From The Pawty I Wasn't At

Thanks to WhiteyCat for the pictures from the bloggers gathering in New Jersey last Friday evening. Aren't the folks there lovely looking? And they seem to be having a great time. And I'm not there.


Padre Mickey and the Lovely Mona, who was snapped while snapping. That's Paul (A.) and Allie in the background.



Padre Mickey makes a move.....to help Catherine with her camera



The famous Miss Egyptian Hippo of Love with lesser stars Eileen and Elizabeth



Muthah holds forth and Tobias pays attention



TELP and El Padre smiling sweetly for the camera

Ghosts Of Cancers Past

My friends, the news about my niece discovering the lump in her breast rocked me, conjuring up the family ghosts of cancers past to haunt me. First there was my mother's breast cancer and subsequent mastectomy. She lived 20 more years. Then there was my own breast cancer 24 years ago, with a lumpectomy and removal of lymph nodes, followed by radiation. Then there was the diagnosis of lymphoma for my middle sister, Gayle, whom I have written of. She was cured of the lymphoma through surgery and chemotherapy.

Moving right along to the death of my youngest sister of untreated breast cancer. She was out of our lives for years at a time, by her own choice, and was out of touch for three years near the end of her life. We found out that she was dying only a day or two before she died, and we did not make it to her in time to see her alive. Why was her cancer not treated? I can only assume that her life was so miserable that she wanted to die. One year after my youngest sister's death, my only other sibling, Gayle, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Within four months, she was dead.

Mixed in between the accounts above were the aunts and cousins who were diagnosed with cancers of various kinds, breast cancer, another lymphoma, melanoma, uterine cancer, colon cancer, always hitting the women in the family, sometimes killing them, sometimes not.

And now my niece. She's still grieving for her mother, Gayle. My heart breaks for her. I pray that her news on Thursday will be good news, but, for the moment, I'm worried and distracted and haunted, and I may not be myself for the next few days. Sometimes blogging is therapeutic for me, and I may continue more or less as usual. I may even joke around and laugh. Then again, I may not.

And that's the way it is.

Prayers Please For My Niece

My niece's doctor found a lump in her breast. She's scheduled to have it removed today at 2 pm. Cancers of all types, including breast cancer, run rampant in my family. Please pray.

UPDATE: The surgery started late but is now over. The surgeon removed the lump for biopsy. My niece will have the results on Thursday. Thanks for the prayers. Please continue to pray.

"Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Stays For Now

From the Washington Post:

The Supreme Court on Monday turned down a challenge to the Pentagon policy forbidding gays and lesbians from serving openly in the military, granting an Obama administration request to maintain the Clinton-era "don't ask, don't tell" directive.

The court said it will not hear an appeal from former Army Capt. James Pietrangelo II, who was dismissed under the military's policy.

The federal appeals court in Boston earlier threw out a lawsuit filed by Pietrangelo and 11 other veterans. He was the only member of that group who asked the high court to rule that the policy is unconstitutional.

I'm a far cry from a legal expert, but I don't see the change in "don't ask, don't tell" coming from court intervention. The president and the Congress must do the job. To me, the saddest part of this article is found in the words below.

During last year's campaign, President Barack Obama indicated he supported the eventual repeal of the policy, but he has made no specific move to do so since taking office in January. Meanwhile, the White House has said it won't stop gays and lesbians from being dismissed from the military.

Perhaps as we hear more outrageous stories of members of the military, who have served long and honorably, being unfairly dismissed for no other reason than being gay or lesbian, the president and the Congress will wake from their slumbers on this issue. The populace is way ahead of them.

US News reports:

One other item worth noting from the new Gallup poll on Americans' views regarding gays: A huge majority of Americans—69 percent—now support gays being able to serve in the U.S. military.

A Sizzling Scene - "To Have And Have Not"

Oh my! Some might say that it's too early in the morning for this video, but I wouldn't say that.

Did I ever tell you that I shook hands with Lauren Bacall? Several years ago, Grandpère and I were entering the theater in New York to see Paul Newman play the Stage Manager in "Our Town", the first stage play that he had done in 38 years and the last stage play that he ever acted in. There was Bacall standing in a line of people which looked to me like a receiving line. At the time, it didn't occur to me that she was unlikely to be in a receiving line, as she was not in the play. As GP looked on, somewhat embarrassed, I walked over to her and said, "Miss Bacall, may I shake your hand?" She seemed startled, but she shook my hand. I mean, what the hell! She was standing there. I suppose that it was not cool for me to do that, but now I have a story to tell.

Maybe I should have asked her to autograph my "Playbill" instead.

New Stock Market Terms

CEO – Chief Embezzlement Officer.

CFO - Corporate Fraud Officer.

BULL MARKET– A random market movement causing an investor to mistake himself for a financial genius.

BEAR MARKET– a 6 to 18 month period when the kids get no allowance, the wife gets no jewelry, and the husband gets no sex.

VALUE INVESTING– The art of buying low and selling lower.

P/E RATIO– The percentage of investors wetting their pants as the market keeps crashing.

BROKER – What my financial planner has made me.

STANDARD & POOR– Your life in a nutshell.

STOCK ANALYST– Idiot who just downgraded your stock.

STOCK SPLIT– When your ex-wife and her lawyer split your assets equally between themselves.

MARKET CORRECTION– The day after you buy stocks.

CASH FLOW– The movement your money makes as it disappears down the toilet.

YAHOO – What you yell after selling it to some poor sucker for $240 per share.

WINDOWS– What you jump out of when you're the sucker who bought Yahoo at $240 per share.

INSTITUTIONAL INVESTOR– Past year investor who's now locked up in a nuthouse.

PROFIT – an archaic word no longer in use.


# # # # #

If you had purchased $1000 of shares in Delta Airlines one year ago, you will have $49.00 today.

If you had purchased $1000 of shares in AIG one year ago, you will have $33.00 today.

If you had purchased $1000 of shares in Lehman Brothers one year ago, you will have $0.00 today.

But---- if you had purchased $1000 worth of beer one year ago, drank all the beer, then turned in the aluminum cans for recycling refund, you will have received $214.00.

Based on the above, the best current investment plan is to drink heavily & recycle.

It's called the 401-Keg.

Doug sent the joke because he wanted to spread a bit of good cheer this Monday morning.

The Old Gray Mare

Oh, the old gray mare, she ain't what she used to be,
Ain't what she used to be, ain't what she used to be.
The old gray mare, she ain't what she used to be,
Many long years ago.

Many long years ago, many long years ago.

The old gray mare, she ain't what she used to be,
Many long years ago.

The old gray mare, she kicked on the whiffletree,
Kicked on the whiffletree, kicked on the whiffletree
The old gray mare, she kicked on the whiffletree
Many long years ago.

Many long years ago, many long years ago,

The old gray mare, she kicked on the whiffletree
Many long years ago.

What made me think of this old song we sang as kids? Maybe because I'm an old gray mare now. I looked up the song online so I wouldn't have to type it all out, and, much to my surprise, the second verse is different from what we sang when I was a child. Here's our version:

Oh, the old gray mare, she ain't what she used to be,
Ain't what she used to be, ain't what she used to be.
The old gray mare, she ain't what she used to be,
Many long years ago.

Many long years ago, many long years ago.

The old gray mare, she ain't what she used to be,
Many long years ago.

The old gray mare went (raspberry sound) down the avenue,
(raspberry sound) down the avenue, (raspberry sound) down the avenue.

The old gray mare went (raspberry sound) down the avenue,
Many long years ago.

Did anyone else sing the vulgar version, or was it just naughty New Orleans kids?

From the BBC:

Female students are ahead of men in almost every measure of UK university achievement, according to a report from higher education researchers.

A Higher Education Policy Institute report shows that women are more likely to get places in the top universities and go on to get better grades.

Women also outnumber men in high status subjects, such as law and medicine.

The institute's director, Bahram Bekhradnia, says the cause of this gender gap remains uncertain.

Cambridge and Oxford are the exceptions. The numbers of men and women are equal.

Trinity Sunday

RUBLYOV, Andrey - "Trinity" - c. 1411 - Tempera on panel
Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow


Trinity Prayer

God for us, we call You Father,
God along side us, we call You Jesus,
God within us, we call You Holy Spirit.

You are the Eternal Mystery
that enables, enfolds, and enlivens all things,
even us,
and even me.

Every name falls short of your
Goodness and Greatness.

We can only see who You are in what is.
We ask for such perfect seeing.

As it was in the beginning, is now,
and ever shall be.

Amen.

Richard Rohr


Preface of Trinity Sunday

Almighty and everlasting God, who hast given unto us thy servants grace, by the confession of a true faith, to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity, and in the power of thy Divine Majesty to worship the Unity: We beseech thee that thou wouldst keep us steadfast in this faith and worship, and bring us at last to see thee in thy one and eternal glory, O Father; who with the Son and the Holy Spirit livest and reignest, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

(Book of Common Prayer, p. 176)

As I searched for a painting for this post, I noted that many of the Trinity paintings depicted the dead Christ or the crucified Christ. I didn't want that. What's the theology there? The few that did not were, as they say, de trop, too busy, too pretty, too, too, too.... The icon is lovely.

Richard Rohr's poem from The Mercy Blog.

Image from The Web Gallery of Art.

"What Facebook Is For"

My apologies to all Facebook lovers. C'mon, forgive me. I know you laughed.

Thanks to Lapin for the link.