Sometimes you just feel like there is no other choice...

[Thanks to Jer-Bear for the cartoon.]

Finish the sentence...

Yeah, so after they had evicted Cathy from the bar...

Place Vendome...

From Paris Daily Photo.



My favorite site in Paris - well one of them - all done up for Christmas. I have a small collection of Grand Tour replicas of the column pictured. Napoleon originally commissioned the column to commemorate the victory at the battle of Austerlitz, 1805. Currently the figure atop the column is the Emperor dressed in Roman attire, although at one time the monument supported Napoleon depicted in the pose most of us are more familiar with, standing with his hand resting in his waistcoat. I have examples of both.

St. Nick

I almost forgot!

It is the novena for the feast of St. Nicolaus! I'm praying for all of you, as well as poor and suffering children (adult children too!) and most especially, little kids who are abused and sexually exploited.

Go here for a cool site on everything St. Nicolaus.

Yes - I am excited about Christmas...

And I don't care who knows it...

Ray sent me a photo of Cathy's Christmas tree. He said she's been busy emptying bottles of beer and therefore unable to blog, but she managed to get that tree up for Thanksgiving. (Looks like she got her shopping done too - or is she re-gifting again?)

Ter-Bear

I love this picture! I stole it from Jeffrey. My nickname was "Bear" - thus the illustration above should be the cover for my teddy bear children's book - for adults only - which tells the story of my life... (I haven't written it yet.)

This isn't funny...

Nor is it meant to be.

A note from the cartoonist, John Francis Borra:

To anyone familiar with the Third Reich, it’s obvious what I’ve done here. This is a play on the iron gates surrounding Auschwitz concentration camp. The actual iron gates read Arbeit Macht Frei (Work Makes You Free). This was, of course, the big lie fed to inmates in order to keep them manageable as they were led from cattle cars to their deaths in the showers. Planned Parenthood’s big lie to society is strikingly similar: Abortion Makes You Free. The parallel is dramatic and perfectly appropriate. As a matter of fact, it’s not unlike any other cartoon I’ve done about the culture of death; the truth is so grotesque, so clear, so galling that little imagination– and no exaggeration at all– is required to spin editorial material from it.

[Thanks to my friend Linda for the cartoon.]

True confessions...

Three things you may not have known about me and my family.

#1) I always think of dogs as boys, and cats as girls.

#2) My one cat was married before - well... she had children.

#3) My parents were married by a Justice of the Peace, but they posed for wedding photos on the steps of the Cathedral.

Local News... in St. Paul, Minnesota that is...

It's just too bad!

I just got this email:

I was told that Cyndi Brucato donated a tour of the Channel 5 newsroom to a Planned Parenthood Auction Fundraiser which is to be held on November 29. It is valued at $500. Ribnick Furs has contributed 11,000 (retail) in two fur coats. The MN Lynx have contributed $1000 in opening night tickets. Continental Diamonds in watches; MN Wild also donated tickets:

Here's one you can call on: Mayor Chris Coleman has donated a meal with him. Wowser!

There's another 25 or so items listed for the live auction.

Here is the link for Cyndi's thing:
http://www.cmarket.com/auction/item/Item.action?_sourcePage=/item/browseImage.jsp&id=57801591

Thanks for the tip Ray!

Our Lady of Naju, Korea

Photo: Bloody communion of Julia Kim, the Korean woman who claims to see and receive messages from Our Lady.

This seems so repellent to me, I can't imagine anyone finding devotion through such demonstrations.

Source: Our Lady of Naju

Another holocaust...

Don't mention the bird flu at Thanksgiving dinner, or the mass slaughter of birds when authorities discover the virus on over-crowded factory farms. People tell me just thinking of burning feathers wrecks their appetite.

Happy Thanksgiving everybody!

Over the river and through the woods...

To Grandmother's house for Thanksgiving.

Everyone in the neighborhood knew her as "Little Red Riding Hood" - the young blond woman with developmental disorders who still lived at home with her alcoholic mother. The mother had no intention of cooking for Thanksgiving and definitely did not want the grandma over to her house - which is the real reason why she sent Little Red over to grandma's with the meal mom picked up from the food shelf on her way home from the liquor store the day before.

"Here - take this to grandma's and fix Thanksgiving dinner for her - and don't stop any place on the way over. You can bring me back the left overs." The mother said, as she mixed a vodka and tonic for herself.

Little Red grabbed the basket, excited she was trusted to go on such a journey and commissioned to cook such an important dinner at that. (Even though granny had Alzheimer's, she still enjoyed a good dinner.)

On the way over Little Red was surprised to see that Walgreen's was open on the holiday, so she thought she would stop in to buy a Thanksgiving card for granny. Red suffered from ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) so when she got in the store she forgot why she went in, and started to try on make-up at the cosmetic counter. After about an hour, she remembered she had been told not to stop anyplace and go straight to grandma's.

Forgetting the card, on her way out of the drug store the security guy stopped her to ask what she had in the basket. Red showed him the dinner and explained she was on her way to granny's house. She went on to tell the guard that granny had Alzheimer's and continued on offering far too much personal information about granny and herself. The guard sent her on her way, advising her that she better hurry or she would be late.

In the meantime, granny assumed she was supposed to go over to Little Red Riding Hood's house, to eat with Red and her mother. Like so many people with Alzheimer's, she got in the car, drove off and was never heard from again. Disappeared without a trace. Thus, when Red got to granny's house, no one was there, so she decided to watch TV. Suddenly there was a knock on the door! It turned out to be the security guard from Walgreen's. Not to fear however, Red had left her purse on the cosmetic counter and he was just returning it.

Anyway - Since granny wasn't home, Red invited him to stay for Thanksgiving dinner. They eventually fell in love and got married. An interesting note, the guard's name was Filbert Wulff, hence the misunderstanding with the Big Bad Wolf thing. Oh, and another reason for the Big Bad Wolf mix-up - both Red and Filbert were suspects in the disappearance of granny, and since there was no evidence - no charges could be filed against them. (Red's mother continues to live by herself, although she has been in and out of rehab.) Yeah, so I guess you can say they lived happily ever after.

The End.

Thanksgiving at the Gretel's...

Dysfunctional fairy tales.

So, after Hansel and Gretel murdered the witch by gassing her in the oven, and then robbing her, they returned home to find that their no-good father was a widower once again. Their wicked step-mother mysteriously died, and the kids were reunited with their dad for Thanksgiving. The End.

I have to make phone calls for the Holidays.

I have to call my relatives.

Here comes Santa Claus!

Sinte Klaus.

I'm so excited for Christmas this year. It is the first year I do not have to work during the holiday season - so I can really enjoy the season without all the concerns that sap the joy out of the holidays. I don't have to worry about scheduling employees, merchandising, profits, special events, impatient customers, complainers that Christmas comes too early, or the whiners who bemoan the fact this or that company doesn't celebrate Christmas, and all that other nonsense adults get themselves stirred up about. I get to have Christmas like a child this year!

(I've already put up some garland and lights around Our Lady's shrine in the garden.)

Thursday poetry corner is back...

I know you all have missed this feature (especially Little Freak). I just wanted you to realize culture is not cheap. Tonight we have a lovely poem by Jim Morrison...

Untitled.

"Why do I drink?

So that I can write poetry.

Sometimes when it's all spun out

and all that is ugly recedes

into a deep sleep

There is an awakening

and all that remains is true

As the body is ravaged

the spirit grows stronger

Forgive me Father for I know

what I do

I want to hear the last Poem

of the last Poet." - James Morrison

There will never again be anyone like Jim Morrison!

My friends.

And people say I don't have any!

Another email joke...

This one is from a blonde...

A blonde decides to try horseback riding, even though she has had no lessons, nor prior experience. She mounts the horse unassisted, and the horse immediately springs into motion. It gallops along at a steady and rhythmic pace, but the blonde begins to slide from the saddle. In terror, she grabs for the horse's mane, but cannot seem to get a firm grip. She tries to throw her arms around the horse's neck, but she slides down the horse's side anyway.. The horse gallops along, seemingly impervious to its slipping rider.

Finally, giving up her frail grip, the blonde attempts to leap away from the horse and throw herself to safety.

Unfortunately, her foot has become entangled in the stirrup; she is now at the mercy of the horse's pounding hooves as her head is struck against the ground over and over. As her head is battered against the ground, she is mere moments away from unconsciousness when, to her great fortune, Frank, theWal-Mart greeter, sees her dilemma and unplugs the horse.

............And you thought all they did was say Hello.

(Hi Cathy!)

When you tell the world a secret...

Whaaa? So no one's supposed to talk about it?

A TV personality publicly announces he is taking a leave of absence, and, oh yeah, he kinda-sorta fell in love with a widow too. The guy writes a letter and it is read live - on the air - and no one is supposed to mention it?

Oy! Fadda! Gimme a break already!

Mrs. Wiggins

I was looking for a funny photo to post, and as I searched my files, I realized I have really posted some pretty funny photos on this blog. (I think the best were associated with the posts I did about quitting my job last March.)

From an email:

Dear Abby,

My husband is a liar and a cheat. He has cheated on me from
the beginning and, when I confront him, he denies everything.What's worse, everyone knows that he cheats on me.

It is so humiliating.Also, since he lost his job six years ago, hehasn't even looked for a new one.
All he does all day is smoke cigars, cruisearound and bullshit with his buddies while I have to work to pay the bills.Since our daughter went away to college he doesn'teven pretend to like me and hints that I may be a lesbian.

What should I do?

Signed:

Clueless

Response:

Dear Clueless,

Grow up and dump him. Good grief, woman.

You don't need him anymore!

You're a United States Senator from New York running for President of the United States . Act like one!

The many levels of prostitution...

On Abbey 2 I wrote a post concerning a bishop from the UK endorsing the legal regulation of brothels. Brothels are just one aspect of the sex-trade industry. Movies such as "Butterfield 8" starring Elizabeth Taylor remind us there is a class structure within prostitution - not every prostitute works the streets or a brothel. (Think royalty and their concubines, the rich and their call-girls, or, as in previous days, women married off against their will into arranged marriages for money or property. Sounds like prostitution to me.) Nevertheless, prostitution in all of its forms is dehumanizing and degrading - not just to women, but all of humanity.

That ironic Mr. Brown...

What would we do without Spirit Daily?

Tonight, Michael Brown has one of his classic conspiracy theory posts about "hand signals" - their occult significance and how they have permeated the culture. Yet for some strange reason, he also has the above photo of the infamous "Piss Christ" by Andres Serrano on his main page - with no explanation or story reference. Maybe he likes it.

This hunting season...

Swill - don't kill. ;)

(I'm not really against hunting - it just rhymed.)

Health update...

I'm just now starting to feel a little bit better, but the nurse still won't let me out of my room.

I get really cranky when I'm sick...

Which is how I know I am not even close to being a saint.

Cathy is back...

Someone ran into her in the office breakroom. She said she just got out of rehab. Works for me.

[Photo: This is what came up when I Googled, "drunk woman with chapel veil" - LOL!]

People have asked me...

How my Halloween turned out.

It was very fun. I had 98 kids - which is a lot for my neighborhood - most people say they get about 30 to 50 kids. But a lot of cars stopped to let the kids come to the door. I did one ghost to look like St. Catherine of Bolgna's in-corrupt body - only all in white. The kids loved it. Despite the windy conditions, all of the candles stayed lit. (It was too windy for the dry ice.)

One little kid yelled to his friends as he left the door - "Hey! He's giving out candy by the handful!" Then screams and kids running up the steps. Kids and their parents all remarked about how cool the decorations were, and what a nice house I have. The next day I saw one of the kids walking by the house, pointing out all the architectural details to his friend.

All of the kids were well behaved and very polite, and all of them said "thank you", and a few said, "I love your house!" The costumes were mostly fairy princesses for girls, or vampires and super heroes for the boys. No one was dressed as a sexual object - as most blogs were decrying before the holiday - no Brittneys or Lindseys. Even the teenagers without costumes were well behaved and polite.

It was great fun - just as Halloween should be. Wait until they see what I do next year.

Why?

The reasons why I may not always post comments on your blog:

A) You have word verification on. Sometimes I have trouble with that.

B) If you are not on blogger, I may not want to go through all the steps of posting my email and all the other hoops you have to go through.

C) The post was too long to read.

D) The post did not interest me.

E) I don't visit your blog.

F) I was pressed for time.

G) I didn't feel like it.

H) You never comment on my blog.

Seriously, if you use comment moderation, you don't really need to use word verification. Word verification is just annoying.