavern that is pitch black at night. By day, if you stand in there for a few minutes, your eyes adjust, and you can see a little bit of light that comes from a skylight 30 feet up.

Good morning!

ashleysmile
Originally uploaded by LostLuthien

This is Ashley, eating a banana and looking cute. Behind her, you can see the hills that surrounded our campsite.

Cave Entrance

brianfrdavid
Originally uploaded by LostLuthien

Here's Father David and Brian heading into another cavern. It's hard to believe that caves this size are just made from mud!

Cave

cave3
Originally uploaded by LostLuthien

Sorry for the blurriness here. I was perched on a rockslide near the roof of the cave, looking down at Fr. David and Ashley.

Ashley and the plant

ashleyplant
Originally uploaded by LostLuthien

Here's Ashley with a scrubby plant, just after coming up out of a cave.

the view

view2
Originally uploaded by LostLuthien

This is the view that greeted us after scrabbling up through one of the caves (Footprint Canyon, I think)

You can see why it's called the Borrego Badlands.

keyhole

keyhole
Originally uploaded by LostLuthien

This odd cave opening was in a mud wall above and behind our campsite. There was no way to get up there, so we don't know how big that cave might be.

up from the depths

frdavidclimb
Originally uploaded by LostLuthien

This is Fr. David, climbing up out of Casey's Big Cavern (I think).

cirith ungol

cirithungol
Originally uploaded by LostLuthien

Seriously, don't these look like the steps of Cirith Ungol?

That's Fr. DAvid and Brian up top there. None of us girls wanted to rick our necks climbing up there.

in the depths

down
Originally uploaded by LostLuthien

This is us going back down into Casey's Big Cavern.

Moon light

jet
Originally uploaded by LostLuthien

This was a moonrise, viewed from a small vale in the hills above the mud caves. The pink streak is the trail of a jet going by.

This is depressing. I went to the bookstore the other day, scoping out the current state of Young Adult novels.

 

It's disgusting. The vast majority of it (with the important exception of sci-fi/fantasy) is over-sexualized, immature, selfish, and preachy. Blech. No wonder young people don't want to read, if this crap is all they have to choose from.

 

Note the new addition

Yes, I have added a NaNoWriMo countdown clock onto my blog. I am addicted to NaNo: I started participating in 2004, when I first heard about it. I started 4 days late and finished 2 days early: 52,000 words in 25 days! My 2005 story was a bust, but I learned a lot by not winning. In 2006, I wrote 54,000 words in 30 days, and realized that I was totally hooked. I participated in the forums for the first time, got to know other NaNoers in my region, and went to the Thank God It's Over party.

 

And now I'm re-writing last year's NaNo (excerpts available upon request--manuscript now at 64,000 words and counting), lurking in the forums, and generally just waiting for November to roll around again. This year's story will be about a monk with super-powers (no, I'm not kidding. I'm working on the outline already).

 

Go to www.nanowrimo.org. Check it out. Sign up for a reminder. Discover that you really can write a novel. Go for the gusto!

 

We who are about to write salute you!

 

(note: Yes, I am aware that NaNo has eaten my soul. I'm perfectly okay with this.)

 

My map!

I love Google. I really do.

 

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=101719516587025947641.000001136e4dc1d57eaaf&z=11&om=1

 

Here's a map of my world! I'm currently adding locations mentioned in Sanctus: those are all marked with little red flames. Adding photos slowly. Enjoy, and let me know what you think!

Update on story

Well, I have been reworking my NaNoWriMo novel. Well, reworking may not be the right term, more like re-writing entirely. For instance, I'm on page 25 of draft two. That part of the story used to be on page 4 of the original. So, yeah....expanding the story, a LOT.

 

Anyhow, I'm trying to stay inspired with this thing, which is hard, because rewriting STINKS. I'm hoping to have draft two finished some time this year, and I want to self-publish a few copies, and give them to friends and family to read over, and see what they think.

 

So, if you are reading this, and are interested in reading the story, and giving me feedback, that would be GREAT! Just let me know, and I will send you a book when this draft is done. I can't say how soon draft two will be finished (again, I'm on page 25 out of 170, and expanding a lot), but knowing that people are waiting for it might help encourage me to get it done.

A good laugh

I have recently discovered (thank you, Miriam, for the heads-up!) one of the most delightful, most clever writers I have ever read. Jasper Fforde's books are not only well-written, but have more jokes per page than almost any other book I've read. And not just any jokes: puns, similies, characters contacting one another through the footnotes, and many jokes that depend on having read classics of English literature. For instance: in his alternative world of 1985 London, you don't get Mormons coming to your door--you get Baconians, who try to persuade you that Sir Francis Bacon, not Shakepeare, wrote the plays.

 

Aside from his Thursday Next stories, he has a series of Nursey Crimes, with investigators Jack Spratt and Mary Mary. In the first book in the series, The Big Over Easy, the team puzzles out who killed beloved social presence, womanizer, and philanthropist Humpty Dumpty? This is a seminal case for Inspector Spratt, since his last case, in which he tried to convict the Three Little Pigs of murder, fell through because of the all-pig jury.

 

These books read a little like the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by the much-missed Douglas Adams; however, there are two key differences.

 

1. Adams' jokes cna be understood by virtually anyone reading the book, no external sources are necessary. If you are reading Fforde's The Eyre Affair, you'd better have read Jane Eyre, Shakespeare, and Poe's The Raven. A good grasp of grammar and punctuation is also helpful.

 

2. The Hitchhiker's Guide books are extremely funny, but also highly cynical. Fforde's work is full of a delight in words, great books, and life in general. His lead characters are highly moral people, though never preachy or dull. While he pokes some fun at the great literature of the Western world, he obviously loves the books, and the jokes are the sort that bibliophiles tell. 

You know it's going to be a long day...

....when you wake up in a sweat, from a dream in which you were caught in a Hitchcock movie that you remember as the scariest movie you've ever seen.

 

It really doesn't help much when you realize that there is no such movie.

Augh!

    Hip-hop should be banned from office settings. Headache headache headache

 

Old sci-fi

I freely confess, I love sci-fi. The good, the bad, the just plain "out-there," I enjoy reading it. Bring on the space princesses, space pirates, space weapons, stupid space slang, and space dinosaurs (usually living on Venus, for some reason)!

 

But I also freely confess, many of these books are not particularly good. Many of them take no time to think about basic physics in weightless enviroments, or human dialogue (a race that can travel between the stars would not have phrases like "space dementia" or use "space torpedoes." They would have much better terms for such things).

 

This is why I am immensely enjoying Assignment In Space with Rip Foster, originally published in 1952 (I think) as Rip Foster Rides the Grey Planet (a much better title, btw). Towards the end of the book, the heroes are on an asteroid made of a very valuable metal: they've set up controlled explosions to knock it out of the asteroid belt and toward Earth's orbit. But then the bad guys came around again and are trying to kill them and take the asteroid, so they've taken apart one of their nuclear explosives, and made mulitple bombs out of it, and guided the asteroid much closer to the sun, so the enemy cruiser can't launch its small fighters (they'll get sucked in by the sun's gravity). Now we're waiting to see if our heroes can survive the attack, survive the radiation, and blast the asteroid back into an earth-ward orbit once the attackers are gone!

 

I won't tell you how they get out of it (go read the dang book yourself!) but it was great, interesting, and actually pretty funny (well, the way they got rid of the bad guys was funny, anyway).

 

I gotta get some more in this series.

You know you are a geek when....

1. You are reading space adventure book from the 1950's and loving it.

 

2. While reading said book, you come across a description of an enemy spaceship, and think "Well, they may do ok in space, but if you lured them into atmo they'd be as manuverable as a cow."

 

3. While thinking about this, you start trying to figure out if any of the known techniques for fighitng TIE fighters (eyeballs) would work in this situation.

 

Yeah................

Also to read...

..the Cthulhu stories by H.P. Lovecraft. I've read Shadow Out of Time, The Call of Cthulhu, and the first part of Whisperer in the Darkness, and loved them.

 

I'm not much of one for the horror genre. There's a ton of junk in it. However, Lovecraft is a master of the genre; he can evoke a shiver with a single phrase, and the end of his stories make me want to run and hide under the nearest couch. He manages to bring forth the horror of the utterly Other, the terror of chaos, of the "old gods" coming back to the earth. Some of the most disturbing parts of his classic, The Call of Cthulhu, are the sections in which the architecture of the ancient city is described as "all wrong," planes that are neither vertical nor horizontal, nor quite diagonal. Even the words, "Ph-nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn," translated as "In his house at R'lyeh dead Cthulhu waits dreaming", seem full of menace, even before the translation.

 

So...yeah. Creepy as all get-out, and great stuff. Hmmm...my birthday is coming up in July....a book of Lovecraft stories would not go amiss.......  :)

 

Book list!

list of books I need to read--if you are reading my blog, and own any of these, and are willing to loan them to me, let me know:

 

Shadow of the Torturer, Gene Wolf

The Bourne Ultimatum, Robert Ludlum (I was surprised at how good the Bourne books were--highly recommend!)

Ringworld, Larry Niven

Foundation, Isaac Asimov

the Thursday Next novels by Jasper Fforde

the Dresden files books by Jim Butcher (already read first two, loved them. Like Buffy meets film noir.)

The Warrior's Apprentice by Lois McMaster Bujold

Watchmen by Alan Moore

Coraline by Neil Gaiman, because Neil Gaiman is cool

Sandman Vol.6 through Vol. 10 by Neil Gaiman because Sandman is amazing

all the Happy Hollister book

the original Hardy Boys series (not the 1960's re-writes)

the Cthulhu stories by H.P. Lovecraft

 

At this point, I'll read just about anything recommended by John C. Wright, from http://johncwright.livejournal.com, because he has such darned good taste.

 

 

Books read recently:

 

Lying Awake by Mark Salzman--good book, recommended

Mariette in Ecstasy--very good book, read along with Lying Awake

V for Vendetta by Alan Moore--while I disagree with the philosophy in this graphic novel (pro-anarhy, and I tend to be a monarchist), it did bring up interesting issues, and thoughts. Anyone who sees the movie should definately read the novel, though the movie is good on its own.

The Lady in the Forest, by David Guterman. Not sure what I think of this one. Really not too crazy about it, but it's making me think a little.

The Happy Hollisters and the Old Clipper Ship--innocent, good, sometimes funny--better than I remembered!

 

Currently reading:

 

The Worm Ourobouros by E.R. Eddison. Weird, high epic fantasy. Almost as tough as reading the Illiad, but very good stuff.

The Ring of the Niebelung, by Wagner. Just cause it's cool

The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Inspired to read this by my roommate's video of Le Notre Dame De Paris, a really awesome stage production. In French!

 

Cthulhu ftagn!

My visit to the library confirmed a suspicion of mine. H.P Lovecraft writes the creepiest stuff I have ever read. EVER. Seriously disturbing stuff. Excellently done, highly recommended. Just don't read it at night. Or alone. Or without a blanket to hide under.

....than can just make your whole day/week/month:

Fr. David recently did a blog post about children's serial books, which he collects. I made a comment on the blog that while I read many of the classic series (Bobbsey Twins, Boxcar Children, Hardy Boys, Danny Dunn, etc) my favorite was the Happy Hollisters series. One book in particular had stuck in my memory--The Happy Hollisters and the Old Clipper Ship.

I went to a talk Fr. David gave on the subject at the Placentia Library last night. At one point, he mentioned that he had some books on a table that were free for the taking, but he had one in particular that he wanted to give away. He pulled out a pristine copy of the Old Clipper Ship, complete with dust jacket, and gave it to me!!!

I could hardly sit still through the rest of the presentation, I just wanted to go to a quiet spot and re-read the story! After the presentation was over, I drove to the nearest Sonic and ordered a burger and malt to set the mood, and settled in to read. I finished the book just before I went to sleep last night.

It was even better than I remembered.

You know what can totally make your whole day/week/month? Your year-old god-daughter (aka most beautiful intelligent baby in the whole world) snuggling with you before a nap and reaching up to you to say goodbye.

You can see pictures of the most beautiful, intelligent, good-natured baby in the world at her lovely mother's blog: http://comewhatmay.wordpress.com

Fixating

I've recently begun the practice of fixed-hour prayer, after reading the book The Shaping of a Life by Phyllis Tickle. I actually disagree with Mrs. Tickle on many points, but she's an engaging writer.

 

The practice of fixed-hour prayer is very old: elements of it can be found in ancient Judaism, as well as in early church practices. The basic idea is of praying at specific ("fixed") hours. The standard ones are traditionally:

 

Matins--traditionally midnight, but often anytime before dawn. Lauds is often added into Matins

Lauds-sunrise

Prime-6am

Terce-9am

Sext-noon

Nones-3pm

Vespers-sunset

Compline--before retiring, usually around 9pm

 

Obviously, most working adults will be unable to say all of these, so the strict observance is usually only for monastic orders; however, many lay people have found ways to say many of the fixed hour prayers (also called the Divine Offices) Phyllis Tickle's books, The Divine Hours, are a set of books of fixed hour prayers/offices that are arranged to be useable by the ordinary Christian. The day consists of 4 offices:

 

Morning Office--on the hour or half hour between 6 and 9 am

Midday Office--on the hour or half hour between 11am and 2pm

Vespers--on the hour or half hour between 5pm and 8pm

Compline--just before retiring for the night

 

I've only been praying these for a couple of days, and I don't always get every office in (I haven't done Vespers for a few days now, just due to schedule issues) but it seems to be a good thing. I've never been good at just sitting down to pray--I talk to God quite a bit during the day, but very little of it is structured for worshipful prayer in any way. This method or praying seems to be working well.

 

We shall see!

Hmmm.....

I need to re-read Dune. That's just a darned good book, even if it turns out to be evil. Wonder where my copy is.......

 

Jim Harrington, gosh darn it, you need to finish writing the Tara story.

Best quote from an author's blog today

"I am a closet anarchist. (That is, I believe in lawlessness for wardrobes.)"

 

From the archives of the inimitable John Wright at http://johncwright.livejournal.com This has become one of my favorite blogs to read.

 

You learn something new everyday...

...for instance, today I learned that my co-worker can do a killer Marvin the Martian impersonation.

 

My new favorite blog

http://johncwright.livejournal.com/

 

This guy is great. Here's a sample:

 

"But I do not think men and women are equal insofar as they are both equally masculine and feminine. I do not think man and wife are equal in marriage: the man should lead the household, and the woman should rule it. The man should make the decisions and the woman should domesticate the man so that he makes the right decisions. The woman's task is to civilize the hairy barbarians of bachelorhood into fine upstanding young breadwinners: this is preliminary to her assuming the role of motherhood, and good practice for it.

I wear the pants in my family. It is just that, in my family, my wife picks them out."

 

He has stuff on every topic; go read!

 

Ugh

I hate having a sore throat. It's just annoying. It's all itchy and achy and makes it hard to talk. Blergh.

 

How Much of a Church Geek Are You?

You're definately on the border here; just a little more work, and you'll be a fully-fledged geek! Time to add some good blogs to your reading: go for the Curt Jester, the Anchoress, and Shrine of the Holy Whapping.
Take this quiz!








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http://www.scriptoriumdaily.com/2007/05/25/college-graduation-ten-things-i-wished-i-had-known/

 

The link above is to a post by one of my favorite teachers, Dr. John Mark Reynolds. "College Graduation: Ten Things I Wish I Had Known". I've been thinking graduation/growing up thoughts lately, after attending the Torrey graduation on Friday. Dr. Reynolds thoughts in this blog post seem good to me, so I'm going to see how I'm doing in these ten areas (Reynolds' comments in italics):

 

1. Friends matter. Don’t move around without considering the value of the community you have already made.

Doing ok on this one, I think. I still have friends from freshman year, and have been at the same church for...wow, 7 years in October! That's the main reason I've never considered moving; I love being around my friends here Not that moving is inherently bad--but maybe people in my age-range and culture move around a little too much.

2. Work is good. Get that first “bad job” and read the manager’s manuals. Figure out how your company operates. Suck even your low level retail job dry of information. Credit cards are mostly bad. Don’t borrow money except for a house or more education.

Doing alright on this one too, I guess. My job is good (for me--not for my pocketbook!) Have definately learned a lot. Still very much in debt, but it's almost all for health and education, so not too bad.

3. Don’t live for weekends, they are only 2/7 of the week. If your life is that bad, time for changes. Travel as much as you can in light of duty and sacrifice. (This is a great chance to go someplace and do hard labor for the poor with some friends.)

Well, I do love my weekends....but I don't know that I live for them. I do a lot during the week as well. I'm getting better about doing some traveling--I don't have the money to go far, but I'm having fun taking little day trips: last Saturday, up to Idyllwild! Got to go into a lot of little shops, talk to some interesting people!

4. If you are bored, pretty much ever, there is something wrong. We live in the most fascinating culture of all time with almost unlimited chances and choices. Perhaps you are only living for self and not for a cause bigger than you are? I know, I know. It sounds Commencement-y, but you cannot be happy living only for self.

I do still get bored sometimes, but not much. I usually have a book to pick up, or a painting to do. Never really had much trouble with entertaining myself.

5. Time to stop playing (very much) with toys. Growing up means (partly) finding your pleasures not in bigger toys, but in a life well lived. Have kids (don’t wait past your twenties if you can) and play with toys again as a matter of duty!

Hmmm, think I'm ok there. I only play one video game (Guitar Hero II!!!!) and even that not very much.

6. Getting married is good, but being single is also good. Let the people in your life who know you well (parents, pastor, friends) speak into your life to let you know when you are “ready.”

I think I've already pretty much answered this question in my life. I don't think I'm meant for marriage, and mostly I'm ok with that. My priest agrees with me, and most of the people I've talked to are very supportive. Yay!

7. You are an adult. You don’t have to prove it by disregarding every piece of advice older people give you. (Read the story of Rehoboam in the Bible.) Side line: do read the Bible daily. It is a good habit. Try reading a Bible like the King James version that will expand your vocabulary and sentence structure, not dumb itself down for you. Read a translation and not a paraphrase. The best modern version is the ESV.

I think I do ok with taking advice from my elders. Not great--I've never been great at taking advice--but I do have people I listen to who are older and wiser. Dr. Reynolds, in fact, is one of them.

Unfortunately, not doing great on reading the Bible daily. Never have been. Getting better at praying structured prayers everyday though, so progress is possible!

8. My being “happy” is not worth making someone else miserable. Your forty-something self will have to live with the scars you place on your soul now.

Hmmmm...well, in some ways I'm doing pretty good with this one, but I know my cluttered room is causing my roommate stress, and I need to work on that.  

9. Television? Media? Canned music? Try to get no more than an hour a day of the stuff. Read, read, read. (The difference between reading good stuff linked to on our home page or some other leader’s site and watching endless you-tube videos is one of the differences between shepherds and sheep.)

Eep. Not doing so good on this one. I don't watch THAT much TV (mostly just Mythbusters and Invader Zim--What Not to Wear once a week or so). But I don't much care for YouTube, or other things of that nature, and I'm usually reading several books (at the moment, Frank Capra's autobiography, the letters of St. Therese of Lisieux, and Eclipse of the Sun by Michael D. O'Brien. Trying to start the Ring of the Niebelung)

Even though I watch more TV than I would like, I still read more than most people I know. I've been reading a lot of fluff lately, so I need to up the ante a little.

10. Go to church every Sunday and participate. Join a small group there and discuss a great book. Church is a “free” way to find community, join a cause bigger than self, and find a moral system that you cannot just discard when it is convenient. Join a church with many older people in it (as long as they have a lively faith). Look for a pastor who is at least thirty years older (not close to your age). This seems like strange advice, but most of us are too peer dependent and need to be with (and hear) the ideas of older and wiser folk. Avoid the church of “what’s happening now.” You can get that from television. Find a place with a doctrinal statement with some teeth. If you don’t have to believe anything much to join, then there is nothing to argue about! Dialectical growth comes from pushing against hard and bright lines.

Ah, now this I've been doing for a while now. I love my church! I usually make it to two Masses a week, plus Compline (a beautiful service!) and spiritual direction group. I've also been a part of the church's writing group (now in hiatus) and still participate in the reading group (we read everything from Dante to Sayers to P.D. James.)

 

So all in alll.....I've got a lot to work on. Sigh. But then, what's new about that?

What is happening to me?

First, last weekend, I start liking Joni Mitchell; I'd always sort of thought of her as a random hippie-person, singing nonsense. Then I heard the song River, and decided to buy one of her CDs. I did, and loved it.

 

Second: I've always been annoyed by Bob Dylan. His voice just grates on me, and I never could make sense of out the few lyrics of his songs that I'd heard. But then I bought the Lady in the Water soundtrack, which had covers of 2 songs: The Times They Are a-Changin', and Every Grain of Sand. I found both of them to be moving and profound; so I broke down and finally bought a CD of Dylan's. I listened to the first few tracks last night, and darn it all, I really liked that one, too!

 

What the heck is going on here?

Weird dream

So last night I dreamed I was in Rome with my co-worker Cindy. We were wandering around, enjoying the sights or something, and then there was this little room, with lots of kids in it. I knew that the Pope was due to arrive soon, so we decided to wait and see him. Sure enough, he showed up, and started talking with all the kids.

 

Sadly, I got shy and started drawing a picture with crayons instead of going over and meeting him.

 

Dang it! I'm such a coward! You'd think I'd at least have the courage to go meet a DREAM of the Pope, right? Yeesh!

 

Yeah, it was a weird dream.

Best Quote of the day

From http://www.neilgaiman.com/journal  Neil Gaiman's online journal:

 

"These days, as a middle-aged and respectable author, I still feel a sense of indeterminate but infinite possibility on entering a lift, particularly a small one with white walls. That to date the doors that have opened have always done so in the same time, and world, and even the same building in which I started out seems merely fortuitous – evidence only of a lack of imagination on the part of the rest of the universe."

 

 

iPod shuffle meme: taken from the 'net

Rules: set your iPod or media player of choice to shuffle and answer each question with the song that comes up! Then repost the answers in a note of your own. No Cheating!

Click on the song titles to see the lyrics.



What do your friends think about you:

And So It Goes (Billy Joel)

Hmmm....interesting...I don't know that I'd mind that...but it seems like it'd be more a theme song for me, rather than others' perception of me. Oh well. I love the song anyway.



What do you dream about:

Everywhere I Go (Five Iron Frenzy)

Ha! For some reason this cracks me up. I dream about a love song made popular by Amy Grant, redone as ska by FIF? Cool. On a more serious note, if you take the words to the song, and the way I always interpreted them(spiritual allegory)....hmmm. Interesting.



What's the theme song to your life:

Million Pieces (Newsboys)

Again, hmmmm, interesting.



What was your high school like:

Walk Through the Fire (Once More With Feeling, from the Buffy Episode)

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So true!!!!!!!! Mot applicable line from the song: "These endless days are finally ending in a blaze!"



How do you feel right now:

I'm Waiting For You (Michael W. Smith)

Hmmm. For one thing, it's weird so many Christian songs are coming up on mine, I actually listen to very few Christian artists.

But this one....does seem to fit my thoughts lately...


When you get older your life will be:

Listen to Your Heart--dance mix (DHT)

Well, that doesn't exactly bode well for my love life, does it?


Your angry song is:

No Rain (Blind Melon)

WTH???? I love the song, but...angry? I knew my emotions were all screwed up but this is ridiculous! :)


Your love song is:

I Lost On Jeopardy (Weird Al)

Yep. I'm completely screwed up. :P


Your happy song is:

Me and Julio Down By the Schoolyard (Paul Simon)

I'm really getting worried now..... *whimpers in corner*


How you feel about your boyfriend/ girlfriend:

Rock Around the Clock (Bill Hawley and the Smoots--500 respect points for the reference)

I don't even HAVE a boyfriend, but if I did, I would hope we would want to rock around the clock to some good Oldies.


What your bf/gf [husband] thinks about you:

The Dark Night of the Soul (Loreena McKennitt)

Hmmm......Again, given my thoughts these past few months, this is...interesting.


What your style says about you:

Go and Sin No More (Rebecca St. James)

Um................................No comment.


How is your love life:

Summer Nights (Grease soundtrack)

My music lies! It lies! *smashes Yahoo music player*


Seriously though, that was funny...now to pass it on!

Tagging: Liz, Anne, Andrea, Marcy, and Miriam! Please post a comment on my blog when you've responded.

Sweet!

After taking an online test for reading speed, it looks like I read 600-650 words per minute (average reading speed is 200-250wpm). I bet when I'm really into my groove (which takes about 3 minutes) I'm reading even faster.

 

That makes me very happy!

Happy happy happy day!!

Pan's Labyrinth came out on DVD yesterday!!!!!!!! I think I'll make a stop by the store on my way home.....

Computer help?

Actually, I need help buying a computer. I want a Mac laptop, but I don't want to pay for a new one. Here's my question:

 

Should I try to get one from eBay? Or other online sites for used computers? Or would that just be a really bad idea?

 

Thoughts on a Sabbatical....

Technically, the sabbatical mentioned here is the one that my parish priest is on right now (thanks be to God! He knows the good father needs a break!) but I have been thinking about some things recently.

First off, this article. I think my dad had me read it when a beloved pastor was attacked when I was in high school (still working on completely forgiving those in our church who did that to him). I highly recommend it; I'm not sure I would have believed that there were such people in the church until I saw them in action myself.

After seeing what happened in that church, I determined that I wanted to fight the CKs whereever they tried to do that sort of thing again. I wanted to do whatever I could to encourage pastors and clergy members; while one compliment or encouragement may not count for much, it is at least something.

I don't know if it works. I do what I can to encourage the priests in my church, but I have no idea if it's effective. I don't know that that matters; every little drop in the bucket helps. I don't know if my parish has any active "clergy killers"-- it's likely, but I certainly don't want to know who they are. But I do know that modern society is not friendly to pastors these days. To cite the previous article, :

"There is a general distrust of authority figures of any kind. There is biblical and theological illiteracy in the pews. This means parishioners do not understand God's purposes, and the dynamics of spiritual leadership. There is a general sense of entitlement growing in the church, in which church members feel entitled to comfort and privilege. And if a pastor does not please them, they are free to criticize and punish. There is a growing business mentality in the church, which says that if the CEO (pastor) does not produce, he should be fired. There is mobility among parishioners. This means they feel little loyalty to the "peace and unity of the church." For they will soon move on, without having to deal with the consequences of their irresponsible behavior. And, as has been mentioned, we are not training pastors to handle conflict, nor support themselves in survival situations."

God have mercy on us.

Reason #508 why I love my job

The Big Boss just came by and handed me a rubber chicken keychain, and said, "I thought this looked like something you would enjoy!"

 

The Quotable Roommates:

(this conversation is probably only funny if you've been playing GuitarHeroII for two weeks)

Liz: I still have a set and a half before the final encore on this level....

Joi: Ha! And then you have to play Freebird!

Liz: No! I don't want to think about Freebird! I want butterflies! Butterflies! *flaps arms*

Joi: And then the Freebird will sweep down out of the sky, snatch your butterflies up, and EAT THEM!

Liz: *sings* And the Freebird comes in the NIIIIIIIIIGHT!

Shamelessly stolen from the Kurt Jester's blog...

- Go to IMDB.com and look up 10 of your favourite movies.
- Post five (5) official IMDB "Plot Keywords" for these 10 picks.
- Have your friends guess the movie titles.
- Then tag three people

In random order...

1. Peril / Famous Score / Christ Figure / Undead / Melodrama

2. / Weightlifting / Rain / Mirror Showing Monster

3. Passion / / Saint

4. Breeding / Psychopath / Sordidness / Hitler Worship / Repellant

5. H.P. Lovecraft / Fire / Mutation / New England

6. Laboratory Accident / Basement Laboratory / Tragedy / Scream

7. Good Versus Evil / Cynic / Humor / Courage / Tyrant

8. Ford Model T / Desert / Car Crash / Secret Past / Loyalty

9. Raven / Hero / Turns Into Animal / Turned To Stone / 14th Century

10. Badminton / Money / Happy Birthday To You / Dungeon / Disney Animated Feature

Good luck! I'm especially interested in hearing your gueses for number 4.....

Tagging: Liz, Andrea, Rachel!

Augh, I've been tagged!!

 

A - Available/Single?
Single, yes. Available, no.

B - Best Friend?
Rachel!

C - Cake or Pie?
Cheesecake.

D - Drink of Choice?

Hmmmm........non-alcholic would beVernor's; alcoholic would probably be a Mai Thai. Yummy.....

E - Essential Item You Use Everyday?
Comb. When you have 3 feet of hair, it's a necessity.

F - Favorite Color
Purple!!!!!!

G - Gummy Bears or Worms?
Generally, worms. You can tie them up in knots, eat them in sections by color, etc.

H - Hometown?
In Texas, Hereford. In California, the whole La Mirada/Fullerton/Placentia area.

I - Indulgence?
Get thee behind me, Tetzel! (50 respect points if you get this joke) *joins in singing with Liz* No you won't get to Heaven....on roller skates...no you won't get to heaven...on roller skaaaaaates...no you won't get to Heaven on roller skates, you'll roll right by those pearly gates....

J - January or February?
February. RAIN!!!!! And COLD!!!!! YAYYYY!

K - Kids & Their Names
None. But I do have two godchildren, one boy in Texas--I think his name is Cody. I've been out of contact with his mom for awhile, so I can't quite remember. And of course, Lucy Motte, the most beautiful baby EVER.

L - Life Is Incomplete Without?
I agree with Liz on this one. But for the sake of difference, I will say...beauty

M - Marriage Date?
3:15 pm the day after never.

N - Number Of Siblings?
1 sister.

O - Oranges or Apples?

Gala apples with cheddar cheese!

 

P - Phobias/Fears
Money and paperwork.

Q - Favorite Quote?
"Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and good with ketchup."

R - Reason to Smile?
I have a new hat!

S - Season?
Winter!

T - Tag Three People
Rachel, Marcy, and Adam, if he happens to read my blog.

U - Unknown Fact About Me?
Hmmmmm...I could tell you, but then it wouldn't be a secret anymore!

V - Vegetables You Don't Like?
BRUSSELS SPROUTS

W - Worst Habit?
Not exercising and eating total junk,

X - X-rays You've Had?
teeth

Y - Your Favorite Food?
hmmm.....Trader Joe's French Onion Soup? It depends on what I'm in the mood for. Casseroles. I like casseroles.

Z - Zodiac Sign?
Cancer

 

 

Prayer needed

Hello friends;

 

I would really appreciate it if all of you could be praying for me today. My finances have gotten very bad lately, and it's getting pretty serious. Please pray that I don't panic, and that I can just keep my head and deal with things.

You got 100% correct

You are a Church history expert. You know more than the average Catholic. You probably even have a love of Latin. Which your knowledge, you should consider teaching religious education classes, if you don't already.

How well do you know the history of the Catholic Church
Create a Quiz

Which is funny, since I'm an Anglican.

Letter from an Anglican to her Catholic and Orthodox Brethren:

 

As a high church Anglican, I watch the American province of my church fall apart with horror. I grieve for it everyday. And yet, when I hear the mainline Protestant denominations mocking us, it hurts. When I hear my Catholic and Orthodox brothers and sisters using my church as a term of derision, it wounds to the core of my being.

 

I am writing this, not knowing it any of you will see it, to ask you to please stop chiding us, and start praying for us. How can we mend if you who have remained strong do not pray for us?

 

We want to be unified again. We want to be strong. We want to be one with you, but right now, we cannot. Are we to be blamed because we will not give up our church for lost? Adding schism to heresy helps no-one but the Enemy. We love our church, its history, ethos, and traditons; we want to bring these things to you as gifts, not as burdens to be disposed of. There is still so much good in the Anglican Communion as a whole: more good than bad, in fact.

 

We love the Sacraments, and it wounds us that we cannot share in them with you at this time; at the same time, we acknowledge that the differences between us are real, and not to be dismissed lightly in the name of superficial unity. We do, howeve,r have one Lord, one Faith, and one Baptist, one Sacrament of Body and Blood, one apostolic priesthood. We are your brothers, though we have been apart for so long. We are of the same Body.

 

Hang on to us in your prayers; do not forget us. We love deeply, hope greatly, and believe strongly; pray for us. Help us to keep believing, and to remain where God has put us as salt and light. Stop laughing at our troubles, and try to love us again.

 

Remember us always to God.

 

 

This is an old story of mine; I'm still working on it, and have nevergotten it right. Maybe it needs to be put into verse, or maybe just images. I'm not quite sure. But here is the latest version of the story, based on the 5 wise virgins and 5 foolish virgins from Matthew.

 

 

 

Rachel had looked forward to this day for as long as she could remember. The wedding day. Not hers, of course: no one had ever sought her out, but the wedding for her best friend. His family had lived next door to Rachel's for as long as she could remember. They'd played in the dusty streets as children; she'd heard him talk about his wedding day for many years. "When I come for my bride, it will be the happiest day in the world," he boasted, "and everyone in town will be there to help me celebrate. Rachel, you'll be sure to come too, right?" She'd promised she would, with all the faith her 9-year-old heart could muster.

The day came when he left, riding off on his father's donkey, to begin to build the house for his bride. When asked--as he often was--who was the lucky girl he'd chosen, his face would break into a huge smile. "She's the most beautiful girl in the world. And when we are married, everyone will see."

Some people expected Rachel to be sad that she was not the bride herself, but she wasn't. "I could never be a bride for him," she confided to her sister. "I'm not nearly good enough for him, and he needs the very best." Her heart ached for him sometimes, but she remembered his generosity and openness, and resolved to give up her friend, so that he might be happy with his bride and family.

Finally, the day of the wedding arrived. Rachel and her four sisters packed their lamps, their oil, and set out towards the house where the marriage party was expected to arrive. The day passed quietly, everyone hushed with expectation. As night drew near, Rachel and her sisters lit their lamps, determined to be awake when the groom arrived. The night dragged on, the stars lifting themselves above the horizon; Rachel sat in the quiet of the night, simply waiting to see the lights of the party coming down the road. In the darkest part of the night, over the horizon, she finally saw a faint glow. It came up the road, and resolved itself into the lights of the party; she could even hear the laughter and shouts of the groom as he made his way to the house. "Quickly!" Rachel shook her sisters into alertness; they began to rummage hurriedly for the small jars of oil for their lamps. A series of quiet wails arose from across the crowded courtyard. Rachel looked over to see a group of girls, lamps sputtering and flickering. "Does anyone have any oil? Our lamps are about to go out!" Rachel's sisters all shook their heads; no-one had thought of bringing more than she needed for her own lamp.

As the procession wound around the house and entered the gates, Rachel hurried across the courtyard and knelt beside the most distraught of the girls. "Here," she whispered, pouring most of her oil into the girl's lamp. "Quickly now, or you'll miss the party!" The girl leapt to her feet with a shy smile and ran inside to join the party. Rachel got up, but as she ran, her own lamp flickered, guttered, and then went out. Looking up, Rachel saw the gates of the house close, and the courtyard was plunged into complete darkness. Only the faintest hint of song leaked through the stone walls and into the silence outside.

Rachel fell to her knees on the hard stones and wept. She had never felt so dark and cold as she did now, shut out from the joy of the wedding feast. What seemed like hours later, she felt a touch on her shoulders, and looked up to see the groom standing there, smiling down at her. "Get up, Rachel, it's time to go in to the feast."

"But...but...I have no light, I cannot go."

He laughed then, eyes alit and dancing. " How can you say that you have no light? Look!"

He pullled her hands away from her face, and as she looked down, she saw a warm light, like a live coal, burning in her heart. The light grew and brightened, casting its glow on the cold pavement of the courtyard.

"Arise, and come away, Rachel. The winter is past, the rains are gone. Come in to the Feast."

As she rose numbly to her feet, he took her hand, and opened the doors, and she stepped into the light, the Bride coming home at last.

 

When feeling rather down in the dumps, standing on a hill in the midst of a rain/windstorm will do wonders for perking you up.

 

Guess how I spent my lunch break today? More on this later....

Cemetery Crawling

Yesterday, I took a half-day off work and went "cemetery crawling" with Father David, my priest. We've both found that there are precious few people in the world who enjoy walking through cemeteries, looking at the tombstones and memorials. Fortunately, I was brought up wandering through old cemeteries, so I'm used to it, and love it.

We actually started off the day, after a long drive down the freeway, at Cotter's Church Supplies. This was a huge store full of just about everything needed for a liturgical church. We were there to look at travelling Mass kits and albs; but while Father David did serious shopping, I wandered over to the art/icon section. I saw one of my favorite paintings there, Dali's The Sacrament of the Last Supper. It's a lovely painting, but I question its appropriateness for church use. I'm still not quite sure why it was there. Same with his depiction of The Christ of St. John of the Cross. But below the questionable artwork, they had a table full of icons.

It's no secret that I love icons. I'm inexpressibly glad that the 7th Council affirmed their use by the faithful. They had most of the standard icons: the Holy Face, the Sweet-Kissing Virgin, Archangel Michael; but they had another icon that I've only seen once---I keep a small version in my purse--the Nymphios(Bridegroom). This is a depiction of Christ with his robe and crown of thorns from the Passion, but he does not sad or beaten. Instead, he holds his head high, and stands with dignity. In this image, Christ is the Bridegroom, and His Passion is His wedding feast.

I love this odd little picture. I'm glad I have a copy of it. Most girls carry a picture of someone they love in their purse; I think that He is probably going to be the only Bridegroom in my life, and so to remeber that--and to learn to love Him better--I carry the icon.

When Fr.David moved over to look at the albs, I started browsing through the vestments, and made a discovery: Modern vestments are REALLY BORING. They tend to be made of cheaper, plain cloth, with abstract designs woved or printed onto them. I found one or two stoles that were of brocade, and a few that had good images embroidered into them, but most were excruciatingly boring (or worse, politcally correct and ugly). Fr. David pointed out that at least when the old-fashioned stuff is out of style, it's cheaper to buy! It seems that truth and beauty go together; when you give up one, you forfeit the other. We must hold firm to both, or risk being both wrong and ugly.

The high points of the trip came after we left the store, and found the cemeteries. The first was Rosedale, just a short drive from Cotter's. You drive along a red brick wall to the entrance, then pass through old iron gates. The gravestones are mostly old, and many are carved and engraved in distinct designs. The ground is a little uneven, so the stones are all pointing slightly different directions, like the masts of ships in a dock. The first grave we stopped at was Hattie McDaniel; the famous African-American actress from Gone With the Wind. Her stone was very simple and plain, without even a date of death on it. Then we walked down the little path to the grave of a lady that Father David knew; he'd been there for her graveside service 18 years ago, but had never been back. It took us a little searching to find the stone, but finally we saw the one we were looking for: Mabel Klint.

After reading a prayer from the BOCP, we stood for a moment, looking at what is probably the only memorial to a saintly lady; I noticed a small spider crawling across the stone. For some reason, that spider was....well, not comforting per se, but...I guess I felt content as I watched it. No matter what I do, whether I follow God with all my heart or fail in every attempt, this is how I will be someday. There will be spiders that crawl across the stone on my grave too...and it's a good thing. I will join the other saints--God willing and God helping--and no-one will remember me. And it is good.

After leaving Rosedale, we consulted the maps and plotted a course to bring us to Holy Cross cemetery, where the Catholic author and film producer Myles Connolly is buried. Connolly is most famous for his book, Mr. Blue, but also worked in Hollywood. In fact, one of his other books, Dan England and the Noonday Devil, was more influential to me than Mr. Blue. Holy Cross is much more organized than Rosedale, and it is pretty, but it just doesn't have the character of Rosedale. The gravestones were all flat and set flush into the hillsides, the lawns were perfectly groomed; again, very nice, but not as...real. Myles Connolly is buried, with his wife, just behind a large statue of the Virgin and Child. It's a very simple stone, with their names and important dates on it. I wondered, while standing there, if anyone else ever comes by to pay their respects. Visiting gravesites isn't done much anymore, except as a tourist attraction. Once they're buried, we forget. And we, in our turn, are forgotten.

I think this is part of why I visit the Hortons every month. I don't want them to be forgotten; as long as I come visit, someone knows their stories, someone remembers what they did, and someone is grateful. And maybe, just maybe, I'll be able to pass that on to someone else, and they will remember. But even if no-one remembers, and all that the Hortons did is forgotten, it will still stand, and God will remember. And so with me, and so with Blessed Sacrament, and so with the world.

"In the soundless awe and wonder, words fall short to hope again. How beautiful, how vast Your love is, new forever, world without an end."

Selah, Amen.

If anyone is interested, here's a great fruit salad recipe:

 

Apples

Pears

Raisins

Handful of chopped pecans

Carton of Trader Joe's Fig Yogurt.

 

Yum.........

Ok, so hopefully this blogging by email thing will work for me; I hate not being able to blog. I really like this function; it lets me blog at work!

 

Not much going on today; my shoulder hurts like the dickens whenever I move it. I was sitting on the couch the other night, and when I attempted to get up, my foot snagged on some loose piping on the couch cushion, and I hit the floor pretty hard. I'm grateful that I didn't hit my head, but my shoulder is still having issues from that fall!

 

I wish I knew why I'm so irate today. I think it's just the whole "I never get to be anywhere quiet" thing; people talk to me all day long at work, then I come home to more noise (usually at least 4 people, often 6, in a little bitty 2-room apartment) and it's NEVER QUIET. I think it's getting to me, so I'm going to try going quiet places after work, instead of heading straight home. It's sad that I can't get any peace and quiet at home, but be that as it may.....

Testing, testing...

 

How I love Blogger

Letting me post by email

This is fantastic

Meditations on a sunset

I love sunsets. I can't remember a time in my life when I didn't like them. I remember sitting up on the roof of my house, realizing for the first time how the sunset turns all the houses and trees to gold for a few minutes before the glory fades. And here, where the sunset lingers longer, I love to watch the windows of the houses reflect the glorious final rays of the daylight.
After you watch sunsets for a while, you begin to notice something: if you turn your back to the sun, everything seems full of light. If you face the sun, everything around you is dark.

If you stand with your back firmly to the light, everything around you will reflect the light back, flaming signposts to direct your attention back to the sun. Every created thing tries to reflect the sun, in a desperate attempt to get you to turn around and look into the light; but all too often, we want to look at the reflection in the trees, and grass, and houses, and people, rather than at the light itself.

But when we turn to the light, everything else is dark, and we stand in shadows. We cannot see the glory reflected in anything, and the light itself burns our eyes, so we squint and our eyes well with tears. The world that was so beautiful becomes a valley of the shadow, and we can hardly bear it. But then we lift our eyes to the sun and all the other things fade away. We stand transfixed by the light, souls straining to fly away into the west.

At that final sunset, the trees will shout with the green gold of their leaves, the mountains will boom with the glory of God, and the houses will all burn with the flames of the sun, calling us all to turn towards the light. If we love too much the light of the world, and refuse to turn to the Light, we will go down into the final darkness. But if we lose the glories of this world to turn into the light, all around us will become enveloped in that glorious light, that will have the glories of the sunset, and all the promise of the dawn.