In the Holy Father's recent apostolic exhortation, entitled Sacramentum Caritatis, we read again how he is trying to restore the use of liturgical Latin and Gregorian chant:
In order to express more clearly the unity and universality of the Church, I wish to endorse the proposal made by the Synod of Bishops, in harmony with the directives of the Second Vatican Council, that, with the exception of the readings, the homily and the prayer of the faithful, it is fitting that such liturgies be celebrated in Latin. Similarly, the better-known prayers of the Church's tradition should be recited in Latin and, if possible, selections of Gregorian chant should be sung. Speaking more generally, I ask that future priests, from their time in the seminary, receive the preparation needed to understand and to celebrate Mass in Latin, and also to use Latin texts and execute Gregorian chant; nor should we forget that the faithful can be taught to recite the more common prayers in Latin, and also to sing parts of the liturgy to Gregorian chant. (http://xprex.stblogs.org/)
All I have to say is YAY! I wonder how Ol' Higi is going to squirm his way out of this one.
On a side note- I've just finished one paper and have two more to go.
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
April Showers
This is perhaps one of the worst spring days to decide to wear sandals. I tried to tell myself today that if I approach my pain and suffering, no matter how slight, with the right attitude, then I would benefit from it. That attitude being that Christ suffered and died for all my sins and the sins of all the world. Therefore, I should be able to walk through a couple of big puddles with half shod feet,and perhaps give this suffering up to Christ. Therefore, my commute from one campus building to another today has been filled with stoic teeth clenching punctuated by frantic sissy squeals and shivers. I'm such a wimp.
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Monica's Intrigue and Espionage Quiz
Well, finals week is coming soon and this will probably be my last post for a week or two. I want to talk today about the qualities that would make one a good spy, or conversely, a good bad guy. This is inspired by the new James Bond flick, Casino Royale. It is one of my favorite Bond movies of all time and certainly better than anything that smarmy Pierce Brosnan did. The chase scene at the beginning of this movie was particularly cool. With that being said, I present to you Monica's Intrigue and Espionage Quiz: Casino Royale style.
How do you know if you would make a good spy? There are several questions one must ask themselves when considering a career in espionage. For example-
Do you have a chiseled face and even more chiseled abs?
Do you find that people want to have sex with you wherever you go?
Have you ever been in multiple car chases and or crashes in the same day?
Have you ever had to difibrillate yourself because some stone cold fox poisoned your martini?
Have you ever engaged in a fist fight, gun battle, or swordplay with a Russian? Did you win?
Are you good at poker?
Have you saved more than three structures from blowing up? Alternately, have you blown up more than three structures?
Do you have a totally, totally, totally, awesome car? Does it have weapons attached to it?
If you answered "yes" to 4 of these questions, you might make a good spy. If you answered "yes" to 6 or more of these questions, you are probably already a spy.
Now let's see if you would make a good bad guy-
Are you French?
Do you fund international terrorists (those who buy Heinz products excluded)?
Do you have an eye problem? Problems can include excessive tearing, a patch, astigmatism, etc.
Are you good at math?
Even though you are kind of ugly, do you have an extremely hot wife who stays out all hours of the night?
Do you go by your last name even though your last name is really hard to pronounce?
Do you leave the only gun you own in the top drawer of your desk even though you know people are constantly trying to kill you?
Is it true that all your friends and family really know about your job is that you "help people do things"?
Has anyone ever put a tracking device in your asthma inhaler?
If you answered "yes" to 4 of these questions, you might be a bad guy. If you answered "yes" to six or more of these questions, you are definitely a bad guy.
I hope this little quiz had helped you sort out your place in life.
How do you know if you would make a good spy? There are several questions one must ask themselves when considering a career in espionage. For example-
Do you have a chiseled face and even more chiseled abs?
Do you find that people want to have sex with you wherever you go?
Have you ever been in multiple car chases and or crashes in the same day?
Have you ever had to difibrillate yourself because some stone cold fox poisoned your martini?
Have you ever engaged in a fist fight, gun battle, or swordplay with a Russian? Did you win?
Are you good at poker?
Have you saved more than three structures from blowing up? Alternately, have you blown up more than three structures?
Do you have a totally, totally, totally, awesome car? Does it have weapons attached to it?
If you answered "yes" to 4 of these questions, you might make a good spy. If you answered "yes" to 6 or more of these questions, you are probably already a spy.
Now let's see if you would make a good bad guy-
Are you French?
Do you fund international terrorists (those who buy Heinz products excluded)?
Do you have an eye problem? Problems can include excessive tearing, a patch, astigmatism, etc.
Are you good at math?
Even though you are kind of ugly, do you have an extremely hot wife who stays out all hours of the night?
Do you go by your last name even though your last name is really hard to pronounce?
Do you leave the only gun you own in the top drawer of your desk even though you know people are constantly trying to kill you?
Is it true that all your friends and family really know about your job is that you "help people do things"?
Has anyone ever put a tracking device in your asthma inhaler?
If you answered "yes" to 4 of these questions, you might be a bad guy. If you answered "yes" to six or more of these questions, you are definitely a bad guy.
I hope this little quiz had helped you sort out your place in life.
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Shirley Homemaker... or whatever her name is
It is now my blogging style to look at neat little quizzes, tests, and series of questions from other people's blogs and then copy off of these people and put the same little tests on my own blog. It has no originality whatsoever. The following was inspired by, okay directly lifted from, Anne's blog. It's about what type of homemaker you are,or more likely how good you at being one. Prepare to be amazed!
Aprons- Y/N?
Yes, I do think they are restrictive and probably a modern form of a torture device invented by men to keep their wives in place. I assume that's what a question like "Aprons?" means. Right?
Baking- Favorite things to bake:
Um...Alaska. Yeah... baked Alaska
Clothesline-Y/N?
Not anymore... but when I was younger I used to do it to my brother all the time. My mom would always yell at me and tell me I was going to crush my brother's windpipe.
Donuts- Have you ever made them?
Yes, I actually have. When I was an undergraduate I used to frequent this coffee shop that was open 24/7, and it had a bunch of stoners who worked the late shifts. I befriended these people and at three or four in the morning they would let me and my friends come behind the counter to make the donuts that they would sell the next morning. It was good times!
Every day- One homemaking thing you do every day.
Well, like an AA member trying not to drink, I just try to take homemaking one day at a time. My daily homemaking task is to turn to comforter on the bed the right way before I go to sleep so my feet don't stick out in the middle of the night. This little task annoys David to no end. He can sleep with the blanket facing any direction.
Freezer- Do you have a separate deep freeze?
No, and our regular freezer is basically filled with "Lean Gourmet" frozen dinners.
Garbage Disposal- Y/N?
We don't have one but that really doesn't stop David and me from treating the sink like we do have one. I think that's what this question means. If it's asking if we take out the garbage, then yes, we do. And by "we" I mean David.
Handbook- What is your favorite homemaking resource?
Hmmm... I own so many homemaking handbooks that it's really hard to decide.
Ironing- Love it or hate it?
Well, I don't own an iron and I don't think you could call what I do with an iron actual "ironing." For me it's more like "wrinkle relocation." I always get rid of the wrinkles that were there initially but not without putting new ones elsewhere on the garment.
Junk Drawer- Y/N? Where is it?
Yes, usually it's the living room. The entire living room.
Kitchen: Design and Decorating-
I've tried to go with the bottles of alcohol and penguin cookie jar theme. I think I've pulled it off really well.
Love- what is your favorite part of homemaking?
The part where I clean the apartment and the next day it looks just as bad as it did the day before. It's like letting a ray of light into my heart.
Mop- Y/N?
I seriously thought at first that this question was asking if I owned one. I felt pretty good because I do. But then I realized that it was probably asking if I liked it or how often I do it. Considering that I've been using the mop bucket as a target to chip golf balls into the past couple of weeks, I would say that I don't mop very regularly according to normal standards.
Nylons- wash by hand or in the washing machine?
You can wash nylons?
Oven- Do you use the window or open the door to check?
Check what? Oh right, all the baked Alaska I've been baking. I'll go with door because I have no window light, but It's a really scary prospect. When David was at Wabash he had this homicidal oven that would not light when it was supposed to. It would just fill up with gas and then when he went to open the door the flame would light and massive fire balls would shoot out. It was like scenes from "Backdraft." So I'll probably always be worried about that until we live in a place with a new-ish oven.
Pizza- what do you put on yours?
Better question: "Pizza- what does this have to do with homemaking?" Well, I don't make any pizza because David is allergic to wheat and if I made a pizza for myself and he was around, it is very likely that he would have to go on antidepressants. When I go out with friends for pizza, I like pepperoni, onion, and mushroom.
Quiet- what do you do during the day to get a quiet moment-
I reflect on my inner goddess while facing toward Chicago, where Oprah lives.
Recipe box- Y/N?
I did own one once because I found that the plastic ones are a great place to keep my Latin vocab flash cards.
Style of House-
Um.. for what I currently live in? Think of Brideshead and then imagine the exact opposite.
Tablecloths and napkins- Y/N.
I won't touch any linens that have under a 300 thread count.
Under the sink- organized or toxic wasteland?
It's fine I think.
Vacuum- How many times per week?
I actually like to vacuum. The vacuum I have now is an old one that my mom gave to my brother and then my brother gave it to me. When Anthony gave it to me he said "I'm not sure if there's a bag in there." That was last summer and I've been too afraid to look. My aunt on the other hand owns one of those Dyson vacuums, which are like the Mercedes of vacuums. She told me how much it costs, and all I'm going to say is that it cost about as much as we payed for our truck.
Wash- how many loads of laundry do you do per week?
I'd say two loads every two weeks. We don't have a washing machine, so I go over to my parents on Saturdays when David is at work and do the laundry then.
X's- Do you keep a daily list of things to do that you cross off?
Yeah.. it usually looks something like this:
Wake up- check
Don't forget to teach Latin- check
Learn about something boring in my classes- check
Try not to vomit on the bus ride home- check mostly
Read or ignore excessive amounts of reading for my classes- check
Yard- Y/N. Who does what?
We don't have a yard, but we do have a little patch of grass outside our apartment. I usually chip golf balls out there (see mop question for further details) and David usually stays out of the "yard". The Godby's crazy maintenance man, Chris, does the mowing.
Zzz's- What is your last homemaking task for the day before going to bed?
Trying to straighten that aforementioned blanket so my feet aren't exposed to the cold.
Well, that was fun and pretty much true. I actually will be interested to see how my answers change in 5 years. Probably it will be mostly the same except for replacing the "classes routine" with the "yelling at the kids routine."
Aprons- Y/N?
Yes, I do think they are restrictive and probably a modern form of a torture device invented by men to keep their wives in place. I assume that's what a question like "Aprons?" means. Right?
Baking- Favorite things to bake:
Um...Alaska. Yeah... baked Alaska
Clothesline-Y/N?
Not anymore... but when I was younger I used to do it to my brother all the time. My mom would always yell at me and tell me I was going to crush my brother's windpipe.
Donuts- Have you ever made them?
Yes, I actually have. When I was an undergraduate I used to frequent this coffee shop that was open 24/7, and it had a bunch of stoners who worked the late shifts. I befriended these people and at three or four in the morning they would let me and my friends come behind the counter to make the donuts that they would sell the next morning. It was good times!
Every day- One homemaking thing you do every day.
Well, like an AA member trying not to drink, I just try to take homemaking one day at a time. My daily homemaking task is to turn to comforter on the bed the right way before I go to sleep so my feet don't stick out in the middle of the night. This little task annoys David to no end. He can sleep with the blanket facing any direction.
Freezer- Do you have a separate deep freeze?
No, and our regular freezer is basically filled with "Lean Gourmet" frozen dinners.
Garbage Disposal- Y/N?
We don't have one but that really doesn't stop David and me from treating the sink like we do have one. I think that's what this question means. If it's asking if we take out the garbage, then yes, we do. And by "we" I mean David.
Handbook- What is your favorite homemaking resource?
Hmmm... I own so many homemaking handbooks that it's really hard to decide.
Ironing- Love it or hate it?
Well, I don't own an iron and I don't think you could call what I do with an iron actual "ironing." For me it's more like "wrinkle relocation." I always get rid of the wrinkles that were there initially but not without putting new ones elsewhere on the garment.
Junk Drawer- Y/N? Where is it?
Yes, usually it's the living room. The entire living room.
Kitchen: Design and Decorating-
I've tried to go with the bottles of alcohol and penguin cookie jar theme. I think I've pulled it off really well.
Love- what is your favorite part of homemaking?
The part where I clean the apartment and the next day it looks just as bad as it did the day before. It's like letting a ray of light into my heart.
Mop- Y/N?
I seriously thought at first that this question was asking if I owned one. I felt pretty good because I do. But then I realized that it was probably asking if I liked it or how often I do it. Considering that I've been using the mop bucket as a target to chip golf balls into the past couple of weeks, I would say that I don't mop very regularly according to normal standards.
Nylons- wash by hand or in the washing machine?
You can wash nylons?
Oven- Do you use the window or open the door to check?
Check what? Oh right, all the baked Alaska I've been baking. I'll go with door because I have no window light, but It's a really scary prospect. When David was at Wabash he had this homicidal oven that would not light when it was supposed to. It would just fill up with gas and then when he went to open the door the flame would light and massive fire balls would shoot out. It was like scenes from "Backdraft." So I'll probably always be worried about that until we live in a place with a new-ish oven.
Pizza- what do you put on yours?
Better question: "Pizza- what does this have to do with homemaking?" Well, I don't make any pizza because David is allergic to wheat and if I made a pizza for myself and he was around, it is very likely that he would have to go on antidepressants. When I go out with friends for pizza, I like pepperoni, onion, and mushroom.
Quiet- what do you do during the day to get a quiet moment-
I reflect on my inner goddess while facing toward Chicago, where Oprah lives.
Recipe box- Y/N?
I did own one once because I found that the plastic ones are a great place to keep my Latin vocab flash cards.
Style of House-
Um.. for what I currently live in? Think of Brideshead and then imagine the exact opposite.
Tablecloths and napkins- Y/N.
I won't touch any linens that have under a 300 thread count.
Under the sink- organized or toxic wasteland?
It's fine I think.
Vacuum- How many times per week?
I actually like to vacuum. The vacuum I have now is an old one that my mom gave to my brother and then my brother gave it to me. When Anthony gave it to me he said "I'm not sure if there's a bag in there." That was last summer and I've been too afraid to look. My aunt on the other hand owns one of those Dyson vacuums, which are like the Mercedes of vacuums. She told me how much it costs, and all I'm going to say is that it cost about as much as we payed for our truck.
Wash- how many loads of laundry do you do per week?
I'd say two loads every two weeks. We don't have a washing machine, so I go over to my parents on Saturdays when David is at work and do the laundry then.
X's- Do you keep a daily list of things to do that you cross off?
Yeah.. it usually looks something like this:
Wake up- check
Don't forget to teach Latin- check
Learn about something boring in my classes- check
Try not to vomit on the bus ride home- check mostly
Read or ignore excessive amounts of reading for my classes- check
Yard- Y/N. Who does what?
We don't have a yard, but we do have a little patch of grass outside our apartment. I usually chip golf balls out there (see mop question for further details) and David usually stays out of the "yard". The Godby's crazy maintenance man, Chris, does the mowing.
Zzz's- What is your last homemaking task for the day before going to bed?
Trying to straighten that aforementioned blanket so my feet aren't exposed to the cold.
Well, that was fun and pretty much true. I actually will be interested to see how my answers change in 5 years. Probably it will be mostly the same except for replacing the "classes routine" with the "yelling at the kids routine."
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Paper Writing
On the last post I forgot to thank everyone who prayed for me about my MA exam. Thanks everyone!!! Now that that is over I have a false sense of relaxation setting in. I feel like everything is almost done even though I haven't started in on my three final papers yet, and I know I also have two final exams to prepare for. Today on the bus ride to campus I told Peter that I planned to write one paper this weekend, one paper next weekend, and one paper the following weekend. The papers are due on the 24th, 30th, and 2nd. Now that I've announced these plans, I had better get to it. Here are the papers I'll be writing and in this order:
1. Desiring the seen: "ocular proof" in Othello and Hamlet. This one is about how both Othello and Hamlet want postive visual confirmation before they act. Othello wants to see Desdimona cheat and Hamlet wants to be sure that the ghost he sees is real and that of his father.
2. Augustinian influence in John Donne's "An Elegy upon the Untimely Death of the Incomparable Prince Henry" This one is about how Donne takes directly from "City of God" to prove points about faith and reason in the face of catastrophic human events, such as the death of a future king.
3. Latin Calque phrases in Old English. This paper points out that when English was just forming, many phrases (especially religious and theological)were taken directly from Latin and translated word for word into Old English. Example- "Viri Dei" became "Godes Folces". This is a big deal because the Anglo Saxons could have just made up a new word or words for these phrases, but they didn't. They tried to fit Latin phrases into the same internal structure while changing the letters or morphemes in to Old English. It's pretty neat stuff.
So, that's what I'll be doing the next few weekends. Of course, I already have plans to play golf with David, Peter, and Dan this Friday, so my paper writing might have to suffer a little. I'm sure you can look for all of these papers on the list of bestsellers soon. More likely, if you ever need any help sleeping I'll send one of these papers over to you you'll be sleeping in no time.
1. Desiring the seen: "ocular proof" in Othello and Hamlet. This one is about how both Othello and Hamlet want postive visual confirmation before they act. Othello wants to see Desdimona cheat and Hamlet wants to be sure that the ghost he sees is real and that of his father.
2. Augustinian influence in John Donne's "An Elegy upon the Untimely Death of the Incomparable Prince Henry" This one is about how Donne takes directly from "City of God" to prove points about faith and reason in the face of catastrophic human events, such as the death of a future king.
3. Latin Calque phrases in Old English. This paper points out that when English was just forming, many phrases (especially religious and theological)were taken directly from Latin and translated word for word into Old English. Example- "Viri Dei" became "Godes Folces". This is a big deal because the Anglo Saxons could have just made up a new word or words for these phrases, but they didn't. They tried to fit Latin phrases into the same internal structure while changing the letters or morphemes in to Old English. It's pretty neat stuff.
So, that's what I'll be doing the next few weekends. Of course, I already have plans to play golf with David, Peter, and Dan this Friday, so my paper writing might have to suffer a little. I'm sure you can look for all of these papers on the list of bestsellers soon. More likely, if you ever need any help sleeping I'll send one of these papers over to you you'll be sleeping in no time.
Saturday, April 07, 2007
Goin' Pro
I just received news yesterday that I did pass my MA exam. I guess that means that I'll finally have to leave school and go pro. Now I just have two 20 page papers and a 10 page paper to write and I'll be done!
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
Visual DNA and FOCUS test
As you can see, I've copied off of Christine and David to give you my visual DNA. If you look at mine and compare it to David's, you can see that it looks like we have very little in common. This happens on every personality test we take. Take our FOCUS test for instance. That test is so dumb. If you're Catholic and engaged you have to take this test as part of your pre-marriage requirements. I knew David and I were ready to get married, but that test made it look like we barely knew each other. True, we got a 100% on parenting issues, but we also got some 50%'s too. Of course, the Neuliebs were getting married a week before us, so I asked them how their FOCUS test went. I think they were inducted into the FOCUS test hall of fame for their outrageously high score on everything. In fact, I think they now call it the Neulieb test. Just kidding Anne and Peter! Anyhow, I was upset about our scores at the time until I (with the help of Anne) came to the simple realization that David and I are just different people. I'm not the man version of him and he's not the woman version of me, and that's probably why we love each other so much. Oh, I did have one more realization about the focus test. They only make you take that test so that aside from the normal questions, they can slip in a couple of deal breaker questions like, "Has your finace ever hit you?", or "Do you consider murder a reasonable reaction for infidelity?" and the like. So if you've taken the focus test and would like to give your general reactions to your own scores, leave a comment.
Sunday, April 01, 2007
MA exam and golf etiquette
I took my MA exam on Thursday and I'm glad to have it finished. I'm not willing to say I passed it because if I didn't pass, then I would look really stupid when I had to make a new post saying I failed my exam. The questions were a lot different than I thought they would be. I was expecting long intricate questions that would test my knowledge on not only the texts but also some smarmy theory to go along with it. Instead I got things like, "Many critics say that older literature cannot portray women as noble characters. Support or refute this claim by using examples from Ovid's Metamorphosis, a medieval work, and a renaissance work." This question struck me as really vague and kind of easy. And that's why I'm concerned I failed the exam. Either the question really was easy or I'm just too dumb to realize the complexities of such a quandary. I pick the latter.
Anyhow, the next day we went golfing for Peter's 22nd birthday. As some of you might know, I played golf in high school and enjoyed it very much. Our team was very good, but I was the worst player on the team. It's nice to get back to the sport and I'd like to play a lot over the summer. David likes playing, but he hates it when I try to tell him about golf etiquette. Golf is one of the only games that I know where you have to be nice or at least follow very strict conventions that make you look like you are being nice. For instance, you should never talk when someone else is getting ready to swing, you should always let a smaller or quicker group play through if you think you'll hold them up, you should always hold or pull the pin for the person who is putting first, always rake your footprints out of the sand trap, etc. Well, every time I try to tell David about these little rules, he just looks at me like I'm some overbearing rule freak who is too concerned with stuffy etiquette. All I'm saying is that I was taught these rules and got in trouble with my coach if he ever saw us breaking one of these rules, so sorry! Jeeze. And I haven't even told David about how you aren't supposed to stand in a person's "line" while putting. I think if I did, he would go bonkers. But really, it's not like I'm using my knowledge of golf rules to lord it over anyone. I just have the courage tell people about proper etiquette.
Anyhow, the next day we went golfing for Peter's 22nd birthday. As some of you might know, I played golf in high school and enjoyed it very much. Our team was very good, but I was the worst player on the team. It's nice to get back to the sport and I'd like to play a lot over the summer. David likes playing, but he hates it when I try to tell him about golf etiquette. Golf is one of the only games that I know where you have to be nice or at least follow very strict conventions that make you look like you are being nice. For instance, you should never talk when someone else is getting ready to swing, you should always let a smaller or quicker group play through if you think you'll hold them up, you should always hold or pull the pin for the person who is putting first, always rake your footprints out of the sand trap, etc. Well, every time I try to tell David about these little rules, he just looks at me like I'm some overbearing rule freak who is too concerned with stuffy etiquette. All I'm saying is that I was taught these rules and got in trouble with my coach if he ever saw us breaking one of these rules, so sorry! Jeeze. And I haven't even told David about how you aren't supposed to stand in a person's "line" while putting. I think if I did, he would go bonkers. But really, it's not like I'm using my knowledge of golf rules to lord it over anyone. I just have the courage tell people about proper etiquette.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
