“Although she ruled Egypt as pharaoh from 51 BC to 30 BC, Cleopatra wasn’t of Egyptian descent. She was instead Greek, specifically Macedonian [Macedonia, Alexander the Great’s country]. Cleopatra was the last of a line of rulers of the Ptolemaic Kingdom, a dynasty founded by her distant ancestor Ptolemy I Soter.

“While the kings of this dynasty often fashioned their names after its originator, Ptolemaic queens preferred names such as Arsinoë, Berenice, and of course, Cleopatra (hence the ‘VII’).
 
“Although Cleopatra wasn’t ethnically Egyptian, she does hold the honorable distinction of being the only Ptolemaic ruler who could actually speak the Egyptian language — along with half a dozen or so other languages.” Polylingual lady!
 
Interesting facts dot com

Bill, my friend from St. Stephen, told me about Wim Muller. Born in Curaçao, a Dutch Caribbean island, Mr. Muller, the white-haired gentleman, here plays his own waltz with another pianist. I listened to some of his other compositions. He is a kind of Caribbean Chopin.

Strong men are struck down, not by Fate, but by bad men.

Today, Father Joshua Curtis, FSSP, said that Jesus laid aside His glorified body, as the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, to become a man and experience all that a man experiences but sin. This constituted a continuous miracle from His conception to His resurrection.

Evidence lay in the fact that He was drained of energy after the miracles He performed, and a miracle explained why He was exhausted and asleep at the time of the massive Sea of Galilee storm. The apostles thought they were going to drown, Jesus accused them of having little faith, and then He saved them from the storm. Matt. 8, 23-27

Perhaps, it was only during the Transfiguration that Jesus resumed his glorified body long enough for Peter, James, and John to see. They described Him. “And he was transfigured before them. And his face did shine as the sun: and his garments became white as snow.” Matt. 17, 2

Douay-Rheims

We have the hope of a glorified body after the General Resurrection. “These three characteristics, identity, entirety, and immortality, will be common to the risen bodies of the just and the wicked. But the bodies of the saints shall be distinguished by four transcendent endowments, often called qualities.” They are impassibility, brightness, agility, and subtility.
https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12792a.htm

Must I wait?

--financial district near Chinatown 100 years ago-- One time I saw a Chinese woman on Bush heading for Kearny with a leash and a dog at the end of it, and pushing a baby carriage, and holding her cell phone in the only other available hand. She wasn't hit.

Teens and young adults get along with each other. I dunno, but it seems that when people pass 30, they get stupid and judgmental. Adults get the wrong impression of me. They think I’m rigid and judgmental. Yes, I have strong beliefs, but I like to tease and be teased, and make exceptions. I have very low standards. What? Figure that out. It’s been said, “Youth is wasted on the young.” No, it’s not. Adulthood should be avoided.

“Fox News reported that on Thursday, the  Department of the Interior (DOI) ‘announced that it would complete a 20-year withdrawal of 225,504 acres in a northern Minnesota forest area that is home to some of the largest domestic critical mineral reserves.’

“Environmentalists’ concerns with any future mining activity, so they said, was that it would ‘contaminate’ the surrounding habitat and watershed of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in Duluth, Minnesota.”
…

“Fox News noted: ‘However, Twin Metals’ mining project contained about 88% of the nation's cobalt reserves in addition to vast copper, nickel, and platinum-group elements. Such critical minerals are vital for various green energy technologies like electric vehicle batteries, battery storage facilities, solar panels, and wind turbines, which the Biden administration has aggressively pushed.”

https://americandigest.com/biden-admin-bans-mining-in-resource-rich-area-for-next-20-years/?

Again, they are concerned about canoes. We all drive one of those to work or school.

Firefly, Assos Turkey, 6 July 2010, Nevit Dilmen (talk), the licensor does not endorse my use, no changes made by me, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Firefly_Nevit_02670_cr.jpg

Don’t go to a Latin Mass parish. If you do, you will not return to the Vatican II church. I am done with that church. In a Latin Mass parish, you will not hear a word that is not in the rubrics, you will not see women or girls in the sanctuary, you will not see people touching the sacred host or drinking consecrated wine, you will not hear banjos or drums, you will not see people dressed for the beach, and you will not hear anyone but the priest speaking and the altar boys responding. You will hear the silence of God Himself as men do what He has asked them to do since Pentecost Sunday, A.D. 33. If you love language and know its importance, you will come to a Latin Mass parish. If you recognize repetition as a child does and is transfixed and transported by it, you will come to a Latin Mass parish.

Hans Memling, c. 1471, style Northern Renaissance, oil and wood, National Museum, Gdansk, Poland.
One commenter said about the hymn, "Only 12th century kids remember." Read my tutor's 21st century comment about the 12th century and the 20th century.

Sheldrake is a practicing Anglican, having studied with a Sufi teacher, having practiced Sufism while in India, and having been “drawn back to a Christian path” during his time there, as he stated. We can all disagree with this scientific dogma or that one, but his main point seems promising, perhaps because I am influenced by Huxley, Burgess, and Kubrick and their thoughts on dystopian democracy.

​The proliferation of YouTubers reporting news from around the world sustains the claim that, to varying degrees, mainstream media is untrustworthy. If you are still watching the mainstream, other than for weather reports and police chases, you are behind the times. Young people tell me they do not watch television and get their news from social media (yikes) and YouTube. You might have noticed that many of the YouTubers I follow are supported by subscribers to their Patreon pages. A man who objected to YouTube's reduction of his income stream founded Patreon in San Francisco.

Do you shop at Walmart?

The sport of choice for urban poor is BASKETBALL.
The sport of choice for maintenance level employees is BOWLING.
The sport of choice for frontline workers is FOOTBALL. 
The sport of choice for supervisors is BASEBALL. 
The sport of choice for middle management is TENNIS.  And...  
The sport of choice for corporate executives and officers is GOLF.
The fact is, the higher you go in the corporate world, the smaller your balls become.
There must be a boatload of people in Washington DC playing marbles.

​If you have looked at the long, unbroken line of popes in the post dated 1/21/2023, for you who are not Catholic, I wonder why you cannot see the truth? I could not have been more than 14 when I realized that history was on my side. That realization I came to on my own with no assistance from anyone else. All of this is a mystery to me, as much as Almighty God finding a little boy is.

Note: When I was 17, I was sent to a Catholic psychiatrist. That was the metaphoric year everyone took aim at me. After a few months, I told my parents I didn’t need to be psychoanalyzed. He told them that in one area of life, I was a late bloomer, and in another area of life, I was quite mature. I was in the crosshairs. For young men reading my blog, stay true to your originality.