Pride is a good thing to have, but don't overdose on it.
Lucky Numbers: 12, 20, 25, 30, 31, 49
“And not as wisely, since less foolishly…”
—Elizabeth Barrett Browning,Aurora Leigh
#Rock Out
—The cover for Latrinalia’s debut album, Humanity in the Higher, which comes about as a result of this formula. Here are the band name, title, and cover image.
Gaudete, Gaudete!
—The Christmas tree in front of Providence City Hall, early morning of 25 December 2007.
Making it Real
Here is just a belated note to my imaginary readers to support the City of God Appeal to benefit the Anglican Parish of Christ the King in Rio de Janeiro.
“I really can’t see what the point is in worrying about the reality of our mythology. I accept that things either happened or didn’t happen but to deconstruct them without any intention of reconstructing them as new, more powerful myths is pretty pointless and a Grinchy thing to do. When you read a book to a child, that child is not thinking, “Is this a true story?” The child doesn’t care. The child is listening to a story and a story exists outside of conventional reality.
Some Christians are children of the Book. Me, I snuggle up in bed with those Christians who are children of the Story – it’s so much more fun.”
—MadPriest #Nice work if you can get it.
She has married four different millionaires and was described by her last husband as a “career divorcee”. Yesterday Susan Crossley appealed for more time to put her case for the right to a share of her last husband’s £45m declared fortune.
“For quite a long time, we tried to get the Spanish to demand their release because we thought it was an elegant way to get them out of Guantánamo. I find it very sad and dismaying. The fact that the Spanish were behind this wrongful detention in Guantánamo Bay is something they should be ashamed of. The idea that they want to use this evidence we have proved to be false to take them for further detention is very worrying.”
Clive Stafford Smith, lawyer for Jamil el-Banna and Omar Deghayes, 20 December 2007H0H 0H0 (15 December 2007)
I just liked the phrase “rogue elf” in this article, about obscene letters from Santa sent by Canada Post.
Rigid Bavarian structure
Reuters tells us “Italian film and opera director Franco Zeffirelli is offering his services to Pope Benedict as an image consultant, saying the German pontiff comes across as cold and needs to review his wardrobe.”
“Beware of undertaking too much at the start. Be content with quite a little. Allow for accidents. Allow for human nature, especially your own.”
—Arnold Bennett,How to Live on 24 Hours a Day
#Rhode Island strikes blow for sanctity of gay marriage
In a 3-2 decision last Friday, the Rhode Island supreme court ruled that Cassandra Ormiston and Margaret Chambers, a lesbian couple married in Massachusetts in 2004 cannot divorce in Rhode Island. The decision elevates same-sex marriage to a higher, more sacred plane than heterosexual marriage: While straight Rhode Islanders may divorce, gay marriage is a lifelong commitment.
Everybody's Second Choice
How’s that for a campaign slogan? The Telegraph quotes a union spokeswoman as making a bold prediction: The next President of the United States will be a white man:
“J.F.K.‘s speech was to reassure Americans that he wasn’t a religious fanatic. Mitt’s was to tell evangelical Christians, ‘I’m a religious fanatic just like you.’”
Jon Krakauer, 10 December 2007“The use of the criminal law to uphold a religious belief is normally a power game, not a genuine defence of the honour of God.”
Charles Moore, 8 December 2007“Evangelicals just don’t ‘get’ what writing—or art for that matter—is. The problem with the evangelical slant on writing (and all art) is that in itself it isn’t worthwhile, it must serve some ‘higher purpose.’ In the evangelical’s case, that’s ‘bringing people to Christ.’ This reduces human expression to propaganda. It also means that no artistic conversation is honest. There is always an ulterior motive. Religious fundamentalists always look for what is not there.”
Frank Schaeffer, 4 December 2007
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