MAF THE MALTESE AND MARILYN

The Life and Opinions of Maf the Dog, and of His Friend Marilyn Monroe, by Andrew O'Hagan, is a moving and affectionate fictional account of the last two years of Marilyn's life as seen through the eyes of her Maltese, Mafia Honey - Maf, for short, a smart, funny, sweet, loving companion to Marilyn. Maf is so named because he was a gift to Marilyn in November 1960, from Frank Sinatra who was thought to have "connections" with the Mafia. Frank acquired Maf through the efforts of Mrs Maria Gurdin, Natalie Woods' mother, who regularly traveled to England to bring dogs to America.

(Spoiler alert! If you don't want to know too much of the story, then don't read further.)

Maf hears the thoughts of humans and converses with animals and other living creatures around him. In case you didn't know, all cats speak in verse. Maf tries to talk to humans, but they hear his words only as, "Yap, yap." Maf becomes part of Marilyn's life just after her separation from Arthur Miller, when she is lonely and adrift.

O'Hagan captures the character of Frank Sinatra perfectly, the blend of menace and charm that kept those around him off balance. Sinatra stage-managed the entertainment side of the inauguration of John F Kennedy, but as the day approached, Kennedy and his people became alarmed as news of Sinatra's Mafia "connections" began to surface in the press, and they insisted that he take a back seat and stay out of the limelight. Peter Lawford, the English-American Hollywood actor and husband of JFK's sister Patricia, and go-between, tries to sooth Sinatra, who is in a rage at being pushed to the background:

'I know, Frank...'
'Don't give me "I know", okay? I'll cut your fingers off.'
'The family appreciates it...'
'Don't give me "the family", you smooth-assed English creep. Don't give me that.'
'Frank.'

Frank then launches into a tirade against poor Peter that I can't quote even on my edgy blog which crosses so many boundaries.

The book was a gift and a delight to read. I'm grateful to MadPriest, as I probably would not have discovered the novel on my own. I enjoyed Maf's account of his life with Marilyn immensely. I laughed often, many times out loud, as I read. Certain critics say that the writer indulges in excessive name-dropping, but I enjoyed the stories of Marilyn's encounters with other famous people. Where real life ends and fiction begins is difficult to know, but that didn't matter to me. Once I accepted that dogs hear the thoughts of humans and cats speak in verse, the rest was easy. On a few occasions, I wondered about the characters, whether they were pure creations of the author's imagination or descriptions of early encounters with Marilyn by persons who later became famous. The characters mentioned only by their given names are perhaps more likely to be inventions by the writer. An instance is Vince, the doorman, a great fan of James Thurber, who shares Thurber's view of dogs and humans, considering dogs to be vastly superior.

Thurber had gone so far into Vincent's mind that the doorman had Thurber-like thoughts, seeing people as alarming creatures and dogs as questing beasts.

Along with the humor, a thread of sadness runs through the book, since the end is known, and despite his devotion, Maf is not able to save Marilyn. My above description of Maf,"smart, funny, sweet, loving companion" comes quite close to the little dog's opinion of Marilyn, who, I agree, has been much maligned and not nearly enough appreciated in the many, many words which have been written about her.

Marilyn was late for everything: it was her creed, her prerogative, her style, and her revenge.

I get it, I do, dear Marilyn. In my head, I understand why times must be set, but the rest of me resists having to be anywhere at a particular time, and I am often late.

But I digress.

Marilyn and Maf, along with Carson McCullers, in full southern drawl, attend a literary party at Alfred Kazin's Riverside Drive apartment in New York City. Amongst the guests are the Trillings, Diana and Lionel, Edmund Wilson, Louis Howe, Lillian Hellman, and other literary lights. At one point during the party, the people named, except for Cullers and Hellman, are gathered in a small group discussing the contents of the Partisan Review. Changing the subject, Lionel Trilling speaks of the Great Books course which he directs at Columbia University and mentions the works of Freud and Diderot as being part of the studies.

Wilson took another slug from his glass. 'It's not American, Lionel. It's English. It's French. It's German. And it's more English than anything.' Mr Howe took a step back, behind the sofa, as if to distance himself from anything that sounded like patriotism.

Of Stephen Spender, Wilson says:

'Like so many Englishmen, he doesn't know where he is going, but he always knows the quickest way to get there.' Lionel looked at Diana and pointed to his watch. Marilyn was thinking that she must have bored the people, but she felt a nice cool breeze coming from the window. 'I'm afraid the British are the blind leaders of the blind,' Wilson said with his eyes almost closed, 'and quite despicable for that. All those second-rate painters, academics, with their high thin voices. Despicable.'

Maf, being British, birthed on a farm in Scotland, coming to America by way of Bloomsbury, (yes, that Bloomsbury, the Bells and the Woolfs, Vanessa, Duncan, Leonard, Lytton, etc., but not Virginia, who has already departed) takes umbrage, and when Wilson leans down to put his empty whiskey glass on the floor, Maf bites his finger.

'I wouldn't worry about it,' said Mrs Trilling at the door. It was a pleasure to meet you. Your little dog has the most exquisite critical taste. We must find a place for him on the faculty.

Certain of the literary elite are vicious in a civilized way, using words as weapons. The author's description of the relationship between Diana and Lionel is scathing, although, on the surface, the two strive to be the model of a successful literati coupling.

From what I've read of the literary group's writing and what's been written about them, I'd say that O'Hagan gets them just about right. Both the small touches, like Louis Howe backing away when the conversation becomes patriotic, and the large splashes such as the words the author puts into Lillian Hellman's big mouth are often hilarious.

In an earlier scene at the party, Maf, who is usually well-behaved, bites Lillian Hellman on her leg covered by a stocking full of holes. Maf, a devoted admirer of Trotsky, is roused to fury when Hellman says:

You are all addled Troskyites, as dictated by lunacy. I'm sorry to say Comrade Trotsky is a traitor. I was glad I opposed his application for American asylum.

Marilyn, angry with Maf for his bad behavior at the party, wounds him deeply by telling him that she misses her old dog, Hugo, who left in the custody of Arthur Miller. Before Marilyn sends Maf off for a walk with the housekeeper, a banishment for his willful insubordination, he tells us:

Marilyn brushed out her hair, before pausing and resting the brush on her lap. I looked at her and realized this was our love story, too. I guessed I would never feel so close to anybody in my life. Not just because of the feeling she gave me, but the other things. I believe she taught me everything about what it took to have empathy. I believe she was like Keats in that way: her small efforts spoke of beauty and truth in ways that made her eternal. Watching her, listening to her thoughts, I was in love. She formed everything about me, including my sense of the novel. Even in anger, she looked at me and I understood the storyteller's vocation. 'A novel must be what only a novel can be - it must dream, it must open the mind.

Ah, Maf's words are tender and lovely and make me tear up.

I loved the novel, but I wish the author had spared us and Marilyn the scene near the end of Sinatra in another terrifying rage, the rage to end all rages, short of physical assault, because rather than stay at Sinatra's Rancho Mirage, JFK went to stay at Bing Crosby's compound up the road. After reading the account of the incident, I felt battered and bruised, and my heart went out to Marilyn who was actually there - maybe. Did the scene ever happen? I don't know, but O'Hagan surely made it come alive.

I realize that my "review" of the book is long-winded, but I enjoyed the novel immensely, and I loved writing about it, so, even if no one reads what I've written, I'll have had my reward.



If you haven't read enough, you may want to read the interview with Andrew O'Hagan in the The Herald (Scotland).

You can purchase the book through the Amazon widget on the right sidebar at Of Course I Could Be Wrong and thereby throw a few pence MadPriest's way.

NOTE: I changed the picture at the head of the post to add Maf's brilliant but naughty commentary supplied by MadPriest.

ABOUT THE REPUBLICANS' BUDGET

TOP 10 WORST THINGS ABOUT THE REPUBLICANS' IMMORAL BUDGET

The Republican budget would:

1. Destroy 700,000 jobs, according to an independent economic analysis.
2. Zero out federal funding for National Public Radio and public television.

3. Cut $1.3 billion from community health centers--which will deprive more than three million low-income people of health care over the next few months.

4. Cut nearly a billion dollars in food and health care assistance to pregnant women, new moms, and children.

5. Kick more than 200,000 children out of pre-school by cutting funds for Head Start.

6. Force states to fire 65,000 teachers and aides, dramatically increasing class sizes, thanks to education cuts.

7. Cut some or all financial aid for 9.4 million low- and middle-income college students.

8. Slash $1.6 billion from the National Institutes of Health, a cut that experts say would "send shockwaves" through cancer research, likely result in cuts to Alzheimer's and Parkinson's research, and cause job losses.

9. End the only federal family planning program, including cutting all federal funding that goes to Planned Parenthood to support cancer screenings and other women's health care.

10. Send 10,000 low-income veterans into homelessness by cutting in half the number of veterans who get housing vouchers this year.

From MoveOn.org.

PRO-UNION SIGNS IN MADISON, WISCONSIN

Courtesy of Jude at First Draft, who was at the protest yesterday.



Pictured above is a prime specimen of a union "thug". Frightening, isn't she?



Can you believe this nice-looking young woman offers hugs to "thugs"?



The Lego sign is close to my heart, as I've stepped on such a number of the little pieces in my sock feet, that I've grown quite fond of them.



Too little, too late, but at least the sign demonstrates that some folks are teachable, even if they must learn the hard way.

At First Draft, both Jude and Scout have done a remarkable job of reporting from the scene in Madison.

STORY OF THE DAY - BLUE SQUARES

We lay there & looked up at the night
sky & she told me about stars called blue
squares & red swirls & I told her I'd
never heard of them. Of course not, she
said, the really important stuff they
never tell you. You have to imagine it on
your own.

From StoryPeople.

EGRETS COMING HOME TO ROOST

About this time of the year, we enjoy an amazing drama near one or another of the bridges not far from my house. As the sun begins to set, egrets fly in to roost overnight in a clump of bushes growing on the bank of Bayou Lafourche. Last year the egrets chose a spot near a bridge further up the bayou. Why the birds chose another roost, and why such a large number of birds crowd into one rather small group of bushes, I have no idea.



The bushes in the photo above look pretty well full of roosting egrets, but, as you see in the photo below, more birds are arriving.



Up in the sky, even more birds are flying in. They keep coming until you think that there can't be one more perch available, and still they come.



By the time the egrets settle, the bushes are covered with white birds and a few pairs of blue egrets or herons. Since the blue birds are about the same size as the white birds, I know they are not Great Blue Herons.

I call the street in the background Visual Blight Boulevard. Big box chains, franchise restaurants and take-outs, service stations, giant concrete parking lots, and everything ugly lines the street on both sides. You could be in Anytown or Anycity for the sameness of the blight.

PS: I've redone the pictures so that a click on the pic will give you a somewhat larger view.

ANOTHER SUNDAY, ANOTHER PARADE

 

The pictures are from the Ambrosia parade in Thibodaux, Louisiana, Sunday a week ago, which I mistakenly thought was the Sunday before Mardi Gras. In fact, last Tuesday, I put up a post wishing everyone Happy Mardi Gras, which I quickly removed as soon as I found out it was not Mardi Gras day. The posts stay in Google Reader seemingly forever, even after they are deleted, and I was well embarrassed.

 

Below is Grandpère watching the parade the easy way and not caring at all if he catches beads.

 

The young man below was, by far, the most adorable amongst the people watching the parade. Just look at his strawberry blond hair!

 

A recycled photo of Diana in her beads.



Today is the real Sunday before Mardi Gras, with another parade that passes in front of our church. Usually the crowds that attend today's parade, Cleophas, are larger than the numbers who come out for the Ambrosia parade.

At this very moment, Grandpère is putting together the ham and sausage jambalaya which will be our contribution to the potluck lunch in the church hall before today's parade.



See how Grandpère and I love one another? Last Sunday, it was quite warm with a strong wind blowing. Today, the weather is gray and cooler.

"THE LENTEN LESSON"

Lent is upon us. And Bishop Yellowbelly has the perfect Lenten discipline for all Anglicans: a study of the Anglican Covenant. Can such a common lay person as Ms. Trenchmacher reason with him?

UPDATE: On the subject of the Anglican Covenant, read her post on Lesley's Blog titled "What causes organizations to survive crises?"

"RISE AGAIN" - STAN ROGERS

In solidarity with the workers and their supporters protesting in Madison, Wisconsin.

And you, to whom adversity has dealt the final blow
With smiling bastards lying to you everywhere you go
Turn to, and put out all your strength of arm and heart and brain
And like the Mary Ellen Carter, rise again.

Rise again, rise again - though your heart it be broken
And life about to end
No matter what you've lost, be it a home, a love, a friend.
Like the Mary Ellen Carter, rise again.

Thanks to Jude at First Draft for the video. Jude is on the scene in Madison.

From Athenae at First Draft:

I really don't think it's possible to overstate what is happening here. How many times have we watched this happen? Really, how many times? People stood up against the war in 2003, in the millions, and we still went to war. People stood up for John Kerry in 2004, in the hundreds of thousands, and he lost. People have rallied and rallied and rallied, and all they've ever gotten for it is pounded on, when they weren't being ignored.

But they keep getting back up. Walker won the election and claimed a mandate, and they came. The bill passed the state assembly, in the middle of the night, and they came. The state's talk radio haters and newspaper commenters and conservative columnists called them all scum, and they came. Walker gave interview after interview, speech after speech, declaring victory, and they came.

The doors were locked against them, the building ringed by armed guards, and still they came.

Armed with nothing but signs, nothing but post-it notes, nothing but donated pizza and boundless cheer and limitless good will, they came. And they sang and they drummed and they wrote and they called and they inspired their friends and their neighbors and their elected officials and a nation, and no matter what happens now, everyone has seen it: What happens when you stand up. That it isn't pointless and it isn't useless and there is always, win or lose, value in it, because the view from uprightness is so much clearer and you need to see like that, once or twice in your life at least.
....

I believe in expecting the worst so as not to be surprised or disappointed, but it's hard to shake this horrible feeling, that is hope.

Watch the video from last night as the protestors left the capitol singing.

"HELLO AND THANK YOU...GOODBYE AND GODSPEED"

Fred Schwartz at Off-Topic Allowed says "hello and thank you for coming to Provisional Bishop-elect Chet Talton and goodbye and godspeed to Provisional Bishop Jerry Lamb" in the Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin. Why not go there and help Fred out in his thanksgivings?

UPDATE: Fred added a second post and a video of the "Hello" and "Goodbye" celebration in the Diocese of San Joaquin.

GOOD NEWS FROM CHRIST CHURCH CATHEDRAL, NZ

From stuff.co.nz:

TEARS OF JOY

The Dean of ChristChurch Cathedral cried when he was told early today there were no bodies buried in the rubble of the church.

The Very Reverend Peter Beck got a telephone call about 1am from the head of the Urban Search and Rescue task force, Ralph Moore, who told him the shattered cathedral had been checked and rechecked and there were no bodies in the rubble.

"I was expecting to get a call from him saying they had found a body and I and my colleagues were going to go down and say prayers at the side of the body.

"But of course I got this other news and I just burst into tears. I was speechless, It was unbelievable."

Thanks be to God! Earlier predictions estimated that as many as 22 people might have been inside when the tower of the cathedral collapsed.

The death toll was lifted by two to 165 today....

Eternal rest grand unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them.
May they rest in peace. Amen.

O merciful Father, you who taught us in your holy Word that you do not willingly afflict or grieve your children: Look with compassion upon the sorrows of your servants in Christchurch, New Zealand, for whom our prayers are offered. Remember them, O Lord, in mercy, nourish their souls with comfort and a sense of your goodness, lift up your countenance upon them, and give them peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

H/T to Andrew Gerns at The Lead.

YOUNG IDEAS FOR THE CHURCH

The elderly priest, speaking to the younger priest, said, 'You had a good idea to replace the first four pews with plush bucket theater seats. It worked like a charm. The front of the church always fills first now.'

The young priest nodded, and the old priest continued, 'And you told me adding a little more beat to the music would bring young people back to church, so I supported you when you brought in that Rock 'n Roll Gospel Choir.

Now our services are consistently packed to the balcony.'

'Thank you, Father,' answered the young priest. 'I am pleased that you are open to the New Ideas of Youth.'

'All of these ideas have been well and good,' said the elderly priest, 'But I'm afraid you've gone too far with the Drive-thru Confessional.'

'But Father,' protested the young priest, 'my confessions and the donations have nearly doubled since I began that!'

'Yes,' replied the elderly priest, 'and I appreciate that.... But the flashing neon sign, 'Toot 'n Tell or Go to Hell' cannot stay on the church roof.'

Don't blame me. Blame Doug.

BISHOP JOHN SAXBEE ON THE ANGLICAN COVENANT

Many thanks to the Rev Lesley Fellows for the video and the transcript of Bishop John Saxbee's speech at the November 2010 Church of England General Synod. Bishop Saxbee retired as Bishop of the Diocese of Lincoln in January of this year.

The speech is splendid. I'm somewhat disappointed that the bishop decided to vote for the covenant to move on to the next step in the process, that of presenting the covenant to the dioceses for study and a decision at to whether or not to approve the document, and I regret that Bishop Saxbee's voice will no longer be heard in future gatherings of GS.

In relation to the Anglican Covenant, I’m on record as saying in this synod that I entirely support the process, as long as it never ends. Let me explain what I mean. The Anglican Communion doesn’t need a Covenant because Anglicanism is a covenant. It is a way of Provinces listening, living distinctively apart from each other whilst remaining part of one another. That is a way of doing difference differently from the ways in which groups and individuals usually do difference. It is predicated on grace and goodwill, and if there is grace and goodwill then a covenant will be unnecessary and if there is no grace and goodwill then a covenant will be unavailing.

Listen to this quote from Hilary Mantel’s book ‘Wolf Hall’, putting words into the mouth of my distinguished predecessor, Cardinal Wolsey, “Wolsey always said that the making of a treaty is the treaty, it doesn’t matter what the terms are, just that there are terms. It’s the goodwill that matters, when that runs out the treaty is broken, whatever the terms may say’.

Members of Synod, the Church of England has a bit of a history of putting in place measures in response to a particular presented issue and then discovering that the proposed cure does not only have unintended consequences (and The Good Intentions Paving Company is still very much in business, I assure you), not only will there be unintended consequences, but the cure can actually make matters worse.

We all know that the process towards the drawing up of this Covenant was triggered by events in The Episcopal Church of a few years ago, notwithstanding the long preamble which was helpfully presented to us by the Bishop of Bath and Wells. Those events were by no means trivial, but to elevate them to the status of game changers when it comes to how we deal with each other over time is… well… stepping over a very significant mark in the sand. And I truly doubt whether it will be conducive to long term stability.

The Covenant may of itself not be tyrannical, but there are those in the Communion whose treatment of our lesbian and gay sisters and brothers has had at least a touch of the tyrannical about it. And if I ever come to the conclusion that a covenant of this kind would give them comfort then I would be bound to resist it.

Anglicanism has been described as a fellowship of civilised disagreement. Well I leave you to judge whether a two-tier Communion with first and second division members answers to that description of civilised disagreement. It frankly feels like we will be sending sincere and faithful Anglicans to stand in the corner until they have seen the error of their ways and can return to the ranks of the pure and spotless.

I am grateful to Mr Roy for referring to the story of the woman taken in adultery. Jesus, if you recall, first of all draw an extended circle of sinfulness to include those who considered themselves to be more righteous than she was, and then drew an extended circle of acceptance to count her in. You know the little rhyme,

“They drew a circle that shut me out —
Heretic, rebel, something to flout.
But Love and I had the wit to win:
We drew a circle that took them in.”

We can draw ever tighter circles of sinfulness or we can draw ever wider circles of acceptance, so that all Provinces, and not just some, hear our Lord’s injunction, ‘Go and sin no more’, but also echo his reassurance, ‘Neither do I condemn you’. I love the Anglican Communion. I value our inter-diocesan links and I have learnt so much from visits to many dioceses. But I don’t love it so much that I would want it to be still a communion but no longer Anglican. That prize is not worth the price.

And so, Madam Chair, I simply leave you with the wise words of the American philosopher H. L. Mencken which you may well be familiar, ‘For every difficult and complex problem there is a solution which is simple, straight-forward and wrong’. As an answer to a difficult and complex problem, this Covenant is simple, straight-forward and I still believe probably wrong. There is too much religion in the world and not enough faith, and I think this Covenant seems to be more about factory farmed religion than free range faith.

As I want the conversation to continue, I cannot vote against the motion to go on considering it and its implications. But I do think the implications are very significant. And as I ride off into the wonderful sunsets of West Wales, I wish you all well and hope and pray that as this process continues you will enjoy discussing the idea of a covenant and hesitate long and hard before signing up to one.

Thank-you.

ORDINARIATES "VERY IMPORTANT" TO POPE BENEDICT

From Catholic Online:

VATICAN CITY (Zenit.org) - A priest at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is affirming that the newly established Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, the Ordinariate of the United Kingdom, is "very important" to Benedict XVI.
....

"In the area of ecumenism it strengthens the Catholic Church's approach in two ways," the priest noted. "It promotes sincere dialogue with a Christian defense of life and the promotion of peace."

He stated: "The goal of the ecumenical movement is complete visible union with one Christ and with Peter in one Church. We must cooperate and grow together."

"Unity is built on two pillars, love and truth," the priest added.

True ecumenism promotes unity through mutual respect, understanding, and cooperation amongst those of different faiths. The game of so-called "ecumenism" as played by the Roman Catholic Church is the same old, same old, my way or no way. Unity means becoming one of them.

What we see in the statement here is a bit more truth-telling and a bit less covering up of the true purposes of ecumenism as defined by the RCC. In the end, the members of the so-called "Anglican" ordinariates will be Roman Catholics and no longer Anglicans.

And poaching by any other name still stinks.

Thanks to Ann V. for the link.

PLURALIST - "HEADS YOU LOSE, TAILS YOU LOSE"

Adrian at Pluralist Speaks posted "Heads you Lose, Tails you Lose" on his "further thinking on the Anglican Communion...."

Imagine, however, what happens should the House of Clergy defeat the thing and throw it out.

It is necessary to stop it if the Church of England is to remain flexible about the future. My guess is that the biased powers that be will then panic, and try desperately to bend the rules to bring the thing back in. If not, and if they cannot, the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams will have to resign because it is his policy, steered and forced through so far by him. It is his flagship. Also arguments will be made beforehand to support the Archbishop, and so if he then loses he really will be done for. Even the Archbishop of York might go too (gosh, this gets better!). I actually think Rowan Williams should go, and should have a long time ago as he has been nothing but a disaster. But, with or without that resignation, the level of recrimination will be huge, especially against those who have led the campaign.
....

A weakness of the campaign against is that it has come from the liberal side of the Church, and that means it will be easier to target the recriminations. The hierarchs and bureaucrats as well as evangelicals will set about marginalising the liberals through various legislative and other means, if that is the way needed to reattach to the Covenant or something similar.

The entire post is well worth reading. My thinking is, as I said in the comments, that Adrian may be right that those in the Church of England (and elsewhere) who oppose the covenant may suffer from their stand, even in the unlikely event that the covenant is voted down in General Synod (and elsewhere), and the opposition achieves its goal. Still, I see it as a good thing to go down fighting, win or lose. Of course, since I speak as one of the fortunate who has nothing to lose by voicing my opinion, I have no right to urge others on in activities that may be injurious to them. I fully understand why some may choose not to speak out against the daft covenant.

STORY OF THE DAY - GENERAL CONFUSION

I used to be pretty clear on what was
real & what I made up, but with
everything going on in the world, none
of that seems to matter, so I just decided
to talk less & smile to myself more, so as
not to add to the general confusion

Food for thought, surely, especially for a blogger.

From StoryPeople.

MORE PUN FUN

When fish are in schools they sometimes take debate.

A thief who stole a calendar got twelve months.

When the smog lifts in Los Angeles, U.C.L.A.

The professor discovered that her theory of earthquakes was on shaky ground.

The batteries were given out free of charge.

A dentist and a manicurist married. They fought tooth and nail.

A will is a dead giveaway.

Show me a piano falling down a mineshaft and I'll show you A-flat miner.

You are stuck with your debt if you can't budge it.

Local Area Network in Australia: The LAN down under.

A boiled egg is hard to beat.

Police were called to a day care where a three-year-old was resisting a rest.

Did you hear about the fellow whose whole left side was cut off? He's all right now.

If you take a laptop computer for a run you could jog your memory.

A bicycle can't stand alone; it is two tired.

In a democracy, it's your vote that counts; in feudalism, it's your Count that votes.

He had a photographic memory which was never developed.

Those who get too big for their britches will be exposed in the end.

When she saw her first strands of gray hair, she thought she'd dye.

Acupuncture: a jab well done.

Don't blame me. Blame susan s.

Oh my goodness! Paul (A.) sent me the same list some time ago, and it got lost in my flood of email. Then, too, I was more concerned about Paul (A.)'s injuries from slipping on the ice than about posting his list of puns. Neverthess, mea culpa! He sent them first.

PRAYERS OF THANKSGIVING FOR IRMA'S SUCCESSFUL SURGERY

Irma's surgery went well. She had to have a temporary colostomy but Dr. said surgery could not have gone better. The family feared it was cancer but none found. Thank everyone for their prayers. :) Frankie's family greatly appreciates it.

Thanks be to God, to the medical staff, and all who helped care for Irma.

Thank you all for your prayers.

O Lord, your compassions never fail and your mercies are new every morning: We give you thanks for giving our sister Irma both relief from pain and hope of health renewed. Continue in her we pray, the good work you have begun; that she, daily increasing in bodily strength, and rejoicing in your goodness, may so order her life and conduct that she may always think and do those things that please you; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

UPDATE ON AILEEN:

From her husband, Mike:

OK quick update, Aileen made it to Billings, did very well on the transport. Already getting her going with OT, PT and respiratory therapy. She is already doing great. I finally saw her wiggle her toes, just a tiny bit, but it was awesome! However she did lose blood again overnight and needed a transfusion by late afternoon. But I really think this was the right move. This is a great place with wonderful staff.

Prayers of thanksgiving for Aileen along with prayers for her continued recovery and for strength and courage for Mike and all who love and care for Aileen.

STORY OF THE DAY - FIGHTING CHANCE

What do I get for this? I said & the angel
gave me a catalog filled with toasters &
clock radios & a basketball signed by
Michael Jordan & I said, But this is just
stuff & the angel smiled at me &
swallowed me in her arms. I'm so glad
you said that, she whispered to me. I
knew you still had a chance.

From StoryPeople.

GRANT STORMS SAYS HE'S SORRY

From NOLA.com.

Nearly every blogger I know scooped me on the local story of Grant Storms' shenanigans in New Orleans. I'm about burnt out with tales about men (mostly) who scream loud and long about gays and others who destroy "family values", and then get caught in compromising situations. As soon as these folks start shouting, we should watch their tracks for signs of a train wreck waiting to happen. The stories are so frequent that they are hardly newsworthy.

Though he admitted having his hands in his pants, Christian fundamentalist Grant Storms denied Tuesday that he was masturbating in a Metairie park before being arrested.

Storms addressed the allegations during a news conference in Metairie, one day after hiws arrest became public.
....

"I had my hands in my pants," he said. When asked by a reporter what he was doing with his hands, Storms answered, "I don't want to get into all that right now. That will come out in court."
....

Storms, who once called himself a "Christian patriot," gained notoriety for his fervent opposition to Southern Decadence, a three-day gay festival held in the French Quarter during Labor Day weekend. Storms and his followers used bullhorns and picket signs to protest the festival, which he has said turned the Quarter into Sodom and Gomorrah.

Storms on Tuesday apologized to those he had maligned.

So Storms apologizes. Better than not apologizing, I suppose.

He also asked forgiveness of his wife and four children, as well he should. My heart goes out to them.

And he admitted he has a problem with pornography.

THE ANGLICAN COVENANT AS FRUITCAKE

The elements of the Chicago Lambeth Quadrilateral and the Marks of Mission, and bits of Scripture and dollops of assorted Anglican Premises have been folded into the batter of the Anglican Communion Covenant like so many raisins, candied citrons, cherries, and whatever those semi-gelatinous green things are, go to form part of the conglomerate of Fruitcake.

From Tobias Haller at In a Godward Direction.

My conclusion as to whether we should adopt the covenant is a bit different from that of Tobias, but his analogy is excellent.

A PUBLIC UNION EMPLOYEE, A TEA PARTIER, AND A CEO...

A public union employee, a tea party activist and a CEO are sitting at a table with a plate of a dozen cookies in the middle of it. The CEO takes 11 of the cookies, turns to the tea partier and says, "Watch out for that union guy he wants a piece of your cookie."

Pass it on.

From AMERICAblog:

Thanks to Paul (A.).

TODAY IS NOT MARDI GRAS!

I removed my Mardi Gras post. Grandpère just came home and gave me the news. I need to get out more. :-(

DRIVEN BY FEAR

Malcolm+ posted at the No Anglican Covenant blog on the information coming from The Anglican Communion Office, Lambeth Palace, and Church House in Westminster:

So much of what has been driving the machinations of international Anglicanism over the past 15 years or so has been rooted in fear—fear of women, fear of LGBTQTS, fear of modernity, fear of post-modernity, fear of the loss of privilege, fear of the loss of power and influence.
....

Sadly, that is the point we’ve now reached in international Anglicanism, and in the deliberations on the proposed Anglican Covenant. Full and fair debate is no longer on the table—at least at the Anglican Communion Office, Lambeth Palace, or Church House in Westminster.

Read the rest at the NAC site.

Malcolm+ blogs at Simple Massing Priest.