Meaning that is self-made is in the last analysis no meaning. Meaning, that is, the ground on which our existence as a totality can stand and live, cannot be made but only received.
-- Pope Benedict XVI, then Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Not How I Imagined My 100th Post Would Go
My dog, Nipper, died yesterday. I could say herein something dreadfully cheesy such as, "Parting is such sweet sorrow," from Shakespeare, but I'm not going to. Instead, I'm going to paraphrase a quote from one of my own characters in one of my stories, and say, "Those whom we love never truly leave us. They live on forever in our hearts."
As above stated, this is my 100th post. Go me. I had planned on putting some wonderful quote for it (because I just love quotes), but, as you can see, I decided against it. Instead, this is going to be one of my typical Thursday rants.
First: I must bid my dignity good-bye. I relenqish it without much regret, however, if abandoning it allows me to run like a crazy person across Harrison Plaza trying to catch a shuttle before it leaves me again. Guess what I did this morning. I promise not to knock down any people while running across campus! But there are simply some times when not even my (extremely!) fast walk will suffice. Such as... it being 9:55 and I'm on the third floor of Wesleyan and have to make it to the basement of Floyd in about three minutes before Dr. Gren walks in through the door. Yep... dodge the people, run down the stairs, dash across the parking lot, take the stairs at a run and/or two at a time... How much difference is it, then, to run for a shuttle? Good-bye, dignity. Oh, well, I never had much use for it, anyway.
Today is the day the Flor-Ala comes out. Therefore, today is the day I rant about the people whose complaining tweets have made it to the back of the paper! There was not any particularly egregious whining going on in today's Flor-Ala, thank goodness, though I have one thing to say to the person who says she prepares for death every day when she takes the dorm elevators. Cough, cough, there's something called stairs. What a novel idea. You might should find out where they are, at least, in case you ever NEED to know where they are during a fire.
As for the police officer not stopping for pedestrians, yeah... They don't use their blinkers, either. NO ONE uses their blinkers when they're driving. ESPECIALLY not when they change lanes. Seriously, people... Some drivers scare me. The ones that go to switch lanes, decide against it, and end up driving down the middle of both lanes are terrifying. And most people seem to think that the most common speed limit is not 45, but 55. I guess this is what happens when they watch Nascar every Sunday or something. But, really, everyone races ahead to the next red light and slams on their brakes at the last moment. Forget coasting to a stop and being kind to your brakes (and your gas mileage).
The guy who apologized for driving like Pac-Man in his tweet actually made me laugh. We need a little more humor in our lives.
Oh, and I have a good comment for you Flor-Ala people: THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU for putting in the crossword puzzle! It's my Thursday routine: get out of calculus, go to Lafayette, plink on the piano, pick up a copy of the paper, and work on the crossword. While I'm on the subject, I apologize for my musical choices. I am such a Schroeder. I even have a Beethoven statuette in my room! (And a puny one on my piano.) I think Fuer Elise goes over well with everyone, but Sonata Facile number whatever might not. (No, I can't remember what its Opus number is. We all have our little failings.) I note Dr. Brewton closes his office door most of the time if he's in there while I'm playing... Sorry, Dr. Vince, but I'll be done in a minute or two. Just let me plink and I'll be done like a nice little clueless freshman...
And to the Sodexo/Guillot/wherever they belong people who supply us students with food, kudos to you for having much better desserts this semester. I'm not sure what prompted it, but every time I go in the Guillot now there are many tasty desserts (like death-by-chocolate cake with whip-cream-y stuff for icing... yum). It's a great change from last semester.
Lastly, a note to the people who plan UNA's schedule. Do not call giving us one day off 'Winter Break'. And ESPECIALLY do not include Saturday and Sunday in with it on the schedules. We're getting those days off already. You can't fool us into thinking you're more generous than you actually are. We're onto you. (Insert creepy, "I see you..." like Sauron says in the Lord of the Rings here.)
In Pace Christi,
Elyse
As above stated, this is my 100th post. Go me. I had planned on putting some wonderful quote for it (because I just love quotes), but, as you can see, I decided against it. Instead, this is going to be one of my typical Thursday rants.
First: I must bid my dignity good-bye. I relenqish it without much regret, however, if abandoning it allows me to run like a crazy person across Harrison Plaza trying to catch a shuttle before it leaves me again. Guess what I did this morning. I promise not to knock down any people while running across campus! But there are simply some times when not even my (extremely!) fast walk will suffice. Such as... it being 9:55 and I'm on the third floor of Wesleyan and have to make it to the basement of Floyd in about three minutes before Dr. Gren walks in through the door. Yep... dodge the people, run down the stairs, dash across the parking lot, take the stairs at a run and/or two at a time... How much difference is it, then, to run for a shuttle? Good-bye, dignity. Oh, well, I never had much use for it, anyway.
Today is the day the Flor-Ala comes out. Therefore, today is the day I rant about the people whose complaining tweets have made it to the back of the paper! There was not any particularly egregious whining going on in today's Flor-Ala, thank goodness, though I have one thing to say to the person who says she prepares for death every day when she takes the dorm elevators. Cough, cough, there's something called stairs. What a novel idea. You might should find out where they are, at least, in case you ever NEED to know where they are during a fire.
As for the police officer not stopping for pedestrians, yeah... They don't use their blinkers, either. NO ONE uses their blinkers when they're driving. ESPECIALLY not when they change lanes. Seriously, people... Some drivers scare me. The ones that go to switch lanes, decide against it, and end up driving down the middle of both lanes are terrifying. And most people seem to think that the most common speed limit is not 45, but 55. I guess this is what happens when they watch Nascar every Sunday or something. But, really, everyone races ahead to the next red light and slams on their brakes at the last moment. Forget coasting to a stop and being kind to your brakes (and your gas mileage).
The guy who apologized for driving like Pac-Man in his tweet actually made me laugh. We need a little more humor in our lives.
Oh, and I have a good comment for you Flor-Ala people: THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU for putting in the crossword puzzle! It's my Thursday routine: get out of calculus, go to Lafayette, plink on the piano, pick up a copy of the paper, and work on the crossword. While I'm on the subject, I apologize for my musical choices. I am such a Schroeder. I even have a Beethoven statuette in my room! (And a puny one on my piano.) I think Fuer Elise goes over well with everyone, but Sonata Facile number whatever might not. (No, I can't remember what its Opus number is. We all have our little failings.) I note Dr. Brewton closes his office door most of the time if he's in there while I'm playing... Sorry, Dr. Vince, but I'll be done in a minute or two. Just let me plink and I'll be done like a nice little clueless freshman...
And to the Sodexo/Guillot/wherever they belong people who supply us students with food, kudos to you for having much better desserts this semester. I'm not sure what prompted it, but every time I go in the Guillot now there are many tasty desserts (like death-by-chocolate cake with whip-cream-y stuff for icing... yum). It's a great change from last semester.
Lastly, a note to the people who plan UNA's schedule. Do not call giving us one day off 'Winter Break'. And ESPECIALLY do not include Saturday and Sunday in with it on the schedules. We're getting those days off already. You can't fool us into thinking you're more generous than you actually are. We're onto you. (Insert creepy, "I see you..." like Sauron says in the Lord of the Rings here.)
In Pace Christi,
Elyse
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Yes, I Am Still On The Face Of The Earth
And now that I've typed that title, I have the overwhelming urge to inform everyone, whether they will or nill, that 'the face of the earth' is orbis terrarum in Latin. There!
Haha. I still wish so much that UNA offered Latin. Does anybody know how we should go about getting it? Perhaps email the SGA? Petition the Foreign Language Deparment? While we're at it, how should we go about petitioning for some sort of awning at the bus stop? Waiting on the shuttles in the rain is not fun. Especially when it is 30-odd degrees, windy, and raining.
Today is Valentine's Day. I really don't care. When you're not in a relationship (guilty as charged; in fact, I think I would completely freak out if asked out and would probably end up threatening the offender with violence via sustained beating with closest book), it doesn't matter so much. To me, February 14th is more notable as the feast days of Saints Cyril and Methodius, called the Apostles of the Slavs. Notice that that people's alphabet is called Cyrillic. Cyril invented that alphabet for them and they also translated the Scriptures into Slavic. As this was before AD 1000 (and I do believe they also had permission from the Pope to say Mass in the vernacular), this completely pulverizes the Protestant rant during the Reformation/Rebellion that the Church wouldn't let the people read the Bible. It's just the people did stupid things when they got their hot little hands on a vernacular copy... I'm looking at you, England. King Henry VIII and his subjects... sigh... but I should really NOT go into something better covered in a research paper here and now on my blog.
Speaking of research papers, we're supposed to come up with three topics. I have two: (1) Is global warming and the hole in the ozone layer a problem? (The more controversial the topic, the better!) and (2) Did the Southern states during the War of Northern Agression/War for Southern Independence have the right to secede? :)
Here's where I go on another historical rant and insist that it could not have been a 'civil war' as civil wars are fought between two rival factions over who will control one government. The Southern states were not fighting to take over Washington, D. C. They had formed their own goverment and were defending IT. So, yeah... what were we doing that was any different from the original American War for Independence? And the 'Northern Aggression' part is justified. Lincoln REFUSED to treat with us BEFORE the war started. And just consider Reconstruction... It was just as vindicative as the Treaty of Versailles after WWI... the North is just lucky we didn't take it as badly as Germany did and start another war. After all, Germany had not started the war... Austria did... But WWI was completely pointless. Still, nobody would listen when the Pope pleaded for peace treaties as everyone had promised their allies land, etc., if they kept winning and got their infamous unconditional surrender. The United States entering just prolonged the whole bloody mess. Did anyone know that Woodrow Wilson (who was a nutcase, by the way; even SIGMUND FREUD said he was a nutcase) supported the Bolshevik Revolution at first?
The US isn't guilt-free of a similar mistake. We were so obsessed with getting an unconditional surrender over the Japanese in the Pacific that we refused to grant them the one thing they asked- they wanted to keep their Emperor- that we kept on fighting through Iwo Jima and finally terror-bombed them into submission. And they kept their emperor anyway. Kinda makes you feel ashamed of your country. It's still our country, but it's not always right: sometimes it's wrong. And you don't properly love your country unless you're willing to stand up and acknowledge that it's not perfect (nothing is in this vale of tears) and that we, too, have done wrong.
Yes, this is me, The Politically Incorrect Guide to Whatever. Personally, I'm surprised no one has started calling me Ms. Wikipedia or something. Can you guess why I identify with Carter in the Kane Chronicles, whom his sister calls Mr. Wikipedia?
Ooh, and on that happy note, the final book of the Kane Chronicles comes out May 1st! I'm not counting the days yet, but I will be a very happy camper on that day, even if The Serpent's Shadow is the last book in that series. Sad face. :( Well, at the very least it has a pretty cover. I'm not one of those people who makes predictions about the next book in a series, but I do think that if there is a scene where some idiot demons/minor gods invade, mistakenly or otherwise, a graveyard and get utterly TRASHED by Anubis (who IS the son of Set, the most powerful of the gods other than Ra, by the way), who would have even more hilariously shown no sign of his powers before then (other than ones involving magical toilet paper... :) long story), that would be perfect. But I doubt it shall happen.
In Pace Christi,
Elyse
Haha. I still wish so much that UNA offered Latin. Does anybody know how we should go about getting it? Perhaps email the SGA? Petition the Foreign Language Deparment? While we're at it, how should we go about petitioning for some sort of awning at the bus stop? Waiting on the shuttles in the rain is not fun. Especially when it is 30-odd degrees, windy, and raining.
Today is Valentine's Day. I really don't care. When you're not in a relationship (guilty as charged; in fact, I think I would completely freak out if asked out and would probably end up threatening the offender with violence via sustained beating with closest book), it doesn't matter so much. To me, February 14th is more notable as the feast days of Saints Cyril and Methodius, called the Apostles of the Slavs. Notice that that people's alphabet is called Cyrillic. Cyril invented that alphabet for them and they also translated the Scriptures into Slavic. As this was before AD 1000 (and I do believe they also had permission from the Pope to say Mass in the vernacular), this completely pulverizes the Protestant rant during the Reformation/Rebellion that the Church wouldn't let the people read the Bible. It's just the people did stupid things when they got their hot little hands on a vernacular copy... I'm looking at you, England. King Henry VIII and his subjects... sigh... but I should really NOT go into something better covered in a research paper here and now on my blog.
Speaking of research papers, we're supposed to come up with three topics. I have two: (1) Is global warming and the hole in the ozone layer a problem? (The more controversial the topic, the better!) and (2) Did the Southern states during the War of Northern Agression/War for Southern Independence have the right to secede? :)
Here's where I go on another historical rant and insist that it could not have been a 'civil war' as civil wars are fought between two rival factions over who will control one government. The Southern states were not fighting to take over Washington, D. C. They had formed their own goverment and were defending IT. So, yeah... what were we doing that was any different from the original American War for Independence? And the 'Northern Aggression' part is justified. Lincoln REFUSED to treat with us BEFORE the war started. And just consider Reconstruction... It was just as vindicative as the Treaty of Versailles after WWI... the North is just lucky we didn't take it as badly as Germany did and start another war. After all, Germany had not started the war... Austria did... But WWI was completely pointless. Still, nobody would listen when the Pope pleaded for peace treaties as everyone had promised their allies land, etc., if they kept winning and got their infamous unconditional surrender. The United States entering just prolonged the whole bloody mess. Did anyone know that Woodrow Wilson (who was a nutcase, by the way; even SIGMUND FREUD said he was a nutcase) supported the Bolshevik Revolution at first?
The US isn't guilt-free of a similar mistake. We were so obsessed with getting an unconditional surrender over the Japanese in the Pacific that we refused to grant them the one thing they asked- they wanted to keep their Emperor- that we kept on fighting through Iwo Jima and finally terror-bombed them into submission. And they kept their emperor anyway. Kinda makes you feel ashamed of your country. It's still our country, but it's not always right: sometimes it's wrong. And you don't properly love your country unless you're willing to stand up and acknowledge that it's not perfect (nothing is in this vale of tears) and that we, too, have done wrong.
Yes, this is me, The Politically Incorrect Guide to Whatever. Personally, I'm surprised no one has started calling me Ms. Wikipedia or something. Can you guess why I identify with Carter in the Kane Chronicles, whom his sister calls Mr. Wikipedia?
Ooh, and on that happy note, the final book of the Kane Chronicles comes out May 1st! I'm not counting the days yet, but I will be a very happy camper on that day, even if The Serpent's Shadow is the last book in that series. Sad face. :( Well, at the very least it has a pretty cover. I'm not one of those people who makes predictions about the next book in a series, but I do think that if there is a scene where some idiot demons/minor gods invade, mistakenly or otherwise, a graveyard and get utterly TRASHED by Anubis (who IS the son of Set, the most powerful of the gods other than Ra, by the way), who would have even more hilariously shown no sign of his powers before then (other than ones involving magical toilet paper... :) long story), that would be perfect. But I doubt it shall happen.
In Pace Christi,
Elyse
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Thursday, February 2, 2012
It's Time For My Thursday Rant!
I think I should just make it official. I do a rant about SOMETHING every Thursday, it seems. This is probably due to my reactions to other people's rants in their tweets that are posted on the back of the Flor-Ala. Seriously, some people are weenies! If you're going to complain, you should probably complain about something which UNA can do something about. UNA can't do anything about tornadoes hitting us at night, for instance. And I doubt they will change the classroom arrangements just because someone is annoyed they have a class on the top floor of Bibb Graves (woo! Took the four staircases outside and inside Bibb Graves to the second floor two at a time today and was barely out of breath!).
But they COULD, perhaps, do something about simple maintenance things. Like 1/2 of the bathrooms having stall doors that don't latch, for instance. Can you tell I found another one of them today? Ha. Oh, and that one toilet in the Guillot seems to be permanently out of order. At least it was the toilet whose seat was about to fall off; it was held on by only one bolt. Fred and George Weasley haven't been in there trying to steal it to send it to somebody, have they?
Haha. I just had to say that! Have you noticed I rant a lot about bathrooms? Bathrooms are important! One of the first things you should learn to say in any foreign language is, "Where is the bathroom?" Wo ist die Toilette, in my case.
While I'm on the subject, I should mention the girls' bathroom in the math building. It floods sometimes. There's been water on the floor when I walk in. And you have to hold the faucet handle with one hand to get any water out, which sort of defeats the purpose of washing your hands. And the place is generally rather dingy.
Oh! Another thing about the Guillot bathroom... the paper towel dispenser now refuses to eject a paper towel when you wave your hand in front of it. Instead, it ejects one whenever anyone walks by. Yep...
Okay, okay, so I've joined the Rand Paul league in campaign for toilets that you don't have to flush 10 times and light bulbs that work. Is that a problem?
In Pace Christi,
Elyse
But they COULD, perhaps, do something about simple maintenance things. Like 1/2 of the bathrooms having stall doors that don't latch, for instance. Can you tell I found another one of them today? Ha. Oh, and that one toilet in the Guillot seems to be permanently out of order. At least it was the toilet whose seat was about to fall off; it was held on by only one bolt. Fred and George Weasley haven't been in there trying to steal it to send it to somebody, have they?
Haha. I just had to say that! Have you noticed I rant a lot about bathrooms? Bathrooms are important! One of the first things you should learn to say in any foreign language is, "Where is the bathroom?" Wo ist die Toilette, in my case.
While I'm on the subject, I should mention the girls' bathroom in the math building. It floods sometimes. There's been water on the floor when I walk in. And you have to hold the faucet handle with one hand to get any water out, which sort of defeats the purpose of washing your hands. And the place is generally rather dingy.
Oh! Another thing about the Guillot bathroom... the paper towel dispenser now refuses to eject a paper towel when you wave your hand in front of it. Instead, it ejects one whenever anyone walks by. Yep...
Okay, okay, so I've joined the Rand Paul league in campaign for toilets that you don't have to flush 10 times and light bulbs that work. Is that a problem?
In Pace Christi,
Elyse
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
And the Pope has cast his arms abroad for agony and loss,
And called the kings of Christendom for swords about the Cross...
-- Lepanto, G. K. Chesteron
Some things have to be defended. Some things simply have to be fought for. That's just the way it is, and the refusal to fight for them means those things will be lost. Only then will their true value be seen. As Ben Franklin say, one knows the value of water when the well has run dry. Or, as G. K. Chesterton also said, a soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.
In Pace Christi,
Elyse
And called the kings of Christendom for swords about the Cross...
-- Lepanto, G. K. Chesteron
Some things have to be defended. Some things simply have to be fought for. That's just the way it is, and the refusal to fight for them means those things will be lost. Only then will their true value be seen. As Ben Franklin say, one knows the value of water when the well has run dry. Or, as G. K. Chesterton also said, a soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.
In Pace Christi,
Elyse
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