Right, so my laptop is infected, and I haven't had time to do a complete re-install of the OS or try to figure out another way around it, so I can't post except from work, which I obviously am not getting paid to do. I've got some ideas, promise! If you've been following and like any of my ramblings, I'll be back soon with more of 'em.
(Right, and please forgive the title... I work surrounded by people just as horribly toolish as I... if not worse... so yeah, memes abound)
Friday, October 30, 2009
Friday, October 16, 2009
A Response to Domestication
My brother is trying to tell me something...
"More goes in the damn refrigerator than just beer and good cheese and snack packs..."
Go comment bomb him, my dear friends, especially if you have enjoyed a beer in my magnificent Schloss. If you are just a dear reader, and have never had the chance to share in the wonderful experience that is beer-communism, then go comment bomb him and tell him that I'm living a bachelor lifestyle, and although I am certainly graduated from college, I am not yet bound by marriage to purchase and keep anything remotely resembling real food in my apartment. Chef Boyardee, pudding, chips, cheese, frozen dinners, beer... these all seem wonderful to me.
Musical bonus, one of the best sax parts of all time, and by far my favorite song on the album: Your Latest Trick.
"More goes in the damn refrigerator than just beer and good cheese and snack packs..."
Go comment bomb him, my dear friends, especially if you have enjoyed a beer in my magnificent Schloss. If you are just a dear reader, and have never had the chance to share in the wonderful experience that is beer-communism, then go comment bomb him and tell him that I'm living a bachelor lifestyle, and although I am certainly graduated from college, I am not yet bound by marriage to purchase and keep anything remotely resembling real food in my apartment. Chef Boyardee, pudding, chips, cheese, frozen dinners, beer... these all seem wonderful to me.
Musical bonus, one of the best sax parts of all time, and by far my favorite song on the album: Your Latest Trick.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
A Helpless Dancer
"When you dance with the devil, the devil don't change. The devil changes you." - 8 MM
I hear all this talk about finding common ground. When you stare evil in the face, don't you dare dance with it. No, you stare evil in the face and you stare hard, and you don't give up your ground. Don't ever think you can make a deal. Call evil evil, and fight it to its face. To paraphrase Hunter Thompson, You can turn your back on a person, but don't you ever turn your back on a devil.
Of course, the Notre Dame speech is just one example. It is the one in the front of my mind. It is the one that inspired this post, even though I've taken so long to get around to writing it (besides, 40 Days for Life is a fitting time to reintroduce it). Remember, when the devil offeres his hand and whispers sweetly in your ear, "Just one dance," you stop dancing. The title of the post? That's what you'll be if you take his hand. Say goodbye, as you dance with the devil tonight, don't you dare look at him in the eye...
Ab hoste maligno defende me.
I hear all this talk about finding common ground. When you stare evil in the face, don't you dare dance with it. No, you stare evil in the face and you stare hard, and you don't give up your ground. Don't ever think you can make a deal. Call evil evil, and fight it to its face. To paraphrase Hunter Thompson, You can turn your back on a person, but don't you ever turn your back on a devil.
Of course, the Notre Dame speech is just one example. It is the one in the front of my mind. It is the one that inspired this post, even though I've taken so long to get around to writing it (besides, 40 Days for Life is a fitting time to reintroduce it). Remember, when the devil offeres his hand and whispers sweetly in your ear, "Just one dance," you stop dancing. The title of the post? That's what you'll be if you take his hand. Say goodbye, as you dance with the devil tonight, don't you dare look at him in the eye...
Ab hoste maligno defende me.
Friday, October 9, 2009
You Keep Saying That Word...
...I do not think it means what you think it means.
So tell me, what makes "social justice" different from regular ol' justice. Remember, I'm just a simple sort of man who spent too long in the south, but it seems to me that there's justice and injustice, and we oughta talk about what they are, and we oughta say, "This is just; that is unjust. Let us do this and not that." So tell me, what do you mean by social justice? Is it just, or are you employing not-so-cleverly deceptive language?
(N.B. I am not ranting against the Catholic Church's social teachings. I am ranting against the overuse of an undefined or ill-defined word in support of governmental policies. Remember, the Church's social teaching is founded in Charity for our neighbors. I have more thoughts on this, but the rant was mostly linguistic, so I'll lay off for now.)
*****
Remember: proscribe != prescribe. A doctor prescribes medicine; a tyrant proscribes persons or actions.
*****
"Use" is not always the best word. You do not use a hammer; you drive a nail. If you must write or say "use" never replace it with "utilize".
*****
If you are writing a column for struggling writers, do not write "try and".
*****
24-Hour Plays this weekend. Wish me well.
St. Ephrem and St. Francis de Sales, pray for me.
So tell me, what makes "social justice" different from regular ol' justice. Remember, I'm just a simple sort of man who spent too long in the south, but it seems to me that there's justice and injustice, and we oughta talk about what they are, and we oughta say, "This is just; that is unjust. Let us do this and not that." So tell me, what do you mean by social justice? Is it just, or are you employing not-so-cleverly deceptive language?
(N.B. I am not ranting against the Catholic Church's social teachings. I am ranting against the overuse of an undefined or ill-defined word in support of governmental policies. Remember, the Church's social teaching is founded in Charity for our neighbors. I have more thoughts on this, but the rant was mostly linguistic, so I'll lay off for now.)
*****
Remember: proscribe != prescribe. A doctor prescribes medicine; a tyrant proscribes persons or actions.
*****
"Use" is not always the best word. You do not use a hammer; you drive a nail. If you must write or say "use" never replace it with "utilize".
*****
If you are writing a column for struggling writers, do not write "try and".
*****
24-Hour Plays this weekend. Wish me well.
St. Ephrem and St. Francis de Sales, pray for me.
Monday, October 5, 2009
More on War
The lust for battle can get you into trouble. It is easy to laugh at Major Powers when he says, "This is it. We're going to war."
Fr. Roberts once told us the story of the time he decided to work on humility, even though he "didn't really need to". He prayed for humiliations, and got enough of them that he hasn't prayed for them since. They don't stop coming (and sometimes I wonder if I'm catching the overflow, but that's another story...).
I'm not a warrior. The Saints were warriors. I fight because I don't know what else to do. Perhaps that is what it is about. Spiritual warfare is like the Sheewash Drive... "Takes it out of you."
We went down to 86th and Georgetown tonight. I was in the thick of things, and yet apart. The sun was setting behind the Planned Parenthood, and we stood watching it go down. A peaceful fall sunset, the air cool and the breeze gentle, the place was not open. People honked as they passed, some approving, some mocking, a few yelled from their cars. "You're not making a difference," and, "You're insane." Maybe we are insane. In the quiet there was no battle cry, but we stood and struggled, because we had no choice. We fought for breath. We fought in silence. And yet the violence that raged drained the inside of me. Persevere in prayer. Finish the race.
Take care. If you ask for discernment to know evil, if you ask for strength to fight, God just might give it to you. He will give you the grace you need, but sometimes... sometimes it hurts... sometimes it takes everything out of you, and leaves you with nothing to do but whisper, "Help." And then, in your weakness and emptiness, He does...
Fr. Roberts once told us the story of the time he decided to work on humility, even though he "didn't really need to". He prayed for humiliations, and got enough of them that he hasn't prayed for them since. They don't stop coming (and sometimes I wonder if I'm catching the overflow, but that's another story...).
I'm not a warrior. The Saints were warriors. I fight because I don't know what else to do. Perhaps that is what it is about. Spiritual warfare is like the Sheewash Drive... "Takes it out of you."
We went down to 86th and Georgetown tonight. I was in the thick of things, and yet apart. The sun was setting behind the Planned Parenthood, and we stood watching it go down. A peaceful fall sunset, the air cool and the breeze gentle, the place was not open. People honked as they passed, some approving, some mocking, a few yelled from their cars. "You're not making a difference," and, "You're insane." Maybe we are insane. In the quiet there was no battle cry, but we stood and struggled, because we had no choice. We fought for breath. We fought in silence. And yet the violence that raged drained the inside of me. Persevere in prayer. Finish the race.
Take care. If you ask for discernment to know evil, if you ask for strength to fight, God just might give it to you. He will give you the grace you need, but sometimes... sometimes it hurts... sometimes it takes everything out of you, and leaves you with nothing to do but whisper, "Help." And then, in your weakness and emptiness, He does...
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