Tell It Like It Is...

A status update on a friend's Facebook page reminded me of a (probably apocryphal) story I once heard...

A barrister had spent the best part of an hour explaining the finer points of a case to an increasingly confused and irritable judge.

At the end of the barrister's speech, the judge shook his head and said, "You can talk all you like, but I really am none the wiser!"

"No, my Lord," came the swift rejoinder, "But you are better informed!"

Courage Of One's Convictions...

I just read on LifeSite News that the Cardinal Archbishop of Montreal, Jean-Claude Turcotte, has just announced that he is returning his Order of Canada Insignia. He made this decision because abortionist Henry Morgentaler has also been nominated to the order.

His Eminence has issued the following statement:

"On May 9th 1996, the office of the Governor-General of the time, Mr. Roméo Leblanc, announced that I had been named to the Order of Canada. I had accepted this honour on behalf of all those who, because of their faith in Jesus Christ, work in the social domain to serve the most disadvantaged of our society.

"I have the greatest respect for the Order of Canada. It is meant to recognize the contribution of persons who help to bring about the progress of our society and who are concerned about the future of our world. Until recently, I sincerely believed that the Order of Canada was bestowed upon persons about whom there was a consensus.

"I was away when the Governor-General, Madame Michaelle Jean, announced the nomination of Dr. Henry Morgentaler to the Order of Canada. This announcement generated a great deal of criticism on the part of those who do not share Dr. Morgentaler's views regarding the respect for human life.

"I must admit that I had hoped that, in light of the large number of protests, the Consultative Council for the Order of Canada would revise its decision. Because it has not done so up to now and because silence on my part might be misinterpreted, I feel obliged in conscience to reaffirm my convictions regarding the respect for human life, from conception to death. We are not the masters of human life; it rests in the hands of God.

"As a result, I wish to declare that I am renouncing the title of Officer of the Order of Canada, bestowed upon me in 1996, and that I am returning the insignia that was given to me."

If you wish to write to the Cardinal to express your support for his decision, you can email him HERE.

It is very heartening to see a Prince of the Church stand by his convictions and show such open support for the protection of human life.

The Things They Say (2)...

Another little pipsqueak thought he was being funny this morning...

"Miss, Miss, you can't give us homework... the world's going to end today..."

"Don't worry, I promise you that if the world does come to an end today, you won't have to hand the homework in tomorrow..."

The Things They Say...

Blogging may well be rather sporadic over the next week: I am getting to grips with a new timetable, new classes and a new subject specification (all the AS Level courses changed: I mean, you wouldn't want teachers to have too easy a time of it, would you?)

Still, I can't quite bring myself to stop blogging completely, and so I thought I'd share the odd quote from the chalkface... yes, I know we don't use chalk any more...

From a lesson on the states of matter, after explaining that steam (or water vapour) was the gaseous state of water, and ice was the solid state...

"Miss, what's the liquid state of water called?"

Conspiracy Theories...

I have been wooed away from Thunderbird as my preferred email retrieval system by Google Mail, mostly because of the marked reduction in spam emails.  Strange to tell, I'm not interested in purchasing supplies of Viagra, having a penis extension, or giving my bank details to a rich businessman's widow in Nigeria in order to earn myself a a few hundred thousand pounds...

I have occasionally pondered whether Google itself is sending out all the spam emails, and then making sure that they don't get through Google's filters... so that everyone will eventually switch to Google...

Paranoid?  Moi?

I read Fr. Tim's post on how wonderful Google Chrome was, and decided to have a little play with it.  I wasn't completely happy with it... I guess I'm quite resistant to change... but I didn't really "take" to the new look, or to the tabs being way up top, or to the fact that a page can only be bookmarked under one set of bookmarks, rather than, as with Firefox, as many times as you want it...  small things, nothing earth-shattering, but enough...

In the meantime, the new version of Firefox appears to have installed itself on my computer.  I'm not entirely sure how it did this, as I tried to block it the last time I received an "Install Update?" query box...  Since then, Firefox has been playing silly beggars.  The bookmarks won't complete loading, and so it gets very slow trying to click on a link or a com-box.  In the old version of Firefox, I could just close the whole thing down by clicking on the close "X" at the top, and then re-open the browser.  Now, when I try to re-open the browser, I get a little box telling me that Firefox is open, but not responding, and I need to restart my computer.  However, the Google Chrome icon is working perfectly well, with a very fast connection and upload speed...

Is Firefox in cahoots with Google, making the system so annoyingly problematic that people turn to Chrome out of sheer exasperation??

... just a thought...

Pondering Life's Imponderables...

Why is it that, when painting one's nails, "One Minute" nail polish will still be slightly wet after three hours?

And why, during this time, will it smudge or have bits gouged off, and when dry, will chip if you so much as brush against a hard surface, yet, when you actually try to remove the stuff with nail polish, it takes on the consistency of cement, and won't budge?

(It's been a while since I did a frivolous girly-nail post, and I have a reputation as a ditsy blonde to maintain...)

Requiem In Aeternum...

Today was the regular Missa Cantata at Blackfen. We're lucky enough to have a visiting schola to sing on the first Saturday of each month.

This month's Missa Cantata happened to coincide with the anniversary of the death of Fr. Bailey, a former Parish Priest at Blackfen. And so, it was decided to make this month's Mass a Requiem.

I had never seen unbleached candles before!

I attended a Requiem in the Extraordinary Form once before, but it was a Low Mass. I was pretty bowled-over by the experience, and promptly declared my desire to have my own funeral celebrated according to the usus antiquior.

Well, now I've seen (and heard) the Missa Cantata version, I want my funeral done THAT way. Unbleached candles, sermon at the end of Mass, absolutions at the catafalque, black vestments, bells, incense, the lot! Oh, and a few of you busy on your knees, praying rosaries for the repose of my soul, thank you kindly... and don't forget to pray for the Holy Father with the intention of gaining the Plenary Indulgence!

I didn't manage to get many photos - the new phone camera has a super-dooper focussing arrangement, which means that it takes ages for the photo to be snapped after pressing the button... and so I missed the Elevation of the Host... but I did get the Elevation of the chalice...

Hopefully, I'll soon learn exactly when to press the button in order to capture the exact moment I want...

At The Risk Of Alienating Some More Of You...

... I am just too tired to blog tonight. Today was my first full day of teaching after the Summer holiday...

...I know, I know, some of you lot don't get such long holidays, or even short ones, at such regular intervals...

I'd just like to point out that you also don't have to keep five sets of thirty monsters entertained for an hour each...

Actual snippets from today:

"Yes... if you've used up that page in your exercise book, you can write on the next one..."

"DON'T point that test tube at anyone else while you're heating it... and don't heat it too strongly, or else the... oh, there goes the rubber bung... yes, I saw it hit him on the head, THAT's why I told you not to point the tube at anyone..."

"Yes, I know it's the first day back, but you still get homework..."

"NOOOOOOO, do not hold the test tube at the bottom when you've been heating it...!"

It's been a hard day. I'll blog tomorrow. Maybe.

Heheheheh...

I'm not really interested in politics... and especially not American politics. I'm afraid I would have lost interest in the US Presidential Campaign stuff back in, oh... January... if I had any interest to lose!

However, the choice of a staunchly pro-life VP for the Republicans suddenly has the entire Catholic Blogosphere in a spin! Definitely one in the eye for the "so-called Catholic" Biden. I would much rather vote for a pro-life non-Catholic than for someone who professed to be Catholic and then ignored the main tenets of the Faith...

Of course, because she's pro-life, she's being attacked by the media.

I just had to chuckle when I spotted this over at Vincenzo's blog...

What-Where-When Meme...

The Dúnadan has an intriguing meme which he declared open to all comers... and I decided that I needed a little light entertainment, so I'd play!

It's a "what were you doing, and where" meme... I have taken the liberty of putting the events in chronological order, for the sake of "neatness" !

1. President Kennedy's Assassination - 22 November 1963
Ummmm... I wasn't even thought of. My maternal grandmother was pretty upset by it: she liked Kennedy, despite him being American (she was German (Prussian, actually), but she hated the Russians far more than she hated Americans) and despite him declaring that he was a doughnut in Berlin...


2. England's World Cup Semi Final v Germany - 4 July 1990
I was alive for this one. However, not being a footie fan, I have no idea where I was.

3. Margaret Thatcher's resignation - 22 November 1990
I'm not entirely sure... I have a hazy recollection of hearing it at my mother's house (I'd visited overnight) and then discussing it at lunchtime in the staff canteen at the Institute of Psychiatry, London, having a coffee. It's a little hazy - I was running rats in mazes for hours on end, and that does things to your brain...

4. Princess Diana's death - 31 August 1997
I heard this on the radio (which I'd had on all night, as is my usual custom) as I woke up. I remember switching on the TV because I was sure there was some sort of mistake, that I must have imagined that it happened. And then, when I'd woken up properly, I rang to tell another friend, because we were going to go to the Science Museum later that day, and I thought the news might affect traffic around Buckingham Palace. The Science Museum trip was a bit of preparatory research before I started my teacher training the following week.

5. Attack on the twin towers - 11 September 2001
My second school-related memory. I was in an after-school meeting, along with some other new staff in the school. Another teacher stuck his head in through the classroom door to tell us the news of the first plane crash. And then we heard about the second one...

6. The election of Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger to the papacy - 19 April 2005
Heheheheheh... a really great memory. I've blogged about it already HERE, but I was in the Parish Hall, making a cup of tea, with a pile of marking set out on a table as I prepared to watch satellite TV coverage.

Ok, for no other reason than sheer curiosity, I'm going to tag Karen, the Caveman, Adrienne, Hilary and Fr. Owl.

Unleash The Dogs Of War...

I'm not sure where the post title originates; looking it up on Google brought up several references to pop songs, and I'm sure it's older than that. There are also references to Frederick Forsythe's novel, and quite a few people seem to use it as a quote. I thought it might be The Bard himself, but that is possibly a red herring, or at least a mis-quote...

...but I digress!

I just wanted to say that school starts for me again tomorrow, and the madness begins again! Oh well, at least I didn't have to go back on Monday, like Leutgeb!

One Day I'll Learn...

...to check my blog before doing anything!

The communal areas in my block of flats have been painted, and my front door was done today... this meant that I was unable to go out all afternoon (my flat is on the ground floor, and the door had to be open while it dried) and having my front door open meant that I was subjected to lots of paint fumes. By this evening, I needed to go out to eat something which wouldn't smell like Dulux.

I thought I'd try a local Indian restaurant again... I remembered that they sometimes had live entertainment, but I was pretty sure that the belly dancer had been a weekend fixture, and vaguely recalled a pianist featuring on one evening.

Alas, I discovered that it was the night for the belly dancer. I found the performance even more objectionable than last time, as the dancing was rather suggestive in nature and there were several young lads present for a birthday party.

Checking my blog, I discovered that the last visit had also been a Tuesday night. I shall have to find an alternative venue for when I fancy a meal out alone.

Not A Happy Blogger...

I am now contemplating a bit of broken tooth. It might be a bit of broken temporary filling out of the stump of tooth which was being prepped for a crown yesterday, but then again, it might be a bit of tooth. It's a bit difficult to tell... Either way, I am an extremely unhappy bunny.

I suppose it could be worse... I haven't got any pain or sensitivity from the gap/remaining tooth stump/remaining temporary filling, but the gum around it is tender from yesterday's drilling, and now there is a big hole in one of my main back teeth... a hole I thought I'd gotten sorted last time round...

Hrummphhh.

That dentist had better watch out for his fingers next time...

Computer Cat & Mouse...

Fr. Tim has been having computer problems. He has finally cracked under the strain, and has been forced to acknowledge that most of us (sorry, Karen!) on the Cat-o-lick Blogospurr are fans of all things feline... and has posted a cat video...



I have to admit that I have tried to keep Sylvester away from the computer ever since he sicked up over the keyboard as a birthday present. I do recall that, one time when I had my old Dell desktop opened up for insertion of more memory, the amount of cat fur found inside could have been used to stuff a pillow... I still don't know how it got in there...

Je Suis Arrivée...

Fr. Steven Fisher kindly alerted me to the fact that I have "arrived" in the world of Catholic Blogdom... I rated a mention on Holy Smoke, Damian Thompson's excellent Telegraph blog.

It must be a quiet news week...

;-)

So, if you have popped over from Mr. Thompson's blog, Welcome! Please take note: I have a very high opinion of women, their intelligence and their characteristics. Hardly surprising, given that I am one. I do, however, hold a pretty poor opinion of the type of woman who, while dissenting from everything the Church has taught for nigh on 2000 years, claims to be a faithful member of that Church.

I hold a pretty poor opinion of that type of man too. Hey, does that mean I have an "equal opportunities" policy on my blog??

Another note of caution: comments which are abusive or demonstrate that the writer has had a sense-of-humour bypass will be deleted, as will those with poor grammar, punctuation or spelling. Of course, I could be being wildly over-optimistic in assuming that I'll get any comments...

Lies, Damned Lies & Dentistry...

Yes, I went. Yes, it WAS as bad as I feared. The jury is still out on whether or not it was actually worse than I anticipated. Yes, it was painful. Yes, I do have to go again...

Why is it that, when dentists say "Now, raise your hand if you get any pain," and you then dutifully raise your hand, they look surprised and demand to know what is wrong?

I then yelped (involuntarily) when I got a sharp pain in my gum. The dentist protested that he hadn't touched the gum, he was drilling away the tooth... but I noticed that I spat out a load of blood afterwards... and later inspection in my rear-view mirror revealed that the gum had been nicked. I'm still bleeding.

Grrrrrr.

I now have to wait for the crown to be made. I also need to go back and get some more fillings sorted out. This had better equate to time off Purgatory...

Thanks for all the prayers!

Prayers Needed... (Again!)

*sigh*

I have to go back to the dentist in the morning. My temporary fillings (from a fortnight ago) need to be made into permanent ones. I got to this stage once before (a few years ago) and didn't complete the treatment, and the temporary fillings disintegrated...

...and the fillings I had put in this time feel very temporary, as I can detect the rough edges where the filling ends and the tooth begins with my tongue...

...but I'm not in pain...

...and so the thought of going along to put myself into the chair so that the dentist can inflict all sorts of nasties isn't very appealing.

I know, I know... I'll regret it if I don't go.

And yes, I shall use the time to contemplate the Four Last Things. And I will offer it up.

But a prayer or two would be greatly appreciated... mostly to ensure that I don't find an excuse not to go... like oversleeping (and missing the appointment) or not finding a parking space (and missing the appointment) or forgetting about the appointment (and missing the appointment)...

(I figured that, if you all knew about it, then I wouldn't be able to chicken out...!)

Women: An Interpreter's Guide...

After having battled with an office printer and a photocopier last week, I went out for lunch. After some considerable time had elapsed, I went to the Ladies... and caught sight of myself in the mirror. I had large black toner thumbprints on my nose, cheek and chin.

Horrified, I challenged my lunch companion: "Why didn't you tell me? Don't try to tell me you didn't notice... We've been sitting here for ages..."

Apparently, he didn't want to offend me.

The implication was that, for men, commenting on a woman's appearance is a bit of a minefield.

So I thought the occasional bit of advice might be in order.

First of all, gentlemen, please note that responses are often context-dependant. Take the simple question, "Does this look ok?" occasionally phrased, "How do I look?"

It usually means something along the lines of "Does my bum look big in this?" or "Do I look like mutton dressed as lamb?"

The reply given depends on the context... if the question is being asked at home (before going out), or in a shop's changing room (before purchasing the item concerned) then an honest answer is called for. If, on the other hand, the question is asked while "out" (at a party or other public situation) then the answer should always indicate that the item looks very nice indeed. If there are concerns that female friends might indicate a contrary view, it is advisable to preface the comment with "I think" or "In my opinion," which suggests that any contrary opinion is purely a subjective one... and you won't be accused of lying, but merely considered to have very poor taste.

Ok, that's a start. I think there's a book just waiting to be written... so, all you chaps, this is your chance to get the questions which have you flummoxed into the com-box, and girls, here's your opportunity to air the most glaring misunderstandings you've encountered...

Mea Culpa, Mea Culpa...

... Oh dear, what have I done? I may have led other traddy womyn astray! I wonder if that's an excommunicable offence?

Ekurlowa must be seriously traddy... she not only understands Latin, she can blog in Latin too!

She wants to join me as a traddy womynpriest. To that end, she suggests sending the following petition to the Bishops. It's in Latin verse, so we shall have to enlist the services of Fr. Z to find out what it means...

Feminarum personant saepius clamores:

sumusne servitio sancto digniores?

Quaesumus te, optime antistite domne

te petentes feminas ordinare omnes.

You can read the rest of it HERE.

The Faith, The Family… The Future

25th-26th October 2008 at All Saints Pastoral Centre, London Colney, St. Albans, UK.

A conference of hope for young people and families, focusing on:

- Fostering and exploring the beauty of the Church’s vision for marriage and the family
- Passing on the faith to the next generation and the role of the family in this work
- Promoting the growth of Catholic culture and vocations through the family
- Celebrating the fortieth anniversary of Humanae Vitae

Over the weekend there will be many eminent speakers, representing a broad panorama of Catholic thought and culture. With programs specially tailored to each age group, combined with the opportunity for retreat, spiritual reflection and renewal, the weekend provides a great opportunity for Catholics to renew their spiritual life, strengthening their families through meeting other young Catholics who share their hopes and views.

For details and booking, see the dedicated website or email HERE.