What is the strength of the mother-son relationship? There are countless reports of men dying on the battlefield whose last words were, “Tell my mother I love her.” The first woman he falls in love with is his mother. A son would take a bullet for her and is the gritty DNA of a man. The same applies to a police partner.
 The Trestle Pool, 2007, oil on board, 14 by 20 inches, by Thomas Aquinas Daly, b. 1937, in the hands of the Burchfield Penney Art Center at Buffalo State College. At one time he worked with Peter Max. This representation of moving water is just about the best I’ve ever seen. Once I asked an Academy of Art student if it is difficult to paint a glass object, and he answered, “No, there’s a trick to doing it.” O!  I found the small canvas in the discard bin at AAU, grabbed it, and framed it. There are two more.
There is no laughter in fiery Hell, Henceforth, my illusions I must dispel, And I my emotions will try to quell. The shackles of an old love straitened him, His honour rooted in dishonour stood, And faith unfaithful kept him falsely true. Lancelot and Elaine Alfred Lord Tennyson  photograph taken today by my sister from her home
Near the summit of Mauna Kea on Hawaii's Big Island stands the Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope (CFHT), as seen on the left. Altitude 13,793 feet. The tallest mountain in the contiguous 48 states is Mt. Whitney in California at 14,505 feet. There is snow on Whitney year-round, but not on Mauna Kea. Pele, or Pelehonuamea, is the Hawaiian goddess of fire and volcanoes, rumbling, shaking, and spewing, both destroying and creating land. Officer Joan Bauer, mother of six and undercover police officer in Hartville, Ohio, received a commendation for getting a confession out of a murderer. The murderer’s wife went missing in Jan 2018, and the murderer was sentenced to life in prison Aug 2018. https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/undercover-cop-ohio-man-reveal-wife-murder-doc
Four is the only one that has the same number of letters as the number itself and the only one in the English language. Example: five has four letters.
When the priest said today that chances of conversion are not endless, his words got me thinking about math. When you roll just one die, there are six different ways the die can land [six chances]. When two dice are rolled, there are now 36 different and unique ways the dice can come up [36 chances]. This figure is arrived at by multiplying the number of ways the first die can come up (six) by the number of ways the second die can come up (six). 6 x 6 = 36. [courtesy of Ed Collins, edcollins.com] What if, instead, there is concomitance, the fact of occurring together? With one roll, we could get two three’s. Consider what the Missal says …  Body and blood are separated at death. The crucifixion empties the body of its blood.
The priest separately consecrates the bread and wine, the two species that will become the body and blood. The concomitance, or fact of occurring together, is accomplished by putting a particle of the consecrated bread into the chalice of consecrated wine. Of course, God is three in one, and, in that sense, we get two three’s because of concomitance, and that is math theology! When near this blog, be careful how you tread, For there’s a lot of quicksand in my head. Richard Gwyn (ca. 1537 – Oct 15, 1584), father of six, schoolteacher, and author of both Catholic and satirical poetry, was martyred at Wrexham, Wales, for high treason by being hanged, drawn and quartered.
Not by eating flesh speadily And filling the paunch on Fridays And turning one’s opinion with the wind Were folk made Saints of old. I will ask Alexander (7) for a review, which he will give in five seconds - if it is thumbs-down, I will delete. We were talking about ladybugs, and I asked him, if you are a man, are you called a manbug? He liked a new word I gave him, paydirt, and screamed it from the bathroom for mother and tutor to hear. Father Robert Spitzer, SJ, past president of Gonzaga University, spoke eloquently about climate change, that electricity is the solution, and that fusion power is the solution to that, leading to cost-effective energy production and the desalinization of ocean water aplenty, including a vortex that could draw hydrogen from outer space and suck all the water out of it. www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2020/new-evidence-our-neighborhood-in-space-is-stuffed-with-hydrogen
Fusion power is a proposed form of power generation that would generate electricity by using heat from nuclear fusion reactions. In a fusion process, two lighter atomic nuclei combine to form a heavier nucleus, while releasing energy - fusion reactors. I am not a scientist, so I refer you to Spitzer. He is founder and currently active as president of the Magis Center of Reason and Faith, a non-profit organization dedicated to developing educational materials on the complementarity of science, philosophy, and faith. I blog about the things for which there is some competency and check and recheck whatever goes on this website. I have tutored a little science, like Earth Science, which interests me. Quora helps. Like of all of you, I am aware of peer pressures. I was raised to resist them and use my brain and encourage students to do their own research and not blindly accept anything, even what I say, and sometimes I make mistakes, which they correct! (1) Is it what you assent to that makes you what you are, or (2) is it what you do that makes you what you are? What? Say that again. My blog is filled with people doing the most extraordinary acts: defending, helping, loving, making music, making art, teaching, tutoring, caring for, accepting, rejecting, evaluating, studying, practicing, thinking, wondering, pursuing, finding, being a brother, being a sister, fathering, mothering, worshiping, praying, hoping. I think the second proposition wins. No one earns Heaven, but He is watching...
I have a long-time friend who has transitioned. I keep my opinions to myself. When I like somebody, it is permanent. When an adult likes me, I’m undone.
With all this romancing Latin, one might think I have it in my blood. Yes. My ancestry is 13% French. The rest is Celtic and a tiny bit Norse, but the language I speak and you speak is 29% French and 29% Latin. Latin had a lot of babies before she died, but perhaps I and others are resuscitating and romancing the pretty lady.
IN 1492 In fourteen hundred ninety-two Columbus sailed the ocean blue. He had three ships and left from Spain; He sailed through sunshine, wind and rain. He sailed by night; he sailed by day; He used the stars to find his way. A compass also helped him know How to find the way to go. Ninety sailors were on board; Some men worked while others snored. Then the workers went to sleep; And others watched the ocean deep. Day after day they looked for land; They dreamed of trees and rocks and sand. October 12 their dream came true, You never saw a happier crew! "Indians! Indians!" Columbus cried; His heart was filled with joyful pride. But "India" the land was not; It was the Bahamas, and it was hot. The Arakawa natives were very nice; They gave the sailors food and spice. Columbus sailed on to find some gold To bring back home, as he'd been told. He made the trip again and again, Trading gold to bring to Spain. The first American? No, not quite. But Columbus was brave, and he was bright. The singers sing in pseudo-Latin, but they sound great. Someone said it is ancient Romanian. The following lyrics are repeated: In nòreni per ìpe, in noreni coràh; tirà mine per ìto, ne dominà. The last time the refrain is sung, it becomes: In ròmine tirmèno, ne ròmine to fa, imàgine pro mèno, per imentirà. For me, words sometimes matter less than the feelings produced by, and the intent of, a song. Anyway, it is fun to sing the powerful lyrics with them and sound very Roman. I am no sailor, but I think tossing the stick over the side is to determine speed. One counts the seconds to pass-by. It would not be a jiffy, not on these craft, because a jiffy is 1/100 of a second.
If you want to save money at Christmas, now is the perfect time to say Santa Claus did not make it through the pandemic. The turkey did.
Defending tradition is just one aspect of being a Catholic. However, any attempt to expunge those with consuetude by throwing stones at them will fail. “I remember myself so to have done, and that is my common consuetude when anything pierceth or toucheth my heart.” Robert Louis Stevenson.
 Historical pictures of the Battle of Gettysburg and the Daughters of Charity nursing on the field. The vimeo video is narrated. My cousin entered the DC in 1961 wearing a habit with cornette like the picture opposite. She recently celebrated 60 years after serving as chairman of the board for two Bay Area hospitals.
https://vimeo.com/101180786 Oil on canvas titled Elegy circa 1900, owned by National Museum in Warsaw, in the public domain, artist Karol Tichy 1871-1939. The Daughters of Charity habit also appears in Paris street scenes. Diary of a Country Priest (1951) is a French Art House film with English subtitles. I found the free version at last and highly recommend the film for its realism and loyalty theme. The writer did not sugar-coat anything, and the actor lost weight to play the role. Journal d'un curé de campagne (Diary of a Country Priest) 1951 [Robert Bresson] - Bing video
STEPFATHER AND MOTHER SON
Joseph and Barbara me, theirs forever  Rachmaninoff 1873-1943 wrote Vocalise. I played Chopin but not Rachmaninoff when I was taking piano lessons age 11-15. This is how I learned to read music and fall in love. Problems with my fingers persuaded me to give my piano and all the exercise books and sheet music to my nephew, Ryan, who told me he wanted his children to learn how to play. Though very hard to say good-bye to it, I am glad he has the piano. Age 12-16, Rachmaninoff lived with his tutor, Nicolai Zverev, and three other boys. The schedule was nine to noon for music and music composition followed by academics in the afternoon. Opposite is a picture of student and tutor from Arbiter Records.
The best biography is Rachmaninoff by Victor I. Seroff 1951. Amazon has two used and one collectible. Before Amazon existed, I had to ask a researcher to locate a copy for me. A little tribute to Mom and Dad, and Tom, who died four months after Mom. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Rachmaninoff_-_Vocalise_transcribed_for_Violin_and_Piano.ogg |
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