Chilled Seafood Combo

No, I won't put that in my pipe and smoke it…

I just gave away all my pipes and tobacco. There is a bit of melancholy and nostalgia in my spirit now, but it was time. I just need to avoid the depression that struck F.A. Hayek when he gave up his pipe. But I have advantages he did not. Six of them to be precise. My pipe smoking career began in 1994 when my first son was born, hence the nostalgia, even sentimentality. There is a real sense of freedom, though. Not to mention that food (and drink!) ought to begin to taste better. To be forthcoming, I am not banning the cigar, but that will not be a daily affair.

Back in business_3

Okay, one more dummy post for testing.

1	test1	this is a table
2	test2	yep, still a table

This is Landry Jones:

   

Back in business

A tumultuous time it is that that we find ourselves. Not a time to sit on the sidelines. So the postings shall resume. I am testing the capability of OneNote via Word (2007) to post directly.

Time and Timelessness - part 1

Listening to Fr. Corapi talk about his past, much of it regrettable.  An idea occured to me that one of the theological ideas which interests me most - the notion of God and Heaven lying "outside of time". 

 

What do I mean?  Well, that is the way the Holy Mass works.  The Consecration of the host is a presentation - a re-presentation, but not merely a representation, of the Sacrifice at Calvary.  It happened once and only once - the priest is not re-crucifying him but, to our linear minds, looping back in time to the one sacrifice that is the ultimate offering for our sins.  There is much more to the idea, of course, and it is very beautiful.  To my physics-trained mind it is fascinating.  

 

Now the idea that occurred to me is the great gift of time, i.e., that our lives lie "inside of time".  While the crucifixion, death, and resurrection of Christ "lie outside of time", our lives apparently lie within time.  Not least those bits that we should regret, as Fr. Corapi does.  Through the sacrament of penance, we are given the grace, the opportunity to push back those regrettable moments and lock them permanently fixed in time.  No looping back or being re-presented with them.  What a glorious gift that is!  Now that doesn't mean that we won't have to live with the consequences while within this life, within our "time".  But it does mean that we won't have to take them with us when we are unbounded by time in the next life.  That leads naturally, I think, to the idea of purgatory.  Even our attachment to the "regrets" (read: sins) must be expunged before we fully enter into eternity.  Or we will be forever re-presented with them - that would be hell, no?

Something Fresh

Something Fresh by P.G. Wodehouse

My rating: 4 of 5 stars This is my first Wodehouse not including Wooster and Jeeves. Written very early in his career (1915), it is a Blandings Castle story. I didn't find the characters quite as compelling as Bertie or Jeeves, but that may just be due to my familiarity with those characters from early books and the small screen. Whereas the Jeeves stories are told from inside Bertie's head, "Something Fresh" ("Something New" originally in England) Wodehouse narrates himself more traditionally and lets us look inside each character's thoughts. This provides a real treat. His insight into human nature is profound. Certainly the plots are ridiculous - in this one a wealthy American attempting to re-appropriate a 4th Century Cheops scarab from his daughter's absent-minded soon-to-be father-in-law, but the reactions, thoughts, and impulses of the characters are intimately familiar to all. The consequences of those reactions and the chain of coincidences that ensue is where all of the fun occurs. Some of the characters have somewhat exaggerated natures, but those too are familiar. Bertie Wooster (and many of his pals) is pre-figured in the less-developed (and less lovable) Freddie Threepwood. Jeeves, however, is not pre-figured in the butler Beach. (Jeeves serves as valet, not butler, mind you.) It is probably fair to argue that the primary two female love interests are better developed than their counterparts that so frequently become engaged to Bertie. That is largely an artifact of the independent narration; we typically only get the view of the females from Bertie's simple point of view. All said, very enjoyable. Much funnier and much better for your brain than television. I look forward to more Blandings castle stories written after this one to see how he goes about developing the principals. And whom he keeps around. View all my reviews >>

You Shall Not Pass!

They may pass the bill for now. This un-American, liberty-killing, government-expanding, anti-life bill. But it will not survive. They WILL pay. And pay dearly. This isn’t over. It’s only begun. I will not leave the country, I will stay and fight. And win.

CHILLED

From the May 30, 1984 Gainesville Sun (Fl.):

Way too long

It’s been far too long since I’ve posted. As I am sitting in a hotel room in Louisville, Kentucky, and have a profound desire to avoid working on the checkbook, this is the perfect time to amend that. Primary election day today back home in Texas: 

* We should know within an hour or two that Rick Perry has crushed Kay Bailey Hutchison in the Republican governor’s primary and avoided a run-off. Gov. Perry can, in small part, thank the inexplicable, inexcusable faux pas by Debra Medina, the sort-of Tea Party candidate. Three weeks ago, when asked by Glen Beck whether she agreed with the 9/11 Truthers, “I don't have all of the evidence there” ... “so I have not taken a position on that.” An act of war and the most significant geopolitical event since the fall of the Berlin wall and she can’t instinctively denounce those that deny the very nature of what happened? Too bad, I sympathize with most (okay, all) of her positions. But her lack of resolve and wit on that single question makes her judgement suspect. Perry has been a good governor, hardly perfect, but he’s a known quantity and not a loose cannon.

* KBH? I don’t share the animosity many conservatives do towards her. She is what she is. I had no expectations for her and she has lived up to them. The only reasonable explanation as to her motivation is desire for relocation. Not good enough.

* Ballot question on requiring sonograms as a prerequisite for abortion. It is nigh on impossible to claim to be pro-choice if you oppose this proposal. Unfortunately it is a non-binding initiative urging the legislature to act. It will save many lives, and more importantly, many souls if they do so.

My new hero: Honduran leader Roberto Micheletti

Real speaking truth to power.
from a Reuters report:
‘Micheletti, however, was defiant of the latest move by Washington, which said earlier this month it was cutting more than $30 million in aid to the poor Central American country.
"We will not back down. Dignity does not have a price in our country," Micheletti told Honduran radio.
Asked if he his visa had been canceled, Micheletti said: "Yes."
"We received letters from the U.S. Consulate in Honduras which say that because of the what happened on June 28, our visas have been suspended," Micheletti said.’
Unfortunately, our own el Presidente knows or cares nothing about dignity. 2010/2012 cannot get here fast enough.

Beware of False Compromises

From Joe Jr. on the health care discourse:
“As a lifetime political junkie I understand and appreciate the need to compromise when crafting legislation, especially when your side is in the minority. However, I also understand that if we are not alert, those compromises may turnout to be fatal for all that we believe.

“The current Health Care Bill is a case in point. Bills like HR3200 do not contain the actual rules that we will be subject to, those are written by the REGULATORS. What I believe the President and the Liberal Wing of the Democrat Party want, more than anything else, is for this bill to be a “Platform” from which they can launch future changes. Therefore, the key for those who oppose a government takeover of Health Care is to closely monitor every provision in the bill. Simply put, whatever is alluded to in any way and not strictly prohibited can be fair game for REGULATORS; and given the current divide in the Federal Courts it will be unlikely that any of these regulations would be overturned.”