1. Clowns
2. Figurines, especially unicorns, angels, singing fish, and Precious Moments.
3. Kitsch (see above)
4. Use of the quick phrase, by a US citizen, when describing France: "We saved their ass in two world wars"
5. Use of the phrase "perfect storm" when describing the current economic crisis.
6. The movie "Perfect Storm" (Might be because I was on several Asia plane trips when this was being played ALL the time; I felt hijacked).
7. Bailouts
8. Sins of Power more than Sins of Weakness
9. Consumerist Culture
10. Mimes
11. "Jared"...the stupidest name ever given to a business chain and especially to a jewelry chain.
12. Ultra-specific infomercial products like: fajita makers and microwavable plastic containers for pasta.
13. Ventriloquists
14. One particular brand of urinal, whose company has obviously not hired an engineer or anyone with any knowledge of physics, because no matter where you pee in the urinal, it all ends up back on your pants.
15. The Einstein mouse who I haven't killed despite numerous poisons, traps, and glue.
16. Songs that have the word "baby" in them more than 10 times.
17. Christmas themed sweaters, ties, and vests
18. Most comedians: especially Gilbert Gottfried, Bobcat Goldthwait, Pauly Shore, Dane Cook, and CarrotTop.
19. The Cubs getting my hopes up.
20. Neck hair combed up over the opening on the shirt.
21. Museums that only show the tools and spoils of war: swords, guns, and stolen gold.
22. Hummers
23. Taking my shirt off on a hot summer day and sitting on my vinyl couch at home and sticking to it. Just kidding.
24. Finding an anonymous bitten off fingernail on the table at the post office (the one mentioned in a previous post).
25. Church marquees
26. The Prayer of Jabez
27. Illinois Politicians
28. Celebrity baby pictures
29. Animal prints, especially in bedding.
30. Static electricity and that I am particularly prone to being shocked (I have lit up dark rooms with the arcs of electricity).
31. The futility of watering and fertilizing lawns to make them grow only to cut them.
32. The look of horror plus a look of affection from a large woman I bumped into at Union Station. There was a small gap between two people that I was trying to thread when she backed up and bent over (to get a paper out of a machine) when I rammed my bags into her backside. Sorry.
33. Lots of gold jewelry for men
34. Paisley
35. The monopoly of certain sports in cultures. Why not just start making up games/sports and start to play those?
Friday, December 12, 2008
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Trail of Tears
My family has been been told that we will be receiving 2 acres of land in northwest rural Georgia, west of Atlanta and close to Alabama.
This is land that has been given to us by some extended family (on my mom's side) and had been divided many times before so that the original family tract would have been hundreds if not thousands of acres.
We have been told that this land was given to our family by the State of Georgia. We also know that several of our ancestors participated in the Trail of Tears, forcing the Cherokee tribe from Georgia out west to Oklahoma.
Family history is not complete. I don't know that this particular land was forcibly taken by the State and/or given in return for complicity in driving away the Cherokee. But it seems suspicious.
I recommended to the family that they give this land back to the Cherokee tribe. They were not receptive. But it was a good dialogue and they asked the following questions in return:
1) Who are we to give it to? What would the Cherokee tribe want with 2 acres in the midst of a rural environment where they might not, even today, be received well? Also, if it is given to the leaders of the Cherokee tribe, how would we know this would go to actual descendants of the people who were driven from the land?
2) Since we are a bi-racial family, it was also stipulated that maybe with our family owning the land, this act is redemption in itself....because it means that lots of different ethnicities will be represented in ownership.
If it is true that this land was gained in such a manner, do we have the responsibility to give the land back? How can we make amends for the sins of our ancestors?...especially in light of clouded histories?
This is land that has been given to us by some extended family (on my mom's side) and had been divided many times before so that the original family tract would have been hundreds if not thousands of acres.
We have been told that this land was given to our family by the State of Georgia. We also know that several of our ancestors participated in the Trail of Tears, forcing the Cherokee tribe from Georgia out west to Oklahoma.
Family history is not complete. I don't know that this particular land was forcibly taken by the State and/or given in return for complicity in driving away the Cherokee. But it seems suspicious.
I recommended to the family that they give this land back to the Cherokee tribe. They were not receptive. But it was a good dialogue and they asked the following questions in return:
1) Who are we to give it to? What would the Cherokee tribe want with 2 acres in the midst of a rural environment where they might not, even today, be received well? Also, if it is given to the leaders of the Cherokee tribe, how would we know this would go to actual descendants of the people who were driven from the land?
2) Since we are a bi-racial family, it was also stipulated that maybe with our family owning the land, this act is redemption in itself....because it means that lots of different ethnicities will be represented in ownership.
If it is true that this land was gained in such a manner, do we have the responsibility to give the land back? How can we make amends for the sins of our ancestors?...especially in light of clouded histories?
Monday, December 8, 2008
Post Office
While at the Business Center Post Office yesterday, the scab on my lip broke open and I started bleeding. A LOT.
I tried to blot it with my finger but there was just so much blood. I ended up covering both hands with blood and think I may have looked like the Joker in that meeting...smearing the blood across my face.
I tried to be non-nonchalant, tipped my chair back and trying to blot the sore.
Then a co-worker looked over and started to laugh uncontrollably in the meeting. I quickly stood up and said that I 'might' be bleeding and asked where I could find the restroom.
My lip was dripping blood at the time; I entered the bathroom and I tried blotting it with a paper towel.
Made me wonder if I am a hemophiliac. I doubt it, but I also doubt I will need to take blood thinners or aspirin to thin the blood when I'm older.
Maybe I can buy one of those experimental snake venoms that help clot the blood. To put over my lip.
I tried to blot it with my finger but there was just so much blood. I ended up covering both hands with blood and think I may have looked like the Joker in that meeting...smearing the blood across my face.
I tried to be non-nonchalant, tipped my chair back and trying to blot the sore.
Then a co-worker looked over and started to laugh uncontrollably in the meeting. I quickly stood up and said that I 'might' be bleeding and asked where I could find the restroom.
My lip was dripping blood at the time; I entered the bathroom and I tried blotting it with a paper towel.
Made me wonder if I am a hemophiliac. I doubt it, but I also doubt I will need to take blood thinners or aspirin to thin the blood when I'm older.
Maybe I can buy one of those experimental snake venoms that help clot the blood. To put over my lip.
Friday, December 5, 2008
Prayer of Oscar Romero
It helps, now and then, to step back and take a long view.
The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts,
it is even beyond our vision.
We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction
of the magnificent enterprise that is God's work.
Nothing we do is complete, which is a way of saying
that the kingdom always lies beyond us.
No statement says all that could be said.
No prayer fully expresses our faith.
No confession brings perfection.
No pastoral visit brings wholeness.
No program accomplishes the church's mission.
No set of goals and objectives includes everything.
It may be incomplete,
but it is a beginning, a step along the way,
an opportunity for the Lord's grace to enter and do the rest.
We may never see the end results, but that is the difference
between the master builder and the worker.
We are workers, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs.
We are prophets of a future not our own.
This is what we are about.
We plant the seeds that one day will grow.
We water seeds already planted,
knowing that they hold future promise.
We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces far beyond our capabilities.
We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation
in realizing that. This enables us to do something,
and to do it very well.
Amen.
The following prayer was composed by Bishop Ken Untener of Saginaw, drafted for a homily by Cardinal John Dearden in Nov. 1979 for a celebration of departed priests. As a reflection on the anniversary of the martyrdom of Bishop Romero, Bishop Untener included in a reflection book a passage titled "The mystery of the Romero Prayer." The mystery is that the words of the prayer are attributed to Oscar Romero, but they were never spoken by him.”
Credit to: Office of Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation (JPIC)
Congregation of Notre Dame --- Visitation Province
http://www.jpic-visitation.org/reflections/prayers/romero.html
The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts,
it is even beyond our vision.
We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction
of the magnificent enterprise that is God's work.
Nothing we do is complete, which is a way of saying
that the kingdom always lies beyond us.
No statement says all that could be said.
No prayer fully expresses our faith.
No confession brings perfection.
No pastoral visit brings wholeness.
No program accomplishes the church's mission.
No set of goals and objectives includes everything.
It may be incomplete,
but it is a beginning, a step along the way,
an opportunity for the Lord's grace to enter and do the rest.
We may never see the end results, but that is the difference
between the master builder and the worker.
We are workers, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs.
We are prophets of a future not our own.
This is what we are about.
We plant the seeds that one day will grow.
We water seeds already planted,
knowing that they hold future promise.
We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces far beyond our capabilities.
We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation
in realizing that. This enables us to do something,
and to do it very well.
Amen.
The following prayer was composed by Bishop Ken Untener of Saginaw, drafted for a homily by Cardinal John Dearden in Nov. 1979 for a celebration of departed priests. As a reflection on the anniversary of the martyrdom of Bishop Romero, Bishop Untener included in a reflection book a passage titled "The mystery of the Romero Prayer." The mystery is that the words of the prayer are attributed to Oscar Romero, but they were never spoken by him.”
Credit to: Office of Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation (JPIC)
Congregation of Notre Dame --- Visitation Province
http://www.jpic-visitation.org/reflections/prayers/romero.html
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Freakonomics Calendar
Nov. 25th, 2008
Two economists found that when a country takes over one of the rotating seats on the United Nations Security Council, it receives nearly 60 percent more foreign aid from the U.S. When the country leaves the Security Council, the aid falls back to the old levels.
Two economists found that when a country takes over one of the rotating seats on the United Nations Security Council, it receives nearly 60 percent more foreign aid from the U.S. When the country leaves the Security Council, the aid falls back to the old levels.
Gratuitous Sex and Violence
Telemarketer: I was given your name by _______________. Aren't you tired of the gratuitous sex and violence in Hollywood these days?
Me: Uh.... yes.
Telemarketer: Don't you want to send a message to Hollywood to promote more family friendly movies?
Me: Where are you going with this?
Telemarketer: We would like to send you two family friendly movies on VHS tape to show that Hollywood needs to make more of these types of movies.
(I forget which family friendly movies they were, but they were clearly geared for children).
Me: I don't have any children and I don't even own a VCR.
Telemarketer: ...But wouldn't you like to send a message to Hollywood by purchasing these two movies? More would follow.
Me: You're asking me to buy movies for myself that I can't even watch. I don't have a VCR.
Telemarketer: But you're sending a message to Hollywood.
Me: What, that I'm stupid?
Me: Uh.... yes.
Telemarketer: Don't you want to send a message to Hollywood to promote more family friendly movies?
Me: Where are you going with this?
Telemarketer: We would like to send you two family friendly movies on VHS tape to show that Hollywood needs to make more of these types of movies.
(I forget which family friendly movies they were, but they were clearly geared for children).
Me: I don't have any children and I don't even own a VCR.
Telemarketer: ...But wouldn't you like to send a message to Hollywood by purchasing these two movies? More would follow.
Me: You're asking me to buy movies for myself that I can't even watch. I don't have a VCR.
Telemarketer: But you're sending a message to Hollywood.
Me: What, that I'm stupid?
Monday, December 1, 2008
Happy Thanksgiving!!!
I had a wonderful Thanksgiving.
I was able to travel home by train (a first). This year was the family "off" year so siblings with spouses visited the spouse's families this year. That meant only 18 for Thanksgiving.
However, we were invited to meet the cousins that Sat. evening afterwords. Dad graciously drove us down to Illinois and Uncle Pete and Aunt Kathy hosted the party.
Highlights:
-Of course the relationship time....being with extended family. We laughed a lot and consider each other our good friends in addition to being family.
-Lounging around the house. Normally I help out with the hosting prep but Mom and Dad really gave me the great gift of letting me relax.
-Reading two books...a book on contemplation and a book by David Sedaris.
-Starting and beating Call of Duty 5
-Watching some movies on my PSP (thanks Ron) including On the Waterfront with Marlon Brando
-Continuing the family tradition of watching James Bond in theaters Thanksgiving evening.
-Eating at Noodles and Co. with Mom and Dad during her work lunch break.
-Banana Cream pie AND Pumpkin Pie
I have a grateful heart for such a wonderful visit and for such a great family.
I was able to travel home by train (a first). This year was the family "off" year so siblings with spouses visited the spouse's families this year. That meant only 18 for Thanksgiving.
However, we were invited to meet the cousins that Sat. evening afterwords. Dad graciously drove us down to Illinois and Uncle Pete and Aunt Kathy hosted the party.
Highlights:
-Of course the relationship time....being with extended family. We laughed a lot and consider each other our good friends in addition to being family.
-Lounging around the house. Normally I help out with the hosting prep but Mom and Dad really gave me the great gift of letting me relax.
-Reading two books...a book on contemplation and a book by David Sedaris.
-Starting and beating Call of Duty 5
-Watching some movies on my PSP (thanks Ron) including On the Waterfront with Marlon Brando
-Continuing the family tradition of watching James Bond in theaters Thanksgiving evening.
-Eating at Noodles and Co. with Mom and Dad during her work lunch break.
-Banana Cream pie AND Pumpkin Pie
I have a grateful heart for such a wonderful visit and for such a great family.
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