In Lieu of a Thoughtful Post...

I give you this image of periodic table battleship, from TYWKIWDBI:



I also will not embarrass myself by sharing how many times it took me to spell "lieu." (Or "embarrass" for that matter...)

The Captain, the Sleeping Dragon, and I spent Valentine's Day eating chocolate chip pancakes and watching the Republican Debate.  The latter especially does not provoke profound thoughts, so this is all I've got this week.

While Feeding the Sleeping Dragon This Morning

While feeding the Sleeping Dragon this morning, I discovered this picture on Hallmark's humor blog:

Maybe I Can Write a Novel

There are two reasons I cannot write a novel: 1) I have trouble creating a plot that both lasts that long and resolves well; and 2) I have trouble with the details needed to make it seem real.

It turns out that the second one might not be a problem -- Futility Closet recently noted that Walter Scott and Fyodor Dostoyevsky had troubles with their sunsets.

Math and Whales

Following an index reference to whales will lead you to this picture, though no discussion of whales:

And following a reference to a large-eared mathematician will lead you to this one:

I never thought of indexes as places to have fun, but this quick read made me think again.

I Would Play with This Forever

Seriously, I would.  I kind of want one.


(Courtesy of Futility Closet.)

Something Light-Hearted and Holy

For your amusement and my reprieve (that word is surprisingly hard to spell, or I am very tired), here is something light-hearted for today: an article on "The Wit and Humor of the Saints."

It has a good overarching message, but really I recommend it for the one-liners from holy men and women.  For example, my favorite:

Your Duty

It is not your duty to complete the work of repairing the world but neither are you free to desist from it. ~Rabbi Tarfon, Pirke Avot 2:21

Holy Humor

As I prepare the next round of NFP blogs and feminist rants (both are coming!), I give you this offering in honor of the Church's newest saints.  (If you missed it, Popes John XXIII and John Paul II were canonized yesterday.)

Things I learned: Pope John XXIII was known for his sense of humor:

Carry On

~Pope Francis, April 2, 2014

Seven Interactive Short Stories

Well, only four of them are interactive.
But that's still a high percentage.

--- 1 ---

I am on a medication that makes me a little groggy when I first take it, so thoughts are not exactly free flowing right now.  Well, actually, they are, but they are way too deep and personal to become seven short stories, and I am having a hard time switching modes.  The Captain called this medication midi-chlorians, which apparently give one The Force.  I loved this idea, but he then ruined it by telling me that Star Wars fans don’t like midi-chlorians.

The Oxford Comma: Old News

This is definitely dated, but I am in the mood for something light.

A defense of the Oxford comma:

Probably the best defense I've seen.

Short Stories from a Quick Week

--- 1 ---

I am slightly amazed by how quickly this week has gone by. Having a snow day helped. I am constitutionally suited for four-day work weeks and six hour work days. The two-hour delay was magnificent. The Captain and I used the extra morning time to hash out all the issues involved in the Boy Scout’s stance on homosexuality and women in combat situation. During these discussions I realized the immense temptation of the ad hominem (quite literally) argument. I kept wanting to protest, “But you don’t get it! Everything about you says PRIVILEGE!”

In Honor of Papers

As well as some grammatical mistakes that have hurt my heart lately:

Of course language is not an infallible guide, but it contains, with all its defects, a good deal of stored insight and experience. If you begin by flouting it, it has a way of avenging itself later on. 

~CS Lewis, The Four Loves

Resurrection Bodies

This semester, I am researching early understandings of gendered bodies at the time of the resurrection.  Will our glorified bodies be male and female?  St. Gregory of Nyssa thinks we will not be man and woman at the resurrection.  St. Augustine of Hippo disagrees:

In the resurrection, the blemishes of the body will be gone, but the nature of the body will remain.  And, certainly, a woman's sex is her nature and no blemish; only in the resurrection there will be no conception or child-bearing associated with her nature.  Her members will remain as before, with the former purpose sublimated to a newer beauty... Her womanhood will be a hymn to the wisdom of God, who first made her a woman. (City of God, Bk 22, Ch. 19) 

How beautiful is that!  I just want to sit and meditate upon it for a while.  Sadly, I have to keep working, so I am blogging it instead.

Day-Maker #72

Quote of the Day: "I would create the universe again just to hear you say that you love me." ~Christ to St. Teresa of Avila

This made me stop in the middle of campus, smile, and ponder the greatness of God's love.

Warm-Up Exercises

My mother, who is adapting quite well to the technological age: "You have to warm up your computer first with Facebook and Gmail before it can do anything else... Yes, Pintrest helps too."

Summer Words

From Julia's tumblr:

“And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow in fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer.”

~F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

On Truth

For two of my classes (Theological Foundation and Historical Foundations), I am doing literature reviews.  (Have I mentioned this already?)  One is on women's public roles in the early Church and the other is about the "rays of truth" in non-Christian religions.  In my research for the second, I came across this gem from Paul VI, that still holds true half a century later:


"It seems that the mind of modern man does not find rest if not in the absolute negation, in the abandonment of any certainty, of any faith, just as those who have damaged eyes do not find rest except in the darkness."

A Proper Understanding of Chivalry

On walking me to my destination after dark: "I'll walk you there, so that you don't attack anyone."

You Know You're Too Tired When...

...  flipping through a stack of notebooks, you discover a 20-page paper that was due before Thanksgiving and have a five-second panic attack because you can't figure out how you didn't turn it in.  Before you realize that you did turn it in and have already gotten it back, graded.

I am currently swamped by papers and exams as the end of the semester draws suddenly near.  So I've been contemplating this statement, from the Building Cathedrals blog:

Women aren’t wired simply. When our mental, physical and emotional tanks are drained, they don’t just stay dry until we find rest. They immediately begin refilling themselves with all kinds of poison–first impatience and anxiety or sadness which quickly give way to self-doubt, guilt, blame, jealousy, irrationality, hysteria and panic, hatred. Rest is the solution...

The good news: I get rest in less than two weeks!  The bad news: everything that needs to be done in less than two weeks!