Yankee, Go Home! Part One

Today, I went to McCain-Palin Rally in Richmond, VA. This has been a hard election cycle on all of us, given its length, but it will be over in three weeks and one day. Phew. We'll have a new president and vice president. Anyway, today I headed to Richmond for a rally with Sarah Palin. (Sorry for the poor quality picture--my camera died and I had to use my blackberry for this one!)

She is a pretty neat lady--was very gracious (only one awkward moment when she thought people were protesting, but they were just shouting "louder!") and had a great pro-life message. She talked about how God made every child unique, including kids with special needs. It wasn't quite as good a pro-life speech as this one from in Johnstown, PA, this weekend, but it was still really good.

I know she's getting raked over the coals on SNL (Tina Fey is funny), but I like that she's out there, doing her best, in not a great political climate. That means something, especially when she gets up and says that every life is important. After all, life is first of "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." For me the tipping point is that we can never have that third if we don't protect the first. You know, as a Catholic, I try to stay independent, but as a citizen, it's important to remember to speak the Truth in love. Even Mother Teresa did, in a brief to the Supreme Court. She wrote, in part:

As your Declaration of Independence put it, in words that have never lost their power to stir the heart: “We hold these truths to be self evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness…” A nation founded on these principles holds a sacred trust: to stand as an example to the rest of the world, to climb ever higher in its practical realization of the ideals of human dignity, brotherhood, and mutual respect. Your constant efforts in fulfillment of that mission, far more that your size or your wealth or your military might, have made America an inspiration to all mankind....It was a sad infidelity to America's highest
ideals when this Court said that it did not matter, or could not be determined, when the inalienable right to life began for a child in its mother's womb.

I'm just glad someone is finally talking about life in this election. More later in the week on the rally. Richmond is the SOUTH. The rally was part Nascar, part revival, and part policy. Oh, and Hank Williams was there. How's that for a teaser?

"Home, home, on the range...."

Greetings from the desert! It's nice to be a way from the city for a few days, though the work hours out here are long! Utah has beautiful sunsets, and I'm about the head out to see one.

But, my comments on Roe (below) will be published in Lifelines, the PA pro-life e-pub. Excited! Also, this weekend, I'll be playing in the DC Think Tank Softball Tournament. Not to mention, CCD starts this weekend!

So, busy times when I return from "the range." Pray for all those catechists when you have a chance. This is "back to CCD" time which is both a joy and a stressor for the legions of volunteer teachers in the world. To all my fellow teachers, remember those wonderful words of Pope John Paul II, in Catechesi Tradendae and teach courageously:

I am anxious to give thanks in the Church's name to all of you, lay teachers of catechesis in the parishes, the men and the still more numerous women throughout the world who are devoting yourselves to the religious education of many generations. Your work is often lowly and hidden but it is carried out with ardent and generous zeal, and it is an eminent form of the lay apostolate, a form that is particularly important where for various reasons children and young people do not receive suitable religious training in the home. How many of us have received from people like you our first notions of catechism and our preparation for the sacrament of Penance, for our first Communion and Confirmation! The fourth general assembly of the synod did not forget you. I join with it in encouraging you to continue your collaboration for the life of the Church.

Living in the Shadow of Roe v. Wade

A friend of mine passed on this question of "What does it mean growing up in the shadow of Roe v. Wade." Here was my reply:

I remember quite profoundly the moment I stopped saying, "I personally would never have an abortion, but I don't think I have the right to impose my beliefs on anyone." It was in the spring of 2000. Two friends and I were walking out of our statistics class, and we were greeted by another friend of ours, "Ruth." Ruth announced with some trepidation that she was pregnant. The first sentence anyone uttered was, "Are you happy?"

Eight years later, I often dwell on that day, because I wonder how our society could have evolved so far as to allow happiness to dictate whether someone can live or die (Ruth was happy, incidentally). I also wonder how I had reached 21 years of age thinking that it was wrong of me to advocate the right of a human to live. Roe vs. Wade not only legalized genocide, it installed relativism as the belief system of choice. We weren't taught absolutes in school, we were taught that everyone's truth was equally valid. Because of this, far more of my contemporaries embrace apathy over empathy. If all positions are equal, why should I bother to understand yours? It's evidenced in the detachment of those of us who live, who shout for change, but are unwilling advocate any position. It's in the "me" attitude that keeps us isolated from one another, rarely bothering to learn our neighbors names, let alone listen to their stories. It's in the neverending pursuit of "happiness" that results in promiscuity, serial monogamy, and insecurity. And for those of us rejecting Roe vs. Wade, it means often being the lone voice at the lunch table, the person known as a "religious zealot," and the "judgmental" one.

In truth, Roe yielded a generation of lonely people--our parents robbed us of siblings and friends, and our Government institutionalized an isolating philosophy. But, as in all things, there is hope. Those of us who have spent all our lives in the shadow of Roe are slowly stepping into the light--we are learning in adulthood the lessons we should have learned as children. That happiness comes in service. That all life is precious. That there is an absolute truth. We are combatting loneliness by banding together, and we will stare down the shadow of Roe. And, in time, the only response to the utterance, "I'm pregnant," will be, "Congratulations!"

Twice in One Night? McCain/Palin = Tigh/Roslin?

Mostly because my love for sci-fi and Sarah Palin have quickly intersected. I'm said I missed this before:

http://wdtprs.com/blog/2008/09/tigh-roslin-2008/

http://jimmyakin.typepad.com/defensor_fidei/2008/09/tigh-roslin-08.html

The McCain/Palin ticket is the Battlestar Galactica Tigh/Roslin ticket. At least Roslin became president. There is hope for Sarah Palin.

Enjoy!

It's Irrational....

Now that I've completed nearly a month of mourning (Brett Farve is dead to me) and survived vacation (Disney World), I'm back to the real world. And there is nothing more real in my world right now than the election. POTUS, if you are unawares. To be honest, I could have cared less until last Friday. Hillary was obnoxious, and Obama doesn't really do it for me anymore. Change. Hope. Blah, blah, blah. I expected better from the Junior Senator. I even gave him a pass on that whole "clinging to their religion and guns" comment. I like my religion, thank you very much, and I'll own a gun if I darn well want to.

Then of course there was Obama's refusal to back the Born Alive Infants Protection Act. He also wouldn't want his daughter "burdened" with an unwanted child. And his flip-flop on wire tapping. And the fact that I'm still not convinced he has a plan--all the plans I've seen smack of Marxism. Not to mention that it offends me EVERY TIME someone highlights that Sen. Biden is a Catholic born in Pennsylvania.

But I wasn't sold on McCain, either. He's aged since 2000. He'd need help on the economy. I'm not sure he'll change Washington.

And then I met Sarah Palin. Okay, I didn't meet her, but I did. Via the TV. And it's absolutely irrational how much I like her. I would love to quit my job and move to Alaska and work for her. Or go to work for the office of the VP if she wins. It's irrational, I tell you. So be it--she's living the pro-life life. She's got a family, she runs a state, and I bet she drives a minivan. I want to be her when I grow up.

She's resonating with a lot of young, conservative, pro-family women I know. All of us feel revived. Like Sarah Palin can accomplish what we've all dreamed of. It's irrational, I know, but I can't help feeling like Sarah Palin has the potential to be my hero. Sigh. I'll let you know.

Oh, Brett (Favre)

Dear Brett (Favre):

What gives, man? I bleed green and gold, you know. The Pack is my team. From the time I saw my first game at Milwaukee County Stadium, to that year you won the Super Bowl ("a Brett and a Brooks and an Edgar and a Reggie, and Jones, and a Leroy and a Newsome and a Dorsey, hey Packerena, hutt, hutt"), and I laughed hysetrically when that girl in high school called you "FAHV-RAY."

It was I who drank a shot of tequila every time you scored during your victory over the Bears on New Years 2007 and pleaded that you wouldn't not retire until you went out with a winning season. And then, last year, you were flawless. You broke records. You tearfully retired. I was depressed. I grieved. For the first time since I was a teen *4 wouldn't be QB when the season started. But, I dealt with it. I moved on, knowing that you had played your heart out. I was ready for summer camp. I was ready for pre-season. And then this. Oh, Brett. Why do you have to do this to me? Why did you have to be like Mike? I can't handle it, and I hope you realize that I'm not the only one. I don't know whether or not to be thrilled to see you play or angry because you're messing with the future of my team.

I might have to become a Redskins fan in protest...or....root for the Bears. That's right, I'll root for the Bears in protest. Okay, maybe I won't go that far. I mean I'm a cheesehead. But, I might not go to a bar to watch the games. I'll, I'll just listen to them on the radio so I won't have to watch you, who broke my heart! A pox, a pox on you, who I'd learn to live without. A pox on you somewhere other than your throwing arm, because we really need to beat the Bears this year. So, since you insist on playing, get it together and play well. Because I don't want to have to have you be dead to me. Or root for the Bears.

Bitterly,

Lola

I Want to Believe

In high school and college, Friday nights and then Sundays, belonged to Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson), my constant companions. So, when I found out that I’d miss the series finale, because my parents didn’t have cable, one of my cousins sent a VHS tape with the finale episode. It was a bittersweet ending; Mulder and Scully didn’t save the world, they ultimately couldn’t raise their son, they didn’t change any minds…but, they did have each other. So, in a bookend to the series, Mulder and Scully ended up in a crappy motel room, just the two of them. But that was The X-Files--struggling for Truth but never quite getting what you want and finding out the truth that it is our relationships that endure when, literally, the world explodes around you.

Fast forward seven years—I’ve finished graduate school, worked in DC for three years, and figured out that government per diem can get you a lot better than a crappy motel room, but not much, depending on where you have to go. I’m not a special agent investigating aliens, like I wanted to be in high school. And I'm not Dana Scully, though I wanted to be in high school, because, if I were, I’d be cool enough to run in heels while shooting my 9 mm, write awesome journal entries, and hang out with Fox Mulder. Not to mention I’d be jet-setting across the world seeking that elusive Truth, always getting a glimpse. But, after seven years, I feel more like Dana Scully than I ever did in high school—seeking the Truth, struggling when my Faith intersects Science, and desperately hoping to keep it all together, just like she did, though I still haven't found my Fox Mulder.

So, go visit my old friends Fox and Dana (TM—Mrs. Scully) in their new movie, The X-Files: I Want To Believe. If you are an “x-phile,” you’ll love it. It’s got the snark, the sexual innuendo, the laughs, the creepy monsters, and our two intrepid agents. For x-phile, it’s a great reunion. You get to reminisce about all your fondest memories, you get to catch up with old friends, and you get a glimpse of their life in the future. And you realize not much changed. If you’re not a phile? Well, you still get the awesomeness of Dana Scully. This movie is about a woman’s struggle to understand what she believes about her life and her relationships with others, as well as the complexities of her choices as a medical doctor.

Dana Scully is still the type of person I think it would be good to be. Somehow, she never gives up; she has a deep Faith that challenges her; she makes the wrong decisions, but so how mananges to get it right in the end. She takes chances, but knows when to draw lines in the sand. Not to mention, she got to be a snappy dresser! So, go see my movie if you're bored and The Dark Knight is sold out. It's a great way to spend two hours.

“And the rain is over and gone….”

It’s a beautiful day in Lola’s World! Less than 30 hours ago, my brother officially gave me the best gift in the world—a sister! Ken and Lauren were married at her aunt and uncle’s house in Olean, New York. Just before the wedding a rain storm hit, so we had a bit of a rain delay, but just as the Rabbi was starting the service, the rain stopped. Lauren looked radiant, and my brother has never looked so happy in his life.

I can’t believe that I’ve only known Lauren for three years. Three years ago this month, Ken volunteered to go to DC with me to check out my new apartment three years ago this month. I should have caught at his eagerness to sleep on the floor of my guest room, but I was clueless. Little did I know that after he dragged me around the city looking at construction and NOT letting me stop in for a daily Mass, I would be meeting the one God planned for him.

The one wish I’ve had for all of my friends is that they marry the person that God had picked out for them. Ken was my first friend—he’s been there since my first day (even though I think he only remembers that he got a “Little People” farm). He put up with me when I knocked out his teeth, didn’t kill me during my crazy, hormonal, teenage years, he sent me I postcard from every single city he visited during his year abroad (I still have them!), and he’s the only one who understands what it’s like to have our parents. So, like any of my friends, I had the same wish for Ken. In some ways, when it comes to Ken, it was a stronger wish, one that has grown over a lifetime of being his sister. And yesterday, my wish for him came true, in a most amazing way.

So, while I have plenty of fun stories to share about the wedding, tonight, I’m leaving it at, WAHOO!!!!! I have a wonderful new sister whom I’ve come to love dearly, and my brother’s dreams have come true. God is so, so good!

Crazy Baby Names Part Two

A very important event occurs this weekend--my brother's wedding. I'm super excited to have Lauren officially be my sister-in-law, and I'll definitely post more on that next week.

But, I thought I'd comment on one of my favorite topics--random baby names. Previously, I addressed why Harlow was not a great name for a little girl--Nicole Richie, I look at you. Today, I address Nicole Kidman and hubby Keith Urban, cause Sunday? That's a day of the week. Or, if spelled differently, a wonderful confection. But, it's certainly not a baby name. What are they going to call her for short. Sunnie? Sunny? Sunny Urban sounds like a condo complex. Day? Daye? Day Urban sounds like a type of subway pass. Sigh.

At least Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie got it half right with Knox and Vivenne. Vivenne is actually a good name. Knox, well Knox isn't my favorite, if only because of the images of Fort Knox that dance in my head. It might work if they were Presbyterian, but I don't think they are. It also means round-top hill. Which means that Harlow and Knox will probably be a celebrity couple someday in the future after bonding over names that have to do with landscape features.

Whatever the case may be, babies are always a reason for rejoicing. As is a new X-Files movie. Stay tuned for wedding pics and more on the new X-Files movie!

Little Things

So, I'll admit it. I'm LOUSY at updating. But, heck, I gave up trying to be consistent with this. Update time.

1. I managed to pull off one of two baby showers. Baby shower 1, for my co-worker Ro', was cancelled when baby Emmanuel decided to make his appearance early. Baby shower 2, for my good friend Sarah, was just in time as little Alexandra came a week later. Both babies were three weeks early!

2. I had a LOVELY time in Illinois/Iowa, despite flooding disrupting the wedding. The wedding was held at an alternate location. It's incredibly awesome to be with my college friends, again. We had a GREAT time. Before that, I had an equally great time with my BFF Laurel and her daughter. I even got to see her bro and sil and their girls. It was a great joy to see so many people who fill such a big place in my life.

3. Then, this passed weekend, I drove to Jersey to see my good friends Jeanna and Jeff from grad school, and their son (my godson, Gabriel). He's just so amazing, and I love hearing his little excited voice shout "Lo!" when he sees me (that "Lo" for Auntie Lola). I think I caught a "Tie Lo!" once. He gives great hugs, too.

4. Work is CRAZY. Nuff said.

In other news--I've seen three newborns in the past month, locally, visited friends with children, watched those online pregnancy tickers move on, and found out that I'll be the god-mother of another god-daughter this fall. I've also read as spiritual sisters of mine have endured heart-breaking miscarriages and of another family who lost a newborn. So much joy and so much sorrow, wrapped around little people. I'm not really going anywhere with this in particular, except that in all that joy and all that sorrow, there is such tremendous love and faith. Love for children, living on earth and living in eternity, and faith in God, who gives and takes a way. It's so rare to see such love or to see Love reflected back at us. Pray for these women, all mothers--mothers of new babies, mothers of growing families, mothers of babies-on-the-inside, and mothers of children that rejoice in Heaven. They need your prayers, all in their own way.

I also had an opportunity to witness love like that at Mass this Sunday. In visit St. Alphonsius in Hopewell, NJ, there was an older priest who clearly had a neurological disorder (pray for him, and all priests). Despite shaking hands, he lovingly cleaned the chalice, paten, and the altar. It was clearly difficult to lift the chalice with his shaking hands, and I'm sure he must have noticed the shifting crowd, but he painstakingly drank from the chalice and wiped it clean. That's an amazing act of love in service of Love.

That's all for today, just a quick snapshot of my life! Pax!

Aloha!

So, I'm a bad blogger. My summer goal is to be a good blogger. At least a weekly blogger. So, apart from sheer craziness at work (including my inability to find any new employees!), the summer is looking up. But, spring was pretty good too! I was on Oahu (Hawaii) for work and then spent a long weekend snorkeling in Maui. It was AMAZING. And just what the doctor ordered. Here are some Hawaiian highlights.

Sunrise at Haleakala in Maui. The drive to the top at 3AM was crazy, but the sunrise was worth it!

One of the things that I really wanted to do on Oahu was visit Pearl Harbor. There is a visitor center with a short film and some exhibits. Then, you take a short ride to the Arizona Memorial in the harbor. It was amazing how quiet everyone can be if asked; it was an incredibly moving experience.

I also wanted to drive around the famous North Shore of Oahu. Winter is the best time to see the forty foot waves and the surfers, but it was still a beautiful drive. This is one of my favorite photographs. It reminds me of the TV show Lost!


I love sea turtles! This one swam up right next to me during a snorkel session off Makena Beach (Maui).

Finally photographic evidence I was there! This is me along the Road to Hana, the absolutely scariest drive, ever! It was ridculously fun in my little convertible, though!

Harlow?

Starting off with, this one is random. Except, not so much because I'm (blushing) watching Access Hollywood. In my defense, it's in between the nightly news (something that I always watch) and American Idol.

Okay, let's start with Harlow. That would be Nicole Richie's baby, for those of you who are wondering why I brought that up. I don't actually object to the name "Harlow" as being horribly egregious, like some names (Apple, Lasagna, Calamari) or intentionally alternatively spelled. But, if your name is Harlow, your left with a name that means "From the Mound of the People" OR the actress Jean Harlow. As a fan of classic film, I'm familiar with Jean Harlow and appreciate her cinematic contributions as the original "Blonde Bombshell." But, really, she died tragically young of kidney disease after combating rumors that she murdered her husband (Paul Bern). Not to mention that whole alienation of affection suit and sham marriage to deflect those allegations. To me, not necessarily a "win-win" name selection.

Next, American Idol. BEST TOP 24 EVAH!!!!!!! Not. I fast-forwarded through everyone, except Jason Castro (kid with dreads) and David Archuleta. And they are making it impossible for me to like Archuleta because of the constant "HE'S 17!!!!!" (TM Randy), "I want to put him in my pocket and carry him around (TM Paula), and "The other 19 contestants are putting on sackcloth" (TM Simon). I'm also bitter that Melinda Doolittle didn't win last year. Who, by the way, just released My Funny Valentine as digital single. It's pretty good. Hopefully the girls are better tonight, and I might be able to finally figure out which blonde is which.

President's Day

So, today was a holiday for all those government and government-related workers--that meant me. I love these bonus holidays. They are great! I had extra time to run errands so I:

• Finished my taxes. Ouch.
• Crocheted another four inches on a baby blanket! The sucker is 41 inches wide X 22 inches long and growing. Baby is due in two weeks. I need to start moving!
• Went to the eye doctor and order new glasses.
• Picked up a friend and had lunch.
• Went with said friend to look at new furniture for my living room (got a new brown leather couch and recliner! Bye-bye 70's jungle print!)
• Came home and watched a bunch of Star Trek Voyager episodes.

Which leads me to why I wanted to blog. I'm on a number of e-dating sites. Okay 2. But that's a number, right? Anyway, site 1 is religion specific, and I've gone out with a couple of guys from those sites. One for like six months. And it didn't work. I've done long distance and across town. Site 2 is secular, and I haven't really gone out with anyone. But, now, I'm emailing with this EXTREMELY patient guy, who lives a bit a way (four hours), who is a religion professor (but not my religious background, who does however have a background in sacramental theology and knows the entire Ordinary of the Mass in Latin--randomly awesome). Anyway, it turns out that this same guy got his PhD where I did my undergrad. We missed each other at the UofI by three months. How crazy is that? Small world. Anyway, as e-dating goes, this guy gets points because he uses paragraphs, proper grammar, and punctuation. And asked me about my job. Brave man. So, we'll see. This leads me back to what I wanted to say orginially.

I went to a talk last week given by Sr. Timothy Prokes, FSE, who gave quite the interesting lecture on Theology and Virtual Reality. She detailed how virtual living (everything from online pay/electronic pay to SecondLife) impacts Christian living. Her basic premise was that by living in a world of electrons, we divorce ourselves from the physicality of Christ and embraced by the Church. Clearly, the Real Presence cannot exist virtually. Which leads me to the wisdom of e-dating? Is it wise to approach dating through cyber space? But, at the same time, isn't cyber space better than a local bar?

So, I'm befuddled. All while keeping nice religion professor guy waiting for an e-mail. Which I should send. So, off to that cyber dating site, while I continue to be befuddled by Sister's talk.

So, I've been tagged. Probably in an attempt by my friend lifeasamama to get me to resurrect my blog. (She's probably right, maybe I should take up her New Year's resolution to blog-a-day.)

Anyway, here are the tagging rules.

• Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.
• Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
• Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
• Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

I'm going to violate 3 and 4 as I'm new to the blog-o-sphere and feel horrible about tagging folks I don't know. But, hey, if anyone reads this, by all means, considered yourself tagged.

1. When I was very small (3 or 4), our house caught on fire. I was in the bath tub at the time, and my big brother came to rescue me. Instead of making me put on clothes, he gave me a towel and helped me rescue all the Strawberry Shortcake toys I got for Christmas. What a great big brother!
2. I'm a compulsive list maker. I make lists for everything. What to do at work, what to do when I get home, where I'm going on the weekend. I'm also compulsive about organization--my insanely large DVD collection is alphabetized. My books are organized by topic. Everything has a place in my house, and if it's out of order, I get a little bit stressed.
3. As I mentioned in 2, I love DVDs. Especially science fiction DVDs. I'm what you would call a sci-fi freak. When I was growing up, I had the X-Files "I want to believe" poster in my room, next to my "Everything I needed to know from life I learned from Star Trek the Next Generation" poster. I firmly believe that some of the most valuable lessons I've learned have come from sci-fi. What's incredible to me is that a lot of sci-fi is heavily Chirsto-centric. I mean, it doesn't mean to be (if you think about it, some sci-fi shows TRY to be atheistic), but it often is. Star Wars is obvious, but when you think about it Star Trek has elements of it. The mission of the Enterprise to seek out life and new civilizations? Really, they are living out St. Augustine's truism--"Our hearts are restless until the rest in you, O God." Every time the crew tries to "seek out new life," they end up learning more about the condition of the human person than anything, and the human condition leads back to God. Which leads me to...
4. Someday, I want to write books. I want to quit my job and write. I could totally write a book about the connection between science fiction and St. Augustine. My novel is floating around in my head--I actually am thinking of writing the character bible soon. Of course, unless I can start blogging and practicing the writing, my novel is a long time coming.
5. Clowns scare me. A lot. Seriously, what are they trying to hide with all that make up? However, I'm not alone.
6. I like to cook, but as a singleton, I usually just order pizza or Chinese food.
7. I have no idea who to vote for in Tuesday's primary.

Okay, so there you have it. I'm back to bloggity-ville. Have a great Sunday!