Random Thoughts

I guess you’ve noticed I haven’t written in a while. I am told although there aren’t many comments my readers want to hear more, so…After several complaints and an hour’s worth of sunburn courtesy of the bench outside Talbots, I decided perhaps it is time to share again. I used to think my mother-in-law should be the spokemodel for Talbots and I thought it was funny; now, I realize it is my dream job. I love their clothes (well most of them). Thus my transition from slutty adolecent to responsible mom begins. I honestly never knew there was a secret Talbots/Coldwater Creek/Christopher and Banks’ lover inside of me. Go figure. Anyway to quantify the sunburn remark and to give credit where credit is due, Weezie called me on Saturday while she was on the way to Hanceville for Divine Mercy Sunday (so jealous){P.S. Grandma is pissed at you}. I was just about to enter my second Talbots of the day in search of this shirt when my phone rang. I sat down on the bench right outside of the door to answer it. A little over an hour later, Weezie drove out of range, but not before I laughed so hard I had attracted quite a bit of attention. I wasn’t set to complain because it kept me from housework although it was kind of like have a carrot dangled in front of me, delaying the gratification of shopping, but then I got home and realized I was all sunburned. I guess I should be excited because it was actually warm enough in C-town to GET sunburn in April. Bottomline: thanks a lot Weezie, I blame you for my lack of accomplishments and painful arms! 😉

So what have I been up to you ask? In short, more things than I can keep track of. Good thing Christ is my co-pilot and I put him in charge! I am being sought for uncollected funds which remained unpaid through no fault of my own. Taine and I are building top secret Mother’s Day presents which will be totally awesome, but are taking a lot of work. I am also assembling a rosary prayer book for my mom with specially picked quotes from the Bible. Then I decided to organize all of the recipe clippings my mother-in law and I had aquired over the years (some are from as far back as the 60s) into my own recipe book. I must be insane! We are also redoing our gardens and yard which by the way has decided to grow only weeds and absolutely no grass except where the neighbor’s Chem-lawn bled over. I am planting a rose garden in memory of Fr. Michael, dedicated to St. Therese; I hope it will be in bloom in time for his birthday, but that is up to God and the weather. What else, oh that’s right, I have two Volunteer Appreciation Luncheons this week and a project at church to attend plus my regular Tuesday visits. And I am planning to be away from home for 3 weeks in May, so I am gearing up for that; redoing my closets to switch the spring and summer clothes in and put the fall and winter duds away. Oh yeah, half of the flowers I ordered (several weeks ago) for our new gardens are set to be delivered the week I leave, so I am trying to coordinate planting them so they don’t die while I am away, and dig up some of our old ones to share with my mother so she has something growing in her yard. Did I mention I have to keep them alive for 4 days in my car while I drive down there? I am also trying to sell stuff on ebay to make money for Jarrod’s graduation present and some new clothes for my fat ass. See, I have no job but I really am busy, and I do try to get to Mass everyday as well.

Well, enough of that; it is probably more than you ever wanted to know. That will teach you to ask! I do have a quick Veronica update. There will be no more Wednesday reshowings on UPN, so make sure and catch it on Tuesdays. Also be sure and vote in the Save Our Show Poll by e-mailing Veronica Mars (or your favorite endangered show) in the subject line to: tvdiva@eonline.com

Also check out The Neptune Navigator Online which features articles by all of your Neptune High favorites.

Until next time…Cheers!

P.S. Weezie, are you ever going to post that draft??? Save me, I am dying out here! LOL

Between Roni’s new found love on the UPN’s Tuesday night line-up and Nashville Star, Tuesdays have become the TV night to beat for me. If you want a laugh, tune into my Nashville Star video. I didn’t make it on the show, but mostly because I didn’t audition and because I can’t write my own songs. Turns out neither can they, but it didn’t stop them from trying. Actually Chris’ song was very good and I am looking forward to buying his record when he wins.

Wednesdays are now offically my least favorite days even though Lost is still on and admittedly I have been a little sucked into ANTM. Down with Jade! NOW!!! The only thing that could turn today around for me is getting to park like a landscaper or the FedEx guy. Apparently, they just get to leave their trucks wherever the fuck they want to and no one cares. I think I am going to start turning my hazards on and just randomly leaving my car wherever is convenient for me. Just not on a Tuesday, because the ensuing ticket would really put a damper on my new favorite day. Well, enough of the bitching, check out my video. You only have 14 days! Until next time…Cheers!

P.S. Hear Chris sing every Tuesday on Nashville Star and catch last night’s amazing original song “Drinkin’ Me Lonely” on http://www.myspace.com/chrisyoungmusic.

If I am a natural born smart ass and I married a smart ass which admittedly is better than marrying a dumb ass, will I give birth to an uber ass or do two smart asses cancel each other out? Thoughts?

Oh and if Katie Couric moves to CBS and nobody watches, does anyone care? Right, stupid question, no one cares now. Maybe Pepper Dennis could take over her spot on The Today Show; I hear no one watched that show either.

With that in mind, I offer the following observations…

Other than Sharon Stone, did any one actually think Basic Instinct 2 was a good idea? I have to admit I am so glad this movie failed, but I have to wonder what was said to the execs to convince them the sequel should be green lit. I guess they could have used the possibility of seeing Sharon Stone naked, but that would only work if anyone cared and if no one had laid eyes on her in the last 10 years. We all know that is not true, so what gives?

On to Brokeback Mountain, I don’t really care about this film and I am not going to bother arguing about it with anyone. I will however say it is the subject of some rather clever yet questionable marketing strategies for it DVD sales. The latest commercial touts it as “The Best Picture of Year” followed by announcing it an “Academy Award Winner”. Both of these statements are true. The critic quoted did refer to Brokeback as “the best picture” and it did win an Academy Award, but not for best picture. The audio just implies it did. The real winner was Crash which I liked, but I am not buying it on DVD either. I do think it is insulting and underhanded to insinuate your film won an award it clearly did not. Granted many people, like me, are aware the campaign is full of crap, but bragging rights belong to the winner, no matter how “robbed” people perceive the loser to be. There are no do-overs in baseball or at the Oscars among other things, Crash is the Best Picture Winner for this year, get over yourselves and give credit where credit is due.

On the subject of marketing ploys and media manipulation, I can usually spot them a mile away. In general, I try to avoid them and not give them the time of day, but this latest ploy just deserves a WTF? moment. An Indian Director, T. Rajeevnath, reportedly is considering casting Paris Hilton as Mother Teresa in his new movie. He claims her features closely resemble those of Mother Teresa. Yeah, that or everyone screaming WTF? about your film will bring you much needed attention and hopefully increased funding. I don’t buy the legitimacy of this guy’s story, but it does make me wonder what you have to smoke to use those two women in the same sentence. UPDATE: EW, my other bible, has developed a list of other creatively awful casting suggestions, and you can add your own horrible combination here.

Lastly, those bastards at my local UPN affiliate are preempting Veronica yet again this week that makes 3 weeks in a row! I officially hate them and waiting until Saturdays to see new episodes. I can’t wait for the move to Tuesdays as long as the Cavs aren’t playing then as well! OK, that is it for now…Weezie, it is SO your turn!!! Until next time…Cheers!

P.S. Please pray for all of those affected by the horrible storms this weekend and also for my diocese which received word of the appointment of our new bishop today.

P.P.S. I realized I promised you some wit and in case you don’t feel I have delivered, I thought I would give you a couple more tidbits to laugh about. 1.) This Easter, “Don’t eat the black jelly beans. They taste digusting. It’s just my opinion, but it’s true.” “The More You Know”. 2.) “Another perk of working on the set of One Tree Hill? There’s a good chance Chad Michael Murray will propose to you.” If you don’t know this story, you’ve got to read this article; what a scab!

Jeopardy fans know this word describes a category that is random at best, but always fact filled. Welcome to today’s post. I am throwing several subjects together in order to address them in a somewhat timely manner. Most of you know I am headed to Louisville tomorrow, so you won’t hear from me until next week. I can’t even get one member of my lousy family to meet me in Nashville on Thursday to go shopping, so I guess I will have to fly solo yet again 😉 ! I forgive all you people with jobs!

Ok, so first off a few brief comments on Veronica Mars. Those of you, who are not fans, don’t panic. When I said potpourri, I meant it. I want to clarify the time change I addressed earlier, VM is moving back to its old time slot on Tuesday nights, but not until April 11th. Be sure and make a note, so you don’t miss it. Speaking of missing it, I did miss the beginning of Saturday night’s episode which was the result of the local affiliate’s preemption. Not to worry, the show re-airs on Sunday, right? Well, yes and no. Sunday’s Cavs’ game ran long and they wouldn’t want to disappoint their paid programming cash cow aka Winsor Pilates (which sadly I own), so they showed the infomercial for the first half of Veronica’s re-airing! ARG! So, in a nutshell, I was pissed, but also extremely happy as this episode although riddled with a boring B plot was filled with my favorite characters sans Mac, AND there was a little hope for LoVe! Beaver…err…Cassidy is my hero! Charisma is going down, and the Beav is behind it; I can feel it! Speaking of which how gross and creepy was Crazy Haaron when Kendall visited him in jail? I thought Abel Koontz gave me the willies! You know I love me some Logan, but how great was Cliff? He’s like Matlock and Dan Fielding all rolled into one. Alright, more Dan than Ben, but anyway I loved how he told Logan no one liked him and what an ass he was. Sad, but true and it made me laugh out loud! And Wallace was back on the case, thank goodness. Percy better be signed on for next year and I hope he likes the basketball program at Hearst College cause he better be accompanying V. This episode even had lovable Vinnie Vanlowe! He is so over the top it is almost too much, but he manages to pull it down just enough to keep him hysterical.

Ok, topic jumping just like I promised, sort of. Does anyone else read EW? Most of you know it is my second bible. Stephen King writes a monthly column for them which gets better every time it appears. This week’s issue features an excellent confession by the author and former avid reader as he owns up to being a TV slut just like me. He was brought down by my beloved favorites, Veronica Mars, 24, The Shield, Lost and a couple more I probably should watch but don’t, Battlestar Galactica and The Sopranos. He insists his condition could be worse as he has not fallen under the spell of Dick Wolf’s Law and Order Trilogy or Jerry Bruckheimer’s CSI trifecta. I suppose he is right; after all, there are a few more shows on my slutty list. At any rate, the column is great, so check it out.

On to the matter of political dissent, I did something I almost never do the other day, and that was give voice to a cause I don’t believe in. I posted a link to a video I think is bullshit, mostly because it is so radical and over the top I didn’t think I could explain it thoroughly. Plus seeing is believing, right? Anyway, I have to tell something funny even though I probably shouldn’t give the proponents the time of day. I went to the Post Office the other day to mail those letters to my siblings. Outside there was a table set up with fliers on top held down by rocks and pieces of broken concrete. A woman stood behind the table and a man in front both holding homemade signs reading “Impeach Cheney”. They had cornered a middle-aged black man with a rather heavy postal bin in his hands. They were going on and on about injustice and Cheney. I am personally in my car thinking, “Cheney? Really? It is freezing outside, and you are wasting your time at the Post Office of all places for a man who is the equivalent of Dan Quayle and Al Gore? Shouldn’t you be downtown or somewhere where people who might actually care are located? Me and this guy could give a crap we are just trying to mail something. Organize a protest against the Postmaster General and maybe we can talk”. I get out of my car and head inside trying not to make eye contact with the freaks because although I don’t agree with them or their chosen locale they have a Constitutional right to be there. The man calls out to me as if my ignoring wasn’t a clear sign I did not support their mission, “Hey, do you want to impeach Cheney?” “Not particularly,” I called back and went inside. When I had finished my business, I came back outside. I noticed several people were walking around to the other entrance to avoid passing them, but an elderly black woman passed by the table now occupied by only the female representative of the group, the male having vanished. The woman was calling out to the old lady about impeaching Cheney. The old lady stopped short and looked her in the eye. She said, “I didn’t want them to impeach Clinton, and I don’t want them to impeach Cheney either. That’s just dumb.” I laughed so hard as I headed back to my car, in part because of the situation and in part because all I could hear in my head was my nephew quoting “Anchorman” in his best Will Ferrell impersonation. Priceless!

I don’t know if any of you caught Dateline NBC last night, but Michael Schiavo was on with his wife giving his side of the story. I McPuked a little and left the room. He is unbelievable. At least 60 Minutes (which I only saw because Cold Case was delayed) featured my favorite witch, Tiger Woods. He is sick (in a good way)! I love him and his cocky ass attitude. Earl Woods drilled him into being a superstar and he isn’t bitter, but he is honest. He readily admits he wants to kick everyone’s ass at everything. A man after my own heart. As for the flack he gets for not winning while in the process of adjusting his swing, I will leave you with this; as an athlete, try competing in the Olympics four years from now with the same routine and see if you can still medal. He must adapt or the field will leave him behind. He who doesn’t evolve becomes obsolete.

Lastly, a big shout out goes to me for losing 10 lbs. this month! Yea, me!!! Granted this would be a bigger accomplishment if I hadn’t gained 30, but still, I rock. Thank you, Lord for the strength and motivation I have had this Lenten Season. Until next week, Weezie’s in charge, and I am still waiting for her to own up to her embarrassing past misconceptions…Cheers!

P.S. Since Carol hasn’t commented yet, I decided to throw her a bone, since she is jonesing for some soap opera scoop…Let me get this straight, Fr. John Black is going to shoot someone in the head at St. Luke’s to stop a wedding? Why didn’t Shawn think of that when he crashed his bike through the church window? At least neither of us watches Passions anymore, not only is Luis back from the dead, Sr. Whitney is flogging herself in reparation for her sins and is being stalked by a mad monk with a vendetta that involves killing poor blind Fr. Jansen. Alas, the things I miss…NOT!

The Monster Mash. Everyone’s heard the song at least once, I think. I just learned Wednesday night it is not the required song to accompany a rendition of musical chairs or other games of the same ilk. Honestly, I thought it was the song the game was played to. Every year there was a craft show in Prattville at Spinners Park. It is still going on, but I don’t know if they still have the Cake Walk. The Cake Walk was the best part. Essentially you played musical chairs on a big monopoly type board with cakes and prizes on it. When the music stopped if you were standing on a prize (the card not the cake) you got to claim it. When I was younger, I would go with my mom and sister and her two kids. We seperated from the adults and often ended up at the Cake Walk. We were very good at the game and often won most of the prizes until they made us leave for winning too much. Taine and I were talking about this because of an incident that happened with a friend of mine. I started singing “The Monster Mash” thinking he would laugh knowing it referenced musical chairs. Obviously I am an idiot. They were playing “The Monster Mash” because the craft show is in October, not because that is a standard for the game. Upon learning this and promising to admit this little incident of stupidity to Carol, I decided to also own up to a couple of other hilarious misconceptions I had over the years. I thought the logo for the redneck mothership aka the Cracker Barrel was a picture of a viking. When I asked my mom about it, she didn’t know what I was talking and when she finally realized what I meant, she said, “How could you think that? He’s not even wearing a viking hat!” Okay, 1 down; 1 to go. I don’t know if they have Hancock Fabrics where you live, but we went to their store often when I was a girl. Their logo at the time was 3 bolts of fabric, a yellow tartan one, a green one, and I forget the other color. Anyway, I thought it was a picture of a Scotish woman; the way the bolts were arranged, that is what I saw. I suppose it was kind of like an early Rorschach Test for me. I would ask my mother about the lady and ask her who she was. My mother never could figure out who I was talking about and she always got frustrated with me over it. When I was in high school we went past the old store which had closed down several years before and I saw the old sign. I finally realized it was 3 bolts of fabric and greatly relieved my mother’s fear I was insane. Apparently being blind or hallucinating is not a big concern.

Then last night, Taine came home with a brain teaser type story he heard on the radio in Detroit. There is a woman whose mother dies. She is at the funeral where she meets a man she has never seen before. He is intelligent, handsome and kind. He is all of the things she wants in a man, and she falls instantly in love with him. However, it is an incredibly difficult moment in her life. Unfortunately, under the stressful circumstances she forgets to get his number and doesn’t know his name. Two weeks later she kills her sister. Why? Think about it and then click for my answer. Read the rest of this entry »

If you are lucky then the theme song from The Greatest American Hero is now playing in your mind. If you are an Earl fan, you might even be hearing Randy’s version right now. But I am actually still talking about faith. Before you send for the Men in Black, let me just say, I have not been abducted by aliens. I still have plenty whining, complaining and snarkiness left in me. I just thought since we were on the subject of religion and while I am already out on this limb, you might permit me one more chance to share a few things I left off of Monday’s post.

First I wanted to share with you a rather neat idea one of the speakers at Sunday’s event had. She and her family look forward to New Year’s Day every year, but not just for the typical reasons. They have a custom in which each member of the household selects a saint who they then read about, study, and pray for the intercession of for that year. From her description she chooses several saints and they place the names in a hat and each person draws one out. This way the family can pick their own saint to be their patron. I am thinking of incorporating this idea into my life, but I am not sure I have the patience to wait for a whole year to get a new saint. There are so many and so much I could learn. I have decided to pick a new saint at the beginning of each month. This way I can put all my holy cards to use, and at the same time learn more about the people behind the prayers. I am always surprised when my non Catholic friends ask me about the saints. Apparently we Catholics give off this notion that saints are somehow perfect. Only Jesus is perfect. Saints are human just like you and me; they are flawed, in many cases quick to anger and certainly experienced periods of confusion and doubt, many of them were even teetering on the brink of insanity, some of them were really big sinners before their change of heart and all most all of them were misunderstood. Yet they are our examples, their lives teach us something and their witness gives us hope. Thankfully, we don’t all have to die a martyr’s death, but we dishonor those who have if we don’t remember their message and try to learn from it. And just to clarify so I don’t get taken to task later, certainly not all saints were martyrs, many of them did not even experience a heroic death, and still more were graced with a peaceful death at an old age. Many saints have yet to be recognized or in some cases it took hundreds of years before anyone thought of them as saintly, but the miracles they inspire and their intercession and example can not be denied by those who simply have the courage to believe.

Monday was the Feast of St. Joseph and also at my church the continuation of our Miraculous Medal Novena. After Mass, several of us remained behind and Father led us in the necessary prayers. He is one of my favorite priests. He is very reverent and holy and a straight shooter. He also looks a little like an altar boy all grown up and he has a curious ocular tick. At any rate, at the conclusion of the novena to Our Lady, he led us all in a spirited a cappella rendition of Immaculate Mary. For some reason, in my head as I was singing all I could hear was his voice riddled with a cold, trying hard to stay on key and faithfully guiding us through the melody we’d all heard hundreds of times. I suddenly thought of Our Lady and how she must be smiling at this incredibly feeble attempt to pay her homage; Father singing with his cold, the raspy voices of the elderly trying to keep up and then me. We wouldn’t win any awards I’ll tell you that, but it was beautiful. I could almost see the children in us, unafraid of what others would say just blindly singing our hearts out. It made me happy and I know it made Mary happy as well. I wish you could all see what I see.

Now on to the crux of the matter…I have decided to send a copy of Monday’s post and the holy cards I received unsolicited to my brothers and sisters and my older nieces and nephews. I first thought of it as soon as the organizer mentioned we were allowed to take extras for our families and even our parishes. Admittedly, I was a little afraid. You never know how people are going to react if they think you are pushing religion on them. Certainly it is a very personal decision. Then I thought if I can put it all out here online for the world to see, why not share my experience with my family as well? So what if they think I am a weirdo, what else is new? I still wasn’t convinced I should do it, and I had lots of errands to run, but as you know I am trying to work up to that 3 hours a day of prayer thing. So I decided to take a break and read the Bible for a while. Last year during Lent I decided to read the entire Bible cover to cover. It didn’t work out the way I expected. I started with Genesis, which I think I have done many times in my life. Then just before I started to get to the important or at the very least the less known parts, I gave up. This time I decided to take a page from a woman I met who runs a religious gift shop. She had the idea to open the store, but wasn’t sure if she was really being called to do it or even where to go about building it. So she opened the Bible to a random page and pointed. Her finger landed on a passage. I forget the exact quote, but I do know it mentioned the town of Berea. Coincidentally, there is a Berea here in northeastern Ohio, so take a guess where her store is. Did I mention I don’t believe in coincidence? Anyway, I opened my Bible and it fell to Ezekiel chapter 33 to answer me. Skeptics among us will say I interpreted the passage the way I wanted to hear it. I will let you decide. At any rate, I had my answer and I was no longer afraid. Is anyone else hearing Mister Miyagi in their head right now? “Courage, Daniel-san.” Nevermind. The letters go out tomorrow hopefully; however, the jury on the town weirdo is still deliberating.

Lastly, I promise to be back tomorrow with secular snark most likely pertaining to the newest episode of Veronica Mars. Thanks again for bearing with me. Until next time…Cheers!

Why, oh why, did Aimee have to give up daytime television for Lent?  And why now?  There’s so much to talk about, and no one with whom to share it. 

P.S.  I want a cookie!

On Saturday, I was blessed with the opportunity to meet with a holy yet human man; a visionary, a role model, an example for us all, and yet an average joe who makes no special assumptions about himself. He was just minding his own business when he was called to serve. His life was changed in ways he could not imagine, and if he had stopped to think about it, he might have reconsidered the offer. He and five others had an experience so unimaginable it is amazing they had the courage to speak of it and are still helping the world to this day. I am speaking of Ivan Dragicevic, one of the 6 visionaries of Medjugorje who first had an apparition of Our Lady nearly 25 years ago.

I first heard of Medjugorje from my mother back when I was in grade school. Another of the visionaries, Marija, had come to the United States and was staying with a family in northern Alabama. My brother who lives near there and works for EWTN told us about her and how many people were flocking to the field near the home she was staying in to be present during Our Lady’s daily visit with her. After school one day we drove up to the field outside the house. It was cold. It had rained quite a bit in the days prior to our trip. This night it was 22 degrees outside. Of course we did not see Our Lady, but we did see the beautiful light from Marija’s window. We knelt silently in the field. It was as if everything surrendered to the moment. There was a hush I had never experienced before. I heard nothing, absolutely nothing. No planes overhead, no sneezes, no whispers, no breathing, no creatures of the night, nothing. Yet it was not eerie, more surreal as if we were ever so briefly transformed. I did not feel pain or cold for those moments although I was kneeling on ice. Perhaps I was so focused elsewhere that I simply did not notice anything around me. Marija came out and addressed us and I remember a lot of prayers were said, but not much else from the evening remains in my memory. The next day I went back to school. I was, at least for the day, the center of attention. Everyone wanted to know what I had seen and if I believed.

Honestly I didn’t see a thing, but I didn’t need to. As moving and faith filled as this moment was for me, somehow I compartmentalized it. I sent it to the part of my brain I don’t think about much anymore, until I heard Ivan was coming. Most of you know I am Catholic, but you also know I am not very good at it. I want to be better. And I believe that is the basis of faith. I hope. I trust. I believe. I could not wait to hear him speak. I was shocked to realize it has been nearly 25 years, and I had done little to heed Mary’s call. I had been given a special gift and I had misplaced it, cast it aside, and forgotten about it. I knew this was a second chance for me to act on the grace I had once discarded. I did not know what Ivan would say or even if Our Lady still appeared to him. I just knew I wanted to see him. I prayed my husband would join me. He is not a believer, but I wanted him to experience this with me because it is so important to me. I am sure 10 decades of the rosary and Mass were not on the top of his list, but he came. I was overcome when I realized not only did Our Lady still visit Ivan daily, but she would in fact come today right in front of us. I was not looking for a miracle or a sign, but I was given a great gift.

Again, of course I did not see her, but I could feel her just as I feel Jesus in my heart when the Eucharist is raised in front of me. I could never describe the feeling, it kind of tingles and there is peace, happiness and calm. She was only there a few minutes I think; honestly, I did not notice time. Ivan recommended us and our intentions to Her and She prayed for us all. She also said a prayer over any religious items we placed in front of us for a blessing, but insisted we have them blessed by a priest as well. I had not thought to bring any water, candles, medals or anything of the like because I didn’t really know the nature of the event. I did however have two rosaries with me that I placed in front of me while She was there. The event’s organizer also had many blessed holy cards placed in front of her so we could take them back to our family, friends and parishes (I have a few left, so e-mail me if you are interested and I will get one to you).

After Mass, Ivan began his talk. He gave a brief history of what has been going on in Medjugorje over the years and also told of his personal experience with Our Lady. He divulged different requests and statements Our Lady has made to him over the years one of which struck me at first. He said Our Lady requested that we pray 3 hours a day. Internally I gasped; wow, that is a lot of praying! He told an anecdotal story about a pilgrim with a similar objection. She spent a year working up to those 3 hours and when she returned again to Medjugorje she asked Ivan if Our Lady still wanted her to give 3 hours in daily prayer. He quickly replied, “No, now She wants 24”. Needlesstosay, this lady stuck with the original 3 and kept her mouth shut. I have been thinking about this request. It seems enormous to me, but Ivan said Our Lady told him you think nothing of spending time with those you love so why not in prayer. It is true; I wouldn’t bat an eyelash if you asked me to watch 3 hours of TV or spend 3 hours on the internet. I make no promises, but I am going to try. Thankfully, like Nicoderm patches Our Lady lets us ease into it. We get to work up to full on fasts and 3 hours of prayer. If I include the prayers I say now, with daily Mass and read a little of the Bible each day, it really doesn’t seem like that much after all. Like I said, I am trying. We are all works in progress. You don’t want to give too much all at once and then burn out altogether, it is best to work your way up. Remember it must be something you want to do not something you have to do; otherwise, you are destined for failure. Try losing weight if you don’t really want to.

I learned something during this weekend’s experience not just about Mary or about what is expected of me. I learned I am blessed to have faith. I am strengthened by my beliefs. And I am also apparently a bit of a weirdo. I realized a lot of people don’t talk to Jesus. I never really thought about this. Ever since I was a child, I talked to him everyday about everything-how stupid I am, what my plans are, what I really screwed up, what I really wish I hadn’t done, what I think need, what I need I help with, everything. Apparently large portions of the population think this is bothering Him. I never thought so. He says right in Bible you will find comfort and rest in Him. He will take on all your burdens all you have to do is trust in Him. I guess I took Him literally and I am glad of it. At any rate, I was at Mass Sunday morning and the choir was practicing one of my favorite hymns. At my old Church the children’s choir used to sing it and it brought tears to my eyes. One of the ladies who was in the Sacristy with me remarked at how nice they sounded. I told her how much I loved the song and how I wanted it to be sung at my funeral. You would think I sprouted an extra head. She looked at me as if that was the most completely inappropriate thing anyone had ever said to her. I didn’t think it was a secret we are going to die at some point. I smiled at her and said, “I am not afraid to die. I don’t want to do it tomorrow, but I am not afraid. (I put my hand on her shoulder) We’re going to heaven, right?” Conversation over; new Church weirdo instituted. At Mass today Father spoke briefly about St. Joseph (this being his feast day) and how he must have completed the earthly work required of him because he appears to have been called home prior to Jesus’ public ministry. This made me smile because I often wonder what is on my laundry list of earthy tasks to accomplish, and for some strange reason it made me feel a little less weird about yesterday. Death is inevitable. I don’t know why some of us have shorter lists than others, why some us die painfully or why little children die. All I know is Jesus wasn’t spared the grief of losing his father. Mary was not spared the grief of losing her son. Why should I or any of us be spared what those God loves the most had to endure? Death teaches us something. It calls us to cherish each other, our lives and those we are fortunate enough to love. If you never had anything, you wouldn’t miss it. If you never loved anything, you would not mourn it. If people were not taken from us, there would be no hope in heaven.

I have always found comfort in the scripture when Jesus says “Blessed are they who have not seen and yet believe”. I believe Jesus hears and answers us. I believe He died and rose for our sins. And I believe our lives are directly impacted by prayer and by our actions. I would rather believe and be wrong than not believe and be a fool. I had read C.S. Lewis shared this philosophy, but I was pleased to read Pope Urban VIII also had a similar quote attributed to him as well. At least I am not alone. And if I am proven a fool, I pray a bigger fool you will not find. I hope only to grow in faith. Never forget Jesus said if we had but faith the size of a mustard seed, we could move mountains. So until next time…Cheers!

I got the new TV Guide in the mail yesterday and to my great pleasure, the cover featured my beloved George aka T.R. Knight. For the record, I rescind my previous statement that I preferred his hair long. He looked so cute! My biggest complaint is how blatantly the pictures used in magazines are airbrushed and retouched. I know it has been going on for years starting with photographing stars under pleasing light conditions and from flattering angles. Even the beginning stages of airbrushing weren’t so bad, but now it is just out of control. A few years ago one of the women’s magazines (Redbook) actually featured a photo-shopped cover with Jennifer Aniston’s head on a similar body type because they claimed they didn’t have money or the time to shoot a new cover. Too bad Jennifer told everyone it wasn’t her or at least all of her and they didn’t ask her permission to use a stock photo of her head for the cover. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t really want to see my favorite celebrities in the rough with greasy hair and pimples or cross-eyed (don’t make me bring back that infamous Angelina Jolie photo), but I would like them to look like it is possible they are humans and not just computer generated creations. What is the point of natural beauty if you don’t need it? The funny part to me is when they (in this case TV Guide) airbrush the cover photo (like last week’s cover featuring Cold Case) then include candid shots later in the magazine which are not retouched. I like to play match the actor with the cover model. That objection aside, I loved the picture and article, so check it out. And in TV Guide’s defense they certainly aren’t the only ones retouching covers; they aren’t even the worst offenders.

Now on to Roni, after a 6 week absence that felt like a year, we were finally treated to a new episode. Overall, I was a little disappointed, but mostly because UPN hyped it up so much, and it was scheduled to air 6 weeks ago. It wasn’t nearly as revealing as they made it out to be. It was however nice to see Logan in action. I kind of feel a little sorry for Hannah; he is playing her like a fiddle. I thought for a minute she might catch on, but she is just too blinded by his hotness. Seriously, I wouldn’t care if he was using me or not as long as I got to make out with him. He sure likes his secret relationships doesn’t he? I love that Veronica is on to him, and even more that she stopped dead in her tracks when Mac told her who Hannah’s father is. Here’s hoping Mac goes to college with Veronica. I love her! As an added bonus maybe Beaver…err Cassidy can come and visit her. As for Roni being “rich dude kryptonite”, first, hi-larious; second, Dick err Reeshard should be so lucky. On the subject of hilarious one-liners, Corny being a “master baiter” was priceless, and I am convinced the entire B-plot was written for that line alone. One question, where the crap was Wallace? I know V and Jackie went to his basketball game, but seriously couldn’t he get a little on screen love? I mean no one loves Logan more than me, but Wallace is Roni’s best friend; he should be in most if not all episodes! Also, was it just me or did I miss something, I thought Veronica wanted to ride the bus as part of her plan to uncover the blackmailer? Was something actually wrong with her car or was she just being nice to Jackie or using her as a result of the current high gas prices since it was obviously an away game? I realize it sets up the big reveal at the end nicely, but it seemed odd. Maybe I should rewatch that part, sometimes things are so much clearer the second time around. I actually have an idea why they brought it up based on spoilers I read a long time ago, but I won’t theorize for those who object (you know who you are). So does anyone actually think for one second Terrence Cook is guilty? Someone is obviously setting him up; Papa Mars’ spidey sense is never wrong, besides that would be one lame reveal. I am still hoping for Weevil, but the fans would go nuts and it doesn’t really seem like his style. Still, I think it would be fun, and I just don’t see Logan as the culprit, again fan revolt, anyone? I guess I am just hoping for something more interesting than just the Fitzpatricks or Woody Goodman, mostly because we don’t really know them or care, so unless it is more involved, BORING. Don’t worry, I have way more faith in Rob Thomas than that lame ass solution. On the up side, 8 more new episodes in a row, so no interruptions and next week marks the return of my favorite, Cliff (!!!) and apparently crazy Haaron!!!!

Well, that is all I have time for. I have to go buy pickled herring for an old woman. Gross. So until next time…Cheers!