What was that streak of light?

Me! Driving away from campus as fast as I safely could! Last final was finished this morning. Now all I need to do is wrap up my graphics project and hit the road, never to see this school till next year. Ha! I love break.

Winter Tail

Yesterday my sisters and I were walking my dog through our plowed field. Strider was franticly nosing around and scared up a little mouse. Strider pounced, caught it in his mouth and began to toss it. I really don't want him eating mice and began to yell at the silly dog. Since the mouse seemed unharmed, the little girls and I tried to take it from Strider. I scooped it between my gloved hands, but the mouse jumped out. The little girls shrieked, because we had no idea were the mouse ran to.
My sister Kathleen ventured, "Maybe it ran into your scarf."
Sudden images of a mouse running down my pant leg prompted me to take off my scarf and coat rapidly.
"Nope, not in there." said Elizabeth as I shook out my scarf and patted down my jacket.
Just when we had decided the mouse must have jumped to the ground, Elizabeth handed my coat back. She let out a yell and almost dropped it. A mouse tail was sticking out the collar. I grabbed the mouse and handed it to Kathleen so I could slip my jacket back on. Unfortunately, the mouse took this as a chance to escape and Strider snagged it before we could do anything. We were going to take the mouse again, but noticed little specks of blood on the snow. If it was wounded, we thought it best that Strider finish the mouse off rather than let it suffer.
"Stupid dog." Muttered Elizabeth, "That looked like Martin the Warrior."
I was feeling the same way. The animal world is so cut-throat, driven by instinct. It is sad that humans are crossing over that line into the animal world. What ever happened to reason and morals? Animal Farm in the reverse.

Crazy fashion

It is extremely cold. I hear the radio say it was one degree this morning. It think it has warmed up a few degrees since... Hopefully. I wore my jeans with holes in the knees today. Bad idea. The wind cut right through the holes. I felt like a walking popsicle. I really should get rid of the pants, but I hate throwing them away if they aren't worn to bits. Currently, there are holes in both knees, holes where my pocket knife rubs (in BOTH pockets), and a ragged edge along the bottom. The funny thing is that the other day a lady told me she liked my jeans. I looked down at my faded pants and said "Thanks, they are three years old." She was a little startled, she must have thought I bought my jeans that way. Why would anyone in their right mind buy pants with pre-made holes?!?!?
fashion is so strange. I love it when my mom goes shopping with me and makes fun of all the styles. She can pick out what time periods they are from and how well they worked or how awful and unflattering the cut was. She also thinks pre-holed jeans are silly. Besides letting the cold air in, they wear out faster.

Monday Night Football

Time to kick some Viking bottoms! Oh, those nasty Vikings killed us the other week, but now it is time to try for pay back. We take on our hated rivals tonight at 8pm! I have a feeling all the evening chores will be done very quickly tonight. Hopefully the game will go well and I will feel justified staying up so late. Otherwise I will kick myself in the morning.

For those of you who are football challenged, more information on the Packers can be found at this website:

• Only the best football team EVER

What was that you said about a losing record? Oh, that doesn't matter........much.

Note of nonsense

Well, it is about time I added another post. I am not sure about what.......Oh yes, thanks for the birthday wishes! I had a quiet but enjoyable birthday.

This morning mom asked me what I thought about a dress pattern for my sister's Christmas dress. It has a high mandarin collar with an komodo like cut. Not the type of dress found in stores. I like it. I might try to take up sewing again......*wanders off muttering*

Poking fun at my brother

My mom and I were discussing my brother Matt's weekly phone conversation. It is almost always the same and spoken in monotone.

"Hi Mom."
"Oh, hi Matt! How are you?"
"Fine."
"So, what have you been doing lately?"
"Nothing."
"um, why are you calling?"
"Because."
"Well, okay I love you."
*grunt*
"Good bye then."
"Bye."

Sometimes, Mom can get him to talk more. But Matt can tax even Mom's conversation skills. It just depends on what subject we get him on. Matt will talk your ear off, if it is a subject that he is interested in (for example, on the subject of not letting Michael buy the Star Wars Battlefront game until Matt comes home for break).

Grey Day

It must be a Monday....
Its just one of those days where nothing can be wonderful. Thoughts tread sluggishly and fall short of potenial. Every part of me is uncoordinated; bruised by banging into obstructions. My head pounds with lack of sleep and thoughts of failures. Do not bother with me today, I am in a surly disposition....................................*deep breath* Maybe this evening will be better.

Nicholas's B.Day!

Today is my youngest brother's birthday. Nicholas came racing down the stairs today yelling that he was six. He got a big hug from mom and a gift from me. I found a "Star Wars" Darth Vader t-shirt just Nicholas's size. He is wearing it now, and I suspect it will be worn for as many days as possible. It is nice to know that a gift is appreciated.

Quick block!

In Karate class today I had sparring for the second time. This was the first time I sparred with people as tall or taller than me. Also against people with higher belts. The first guy I was set against was a tall, lanky, black belt. He could have nailed me if he wanted; every now and then I would feel the rush of air as his leg shot above my head. Instead, he insisted he was teaching me and that I should try attacking him. It was frustrating trying to connect moves and than realize that I had left my other side exposed as the black belt tapped me with his glove.
I fought against a few other people: one who had no idea what was going on, one with so much energy, but little discipline, another girl who was cool and struck fast and finally a guy who yelled encouragements to show when I did well( I think I learned the most from him. He would tell me to follow through or how I should block and hit). By the end of 15 minutes, I was dripping with sweat and feeling a little sore. Someone got a hard hit on my outer-thigh; I should have seen it coming.
Most of what I did today was block. I think my next goal will be link the block and punch.
Can't wait for next time!

Great news for the Latin Mass

Look at what I found in Karl Keating's e-letter!

PERMISSION WITHOUT PUNCH FOR THE OLD MASS?

Dear Friend of Catholic Answers:

Last Thursday Catholic World News transmitted this story, filed out of
Dublin, regarding what might happen to what is commonly called the
Tridentine Mass:

"Pope Benedict XVI will take action soon to allow all Catholic priests
to celebrate the Latin Mass, a Cambridge historian has predicted.

"Speaking to a conference of priests in Ireland earlier this week,
Eamonn Duffy said that it was 'extremely likely that Pope Benedict will
lift the restrictions on the celebration of the Tridentine liturgy,' the
Irish Independent reported.

"The Tridentine ritual, which was the universal form of the Mass prior
to Vatican II, is now celebrated only with the explicit permission, or
'indult,' of the diocesan bishop. Some Vatican watchers speculate that
Pope Benedict will announce a 'universal indult,' giving blanket
permission for all Catholic priests to use the old ritual.

"In remarks to the National Conference of Priests of Ireland, Eamonn
Duffy said that he thought the Pope would make the policy change in
October, during the meeting of the Synod of Bishops. The topic for Synod
discussions is the Eucharist."

This is great news for those of us who love the old Mass. But, I can see that it will take some convicing to get parishes to offer the Mass. They are set in thier ways and don't always want to change. I know my grandparents, who go to the new Mass, dislike the Latin Mass because it is too long and they don't understand the language. Also they feel that the people don't participate as much in the old Mass. I too would like more people participation. For example, it would be great if we had the congregation say the replys along with the alter boys and choir. I think that is just a regional custom though( I have been to Masses where the people do say the replys too) and can easily be changed.

Onward soldiers!

Evil on campus

I have been avoiding the campus art gallery as if it was the plague. It has recently opened an exhibit called “Axis of Evil: The Secret History of Sin”. I had seen flyers hung around campus featuring examples of the pieces. A priest with horns was prominently displayed among other horrible events. I decided I didn’t want to see this exhibit.
Not that it mattered. My professor announced that we would take the last fifteen minuets of class to view the gallery. At first I was amused by a set of “stamps” that morphed Bill Clinton, Al Gore and others into monsters from old horror films. This was the only light graphic. After that the pieces got worse; children with terrible wounds, terrorist acts and abused women all graphically portrayed.
I saw Raphael’s Transfiguration of Christ out of the corner of my eye; a second look proved that religious blasphemy is still tolerated. Certainly the sex abuse in the Catholic Church is an atrocious thing, but that does not mean our Pope is responsible for it. In fact, John Paul II fought against it. It is terrible to hear Pius XII and John Paul II maligned, but even more horrible to see it graphically. A piece called “White Power” showed Hitler, Pius XII and John Paul II as if they followed the same ideals. Anyone with sense would do a little research before they made such an outrageous claim. I began to move very fast, I had to get out of there.
Graphics are powerful. Written and spoken words can be forgotten, but pictures are something solid to hold on to. Graphics appeal directly to the senses. They are not easily forgotten. It makes me sick to see some of the terrible actions portrayed in this exhibit, mad at being forced to call blasphemy “art” and disappointed that my money has been used to host such an exhibit.
I think I might be able to use this post as a draft for a letter to the editor of the school paper. Right now I am too mad to think clearly. I need to build a strong arguement.......any suggestions let me know.

Mind Over

"Step, low block, PUNCH!" Harris booms. "Gold belts return."
He said nothing about high gold belts, so I hold my stance. I can feel sweat trickling down the side of my face and my leg muscles beginning to complain. I cannot remember what this Karate form is called, but I can't wait to learn the other half. It looks like I finally will to day. Harris has the gold belts repeat their form and moves over to show us three high golds the rest of this form.
The movements flow rhythmical. My breathing is deep; I use it to push the moves harder and focus. Concentration is the key. It is mind over matter. I will master these stances, but at the moment my brain can't communicate with the rest of me. It looks like it will take some practice.
I think Karate III is the easiest (no, I wouldn't say easy, just the most enjoyable) class I have. I don't have to worry about tests and is can be very relaxing. Physical activity forces worries out of my mind as I concentrate on the movement.

This Friday, we start Eskrima again. It is a Filipino martial art, that uses two short swords. In the "Lord of the Rings", Legolas's fighting form is similar to what we learn. It is a good thing we only use wooden sticks. I have gotten enough cuts from those. It would also be bad if someone lost a hand when another person forgot to block the swing.

In the Courtyard

It was very amusing today at school. I got into the classroom fifteen mintues early and started chatting to a freshmen. She hadn't pick up any of her books yet and wanted to know how many books we need to this class. I showed her my cultural geography, but began to notice other people with very different books. More interestingly the classroom was getting crowded. The room is meant to hold 100 or more people. This was a intro class I was in, so a large class isn't unusaul. A sneaking suspision entered my mind though, when I saw the professor walk in. It was difinatly not my geography teacher. I turned to the girl next to me and asked
"What class are you in?"
"Intro to Hummanities", she replyed.
"Not geography?".
Both of us looked at each other and dug out our scheduals. Someone at the registar's office screwed up. Two classes were booked for the same time in the same room. It was great! I have never had this happen before and enjoyed myself watching people scurry around trying to sort things out. My geography class relocated to the courtyard to start class.
I like the courtyard. It is paved with flagstone and built around a pool. Native plants line a walk way around the pool. Benches, which were used up quickly by the geography class, line the open spaces. A mild humming from the fountian makes it hard to hear, but my professor has a large voice and no one had trouble hearing him. I wouldn't mind having class outside while the warm weather lasts.

Back to school.......

Today was my first day back at school. I didn’t do anything too interesting; I merely went to my computer graphics studio II, intermediate drawing, stood in line for an hour to pick up my parking permit and pay tuition. I was smart this year (after three years of college, I actually learned something!) and brought The Man in the Brown Suit by Agatha Cristie. I think I annoyed the people in line by laughing out loud over amusing paragraphs.
Graphics class started at 8:15 in the morning. I was wide awake when the professor discussed the usual boring syllabus, but dozed off and almost hit my head on the computer screen when she reviewed Photoshop tools. Surprisingly the professor used almost all of the two and a half hours of class time. It was amazing that she actually got us started on an assignment; normally the first day of class is just an introduction. She informed us that we would be working our behinds off this semester so we had better get moving (not quite in those words, it was much more subtle). It is refreshing to have a no nonsense teacher.
In other news, my little brother and I found a snapping turtle. I was about to drag my dog along for a run, when Nicholas comes racing down the driveway yelling that he wants to come with me. I sighed. He isn’t able to keep up with me when I jog, but I will not pass an opportunity to walk and talk with my little brother. It is nice to have Nicholas slip his hand in mine and tell me about what he did that day or about the dead frog we just passed. Anyway, on the side of the road we saw something brown move. The turtle was about 15 inches long and it had the biggest tail I have seen on a turtle. It was watching me closely. As I tried to touch it, the turtle moved so fast I decided to back off. My other brother Michael poked at it with his foot and the turtle clamped on. *evil grin* After Michael shook the turtle off, we left it alone. It was too big to take home. What would mom say?

Forgot I had a blog

Almost forgotten, but not lost.

Interesting things to happen to me since my last post:
Went to Italy, saw the Daivd, Meadusa's head on a shield, Florence, Pisa, Lucca, Rome( the whole thing from the top of the Vatican!), got rained on and disobayed orders about never going places by your self so I could get to Mass.
Went to Germany for World Youth Day, saw the Pope (he looked about an inch high from where I was standing), drank my first glass of German beer, hiked all over Barvaria with hoards of French, ate with my fingers, saw Koln Cathedral, sang the rosary in French and enjoyed myself hugely.
Took an internship at the zoo and spent my time weeding.
Stayed up too late reading books. One of the best being "Ender's Game", about a child military genius.
Stayed up too late watching movies with my brothers.
Worked all summer on a forklift with no brakes.
Missed my brothers terribly when they left for college.
Missed my friends from WYD terribly.
There now, I am all caught up.*hehehehe*