A while back, some guy slapped on a blond wig and made a YouTube video called "Sh*t Girls Say." It wasn't long before it went viral and dozens of imitators popped up. You could waste hours watching different versions of "Stuff ___ Say" about every ethnic/social group under the sun. (Not that I've done that or anything...)
This kind of self-aware humor is loads of fun, so I was glad when the Catholic versions arrived. A friend of a friend filmed this one at (where else?) the Franciscan University of Steubenville.
I'm pretty sure I or a friend have said 90% of those things, particularly the ones about "discernment."
This one is also pretty good. "There were so many cute babies at Mass today!"
The main topics of conversation in these videos are liturgical correctness, sacramentals (religious artwork, jewelry, etc) and relationships i.e. finding a spouse. Or making Jesus your spouse, in the case of becoming a nun. Having the alternative option of celibacy floating around does not make dating any easier.
In the spirit of ecumenical dialogue, here's one about our Protestant sisters in Christ. Here instead of Mass responses we hear about Old Testament male heroes as romantic icons. There are also Biblical catchphrases like "The Word" and "generation." But guess what? We all say "I'll pray for you."
And finally, my favorite pseudo-Christian sect. Eating jello and dating former missionaries are Mormon standards. I'm a little bummed that housewife blogs did not make it in there, but the part about movie nights just killed me. That's pretty much the scene at any Catholic Campus Ministry too. DTR (define the relationship) talks were also staples among my college friends.
One of my favorite things about this meme is that is shows us we are really all not that different. When I watch "Things Jamaican Dads say" I don't get half the jokes, but I still get "Parents, amirite?" Most people are willing to poke fun at their habits, and that includes us religious folk. There's a deeper anthropological analysis in there somewhere. Have at it, grad students of the future.
What I especially like about the videos I've posted here is how honestly they portray the ups and downs of finding a higher purpose in life. Just because finding your vocation/mission/anointed calling/whatever is important doesn't mean it's always fun. Sometimes you want to throw up your hands and "Just become a nun!" By laughing about it, women who follow Jesus can encourage each other. We might have different inside jokes and Sunday services, but deep down we all want to do the right thing and live happily ever after with our St. Joseph/Boaz/Eternal Companion. Hang in there ladies. I'll pray for you.
Showing posts with label video. Show all posts
Showing posts with label video. Show all posts
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end
Posts are going to be a little sporadic here as I deal with the aftermath of getting my master's and gradually move back to my parents' house. I'll be packing up my apartment, visiting friends, and maybe even reading history books for fun.
It's funny how graduating will get certain songs stuck in my head, No, I'm not talking about that Vitamin C 90's hit, although I am a shameless fan of Semisonic's one hit wonder, Closing Time. When I left college I got all weepy to the ballad "For Good" from Wicked, but this time around the mental soundtrack has been a little more random. Here are some songs helping me make the transition to the "real world."
I think I cried for some reason every day last week, and one of those times was when this song came on Pandora when I was sorting photos for a professor's graduation slideshow. Let me tell you, with each note and click of the mouse, I was this much closer to bawling. It's the everyday conversations, book recommendations, car trips, and goofy smiles that built my relationships in grad school. Knowing my classmates by their mannerisms and the color of their tote bags is one thing I'll miss the most. Luckily, we've taken hundreds of photos that each capture a moment of the 24 months that have changed our lives forever.
The lyrics are reassuring too, especially when you have no idea where your life is headed next. Good old Divine Providence got me into this M.A. program, so I shouldn't think God is gonna quit on me now.
As I leave my museum alma mater, there are so many uncertainties - is this the last time I will see some of these people? Is this the last time I'll pas a professor in the hallway? Will I ever roam around the halls of the collections again? I intend to delay my last drive around the grounds as long as possible.
If anything can make you want to throw up your hands and yell, "Jesus take the wheel," it's grad school.
The entire process can seem designed to make you doubt yourself and question your purpose in life. My degree is as much a testament to my support system as it is to my book learnin'. From my professors who always kept their doors open, to the classmates happy to vent in the library at 11pm, to the family and friends who have humored two years of geeking out over furniture, to The Beau who has stayed up past his bedtime helping me edit presentations, there's been an army of people I could count on. Sometimes it's been hard to keep caring, but in the end, I'm humbled and grateful to be surrounded by such love.
It's funny how graduating will get certain songs stuck in my head, No, I'm not talking about that Vitamin C 90's hit, although I am a shameless fan of Semisonic's one hit wonder, Closing Time. When I left college I got all weepy to the ballad "For Good" from Wicked, but this time around the mental soundtrack has been a little more random. Here are some songs helping me make the transition to the "real world."
"Little Wonders" by Rob Thomas
Let it go, let it roll right off your shoulder.
Don't you know the hardest part is over?...
Our lives are made in these small hours,
These little wonders,
These twists and turns of fate."
I think I cried for some reason every day last week, and one of those times was when this song came on Pandora when I was sorting photos for a professor's graduation slideshow. Let me tell you, with each note and click of the mouse, I was this much closer to bawling. It's the everyday conversations, book recommendations, car trips, and goofy smiles that built my relationships in grad school. Knowing my classmates by their mannerisms and the color of their tote bags is one thing I'll miss the most. Luckily, we've taken hundreds of photos that each capture a moment of the 24 months that have changed our lives forever.
The lyrics are reassuring too, especially when you have no idea where your life is headed next. Good old Divine Providence got me into this M.A. program, so I shouldn't think God is gonna quit on me now.
"The Last Time" - Blind Boys of Alabama
This may be the last time, I don't know.
As I leave my museum alma mater, there are so many uncertainties - is this the last time I will see some of these people? Is this the last time I'll pas a professor in the hallway? Will I ever roam around the halls of the collections again? I intend to delay my last drive around the grounds as long as possible.
"You Got the Love" - Florence and the Machine
(previously recorded by Candi Staton, The Source, and Joss Stone)
Sometimes I feel like throwing my hands up in the air
I know I can count on you
Sometimes I feel like saying Lord, I just don't care
But you've got the love I need to see me through
If anything can make you want to throw up your hands and yell, "Jesus take the wheel," it's grad school.
The entire process can seem designed to make you doubt yourself and question your purpose in life. My degree is as much a testament to my support system as it is to my book learnin'. From my professors who always kept their doors open, to the classmates happy to vent in the library at 11pm, to the family and friends who have humored two years of geeking out over furniture, to The Beau who has stayed up past his bedtime helping me edit presentations, there's been an army of people I could count on. Sometimes it's been hard to keep caring, but in the end, I'm humbled and grateful to be surrounded by such love.
Sunday, April 24, 2011
New and old favorites for Easter
Rejoice, Christ is risen! I hope those of you who celebrate this holiday had a blessed Triduum. My Good Friday was penitential, bit not how I expected. Pouring rain, a delayed field trip, and DC traffic kept me from services downtown. Now I'm glad to be at home with my family, watching Brothers #2 and 3 hone their altar boy skillz.
A friend just introduced me to this poem, and it has immediately become one of my favorites. I love thinking of the Resurrection as a cosmic/nuclear reaction happening inside a tomb, strong enough to imprint Jesus' body as a photo negative on his shroud.
Speaking of angels in tombs, here's a song that's been an Easter staple in my house since before I could read. It's not really Easter until I've heard a New Jersey Italian lounge singer-turned- Evangelical Christian tell his own version of the Resurrection. We lost the 1983 cassette tape a while ago, but thanks to the internet I can still get my Carman fix.
A friend just introduced me to this poem, and it has immediately become one of my favorites. I love thinking of the Resurrection as a cosmic/nuclear reaction happening inside a tomb, strong enough to imprint Jesus' body as a photo negative on his shroud.
Make no mistake: if He rose at all
it was as His body;
if the cells’ dissolution did not reverse, the molecules
reknit, the amino acids rekindle,
the Church will fall.
It was not as the flowers,
each soft Spring recurrent;
it was not as His Spirit in the mouths and fuddled
eyes of the eleven apostles;
it was as His flesh: ours.
The same hinged thumbs and toes,
the same valved heart
that–pierced–died, withered, paused, and then
regathered out of enduring Might
new strength to enclose.
Let us not mock God with metaphor,
analogy, sidestepping, transcendence;
making of the event a parable, a sign painted in the
faded credulity of earlier ages:
let us walk through the door.
The stone is rolled back, not papier-mâché,
not a stone in a story,
but the vast rock of materiality that in the slow
grinding of time will eclipse for each of us
the wide light of day.
And if we will have an angel at the tomb,
make it a real angel,
weighty with Max Planck’s quanta, vivid with hair,
opaque in the dawn light, robed in real linen
spun on a definite loom.
Let us not seek to make it less monstrous,
for our own convenience, our own sense of beauty,
lest, awakened in one unthinkable hour, we are
embarrassed by the miracle,
and crushed by remonstrance.
—John Updike, “Seven Stanzas At Easter,” 1964
Speaking of angels in tombs, here's a song that's been an Easter staple in my house since before I could read. It's not really Easter until I've heard a New Jersey Italian lounge singer-turned- Evangelical Christian tell his own version of the Resurrection. We lost the 1983 cassette tape a while ago, but thanks to the internet I can still get my Carman fix.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Man is a giddy thing
It's Latare Sunday. How is it time to break out the rose vestments already? Didn't Lent just start? Almost every year around this time I start to worry that I don't feel penitential enough, that my Lent needs to be harder, that I should have piled on more things to give up. If I'm not miserable I must be doing something wrong. Does this ever happen to anyone else? I guess it's a sign that I need to involve God more in my thesis drudgery.
Brother #3 is turning 17. How has it been that long since he was born? Wasn't I just 17? It can't have been that long since he was born on a Holy Saturday evening. I still remember the cooing compliments from the nurses when we all came to meet him the next day in our Easter clothes. My sister and I had matching dresses (my idea), but I also remember my 9 year old hair-styling skills being not that great. When Mom and the new baby arrived home the next day, our next-door neighbor kid climbed up on the garage roof to meet them. I'm so proud of the outgoing, ardently Catholic young man my little brother has become since that day.
Yesterday was the 6th anniversary of Pope John Paul II's death. Has it really been that long since I watched all the news coverage of crowds gathering to mourn in St. Peter's Square? That weekend was a very emotional one for me. I've idolized JPII since childhood, and as his sickness and pain ended, my own journey into suffering was just beginning. The circulatory condition that would eventually make me drop out of college for a year was just starting to flare up. Grief over the Holy Father combined with frustration at my body slippping out of my control and I ended up crying in a heap on the laundry room floor. Normally I don't cry when people die, but that day I felt like I was finally getting it right. I'm grateful for what I learned that year about suffering and trusting God, and for how much stronger I've gotten in the past 6 years. I like to thing that JPII may have put in a good word for me up there.
I guess what ties all three of these things together is that since time keeps moving us forward, there will always be more opportunities to keep growing into the people God wants us to be. I love how this song explains that with a little help from Shakespeare.
Sigh no more, no more
One foot in sea, one on shore
My heart was never pure
And you know me
You know me
And man is a giddy thing
Oh man is a giddy thing...
Love that will not betray you, dismay or enslave you,
It will set you free
Be more like the man you were made to be.
There is a design,
An alignment to cry,
Of my heart to see,
The beauty of love as it was made to be
 |
| A nineteenth-century rose cope at St. Ignatius of Antioch, NYC |
Yesterday was the 6th anniversary of Pope John Paul II's death. Has it really been that long since I watched all the news coverage of crowds gathering to mourn in St. Peter's Square? That weekend was a very emotional one for me. I've idolized JPII since childhood, and as his sickness and pain ended, my own journey into suffering was just beginning. The circulatory condition that would eventually make me drop out of college for a year was just starting to flare up. Grief over the Holy Father combined with frustration at my body slippping out of my control and I ended up crying in a heap on the laundry room floor. Normally I don't cry when people die, but that day I felt like I was finally getting it right. I'm grateful for what I learned that year about suffering and trusting God, and for how much stronger I've gotten in the past 6 years. I like to thing that JPII may have put in a good word for me up there.
I guess what ties all three of these things together is that since time keeps moving us forward, there will always be more opportunities to keep growing into the people God wants us to be. I love how this song explains that with a little help from Shakespeare.
Sigh no more, no more
One foot in sea, one on shore
My heart was never pure
And you know me
You know me
And man is a giddy thing
Oh man is a giddy thing...
Love that will not betray you, dismay or enslave you,
It will set you free
Be more like the man you were made to be.
There is a design,
An alignment to cry,
Of my heart to see,
The beauty of love as it was made to be
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Thesis survival soundtrack
I've always relied on music to get me through major school projects. Of course, like my brain, my playlists are full of eclectic randomness. When my Dad and I were filling out my college applications, we listened to a lot of Avril Lavigne and B. B. King. In undergrad, there was a lot of old-school U-2, Ace of Base, and The Clash. At my job in St. Louis, I relied on Queen's "Under Pressure" , Ingrid Michaelson, and Coldplay's Viva La Vida album.
Maybe I'm getting older and more mellow, but female vocalists have been the staple of grad school. Regina Spektor is a major current favorites. I love her unusual voice, and how she rocks her curly hair in different cute styles. Her retelling of the Samson story seems to fit my obscure religious history research.
Maybe I'm getting older and more mellow, but female vocalists have been the staple of grad school. Regina Spektor is a major current favorites. I love her unusual voice, and how she rocks her curly hair in different cute styles. Her retelling of the Samson story seems to fit my obscure religious history research.
"And the history books forgot about us
And the Bible didn't mention us
And the Bible didn't mention us
Not even once."
Friday, February 18, 2011
Seven Quick Takes Again
I have to say, I was amazed to see how many visitors I got last time I linked up to this feature on Conversion Diary. Thanks for stopping by!
I heard a great interview with Adele on NPR. Did you know that she grew up listening to the Backstreet Boys and didn't discover Etta James until her teens? And that she's only 22? Gosh that makes me feel old. Especially since...
One
It was a glorious near-70 degrees yesterday, so I took a long walk. It's been winter so long I almost forgot how to dress myself for warm weather.Two
I stopped at church on my walk and saw my pal the monsignor, who fell and tore a ligament two weeks ago. Armed with a cane and leg brace, he was testing to see if he could handle walking around the altar. It was pretty funny to see him in plaid pajama pants and a UD Blue Hens fleece.Three
Holy cow Levar Burton is a guest star on Community this week! Between him and Theo Huxtable, they're bringing in almost all my childhood tv icons. Please let the MathNet cast be hoping to return to TV. Four
In other TV news, the Hoda Kotb/Kathie Lee hour of the Today Show has become my morning guilty pleasure. Today those girls taught me that Canadian bacon has less fat than turkey bacon. Five
I hope your Valentine's Day was full of chocolate and nice words from the people you love. The Beau very sweetly made me GF pasta and we watched Dr. Zhivago. I'd never seen it and was not totally sold on the romance - just because he's a poet he can go cheat on his loyal pregnant wife? Not. Cool. Anyone want to convince me why it's a great love story? Six
Margaret posted this video weeks ago, and I've been hooked on it ever since. It combines some of my favorite material culture things - architecture, glass, smashing ceramics. Also interpretive dance with sticks and chalk dust. I heard a great interview with Adele on NPR. Did you know that she grew up listening to the Backstreet Boys and didn't discover Etta James until her teens? And that she's only 22? Gosh that makes me feel old. Especially since...
Seven
I am turning 26 this weekend! It really does feel weird to be closer to 30. My mom was this age when I was born - this means she's known me half her life! This also means my sophomore year of college was like 6 years ago. Funny, it still feels like I just left. When does adulthood actually start feeling real?
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Almost real museum people
Yesterday I did a guest post/ interview for the Museumist blog's "I'm a museum person" feature. Check out the rest of the entries; It's interesting to hear from people in all sorts of museums and graduate programs. It's also interesting that all of the participants are women. That's definitely a trend in museum studies today, but it wasn't always the case. In past generations, being a curator expert was a man's job; women were simply tour guide "hostesses." Sometimes I can spot remains of the old boy's club, but for the most part women are respected for their intelligence and scholarship.Now its the male museum students who are an endangered species, but that's another story.
In other news, today I took a big official step towards graduation- I turned in my "application for advanced degree" form. It felt really satisfying and exciting to deliver a list of all the classes I've taken, stamped with my professor's approving signatures.It's also a little scary, since it means I'm that much closer to the end - only a month and a half before my final thesis draft is due! I had a lot of conversations with The Beau and classmates today about how we're sick of the grad school grind. Real adult life is so close and tempting. We'll just have to keep marching on together to that promised land.
In other news, today I took a big official step towards graduation- I turned in my "application for advanced degree" form. It felt really satisfying and exciting to deliver a list of all the classes I've taken, stamped with my professor's approving signatures.It's also a little scary, since it means I'm that much closer to the end - only a month and a half before my final thesis draft is due! I had a lot of conversations with The Beau and classmates today about how we're sick of the grad school grind. Real adult life is so close and tempting. We'll just have to keep marching on together to that promised land.
For this dance we’ll move with each other.
There ain’t no other step than one foot,
Right in front of the other.
There’s so many wars we fought,
There’s so many things we’re not,
But with what we have,
I promise you that,
We’re marching on...
There ain’t no other step than one foot,
Right in front of the other.
There’s so many wars we fought,
There’s so many things we’re not,
But with what we have,
I promise you that,
We’re marching on...
Saturday, December 18, 2010
A Wacky English Christmas
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| Source |
"It can't be. November the sodding 19th... Six weeks before Christmas and already they were playing the bloody thing."
Griping about Christmas music is so much more fun with British words! Here's my favorite cheeky holiday song from another Hugh Grant movie, Love Actually. Brilliant!
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
"A nation so conceived and so dedicated"
"But, my dear Sebastian, you can't seriously believe it all..I mean about Christmas and the star and the three kings and the ox and the ass."
"Oh yes, I believe that, it's a lovely idea."
"But you can't believe things because they're lovely ideas."
"But I do. That's how I believe." - Brideshead Revisited, p. 87
Today is the feast of the Immaculate Conception, under which title Mary is the patroness of the United States. Ironically, I am up to my eyeballs in a paper about how the United States was founded by a bunch of rationalist, skeptic Deists. I seriously doubt they would be fans of the mystical, supernatural, and often-confused concept that Mary was free from original sin from the first moment of her life.Well, too bad, Thomas Jefferson. A bunch of Americans like that non-scientific, lovely idea very much.
I need to get back to my paper, so I'll leave you with this video encapsulating the religion/secularism debate that's been raging in America since the 1700s.
Monday, November 22, 2010
Bad holiday songs make me want to bust a cap...
Okay, God must be trying to teach me patience or something because the horrid holiday music keeps finding me. Looking back, I should have expected it in a store named "Christmas Tree Shops." They have lots of cheap homegoods ok? I even got some decoration ideas for my apartment.
BUT they were playing the most horrendous version of Baby It's Cold Outside known to man. If done well, this song is a charming duet and listeners ignore the date-rapey sound of some lines. ("Say, what's in this drink?") In this version, Tom Jones and some dame escalated into off-key shrieking that honestly made me nauseous.
Phew. To cleanse your palate, here are some clever Thanksgiving raps from this weekend's SNL. One of my classmates was in New York and found his way into the episode after party. He got to meet Anne Hathaway, and is now my hero.
BUT they were playing the most horrendous version of Baby It's Cold Outside known to man. If done well, this song is a charming duet and listeners ignore the date-rapey sound of some lines. ("Say, what's in this drink?") In this version, Tom Jones and some dame escalated into off-key shrieking that honestly made me nauseous.
Phew. To cleanse your palate, here are some clever Thanksgiving raps from this weekend's SNL. One of my classmates was in New York and found his way into the episode after party. He got to meet Anne Hathaway, and is now my hero.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Better go and get your armor
Do you ever have one of those days that are just no good? (I know one other blogger who did.) You get up on the wrong side of the bed and it's downhill from there. Today I had one of those. The overcast sky, stress about holiday travel planning, and some parking lot issues just put me in a grumpy, no good mood.
Luckily, some wonderful friends and classmates were there to bring me out of it. A couple people even responded to my crabby G-chat status to say that they, too, were having rainy grumpy days. Just admitting it to each other made it not so bad.
It also helped that I just made some hot chocolate.
It also helped that one of my favorite songs came on the radio as I was driving home. Now, it might seem silly to suggest that God has anything to do with the playlists of Top 40 stations, but I like to think that Divine Mercy can manifest itself in many ways. Even much needed power ballads for a cranky grad student.
Please note that there is nothing in my love life that makes me want to wear a fancy dress and killer cocktail ring while singing in front of a burning car. But some days my tempestuous relationship with grad school can do that. Thanks for being my armor, friends.
Luckily, some wonderful friends and classmates were there to bring me out of it. A couple people even responded to my crabby G-chat status to say that they, too, were having rainy grumpy days. Just admitting it to each other made it not so bad.
It also helped that I just made some hot chocolate.
It also helped that one of my favorite songs came on the radio as I was driving home. Now, it might seem silly to suggest that God has anything to do with the playlists of Top 40 stations, but I like to think that Divine Mercy can manifest itself in many ways. Even much needed power ballads for a cranky grad student.
Please note that there is nothing in my love life that makes me want to wear a fancy dress and killer cocktail ring while singing in front of a burning car. But some days my tempestuous relationship with grad school can do that. Thanks for being my armor, friends.
Monday, July 26, 2010
Modernist Monday - with special effects by the moderator of the Church of Scotland
Yesterday while dipping into my roomie's Monty Python DVD set I discovered this hilarious fictional tv theme sequence. One could argue its design significance as an example of 1970s spy action film motifs. Also, The Bishop is wearing a pretty sweet cope with coordinating stole. You Tube wouldn't let me embed the entire sketch, but you can watch it here for even more sweet crosier smiting action.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Finally, some fun in Delaware
I just got back from a rare outing to the "downtown" area of this city, hearing a reading/stand up routine by the fabulous comedian David Sedaris. Our faces are sore from laughing and my heart is still a little flushed with the thrill of being in the same room with a famous person.
It's hard to describe David Sedaris to the uninitiated, except that he's the funniest thing ever. He's quite a unique person - in his fifties, but with the face of a 30 year old man and the voice of a 12 year old girl. He mocks the mundane like Dave Barry and revels in the grotesque like Flannery O'Connor. He's down-to-earth, despite the fact that he lives in France and London when he's not on tour.
Tonight we heard stories about flight attendants, lab rats, French doctors, weird labels in British supermarkets, the marital problems of dogs, and the "aggressively beautiful" receptionists in a dermatologist's office. . I thought the animal fables from his upcoming book would be boring, but they were fantastic. We laughed, gasped, and pondered our own humanity. Are we as self-centered and idiosyncratic as the characters in these vignettes? Of course we are.
At times, Sedaris' satire can veer into the sacriligious, since he draws on his Greek Orthodox upbringing for material. One bit tonight rode the line of taste, but ended up making a good point. Why is the Jesus on roadside French crucifixes really toned? he wondered. Why doesn't someone make a cross with an obese Jesus, who broke the wood the first time the Romans tried? Why don't we ever see a Jesus with a bulbous nose, shoulder acne, and hairy back? Where's comb-over Jesus?
I have to agree about the dubious nature of doe-eyed blond Jesus pictures where he lacks any body hair or calluses. But I seriously doubt an itinerant preacher with little money had time to get fat. In the end, though, comb-over Jesus makes a profound point. Those ugly or even repulsive people are Christ. They deserve as much respect as a man who looks good in a loincloth.
In that spirit, here's a classic Sedaris story, in which he attempts to explain Easter in broken French.
It's hard to describe David Sedaris to the uninitiated, except that he's the funniest thing ever. He's quite a unique person - in his fifties, but with the face of a 30 year old man and the voice of a 12 year old girl. He mocks the mundane like Dave Barry and revels in the grotesque like Flannery O'Connor. He's down-to-earth, despite the fact that he lives in France and London when he's not on tour.
Tonight we heard stories about flight attendants, lab rats, French doctors, weird labels in British supermarkets, the marital problems of dogs, and the "aggressively beautiful" receptionists in a dermatologist's office. . I thought the animal fables from his upcoming book would be boring, but they were fantastic. We laughed, gasped, and pondered our own humanity. Are we as self-centered and idiosyncratic as the characters in these vignettes? Of course we are.
At times, Sedaris' satire can veer into the sacriligious, since he draws on his Greek Orthodox upbringing for material. One bit tonight rode the line of taste, but ended up making a good point. Why is the Jesus on roadside French crucifixes really toned? he wondered. Why doesn't someone make a cross with an obese Jesus, who broke the wood the first time the Romans tried? Why don't we ever see a Jesus with a bulbous nose, shoulder acne, and hairy back? Where's comb-over Jesus?
I have to agree about the dubious nature of doe-eyed blond Jesus pictures where he lacks any body hair or calluses. But I seriously doubt an itinerant preacher with little money had time to get fat. In the end, though, comb-over Jesus makes a profound point. Those ugly or even repulsive people are Christ. They deserve as much respect as a man who looks good in a loincloth.
In that spirit, here's a classic Sedaris story, in which he attempts to explain Easter in broken French.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Wait...there's Catholic Social Teaching?
Recently Glenn Beck told his radio listeners to "run away" from priests who preach social justice and to "ask your bishop if he's down with this whole social justice thing."
*Facepalm* Of course your bishop is "down with it." So was every Pope of the last century. Idiotic statements like this make me mad, and are why I don't readily "admit" I lean to the political right.
Thank goodness Stephen Colbert and a Jesuit priest can set the record straight. "Maybe Glenn could be the next Pope, since he's already comfortable with telling Catholics what to do."
*Facepalm* Of course your bishop is "down with it." So was every Pope of the last century. Idiotic statements like this make me mad, and are why I don't readily "admit" I lean to the political right.
Thank goodness Stephen Colbert and a Jesuit priest can set the record straight. "Maybe Glenn could be the next Pope, since he's already comfortable with telling Catholics what to do."
| The Colbert Report | Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c | |||
| Glenn Beck Attacks Social Justice - James Martin | ||||
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Monday, February 22, 2010
Breakin' dishes up in here
This is a "waster" aka ceramic fail from 1600's Delft, Holland. Clearly something went wrong in the kiln with this pile of plates.
So obviously we are in ceramics block right now at school. I will be honest - ceramics were just about my least favorite when we started. I loved our attempts at using a pottery wheel, but otherwise I thought 50% of this stuff was hideous or boring or both. Earthenware, stoneware, pearlware, it's all the same to me. Also, I would never, ever, ever put a porcelain figurine in my own home.
Now, a few weeks later, I have to admit that I have, as usual, learned a lot and am way better at understanding what I see. A room full or vases or plates is not as tortuous as it once was.
But sometimes, maybe when I am holding a teapot over the classroom table covered in plates and jugs, I still wonder what kind of noise would result if I dropped it. Or threw it against a wall. Or drop it down the stairs. Clearly I have curatorial issues. At least Rhianna agrees with me that breaking dishes could be a lot of fun.
So obviously we are in ceramics block right now at school. I will be honest - ceramics were just about my least favorite when we started. I loved our attempts at using a pottery wheel, but otherwise I thought 50% of this stuff was hideous or boring or both. Earthenware, stoneware, pearlware, it's all the same to me. Also, I would never, ever, ever put a porcelain figurine in my own home.
Now, a few weeks later, I have to admit that I have, as usual, learned a lot and am way better at understanding what I see. A room full or vases or plates is not as tortuous as it once was.
But sometimes, maybe when I am holding a teapot over the classroom table covered in plates and jugs, I still wonder what kind of noise would result if I dropped it. Or threw it against a wall. Or drop it down the stairs. Clearly I have curatorial issues. At least Rhianna agrees with me that breaking dishes could be a lot of fun.
If Danny Kaye went to grad school
For the final project result of my London trip, I am researching a pewter flagon made in England but owned by a Massachusetts church in the 1790s. Right now I am still in that "what the heck am I doing??" project stage. This is becoming a theme in my grad school life. I assemble many facts and then try to organize them in a choherent fashion. Anyone else ever feel this way?
On Thursday I will be giving a 12 minute presentation about my amazing flagon knowledge. I am tempted just to show this 10 minute classic film clip and call it a day. I could argue that the tounge-twisting confusion over chalices, flagons, palaces, and poison symbolizes England's chaotic religious identity and frequently changing liturgical practices. Plus Danny Kaye as The Court Jester always makes people laugh.
On Thursday I will be giving a 12 minute presentation about my amazing flagon knowledge. I am tempted just to show this 10 minute classic film clip and call it a day. I could argue that the tounge-twisting confusion over chalices, flagons, palaces, and poison symbolizes England's chaotic religious identity and frequently changing liturgical practices. Plus Danny Kaye as The Court Jester always makes people laugh.
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