Looking Back at 2016

This was the year that Sean became a vegetarian and I had to plan meals for both carnivores and vegetarians.  About burned me out!!!

This was the year we took in a young woman and her baby and have been immeasurably blessed by it (but also I have discovered how introverted I really am).

This was the year we renovated three and a half bathrooms.  Lots of noise and disruption that went on and on and on.  Our bathrooms are great now!  But the romance of renovating is completely over with me.  I can barely stand to watch an HGTV show anymore.

This was the year of Becky's musicals, Oliver and Little Women.  Little Women was great (well, both were great!), but Little Women is a really underrated musical that should be better known.

This was the year I went camping and found out I loved it (as long as the weather is cool).

This was the year I started a Master's degree in Theology and realized that while I love learning theology, I really don't want to have to deal with the stress of exams and due dates for papers when I have so much else going on in my life.

This was the year Will and Sean went to Poland to attend World Youth Day.

This was the year I took a real adult level Latin course and enjoyed it.

This was the year I felt the most relaxed at Aquinas Learning.  I am just teaching Latin 1 and it is
great!

This was the year I read many mysteries written by British women.  I began the year reading Dorothy L. Sayers' Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries and ended the year reading Ruth Downie's Medicus series.

This was the year I finally read (listened to, actually) The Life of Samuel Johnson by James Boswell.

This was the year I joined the American Solidarity Party and met some really wonderful, intelligent, conscientious people.

Tabula Rasa - Book 40

I think Tabula Rasa was my favorite book in this series so far.  It just came together the best in my opinion.  The plot didn't get too complex and all the different personalities played off each other really well.  The atmosphere and the realism brought everything to life vividly.  It was thoroughly satisfying in every way.

Tilla and Ruso are now working up at the fort, Parva, with the army helping Hadrian build his famous wall.  Ruso's old clerk, Albanus, has asked Ruso to get a position for his nephew, Candidus.  Ruso does make him his own new clerk but after only a couple days, Candidus goes missing.  Ruso at first doesn't panic, the guy actually was rather annoying and didn't seem all that competent.  He thinks he might have deserted or run off for a while, but as the days pass he begins to get more and more nervous.  And then a rumor about a body being buried in the wall starts to make its rounds.  At the same time this intrigue is developing, Tilla has been befriended by an old man who knew her mother.  She wants him to bless her marriage to Ruso.  All these factors intertwine into a really great plot that involves the feast of Samain and the uneasy cease fire between the natives and the Romans.

Ruth Downie writes with such deftness and such a light touch.  She's never wordy but she paints evocative pictures of what life must have been like.  I really thought this story was brilliantly executed.

Now, on to the last book in the series (so far.  Maybe the author is still writing them? But now I've caught up to all the ones published so far.)

For more book reviews, go to Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.

Semper Fidelis - Book 39

Still on my Medicus kick.  In fact I am determined to finish the series before the new year.  I actually read Semper Fidelis a week ago and am having trouble recalling it because I just finished the book after it.  

Ruso has gotten his old job back as a medic for the 20th Legion.  He gets temporarily stationed at another outpost where he's actually only supposed to be there for a few days.  The big news is that the emperor Hadrian is on his way to visit Britannia and everyone is all adither in preparing for it. Hadrian and his wife Sabina are shipwrecked though and wind up at this outpost.  Before they arrive however, Ruso uncovers some really strange, creepy stuff going on.  The Britons who have volunteered are convinced they are unlucky because two of their men have died and on the very day that Ruso arrives another man commits suicide.  And then there is the strange native they found hiding in the woods outside the fort who ran away.  Tilla, as usual, acts as a go between for both the Romans and the Natives.  And Ruso is getting better at speaking the native language.

This was a face-paced thriller with some funny scenes, lots of tense scenes, and some really unexpected turns of events.  Ruso as usual is trying to figure things out, getting befuddled, doubting himself, getting himself into desperate situations.  Tilla is always just as much of a sleuth, doing her part, getting into dangerous situations herself and then together, somehow, even though they are apart more than they are together during most of the book, they manage as a team to discover who is to blame.

Ruth Downie is a really good writer.  She crafts her characters masterfully.  She recreates the atmosphere of Roman Britain in such a realistic way without ever getting too heavy.  This is a world of brutality and occupation, slavery, oppressed natives and arrogant Romans. And yet there is a sense of trying to do the right thing, of compassion, of affection, of humor.

Highly enjoyable read!  For more book reviews go to Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.

Read 52 Books Bingo

I can't figure out how to get the bingo card image here, but here is a link to it.  I wish I was more savvy at graphics and navigating my way around electronic devices and the internet.  Anyway, I am excited about the coming year, simply because I am going for my 52 Reads goal again.  I thought Robin's bingo card was fun.

Caveat Emptor - Book 38

Caveat Emptor is the next in the Medicus series by Ruth Downie, Ruso and Tilla have married and now travel back to Britainia because Tilla misses home.  Ruso needs to get a new job as a doctor somewhere, but before he starts looking, he is asked to be a investigator.  His reputation for solving the case in the first book has followed him, mostly due to his friend Valens.  A Briton who served as a tax collector for the Romans is missing and so is the money to pay the taxes.  Ruso and Tilla travel to the town whose money has been stolen and there Tilla is midwife to a woman who announces that the missing man is the father of her child.  All kinds of complications ensue.  There are officials who many be covering up crimes, there are tribal tensions, and a handsome but suspicious head of the guards who seems to be everywhere.  Metallus, also from the first book, shows up.  Everything is confusing and Ruso can't tell who to trust.

This books seemed a bit heavier than the others, mostly because Tilla has a dark secret she is keeping from Ruso. They both dream of settling down somewhere and starting a family but Tilla had an abortion way back when she was a slave and she fears now that is why she never gets pregnant.  Ruso's and Tilla's marriage is stretched to an almost breaking point.  Usually, there are really funny episodes in this series, but this time I didn't notice any.  There is a lot about marriage here, Ruso and Tilla's, Valens and Serena, and even Camma's lonely marriage.

In this book, Tilla's obstinance, which is usually endearing, really puts them and others in danger.  And she realizes it.  Ruso too feels like he hasn't measured up to what he ought to be as a husband.  Tilla comforts him by telling him what she wants is a husband who tries to do the right thing, even if he is a fool sometimes.  But though they love each other, their relationship seems a bit fragile too.

It was a good read.  The plot is complicated, lots of characters I was starting to have trouble keeping track of, and the mood is definitely a bit heavier than the previous ones.

For more book reviews, Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.

Trying to be a Better Environmentalist

I am sympathetic to environmentalists, in my own Catholic, leaning toward free market kind of way!  I like Roger Scruton and Front Porch Republic and Crunchy Cons, etc.  I believe in conservation.  I am a fan of the Catholic Environmental site, St. Kateri Conservation Center.  I think clean water is a really important thing.  However, I am pretty much a hypocrite about it all.  I drive all over kingdom come practically every day, polluting the atmosphere.  I am wasteful and I am sure I leave a huge carbon footprint.  I am a first world, spoiled, one percenter for sure.  I want to mend my ways, but I am terrible at forming good habits.  I was doing well, at least remembering to bring my bags to the grocery store, until I stopped remembering to do so, probably a few months ago.  How did I fall out of that habit, I wonder?  I was being so good for a while there.  Anyway, for days now I've been thinking about my New Year's resolutions, mostly spurred by the idea that my two youngest are already talking about how they want to go vegan for Lent.   I guess the season of Advent reminded them of Lent and Sean's 1 year anniversary of becoming a vegetarian is coming up soon (his 18th birthday is 12/22 and on his 17th, he officially gave up meat.)  I honestly don't think vegan diets are healthy.  I think you need some animal protein and fat in your diet, at least once in a while.  I think vegans eat a lot of weird food that is highly processed and also I think they tend to eat lots of sugar which I think is worse for you than animal products.  And I think we were made to eat meat.  I agree that we probably eat way too much and that we should be better about how we treat animals, but I still think occasional, humanely raised animal products is better than veganism.  The weird thing about my kids though, is that the vegan thing is I am pretty sure, just to be cool.  I don't see them actively wanting to fight for animal rights or caring about the environment.  I wish I did see that, even if maybe I wouldn't quite agree, at least it would be wanting to be vegan for a better reason than just, let's be cool and be vegan.

Anyway, that aside, here are my ideas about improving our habits in terms of the environment:

Goals:
To reduce trash
1) First of all, I need to call the recycling people because our one little bin doesn't begin to hold enough of the recycling we are trying to do.  So we just need a bigger container for it all, or more than one.  The paper bags I put out there get blown over and are subject to messy investigations by wild animals.
2) Be more conscientious about buying things with less packaging.  I need to get the whole family on board with this.
3)  Cook more at home - I really need to plan better.  We produce so much trash via take out and buying pre-made stuff at the store.
4)  reuse stuff more - like aluminum foil.  I can't think of other stuff right now, but I know I throw things out that I could reuse.
5)  Get things like this: http://mightynest.com/shop/kitchen/food-storage/bees-wrap-set-of-3
6)  Conscientiously avoid plastic as much as possible.  I am convinced that plastic is really the environmental problem of our time.  Not only is it made from fossil fuels, it is garbage we must recycle (but don't efficiently) because it does not biodegrade, plus it is dangerous to animals and changes our hormones because it contains phytoestrogens.  I personally think we need legislation to restrict plastic use.  It is great for medical purposes and for shipping food long distances, but we don't need it in many other places.  Except legos.  We do need legos.
7)  The one thing I am happy about is our composting service.  Thank you to a certain friend who told me about it!  I really appreciate it.
8)  Use cloth more than paper.  I am addicted to paper towels.  I should get cloth napkins now that I don't have lots of littles.  And I could really reduce my paper towel consumption if I had a better system with dish towels.

To eat local food more:
1)  I do love shopping at our local CSA which I can walk to.  I need to be better at incorporating that food into our meals before it rots!  I waste too much food this way.  I've just got to get better at meal planning and cooking at home.  I am lazy and in very bad habits.
2)  I love shopping at another place too, a store in town that only sources food from local places.  I've been buying my meat there, and some other stuff too.  The beef is raised by the husband of our parish's children's choir director.  I mean she was the director for many, many years but I think she stopped when they moved out into the country to start the farm apparently her husband had always dreamed of owning.  What I should do is combine going to this store with also shopping at regular store to buy stuff you just have to get there (like pet food, etc).
3)  I would like to preserve seasonal food to eat out of season instead of relying on stuff shipped in from other countries.  However, this is a very intimidating thing for me, which will take baby steps for me to ever get to.  Instead I'll probably buy preserved foods from local businesses for the most part.

To reduce electricity usage:
1) We are so careless with leaving lights on, not unplugging things that ought to be unplugged, turning up the heat too high, etc. etc.

Bigger things:
1) Try to have one day a week where I don't drive anywhere.  Right now this seems impossible because my main role in life is to drive S, B and V (with D) to all their stuff.  But I could try to arrange things so that at least one day a week, I don't drive or only go out once for a short trip or something.
2)  Get solar panels on roof.  I tried to look into this before but never got very far.  We really could reduce reliance on the grid using these.  I notice the Montessori school up the street has solar panels as do the some of the houses in the groovy eco-village type development nearby.  There must be a way to do this.  I think this should be our next major house project.

Boswell's Life of Samuel Johnson - Book 37

The narrator is terrific for this book!  Amazing job reading very difficult stuff.

The Life of Johnson has been an ambition of mine to read for a while.  It is listed on my 50 Classics page.  I bought the book several years ago and tried to read it but found it almost incomprehensible, plus the book is too large and unwieldy and the print too tiny!   So I got the idea to listen to it in the car.  I downloaded the audible version on my phone (which took up data space so I could only take a couple of photos at a time, before my phone would warn me I was running out of space!).  But anyway, I started listening in May and just finished it this Friday morning.  I didn't listen consistently.  I'd go weeks forgetting to listen and then pick it up again.  

Sir Joshua Reynolds was a longtime friend of Johnson's.  This is his famous portrait of him.

It is not the easiest listening.  The narrator though, Bernard Mayes, is phenomenal!  He can really read Latin.  There is lots and lots of Latin and the whole thing is written in the very erudite style of the late 1700s.  It is kind of a shocker, going from the rather dumbed down language we all use now, to the cultivated, voluptuous language of the highly educated back then.  Think Jane Austen on steroids.  Even though Johnson was such a wordsmith and so highly educated, he came from lower middle class beginnings and could only afford to attend Oxford for one year.  But he had a gift for Latin and for language and this is how he made his living.  He lived in poverty for many years, scrounging out a living by writing for a magazine or two, many of which were being published at the time.  He could write eloquently about anything at the drop of a hat, so slowly he gained popularity.  As his reputation grew, his circle of friends grew too and slowly he became the center of a intellectual circle which included Sir Joshua Reynolds, the painter, David Garrick, the famous Shakespeare actor, Oliver Goldsmith the Irish author of The Vicar of Wakefield, among many others.  

Sir Joshua Reynold's portrait of the famous actor David Garrick, who also happened to be a student and friend of Johnson's.

Johnson decided to write a dictionary of the English language.  Although, some had published dictionaries before, they were inadequate.  Johnson worked up in his garret, employing aides to help him for many years, struggling to find money to pay his workers and keep a roof over his own head (and his wife's).  Several years after the deadline, he produced his dictionary and it took British culture by storm for its brilliance.  Johnson not only defined the words, but the dictionary is annotated so he quotes the words from different lines in literature.  The dictionary meant Johnson had truly arrived at legendary status, even though he was already well known in certain circles for his essays and plays.  Because of the dictionary, Johnson began to receive a stipend from the King and after that, while he was never rich, he at least wasn't scrounging to pay the rent.  This was good because after his wife died, he rented rooms in his house to impoverished people, a blind widow, among others.  

Boswell is a young Scottish landed gentry who admires and befriends Johnson and decided he was going to record everything Johnson said.  Johnson was known for his great conversational abilities.  He spoke as if he was giving a speech all the time.  He was extremely witty, incisive, quick with words.  People loved to have him at their dinner parties.  He was an odd man too.  He could be abrupt, eccentric, odd.  He was a character!  Boswell and Johnson travel to the Hebrides at one point and Boswell wrote a travelogue about it which was fairly popular.  They do a lot of visiting back and forth.  They develop a pretty regular habit of spending Good Friday together.   They had a very long and loyal friendship.

A sketch of James Boswell.

Johnson was a creature of his time, for all his intellect. He was convinced of British superiority, the truth of the Anglican Church and all the other beliefs of the time (about women, etc.)  In spite of this he was unusually kind to his Negro servant, Frank, whom he left the bulk of his estate to.  He was that kind of guy, often prickly and moody on the surface, but underneath loyal and generous.

This book is so long.  I mean it goes on forever!  I kept waiting for it to end as Johnson neared the end of his life, but then Boswell would talk about another friend that Johnson had corresponded with and then stick in 20 more letters of their correspondence.   But he did finally die.  The poor man had always had a horror of death and his long fading out does seem most painful.

I haven't even covered most of what is in this enormous book.  But there is a reason it is a classic.  It has got to be the most unusual and thorough biography ever written.  It used to be that everyone read this book.  I am sure Johnson is out of favor in the USA now as he is pretty conservative and old fashioned.  However, the British maintain an affection for him.  I'd love to go to England and visit his home where he wrote the famous dictionary.  

For more book reviews, go to Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.

Persona Non Grata - Book 36

These Medicus books are like potato chips to me right now.  Can't read just one!  Persona Non Grata is the third in the series.  Ruso breaks his foot trying to save a boy from drowning.  His term is almost up with the army and then he gets a letter from his brother that just says "come home."  So he and Tilla travel back to southern Gaul to see what's up.  Ruso's family consists of his step-mother, his two younger half-sisters, his younger brother Lucius and his wife Cass and their many children.  At his death, his father left the family in deep debt, and Ruso and Lucius have been struggling to save the family estate since then.  Now Lucius seems to have got them into deeper trouble.  He's got people trying to push him into bankruptcy.  Only it turns out that Lucius didn't send for Ruso to come home at all and Ruso's ex-wife has remarried, and his stepmother who ignores Tilla, has been thinking that if Ruso married the rich widow who lives next door, that would solve a lot of money problems.  Oh, and Claudia's husband, who was the one trying to ruin the family, shows up to confer with Ruso but then suddenly dies of poisoning.  Now Ruso is a suspect.  And I won't even go into the ship that sank that ruined a big investment of Claudia's father and how that ties into everything.

This was a complicated plot and I don't know if I understood it all.  But the pace was fast and there were some laugh out loud funny moments.  Downie does a great job of introducing the new religion that worships Christos, to comic effect and we get to go to the gladiator games, with Ruso as the surgeon who fixes up the wounded.  Pretty grisly stuff.  But not too bad.  The fact that Downie kept calling Christ 'Christos' (which is the accusative plural of the word, instead of Christus, which would have been proper Latin, bothered me.  Did she just like the look of 'Christos' or does that reflect more the Greek origin of the word?

Anyway, I enjoyed it and I"m already on the next book.  It is a nice form of escapism!

For more book reviews, go to Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.

Terra Incognita - Book 35

Terra Incognita* is the next book in Ruth Downie's Medicus (also known as the Gaius Petreius Ruso series).

Medicus gets transferred to an outpost where there is still a lot of unrest among the British tribes.  This is Tilla's home turf, from which she was kidnapped during a raid that killed her family.  She was then kept as a slave (basically for s@x) for two years before her master's wives sold her to a slave dealer, which is how Ruso happened upon her.  But confusion ensues before they even get to the post, for a strange god-like creature is seen; a man with the head of a stag riding a horse.  This man is associated with a grisly murder that has shocked the small fort.

Most of this story happens as Ruso and Tilla are separated.  Ruso is caught up with the crises going on with the infirmary.  The medicus there seems to have gone mad.  Tilla can't get into the fort because she doesn't know the password (and she's obviously a native) so the guards won't let her in.  She winds up wandering back to her old home, trying to find her uncle, and instead runs into an old neighbor who happened to be her young love before the raid that changed her life.

Lots of plot twists, confusion, creepy happenings, colorful characters, all set in a half Roman, half barbarian world.  Downie really makes it all come alive.  She's really imagined all the details and everything feels so realistic.  I have no idea what life was like in Roman Britain, but I feel like I do now!

A thoroughly enjoyable read.  You have read the first book in the series to understand this second one.

For more book reviews go to Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.

*These books were published under different titles in England than here.  What's funny is that the English titles seem more marketed to American audiences (or typically what publishers would think would appeal to American readers) and the American titles all have these Latin names instead.  So in England this was published as Ruso and the Demented Doctor and here it is published as Terra Incognita.  Remember when they first published Harry Potter and they changed Philosopher's Stone to Sorcerer's Stone?   Because American's wouldn't like a book with the word philosopher in the title???  Maybe the rise of classical schools is changing things!!!

This Week's Schedule

Woke up sometime after 3 a.m.  Read a bit, tried to sleep again, finally gave up at 5 a.m.  Of course my head was full of all the details of the coming week.  This is one reason why I am so happy not to be in school anymore.  I had to add hours of reading and homework to schedules like this.

Monday - 11/28
Take S to his classes by 9 a.m.
Grocery shop for week
Put groceries away/shower
In meantime make sure B is up and working at the tons of work she always has to do on Monday because she procrastinates doing her schoolwork over the weekend.
Clean some bathrooms
Pick up S from his classes
home again - maybe nap???  I'll need one today.
AHG meeting/S has physical training
home again - what's for dinner?
Trash to curb

Tuesday - 11/29
Take B to her Biology class
Home again - shower and make sure S is doing a minimum of homework for this class which always seems to be an afterthought for him
Take S to class
Return library books
P/u S and B from class
Need to squeeze in a little bit of Latin and religion - not sure how
S has drs appt at 2:45
Back again at what time?
Dinner?
S to chamber orchestra practice at 7
B goes to youth group or maybe she should stay home and do math homework
V to English class - I watch D

Wednesday - 11/30
Religion and Latin
B works on math homework
D has doctors appt at 10:45?
Bake chicken for homeless shelter
Must prep for Latin class
B has math tutor @ 1:45 and then voice lessons @ 3:30
S has work @ 5
I have Family PASS meeting @ 7 or 7:30? - take chicken to parish kitchen on the way there.

Thursday - 12/1
S to classes by 9
Go to Latin co-op
11 - 12 teach Latin
Lunch with Ioana?
p/u S at 1:45 (B has lit class on line)
I have Dentist appt at what time?  2:30???
Dinner?
Does S work?
V to English class - I watch D
B does math
Compost bin out - trash to the curb
One nice thing about Thursdays is while I am out most of the day, V tidies and vacuums the main floor and scrubs up the kitchen for me.  It is very nice!

Friday - 12/2
Latin and Religion
B works on math
12 noon Mass
B to math tutor
Adoration at 5
Dinner?
S to work?
Laundry day for me

Somehow I have to get S registered for community college classes for next semester.  I need to do it sooner rather than later because we are trying to keep the same schedule as this semester but the honors program is requiring the honors students to take a sociology class in conjunction with the English class..  S can't take on Sociology on top of Government, so he's just going to switch to a regular English class.  We need to get one that meets MR and doesn't conflict with his music theory class at 9 on those days.

Saturday - 12/3
This was the day I was supposed to take the Latin students to a certamen in DC but I don't think we are registered or enough kids will be able to make it.  So I doubt that will happen, though you never know!  If this happens this is from about 9 to 2.

I'd like us all to go to confession in the evening since Advent has now started.  We haven't been in months.

Sunday - 12/4
Have to remember to stay hydrated - Parish blood drive.

Medicus - Book 34

I decided to read something light after Hillbilly Elegy.  I've felt a bit like I'm on vacation, since the end of the Theology term.  A friend on Facebook suggested this series and it looked interesting so I downloaded the first book.  I gobbled it up in a few days and am now reading the second book in this series.  I am really enjoying these reads!

Medicus is Latin for doctor.  The author seems to know a lot about Ancient Rome in Britain, but she also seems to take a lot of artistic license.  Somehow she carries it off well.  The main character is Gaius Petreius Ruso, a military doctor, who is dedicated to his work and a bit of bumbler in every other aspect of his life.  He's recently divorced because his wife Claudia didn't like the fact that he wasn't an ambitious social climber.  His father has died leaving the family in debt, and now he is the paterfamilias so he must help to get things settled for his brother Lucius and his family, his step-mother and his step sisters.  This means he's always broke because he sends back what pay he has to them.  He's gotten himself transferred from Africa to a British outpost.  Out in the street he comes across a slave girl whose been beaten and has a broken arm.  His first instinct is to rescue her (by buying her) and then try to set the arm.  The girl, Tilla, turns out to be a very pretty native of Britain and she brings a wake of trouble with her.  She's being keep in a room above a bar where 'dancing girls' or rather prostitute-slaves are forced to work.  Two of the girls have recently turned up dead.  Ruso unwillingly is forced into investigating the murders.  Meanwhile, he has to deal with the Type A, controlling, manipulative hospital administrator.

It's an entertaining, intelligent story.  Ruso is a great character and the author tells the story with a sense of humor.  There isn't too much gore and sex is just alluded to - no lurid descriptions.

Two thumbs up!

For more book reviews go to Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.

Advent and Plans

Almost Thanksgiving!  We aren't actually celebrating on Thursday.  We are going to have the big family  get together on Saturday instead.  Tomorrow I hope to work on decluttering and cleaning.  I know that sounds dreary but we finally finished our renovations and now we can get rid of stuff and put the stuff back that we want.  Also I need to go through closets and drawers and give the still good used clothing to our parish's clothing drive.

I can't believe Advent starts this Sunday.  I am feeling so relieved about my Theology term being over, that I, for once, feel relaxed going into the Christmas season.  I have made a big decision.  I am not going to pursue a Theology degree.  I just found that I didn't have enough time to keep up with it and do all the other things in my life that I need/feel called to do.  As I said to the kids, I already have proven that I can do the academic thing.  I have a B.A. and J.D.  I don't need to prove that I can do it.  It was just a dream I had which turned out not to be worth the stress.  I will continue to take Latin courses though.  But Theology I will just pursue on my own.  For instance, since I am not going to take Theology courses this winter, I can relax and participate in a twitter read-along, lead by a Catholic professor of Theology on Augustine's City of God.  It is a 15 week long discussion on this classic.  I am excited!  This to me is a low pressure, fun way to explore Theology.

I am also going to read Jacques Maritain's book Man and the State.  I inherited a copy of this book from my grandfather.  Someone in the American Solidarity Party is a professor who teaches this book, so I can turn to him to ask questions as I read.  Isn't that cool!  I'd rather learn things that way then worry about having time to write a paper (I had to write one this past terms and it messed with both going away for the weekend with Rick for our anniversary, as well as taking me away from spending time with Eli who was visiting.  Bah, humbug, I don't need that!)

I also want to get more involved in working with the homeless in this area and I can't do that, plus teach Latin, drive my kids all over the place for their classes, activities, etc and go to school at the same time.  If I were working toward a degree for employment reasons or to prove to myself that I could stick it out, well, then it would be wrong to give up.  But I was doing it for the enjoyment of it, and that means it does not take priority over other things in my life.

Random list of things to do:
Register for Latin class
Get involved in certamen with the Aquinas Learning group
Register Sean for his community college classes for next semester
Give blood at church Dec. 4th
Focus on Christmas gifts and decorations
December 17th is the Family PASS Christmas dinner for their clients.  We are volunteering for that.
December 22nd is Sean's birthday!  How to celebrate it?  He'll be 18, omg!
December 24th - Mass - it is also the first day of Chanukah
December 25th - Christmas!
Between Christmas and New Years I usually go to an annual lunch out with all my sisters.
New Years day - Is this when we should celebrate Chanukah with extended family?
But when is my family's big Christmas get together?  Better find that out.

There's other stuff to do too.  But that's all I can think of off the top of my head.

Hillbilly Elegy - Book 33

Hillbilly Elegy by J. D. Vance is a memoir about growing up in a transplanted Appalachian, poor white trash family.  The author's people come from deep in the Appalachian hills of Kentucky.  As a boy he spent summers and holidays there playing in the hollers with his kinfolk.  But his grandparents had migrated to Ohio right after World War II to work in the steel mills.  This was a big migration where whole extended families moved taking their culture with them.  When the factories started shutting down and the economy crashed, these people were left stuck.  They'd bought houses they could not sell.  The towns began to deteriorate; crime rose as booze and drugs became more commonplace.

According to the author though, who loves his family in spite of the fact that it is and was so painfully dysfunctional, there are also other factors at play.  The Scotch-Irish clannishness of the hillbilly and the long years of poverty in one of the poorest areas in the U.S. developed a culture that had both good and bad qualities, but the bad qualities are extremely destructive.  A misplaced sense of honor that would rather seek violent revenge than do any self-reflection, the idea that one's loyalty is above and beyond to one's kin, even if they might kill you in a drunken rage, the suspicion of anyone who is an outsider, the degrading effect on being on the government dole from generation to generation all have taken its toll on the white working class in the rust belt.  This is where heroin use has skyrocketed, where the white men and women's life span has been decreasing even as the country around them has people living longer lives.  These are the people that turned out to vote for Donald Trump.  They are dying and are desperate for change.  They feel forgotten by the rest of the nation.

The story is told in a very absorbing, emotional way.  Vance recalls all the beatings, the fights, the trauma, the many husbands and boyfriends of his mother (who eventually winds up a heroin addict).  It is a harrowing story, but he is saved by some elements of the very culture he realizes is working to destroy him.  This book is him trying to sort things out.  The fierce clan loyalty means he has a big network of people who loved him and who were there to rescue him when he needed it.  His grandparents, Papaw and Mamaw were especially instrumental in this.  They gave his life some stability.  His older half-sister tried to protect him from his mother's rages and outrageous selfishness.  Even his mother, when she was going through periods of stability, helped.  She got him a library card and encouraged him to read, she taught him about strategy when they both became huge football fans.  His Papaw played math games and puzzles with him which helped Vance in school.  In high school, when he was beginning to drift, skipping classes, drinking and dabbling in drugs, his grandmother took him in and gave him a regular home.  He found this to be such a help in being able to focus on schoolwork.  Almost every year of his life he was moving from one place to another, depending on his mother's husbands and boyfriends and whether she was starting a relationship or breaking up one.  Just the fact that for the last three years of high school he could come home to the same safe haven where he knew he was not going to have to confront any fighting or violence, made him do better in school.

He didn't know what he wanted to do when he graduated.  He did just well enough to get into Ohio State, but he was afraid of going off to college.  So he joined the Marines instead.  This was a great decision for him, as it really forced him to become disciplined and to see what life was like outside his hillbilly culture.  He loved it.  After serving for four years though, he had the courage to attend college.  But after being out in the world, fighting in Iraq, he couldn't quite get into the younger culture of college, so he completed his 4 year degree in less than two years, barely sleeping.  On a fluke he decided to apply to Yale Law School, not thinking he'd get in, but he did!  That was another cultural shock, going from the working class rust belt to the Ivy League.

This book is really full of love and soul-searching.  The author is trying to be fair to his family while at the same time trying to pinpoint what the hillbilly culture gets very wrong.  He hardly talks about racism, which I found to maybe be a bit of a blind spot.  But he does talk about how similar the dysfunctions of inner city black families are to the dysfunctions of the rust belt/hillbilly transplants.  The author calls himself a conservative, but he notes the different government programs that really do help the poor and that he is grateful for since they did give him a boost up.  He decries the children's protective services which really don't function in reality and often cause more damage and trauma than not.  I was impressed at how honest and fair the author was striving to be.

I read this book in a couple of days, it was that absorbing.  Lots of traumatic childhood violence and bad language, but also lots of love, compassion and gratitude as well.

I highly recommend this book!

For more book reviews, go to Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.

Processing the Election

God was so good to me when he let me find the American Solidarity Party before this election.  I am afraid I might sound like I've been brainwashed or part of a cult, but far from that!  It is just so nice to be in with a group of people who are like minded in this unsettled time of divisiveness and worry.  Being back on facebook really intensifies it.  I have to figure out how to be engaged there but not too much.  Hard balancing act!

I was prepared to be upset no matter who won the election.  But with Clinton I was prepared to be upset in the same old way I've been upset the last eight years.  With Trump I am just terrified by his personality and how he seems to bring out the worst in a lot of people.  We'll see how it goes.

I am happy my representative Barbara Comstock won.  I am happy that the Senate and House are Republican enough that they should be able to pass prolife things.  I will be happy if they defund Planned Parenthood.  I do hope that they take that money and give it to crisis pregnancy centers and community health centers.  What are the chances, do you think?

While I understand the reaction to Trump's election given all the hysteria during the election season, I do think the losers are behaving really badly.  Of course the winners are gloating and making them feel worse.  But so many on the left really are intolerant.  I remember being so freaked out about the cult of personality surrounding Obama.  Many of his supporters really seemed to think he was some kind of god.  But nobody was out protesting or burning flags that I recall.  You know what they were doing instead?  Many went to church and prayed.  The left (or at least the media show of the left) goes out into the street, disrupts traffic, burns flags, smashes windows, chants violent obscenities.  I said to Rick last night, either they stage an actual coup or they take it like a man!  None of these hissy fits, please.

I had a conversation with someone who voted for Trump yesterday.  She is a smart person who I have admired for a long time.  She is completely convinced of the rightness of her vote.  She is far from being bigoted.  She is an immigrant herself.  But she is prolife and that is the factor that the left has a huge blind spot about.  It doesn't even calculate for them.  I think they are really paying big for this blind spot.  People were terrified by the aggressive push for abortion, the whole taking Americans to court because they don't want to fund contraception,  forcing the Little Sisters of the Poor into court, or driving people out of business because they don't believe in same sex marriage.  There is a lot of thuggery on the left.  Think about it.  People have been marching for 43 years against Roe v. Wade but the media by and large ignores it every year.  43 years!  These are dedicated people.  Many Americans were terrified of 4 more years of aggressive secularism.  They really don't want the president forcing their kids to share showers with members of the opposite sex.  That's what it comes down to.  And then the left has so little regard for anyone who thinks differently from them.  The minute you object you are painted with the most vitriolic, demeaning  language.  These people were painted into a corner and they reacted.  A lot of people didn't want Trump.  He was not their first choice but given the two they had to choose from, he at least appears to be someone who will stop the anti-religious fervor of the left; they held their noses and voted.

There are already some positive firsts.  Trump's campaign had the first woman to head a successful, presidential campaign.  Melania is the first non native First Lady.  Trump picked an African American Republican to lead his domestic transition team.  Also, reports are coming in that African-Americans and immigrants voted for Trump.  It is good to know that groups are not monoliths the way the media likes to portray everyone.    Viviane was in her ESL class last night and she said the woman from Mexico sitting next to her admitted she had voted for Trump even as the English teacher was in front of the class inappropriately clutching her pearls over it all.

I am, though, worried about immigrants, and the economy, and terrorism.  I am worried about foreign relations and tensions. I am worried about jobs and the poor.  I am worried that in the end Trump won't come through on his prolife promises.  I am worried the whole 4 years will be eaten up with scandal and incompetence.   I think the Democrats will be vicious and unprincipled.  They will foment chaos and violence.  The media will aid them.  I think Trump is way too thin-skinned and unstable to take it.  I think he'll lash out.  I think we are in for very troubled times because we have two sides that refuse to cooperate, to see the best in each other.

I hate the fact that the same man pro-lifers have pinned all their hopes to is also a man that white nationalists openly support.  Of course the racial division wounds were reopened or became front page news under Obama.  But, dear Lord send us a leader, someone in the culture, who can heal this wound!  The one thing I was happy about when Obama was elected was the fact that he was a man of color.  I felt like the U.S. had finally put that evil behind us.  And it is true, we must have made strides for him to be elected.  The white men in middle America voted for Obama!  But apparently, getting rid of racism is a very tortured and long journey.

I just find Trump odious in every regard.  I really do, but I hope for the best and I want to be clearsighted and not be clouded by emotion.

I happily voted for Mike Maturen and Juan Munoz.  I took off my #nevertrump bumpersticker.  Why be negative?  I've got my American Solidarity bumpersticker up now. I'm looking to build a reasonable 3rd party to maybe replace one of the two corrupt and crumbling parties.  Before the election, everyone thought that party would be the Republicans.  Now it looks more like the Democrats.  Though maybe after a term of Trump, the Republicans will be vulnerable as well.  But even if that doesn't happen, we can at least be a force that can temper the national conversation.

Books 30, 31 and 32!

Catching up on my reading here.

Book 30:

The Size of Chesterton's Catholicism by David W. Fagerberg.  I had to write a paper on this for my Theology class.  I won't go on for 8 pages like I did there, but I will say if you want to get a marvelous introduction to both Chesterton's wit and his reasons for converting to Catholicism, this a brilliant book that would serve you well.  The wonderful thing about the book is that it basically is a introduction to Catholic theology.  It tracked our Revelation and Faith class (basically a how-to be a theologian course) pretty strongly.  By reading this book you will learn some real theology.  Fagerberg also is brilliant in that he so gets Chesterton's brilliance, he can sum it up (an enormous enterprise) in an easy to read concise way in under 200 pages.

A definite two thumbs up!



Book 31:

America Moved: Booth Tarkington's Memoirs of Time and Place 1869-1928.  Edited by Jeremy Beers. This is really a collection of long magazine articles that Tarkington wrote for the likes of Colliers, the Saturday Evening Post and such.  These are deeply autobiographical.  Booth Tarkington is a forgotten American author.  He actually won the Pulitzer Prize in 1919 for his novel The Magnificent Ambersons.  That and other novels were adapted to the screen.  He was very prolific and also wrote plays.  Alas, he is of a conservative bent and fell out of popularity.  He is indeed very nostalgic for the golden years of the past.  He has a keen sense of the cost of change.  He writes really well with a lot of insight.  I enjoyed the first part of the book the most, the middle got duller because he goes on a rant about theater in the 1920s.  It sounded exactly like people bemoaning the sordidness of the culture today.  But then the end of the book picked up again (for me anyway) and ended rather magically.

Book 32:

A Civil Contract by Georgette Heyer.  I felt like reading something light after reading the above two books (not that either of them was especially heavy!).  This Georgette Heyer novel struck me as a more mature and more subtle story.  I liked its quiet nature.  There were no kidnappings or rakish, sardonic handsome rich men boxing adversaries or outsmarting evil enemies.  This was a delicately rendered story of the first year of a marriage of convenience.  Lord Lynton passes away suddenly and so his son, Adam Deveril, must come back from the Napoleonic wars (he's been in the army for years) to rescue his inherited, heavily indebted estate.  In order to save his mother and sisters from poverty and to save the family seat, Fontley, he realizes he must marry for money even though he is in love with the beautiful Julia.  There is a magnificently rich 'tradesman' who has a plain daughter, Jenny, whom he is trying to marry off to one of the nobility.  She's plump and plain and full of common sense.  Adam fights down his revulsion and marries her.  He is a decent man who does wants to do right by his new wife, but he still longs for Julia, and he rankles under his father-in-law's domineering vulgarity and his tactless, overwhelming conspicuous consumption.   The story really is a quiet one, where Adam slowly falls out of romantic love with Julia and into a companionable and satisfying love for Jenny.  It is completely believable and even though it is a quiet story of ordinary things, it never is dull.

For more book reviews go to Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.

I fell off the face of the earth!

Not really!  But I got back on facebook because I wanted to get involved in the American Solidarity Party.  I only have so much time to be on line each day, so this blog has been ignored for a bit.

I am so excited about the A.S.P!  I have never fit comfortably into the Democrat/Republican binary and as they've gotten more extreme, I've felt less and less comfortable.  I look back at the political posts on this blog recently and I can trace my own journey to 3rd partydom as I try to sort out my perspective on important issues.  All I can say is I love the discussion, the intelligence, the worldview of the Solidarity party people.  They come from both the left and the right and they are disgusted but instead of doing nothing, they are trying to do something to change the tenor of our national political debate which has gotten so absurd and squalid to a frightening degree.

An awful lot of A.S.P. folks seem to be prolife Democrats.  The goal to rescind Hyde is just a bridge too far for them.  Apparently there are about 1/3 of Democrats who say they are prolife but can never vote prolife because of the Democratic party's hardline commitment to Planned Parenthood.  Millenials are tending to be more prolife.  So there is a growing disconnect there.  Many are also disgusted Republicans who can not stomach Trump.  Then there are independents like me who have been homeless for so long and have finally landed somewhere that feels right.  What I love about the party is that it is centrist so it looks to pull from both the left and the right for practical solutions.  It does not force things into an ideology but rather sees what fits into Catholic social teaching. The party is itself secular and has people from all and no faiths but its focus is on the common good, the natural law that allows for human flourishing.

The strategy right now is to get some public recognition.  Mike Maturen/Juan Munoz are running for president/vice-president.  So far he has ballot access in Colorado and write in access (where the write-in will actually be counted) in 27 states, including my own of Virginia.  Party chapters are starting up all over the country.  The one is VA is headed by some incredibly capable, excited YOUNG people, who are completely disgusted with how us older folks screwed everything up.  And there are some older folks like me of course.  It runs the age spectrum.  But it was really heartening to see the younger 20 somethings getting involved.

Again, the American Solidarity Party is a centrist party that looks for common ground.  It also is consistently pro-life from conception to natural death.  That means that we think there ought to be a workable safety net there for women so they can have their babies instead of choosing abortion.  We need policies that help the poor, the disabled, the sick. We are against the death penalty, we are pro-environment, pro-family, pro- worker.  We are for solidarity - that we should attempt to unify and not divide and conquer as the current parties love to do, and we believe in subsidiarity as well.  That means we don't always resort to top down solutions but we try to sensibly go for local or state solutions when appropriate.

After the election, we are going to focus on developing the platform more, organizing ourselves so we can do fundraising, get folks into local offices, and spread the word that there is an alternative party that makes sense.    It seems to me both parties are vulnerable and shaky.  Maybe the American Solidarity Party can rise to take one of their places.  We'd actually like to see an expansion of parties so that we don't have to always fall into a 2 party binary.  Even if we don't ever get to be a major party (never say never!) we can build enough momentum to bring some sanity to the process.  We can influence in a healthy way.  And honestly it is so refreshing and rejuvenating to be talking to like-minded people and not feel so freaking alienated by politics!  I love it!

An excellent, hour long interview with our presidential candidate, Mike Maturen.

Virginia Sample Ballot - Update!!!!

I'd like to vote the American Solidarity Party since I am forced to throw my vote away anyway in a 3rd party vote due to having a conscience.  BUT you can't write in Maturen-Munoz in Virginia.  So I guess I'll go with Evan McMullin.  I actually was impressed by him anyway.

Here's a link to the Virginia sample ballot.  This is a neat site that gives you all the info you need to see your state's sample ballot.

Hey, the ASP (American Solidarity Party) just got permission today to have a write-in in Virginia!  Here's a link to the info.

Just Because You're Paranoid Doesn't Mean They Aren't Out To Get You!

So they really are trying to undermine the Catholic Church.  Wonder if Tim Kaine is in on this?

A vote for Hillary is a vote for religious persecution.  I know it is coming.  Either my children will embrace the new secular religion or they will be persecuted for staying true, but I don't want to hasten thing personally by voting for HRC.

I weep for my father's democratic party.  There was a time when you could be a faithful Catholic and a Democrat.  Abortion ruined that. Abortion ruins everything.

Honestly, between the rube Republicans and the patsy Catholics, social conservatives have been thrown under the bus.

Coverboy

This is what I mean about trans stuff being based on the most superficial, consumerist, fashion trendy, exploitative aspects of our media culture.  Guess what?  If you make being a woman all about make up and you want to sell make up, you want being a human to be all about make up.  Everybody wants to wear make up so they can look like sexy cover girls!  We are fed this stuff from infancy.  The magazine covers, the commercials, the celebrity worship.  Our consumer culture (which only sees us as $$$$$$ and not as humans) is just one part of the perfect storm that feeds into the post sexual revolution apocalypse.  This kid is 17.  How long has he been confused or tripping down this road?  Who encouraged him?  Or maybe who abused him?  How did he get so far from his own biology?  This is gnosticism at its most destructive.

Pray for this young man who is being exploited.

95!

I got a 95% on my theology essay.  All I could think when I saw the grade was that the professor must be the easiest grader ever.  I sweated through writing that essay like I haven't done in years (since law school).  I started it twice and gave up, thinking I have no idea what I am reading or what I am writing.  I'm clueless!  Then I finally steeled myself to get over my despair and just power through the thing.  I kept think of Chesterton's quote:  "Anything worth doing is worth doing badly."  I would do it even if I did it badly.  I worked through the whole thing and kept writing myself into corners.  What am I even saying, I'd wail to myself.  I will note that towards the end when I was working on it for maybe the 5th time, some clarity, some wisp of clarity began to filter through.  Not much, but some.  There was a word cap, so I had to keep summarizing my summarizing.  That does help hone in on meaning.  Finally I finished it.  Well, not really.  I didn't have any room to write a conclusion, so I just ended rather abruptly.

A week later, if you had asked me what I had written about, I wouldn't have been able to tell you.

I really struggle with comprehension.  Theology and philosophy are hard reading.  I find I have to squirrel myself away so I can read out loud to myself, otherwise I don't get what I am reading.  So many of these articles, encyclicals, etc are on line.  Some I can print off and others I can't.  I really struggle with the ones on line.  It is so hard for me to focus and absorb what is being said.  I have to time myself:  "Ok, ten minutes reading this section."  Then I have to have pen and paper so I can scribble down notes on what I am reading.  Meanwhile my eyes begin to sting and water from the glare of the screen and the force of my concentration!  When I print off the readings and read them I cover them copiously in underlining, circled words, comments and questions in the margins.  And even with that effort I feel I have only absorbed the bare minimum.  If asked to articulate what I've just read, I can barely do so.  To truly get it, I'd have to reread and reread.  I could do that if I had the time or the ability to focus that much.   In truth, it is also my fault for being so distracted by politics and other worthless things.

Here's an excerpt from the reading I was attempting this morning:

The idea which represents an object or supposed object is commensurate with the sum total of its possible aspects, however they may vary in the separate consciousness of individuals; and in proportion to the variety of aspects under which it presents itself to various minds is its force and depth, and the argument for its reality. Ordinarily an idea is not brought home to the intellect as objective except through this variety; like bodily substances, which are not apprehended except under the clothing of their properties and results, and which admit of being walked round, and surveyed on opposite sides, and in different perspectives, and in contrary lights, in evidence of their reality. And, as views of a material object may be taken from points so remote or so opposed, that they seem at first sight incompatible, and especially as their shadows will be disproportionate, or even monstrous, and yet all these anomalies will disappear and all these contrarieties {35} be adjusted, on ascertaining the point of vision or the surface of projection in each case; so also all the aspects of an idea are capable of coalition, and of a resolution into the object to which it belongs; and the primâ facie dissimilitude of its aspects becomes, when explained, an argument for its substantiveness and integrity, and their multiplicity for its originality and power.

So now you get what I am talking about!  I've been thinking can I really do this all the way to a Masters degree?  I don't know.  I might really burn out.  The thing I really find myself interested in is learning more Latin and then I love the idea of learning Biblical Greek.   I do my Latin homework for fun.  Isn't that telling me something?  I do love learning about Catholicism at a deeper level but I just don't know if I am cut out to be so highly academic about it.  I'm 56.  What do I care if I actually get a Masters or not?

These feelings are probably currently being exacerbated by the fact that I have my Theology midterm next week!

Say it, brother!

I have never heard of James R. White.  Probably just my ignorance.  I don't know anything about him, but I love that he speaks the truth here (from his facebook page)

Brief Thoughts

1. Trump is a coddled, rich, pampered, arrogant, self-absorbed, egotistical shallow-thinking unregenerate man; his many divorces should have told anyone with the slightest bit of common sense that he has no respect for honesty, integrity, covenant keeping, or women as a whole; his proudly boasting of seducing married women should have told the same people that he is utterly untrustworthy, period. The video/audio is nothing new, it just makes any person with a conscience wince to hear the arrogance and immaturity of a man of DJT’s age. But there is no reason to be shocked or surprised. I bet there are dozens of folks out there with similar recordings or at least experiences with him. Hundreds.

2. There were candidates who, while likewise unregenerate, were morally and ethically light years beyond DJT. They were ignored. And at least one candidate that made, and makes, a quite credible profession of faith in Christ, likewise without the mountain-sized pile of moral and ethical garbage. Not chosen by an electorate who quite clearly cares about issues other than character.

3. Neither candidate is qualified by character to hold ANY public office, period. That the nation is faced with these two candidates is, as most of us have realized by now, judgment, plain and simple. Both will fundamentally alter, forever, a system that is already broken, in my opinion, beyond repair—and that due to the fact that it was designed to govern a people who held in common a set of values based upon mankind being the creature of God, sinful and fallen, and hence based upon inalienable God-given rights, as well as the need to decentralize power due to man’s evil. Since that worldview has been overthrown, the system which worked so well to govern is now powerless, and into that vacuum a system of totalitarian socialism is moving and, as is the want of vacuums, quickly.

4. The moral authority of the so-called “evangelical church” in the United States is a joke. Between the soul-rotting decay of the Word-faith movement and the money-grubbing televangelists, and the sell-out “conservative” leaders who jumped on the Trump wagon early on, the world is snorting in its coffee when anyone speaks to the issue of “moral corruption” by those in political office. The very ones who once berated Bill Clinton for turning the White House into a brothel (on a level that few today even realize—the debauchery was incredible) eviscerated their credibility by ignoring the fact that at least Clinton tried to hide his exploits: Trump brags about them. Combine this with the fact that for far, far too many their “unyielding stand” on issues like homosexuality or marriage are based upon prejudices and tradition rather than a thought out theology that flows from a properly prioritized theological system, and you can see why our words carry no weight.

5. Hillary Clinton is evil. Yes, I used the “e” word. Might as well do so why I still can. You won’t be able to in the not too distant future (hate speech, you know). She is evil on every level you can be evil. Worldview evil, the zombie slave of the Culture of Death, bought and paid for by Planned Infanticide. She stands for everything that is immoral and ungodly and destructive. And I haven’t even gotten to the fact that she is the most corrupt politician possibly in the history of the nation. But she will be elected President of the United States. Jezebel will rule.

6. Stop fantasizing about the SCOTUS. One word: Obergefell, and that WITH Scalia. That ship has sailed, it is over the horizon. See point 3. Further, the doe-eyed optimism of my fellow Christians that a man like DJT, who has no earthly concept of what “trustworthiness” means, and has lived his life violating covenants and promises (ask his wives and the married women he seduced, proudly), would actually go to the mat to push through even semi-meaningful judicial nominees is further evidence that bearing the name “Christian” does not necessarily endow you with common sense.

7. Stop comparing DJT to David. David was REPENTANT. Trump is PROUD. These are NOT synonyms. And if you think the pathetic statements made by Trump are acts of repentance, LOOK UP THE WORD sometime.

8. Finally, stop saying that those of us who will not prostitute ourselves at the altar of political expediency are demanding moral perfection on the part of candidates, and, of course, “none have ever been perfect.” I am a sinner—but unlike Trump, I do not take pride in my sin, promote my sin, or excuse it as mere “locker room talk” or the like. I hate it, detest it, and flee from it. The moral and ethical black holes represented by Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump differ in nature and extent from any candidates we have ever seen in the history of this nation, and the fact that we are stuck with them at this very time of national decline on so many fronts speaks loudly…to those with ears to hear.

Evan McMullin

Maybe I'll vote for this guy.

Merrie England; A Journey Through the Shire - Book 29

Merrie England; A Journey Through the Shire, by Joseph Pearce is a short and emotional read; a book about the author's Catholic pilgrimage through England of yesteryear.  It is charming, full of interesting hidden history, and, I thought, full of sadness too.  It seemed to me the pilgrim's heart was aching all the while he walked, enjoyed the glories of his tromps across the the countryside and witnessing the beauties he is seeking out.  Pearce is channeling Hilaire Belloc here and he even ends the journey by visiting Belloc's home and burial site.

Pearce refers to himself in third person throughout the book, simply as the pilgrim.  He visits the sites of old saints, some of whom I knew of, some whose names merely rang a distant bell in my mind, and some who were truly obscure to me.  The pilgrim decided to seek out the eternal trinity of the Good, the True and the Beautiful and ignore as much as possible the present state of his beloved country.

The Shambles

This is one of those books I wish I hadn't read on my kindle.  There are lots of wonderful photos, as befits a travelogue, and I'd have loved to have a map of where Pearce is walking.  Was there one?  There must have been, but it would have been too small on the kindle screen to be satisfying.  He starts off visiting cathedrals at Ely and Peterborough and there's another too, all three of which I was not familiar with.  He visits York which made my heart leap up for I was there the summer I was 16, forty years ago, and I still remember the Shambles and the Roman wall.  He goes up to Lindisfarne, a place I would love to visit.  He stops in Wales to visit the capital of second-hand book stores, Hay-on-Wye.  He goes through Oxford and then heads south to Belloc land finally ending at Walsingham. I am skipping a lot here. All of it was captivating.  Along the way, Pearce weaves poetry into his retelling of his great walk (with some train rides!), mostly Gerard Manley Hopkins, but also Wordsworth, other poets and Belloc, of course.

The Holy Island of Lindisfarne

I'd like to buy this book in hardback, reread it and then make it a basis for my own pilgrimage.  The whole time I was reading it, I was seized with the strongest desire to drop everything and go!

You could read this book in one longish sitting.  It is not a lengthy book, but it is a deep one, full of exuberance and pondering, prayer and grief, word play and poetry.  And ale.  Pearce knows the best inns for good ale.

While I was reading this book, I couldn't help but contrast it in my mind with my previous read, The Blueberry Years.  That book too was a memoir and that author also tried to find something religious and soul satisfying in what he was attempting, but that book rang hollow for me.  It seemed like an artifice put on after the fact.  Here, Pearce's focus truly is of a religious nature and his whole pilgrimage is one long prayer.  He isn't trying to make a god out of something (like farming blueberries).   The pilgrim is trying to see everything in a holy relationship with God.  Both authors have an agrarian spirit, but one rings true and the other doesn't.

Two thumbs up.  For more book reviews go to Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.

Mike Lee asks Trump to Step Down - Oh if only!!!!

Barbara Comstock, my congresswoman (whose Democratic opponent has fallaciously tried to tie to Trump - a person Comstock has never endorsed or supported) joins in with other Republicans to call for the end of Trump's candidacy.  It probably won't happen.  No one has the intestinal fortitude required, but it is heartening to know that there are some sane people out there somewhere.

A Week of Celebrations

In addition to Rosh Hashanah at the beginning of this week, yesterday was H and P's 2nd wedding anniversary.  I looked and looked for photos I could post and could not find one!!!  I searched my computer over and nada!  So I am asking for a good old-fashioned photo album of their wedding for Christmas.  I don't know where all the photos are digitally, but I can't access them, that's for sure.  I would at least like to occasionally look at some kind of photo without having to deal with computers.

Today is Rick's birthday!  Poor guy, he is exhausted from work plus he had to do this debate today at some energy law conference which he is nervous about.  And on top of that both of us had car emergencies yesterday which had us suddenly going to our respective dealerships and getting loaner cars.  So he has to deal with that today too.  

On Friday, Viviane's little son Dylan turns one!!!  So Friday we are having a double birthday (Rick and Dylan) and anniversary party.  The thing is I have to come up with a menu that is something I can cook in the a.m. (but my crockpot broke) featuring foods both Rick and Hannah/Peter like but they are diametrically opposed in taste.  Peter likes anything spicy and Mexican.  I think it is the California influence.  Rick hates Mexican food.  I also am signed up for Adoration between 5-6 p.m.  The only time I could squeeze it in.  I'm telling people to come at 7.

This is really weird but I am thinking of making a big vegetarian taco salad and then also making fettuccine Alfredo with salmon.  The vegetarian taco salad will also feed Sean.  Lemon cake and ice cream for dessert.    I can get all the parts of the taco salad ready and then toss them together at the last minute.  The fettuccine is hard or long to make (I'd get a piece of grilled salmon from Whole Foods to break up and toss into the fettuccine.  I can bake the cake Friday a.m.

The thing I am most prepared for is showering little Dylan with gifts.  I kind of went overboard.  I miss buying fun toys for little kids.  

Maybe I'll ask J to bring balloons home on Friday too.  That will help festive things up!

Hmm.  Still thinking this all through.

Happy Rosh Hashanah!

We think it is the year 5777.  But for some reason we are having trouble confirming that, even in this age of google.

We didn't have granddad over, he was visiting Peggy's family and going to shul with them.  But I did roast a chicken and it was delicious.  I wish I had a photo because it came out gorgeous.

I took a whole chicken rubbed the inside with salt and stuffed with big chunks of a chopped onion.  Then I rubbed olive oil and garlic salt all over the outside.  I put it in my big dutch oven at 425 degrees for 20 minutes, then I turned it down to 350.  I chopped up three sweet potatoes and a delicata squash (all gotten from our CSA) and I threw them into the pot with the chicken.  Lovely orange and golden colors. About half way through the cooking time, I poured some melted butter over everything and I also sprinkled fresh rosemary all over everything (also from CSA.)

It came out absolutely scrumptious!  Of course the sweet potatoes weren't made in the traditional tzimmes way, but close enough for us!  I should have had challah bread but I forgot.

We also had a big green salad with everything from our CSA (except for the cucumbers which were from the grocery store).  For dessert I bought a Jewish Apple Cake from Whole Foods.  We also had apple slices and honey.

Here is a really cute video explaining Rosh Hashanah and the blowing of the shofar.

Third Party Voting

Since I am not invested in either of the mainstream parties and since they both seem to be falling apart (Republicans faster than Democrats, it appears), I am for a 3rd party rising to take the place of either (or maybe a 4th party too,  to replace 'em both!).

Here's a way to fight back against the stranglehold of the Democrats and Republicans who have chosen two of the most unworthy candidates ever to run for the office of president of the U.S.   It might be tilting at windmills, but I'd rather be doing that than rolling in bullshit:

 http://www.burnmyvote.org/

*****************

As for my pie in the sky 3rd party of choice, this one is closest to my own beliefs:

American Solidarity Party


Here's a great article on the American Solidarity Party.

The Bathrooms are Finished!

Since late May we have had workmen in our house almost every day.  It was a long, long summer.  Today, the last day of September they finished up the job.  We still are going to replace the carpets upstairs in the bedrooms (we've already replaced the master bedroom's) and the upstairs hall and stair runner.  That is all that is left for us to do in the great renovation of 2016!

Anyway, here is what the newly refurbished bathrooms look like.

The powder room:

I like this tile but I didn't realize there would be such thick grout.  Worried about keeping it from getting stained.

No hole in the ceiling!

The powder room got a new toilet, sink (by accident!  They broke the sink when they took it out.) And you can't see it here but a new medicine cabinet.  The light switch got moved to a better location.  But my favorite thing is that there is no longer a big hole in the ceiling. There was a big hole there for about two years caused by a leak in our broken jetted tub that we never used.

And see that vent-looking thing?  We have a fan!  When they built this house, the rule was if the bathroom had a window you didn't need to install a fan.  But people don't really open windows in the middle of winter to air out their bathrooms.  So now all 3.5 bathrooms have fans.  I am a big fan of bathroom fans.






B's bathroom:

We used the same tile and accent for all the upstairs bathrooms.

B's bathroom is the jack and jill bathroom between her and J's room.  It is officially a girls' bathroom.  He and S use the hall room or boys' bathroom.  Above is her new deep soak tub.

Here's the other side of the tiny bathroom.  Her new cabinet and counter.  She's got a towel ring to dry her hands.  Before she used a thumbtack and an old bangle.  I am not kidding.  So this is an upgrade.  She got a new toilet too.  Her toilet was forever flooding.  Worst toilet ever.

She got a fancy faucet.

She also got two mirrors.  The side one is a medicine cabinet as well AND it has this extra magnifying make up mirror inside!  B loves theater and helps with make up backstage at the community theater.  Make up is her thing.

I look like my mother from the eyebrows up.

You can get an idea of B's color scheme in the picture below.  Rick had new wooden doors installed too.  Before they were cheapo hollow doors.  These doors are nice and solid.

Now to the boys/hall bathroom.  This bathroom probably didn't need all the renovations.  The old, all white, builders grade tile was cracked though, so we decided since we were doing every other bathroom, we'd do this one too.

Lighting isn't good here, but you can see same counter, cabinet, etc.

The boys didn't get a deep soak tub.  Instead they got a glass shower door and a handheld shower.  I don't know why but they thought that was cool.

Not included here are the photos of the master bathroom.  I posted about that a couple months ago.  And we got new counters for the kitchen at the same time.

I can't wait to get rid of the horribly stained carpets upstairs.  

It is such a relief to know workmen aren't going to show up every morning at 8.  No stepping around them to use the bathroom or having them tell us they are turning the water or the electricity off.  No more getting up every morning and moving my minivan out of the garage so they can pull there trucks up.  No more stuff stashed in the living room and garage.  I mean the workmen had to do all that stuff.  But still it was hard to concentrate with the noise and disruption.  I am very happy it is finally over.  It cost us an arm and a leg but it was something that really needed to be done.