For as long as I can remember, I have been fascinated with the way things are made, the way they look. As a kid I was extremely nearsighted for a while before anyone discovered the fact. The result was that: (A) I had no interest in school, and (B) I developed the habit of examining things really closely, because that was the only way I could see anything. I appreciate artists who can paint in a very impressionistic style, but for me the details are the fun part. Hopefully, the other aspects of the composition are strong as well, so the details are part of a well-balanced whole. Detail is a big part of the beauty of any object. I don’t feel that my job as a Catholic artist is to bring beauty into the world, but to bring attention to what is beautiful in the world.
Now, I said all that to say this: If you have not yet discovered the music of Alison Krauss and Union Station, you owe it to yourself. She and her bandmates, particularly Jerry Douglas, display a rare depth and genius, as well as just pure musicianship; the details of a musical expression that is as meticulously crafted as it is heartfelt. Alison Krauss’s vocal cords should be declared a national treasure, and Jerry Douglas – well, he should be bronzed, or something.
Don’t settle for "interesting". Life is short. Go straight for beauty.
Animal Yucks
No! This post ain’t about yucky animals! It’s about animal laughter.
Back in grad school, my Medieval philosophy professor was convinced that her dogs laughed–or rather, had a canine equivalent to laughter–but didn’t have a scientific study or report of one to back it up.
But LiveScience.Com has one.
EXCERPT:
"Indeed, neural circuits for laughter exist in very ancient regions of the brain, and ancestral forms of play and laughter existed in other animals eons before we humans came along with our ‘ha-ha-has’ and verbal repartee,"
says Jaak Panksepp, a neuroscientist at Bowling Green State University. When chimps play and chase each other, they pant in a manner that is strikingly like human laughter, Panksepp writes in the April 1 issue of the journal Science. Dogs have a similar response.
Rats chirp while they play, again in a way that resembles our giggles. Panksepp found in a previous study that when rats are playfully tickled, they chirp and bond socially with their human tickler. And they seem to like it, seeking to be tickled more. Apparently joyful rats also preferred to hang out with other chirpers.
Stealth Deer
Thought some of you might enjoy this picture I snapped looking out the window into our back yard. The bush on the right in the photo is apparently a favorite deer snack, especially during the winter. I was interested to find that there are two distinct types of White-tail deer in this area. The indigenous herd is almost a grey color. This happens to blend in extremely well with oak trees, and can make them hard to spot. The others (and I have this on very reliable heresay) were introduced from the Great Plains, and are more of a tawny color that might blend well with tall grasses and such.
So, Arkansas deer are, like – STEALTH deer.
New Pope's Reaction To Ratzinger Fan Club
Apparently the former Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, was once presented with a Ratzinger Fan Club t-shirt, enjoyed it, but claimed he couldn’t keep it because he couldn’t be his own fan:
“He was humble, outgoing and laughed at a T-shirt that read ‘The Cardinal Ratzinger Fan Club.’
“That’s how Chris Haehnel, 15, of St. Charles, remembers his visit in Rome with the man who Tuesday became Pope Benedict XVI.
[…]
“Chris, then a freshman at Duchesne High School in St. Charles, already had studied Ratzinger and papal politics. He said he liked Ratzinger’s conservative stands on moral issues. He gave Ratzinger a T-shirt he bought from an online fan club.
“On the front, it read ‘The Cardinal Ratzinger Fan Club. Putting the smackdown on heresy since 1981.’ Ratzinger was head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and combating heresy was part of his job.
“Ratzinger laughed at the shirt, Chris said, but said he couldn’t keep it because he couldn’t be his own fan. When he flipped over the shirt to find a quote attributed to him — ‘Truth is not determined by a majority vote’ — he laughed again and said, ‘That’s true. That’s true.’ Chris still has the shirt.”
New Pope’s Reaction To Ratzinger Fan Club
Apparently the former Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, was once presented with a Ratzinger Fan Club t-shirt, enjoyed it, but claimed he couldn’t keep it because he couldn’t be his own fan:
“He was humble, outgoing and laughed at a T-shirt that read ‘The Cardinal Ratzinger Fan Club.’
“That’s how Chris Haehnel, 15, of St. Charles, remembers his visit in Rome with the man who Tuesday became Pope Benedict XVI.
[…]
“Chris, then a freshman at Duchesne High School in St. Charles, already had studied Ratzinger and papal politics. He said he liked Ratzinger’s conservative stands on moral issues. He gave Ratzinger a T-shirt he bought from an online fan club.
“On the front, it read ‘The Cardinal Ratzinger Fan Club. Putting the smackdown on heresy since 1981.’ Ratzinger was head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and combating heresy was part of his job.
“Ratzinger laughed at the shirt, Chris said, but said he couldn’t keep it because he couldn’t be his own fan. When he flipped over the shirt to find a quote attributed to him — ‘Truth is not determined by a majority vote’ — he laughed again and said, ‘That’s true. That’s true.’ Chris still has the shirt.”
Kentucky speaking event
Just a note to let folks know that tomorrow (Saturday) at 10 AM I’m going to be speaking in Hopkinsville, Kentucky at Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church at 902 E 9th Street.
Look forward to seeing anyone who can make it!
Prayer for Benkovics
The first time I tuned in to Johnette Benkovic’s show on EWTN I figured (like a true male chauvinist pig) that her "Living His Life Abundantly" program would focus on "women’s issues". I guess I expected her and the female guest to talk about, what, the family budget? How to keep the kids quiet during Mass? I quickly saw how wrong I was. I actually made myself late for work because I became so absorbed in their discussion about the culture of United Nations. I have watched a number of times since, appreciative of her faith, her perspective on cultural issues and her personal warmth.
Her husband has recently been diagnosed with a brain tumor, and she has cancelled personal appearances to be at his side. She is asking for our prayers.
THIS LINK to the story on Catholic Exchange gives more information, as well as an address to which may be sent cards or personal notes.
God Bless You and your family, Johnette, You are in our prayers.
Animal Precinct
You aspiring comic writers out there, here is an idea that just screams to be inked. The Mesa, Arizona police department is seeking funding for research into training monkeys to do police work.
In real life the monkeys would be used to unlock doors, or search rooms ahead of teams of human officers, but expanding on the concept wouldn’t be difficult.
GET THE STORY.
I’m not a writer, so I don’t know about story arcs and all that, but I’m pretty sure it should involve Kung-Fu. Now, go to it!
Like . . . Whatever!
Analogies and metaphors supposedly found in high school essays:
1. Her face was a perfect oval, like a circle that had its two sides gently compressed by a Thigh Master.
2. His thoughts tumbled in his head, making and breaking alliances like underpants in a dryer without Cling Free.
3. He spoke with the wisdom that can only come from experience, like a guy who went blind because he looked at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it and now goes around the country speaking at high schools about the dangers of looking at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it.
4. She grew on him like she was a colony of E. coli and he was room temperature Canadian beef.
5. She had a deep, throaty, genuine laugh, like that sound a dog makes just before it throws up.
6. Her vocabulary was as bad as, like, whatever.
7. He was as tall as a six-foot-three-inch tree.
8. The revelation that his marriage of 30 years had disintegrated because of his wife’s infidelity came as a rude shock, like a surcharge at a formerly surcharge free ATM.
9. The little boat gently drifted across the pond exactly the way a bowling ball wouldn’t.
10. McBride fell 12 stories, hitting the pavement like a Hefty bag filled with vegetable soup.
11. From the attic came an unearthly howl. The whole scene had an eerie, surreal quality, like when you’re on vacation in another city and Jeopardy comes on at 7:00 p.m. instead of 7:30.
12. Her hair glistened in the rain like a nose hair after a sneeze.
13. The hailstones leaped from the pavement, just like maggots when you fry them in hot grease.
14. Long separated by cruel fate, the star-crossed lovers raced across the grassy field toward each other like two freight trains, one having left Cleveland at 6:36 p.m. traveling at 55 mph, the other from Topeka at 4:19 p.m. at a speed of 35 mph.
15. They lived in a typical suburban neighborhood with picket fences that resembled Nancy Kerrigan’s teeth.
16. John and Mary had never met. They were like two hummingbirds who had also never met.
17. He fell for her like his heart was a mob informant and she was the East River.
18. Even in his last years, Grandpappy had a mind like a steel trap, only one that had been left out so long, it had rusted shut.
19. Shots rang out, as shots are wont to do.
20. The plan was simple, like my brother-in-law Phil. But unlike Phil, this plan just might work.
21. The young fighter had a hungry look, the kind you get from not eating for a while.
22. He was as lame as a duck. Not the metaphorical lame duck, either, but a real duck that was actually lame, maybe from stepping on a land mine or something.
23. The ballerina rose gracefully en pointe and extended one slender leg behind her, like a dog at a fire hydrant.
24. It was an American tradition, like fathers chasing kids around with power tools.
25. He was deeply in love. When she spoke, he thought he heard bells, as if she were a garbage truck backing up.
26. Her eyes were like limpid pools, only they had forgotten to put in any pH cleanser.
27. She walked into my office like a centipede with 98 missing legs.
28. It hurt the way your tongue hurts after you accidentally staple it to the wall.
NOTE!: Add your own humorous metaphors and similies in the combox!
Our Lady of the Underpass
Ordinarily, I don’t pay much attention to "sightings" of Mary in all manner of creation. It kind of reminds me of the child’s game of spotting pictures in clouds. That’s not a bad thing, per se, but certainly not something that should be taken seriously. So, when I saw this story about another such "sighting," I sighed and shrugged.
However, a reader over at Relapsed Catholic had a wonderful comment on the matter, also working in an observation about our new Pope:
"I saw a clip today of a young German woman being interviewed in Rome. I forget her exact words, but she indicated that the election of Benedict represents the redemption of Germany: the country that produced Hitler has now produced a Pope. What a neat thought! [Especially when one remembers that both men were born on Holy Saturday. –MA]
"You probably caught that ‘Our Lady of the Underpass’ story. I admit I tend to roll my eyes when people see the Blessed Virgin in pieces of toast and parking garage walls. However, lately I’ve been smiling at the idea of the Child Jesus scribbling pictures of Mommy all over — just because he can, you know?"