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Chesterton's influence
Just to keep this at the top of my LJ...

First, this is not only my personal LiveJournal, but also one about G.K. Chesterton (it is simply easier to use one LJ for both purposes, rather than to have two separate LiveJournals). So expect quite a few posts about G.K. Chesterton in addition to my own regular posts.

So, do you wish to learn more about my favorite author? :-)

( A list of interesting facts about G.K. Chesterton, detailing his influence, both nonreligous and Christian )

Oops. Haven't been keeping up with LJ for the past few days, in spite of my intention of not falling into that habit again...(Can you tell I'm not good at keeping New Years resolutions? :-)). So naturally I decided to start over again today, making sure I don't mess up anymore (though on Mondays and Wednesdays, when I have an evening class at school and so have less time to keep up with it, I probably will. But hopefully not other days).

One thing I am starting to feel really, really bad about, however, is that when I make comments on other people's LJ's, I often do not know what to say, so I end up repeating the same things over again(especially when it comes to praying for others) or making uninteresting comments. I feel especially bad about that because I wish I able to make helpful comments/give advice or contribute something to a conversation to let people know I'm reading and care, but only on rare occasions am I able to think of what to say. (I've never been good with expressing things. That problem is also the reason why I so often post links and quotes on my own LJ, for that matter). ...But I am very grateful for all of you being so patient! Just thought I would state that. :-)

Speaking of links, however, I wished to share a link from the website of one of my friends (

supergrouper) that I thought was hilarious :-)

List of Things to do with a Dried Cuttlefish

My favorite:

Stack two slices of bread as in a sandwich, but with nothing between them. Take a large bite, being sure to leave toothmarks so that people immediately process this object as “a sandwich with one bite missing.” Put the dried cuttlefish between the two slices of bread, making a “cuttlefish sandwich” which appears to have been partially eaten. Place your delightful meal in a public refrigerator, as in an office or school. BE SURE TO LEAVE THE TENTACLES HANGING OUT OF THE SANDWICH- and for best effect, off of the plate onto the shelf.

:-)

(P.S., I suppose soon I will need to do my booklist for

christianreader soon...)

Apology, and skeletons!
I know I need to make and reply to some comments, but I'll have to wait till tomorrow morning, because I need to get some stuff done tonight. (Sorry!)

In the meantime, let me leave with a quote that seems appropriate this week, and which I always post about this time of year:

The importance of the human skeleton is very great, and the horror with which it is commonly regarded is somewhat mysterious...It is a singular thing altogether, this horror of the architecture of things. One would think it would be most unwise in a man to be afraid of a skeleton, since Nature has set curious and quite insuperable obstacles to his running away from it.

One ground exists for this terror: a strange idea has infected humanity that the skeleton is typical of death. A man might as well say that a factory chimney was typical of bankruptcy. The factory may be left naked after ruin, the skeleton may be left naked after bodily dissolution; but both of them have had a lively and workmanlike life of their own, all the pulleys creaking, all the wheels turning, in the House of Livelihood as in the House of Life. There is no reason why this creature (new, as I fancy, to art), the living skeleton, should not become the essential symbol of life.

The truth is that man's horror of the skeleton is not horror of death at all. It is man's eccentric glory that he has not, generally speaking, any objection to being dead, but has a very serious objection to being undignified. And the fundamental matter which troubles him in the skeleton is the reminder that the ground-plan of his appearance is shamelessly grotesque....

AND

...however much my face clouds with sombre vanity, or vulgar vengeance, or contemptible contempt, the bones of my skull beneath it are laughing for ever

-Taken from "A Defence of Skeletons", The Defendant, G.K. Chesterton (1901)

Yesterday at school someone made an interesting observation.

The vending machines there (at least the one closest to our classroom anyway) has Braillle on the buttons for making selections.

Given that there is no way for people to know what is actually in the machine apart from seeing it (or someone else being there to tell them, in which case the Braille would not be needed anyway), this is a puzzle we are still trying to understand....

Today in my surveying class, we had a couple of people from the Kentucky Department of Forestry talking to us about dendrology, trying to help us to learn how to identify trees, and next week we will be going on a "field trip" to learn more. Fun! lol.

Ever since I have come back on LiveJournal a couple of weeks ago, I have not really mentioned Chesterton at all, even though I've been posting fairly regularly.

Come on, you *knew* that wouldn't last. lol. Especially given that this is a LJ also dedicated to recording GKC info. Though admittedly since I am trying to make it more of a regular LJ as well now, consequently I won't have as great a percentage of GKC stuff.

Still, since I recently read a book about Chesterton I wanted to discuss it. It's actually a collection of four short stories written for children from a Chestertonian perspective, but I think its great for adults as well. It's called The Inconvenient Adventures of Uncle Chestnut. You can read more about it at the link

I'll just include an Amazon review I wrote below (one of the few times I've actually ever written a book review on Amazon. lol):

I can't really say much that has not been said already....G.K. Chesterton was one of the most influential (and fun to read) authors of the twentieth century. When he died in 1936, his obituary in the New York Times referred to him as "for more than a generation the most exuberant personality in English literature"

Unfortunately, today he is not read nearly as much as he should be. This book by Paul Nowak, however, is an excellent introduction to Chesterton. While written with children in mind, it is great for adults as well.

Not only does Nowak present a Chestertonian perspective of life in his stories (based on the writings of and incidents in the life of Chesterton), he also is a very good storyteller himself. I enjoyed reading the stories greatly. The book isn't that long (about 55 pages), but what it lacks in quantity it more than makes up for in quality. (And, of course, for many people, the book only being 55 pages is a plus itself, as it makes it more likely they will have the time to read the entire book).

In short, I highly recommend reading this book.

Full disclosure: while I had been planning on getting this book before anyway, one thing that naturally speeded up my decision to get it was coming across this interview, in which the author mentioned my LiveJournal.

But, if you consider my review of the book a little biased as a consequence, just read the other reviews on Amazon. There are 16 total reviews that have been posted since the book came out about five months ago (11 giving it 5 stars, 4 giving it 4 stars, and only 1 giving it lower than 4 stars, itself still a 3-star review).

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In other news, Tony LaRusa will be returning to manage the Cardinals next year, but Hal McRae is going to be replaced by a new hitting coach.

Mark McGwire.

Man, this offseason will be very interesting, no doubt. lol. :-)

"Wife: Arrest him!
More: For what?
Wife: He's dangerous!
Roper: For all we know he's a spy!
Daughter: Father, that man's bad!
More: There's no law against that!
Roper: There is, God's law!
More: Then let God arrest him!
Wife: While you talk he's gone!
More: And go he should, if he were the Devil himself, until he broke the law!
Roper: So, now you give the Devil the benefit of law!
More: Yes! What would you do? Cut a great road through the law to get after the Devil?
Roper: Yes, I'd cut down every law in England to do that!
More: Oh? And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned 'round on you, where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat? This country is planted thick with laws, from coast to coast, Man's laws, not God's! And if you cut them down (and you're just the man to do it!), do you really think you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then? Yes, I'd give the Devil benefit of law, for my own safety's sake!"

-A Man for All Seasons

Very interesting post I just read (found through Mark Shea's blog:

The Age of Unreason

The author deals with the claims that Christians historically have been against "science", especially during the Middle Ages. Of course, I should state that I do not know much about the history of science, and so I admittedly cannot comment much on the specific facts he brings in his argument (though at least it appears know his facts well; I'm just stating my own ignorance). But he certainly makes a good argument, I believe, especially in the various assumptions he is responding to.

BTW, I just found something I'm going to have to get at some point:
___________________________________

By giving you access to thousands of Church resources, right at your fingertips, it’s hard to imagine any better gift to give to the one you love this Christmas!

The Faith Database is an amazing database that you will not want to be without. Search multiple Bibles, Church Fathers and Church documents simultaneously. And there is so much more.

Faith Database

CD contents include:

10 Bible Translations (Note: Some will require Internet access)
88 Council Documents from all 21 Ecumenical Councils
400 Early Church writings
165 Writings from the Doctors of the Church
74 Books from John Henry Newman
112 Books from GK Chesterton
1300 Papal writings/encyclicals
[Illustrated] Old Catholic Encyclopedia (over 12000 entries – 5000 images)
Dozens of other classics including James Cardinal Gibbon's The Faith of our Fathers, Thomas a Kempis' The Imitation of Christ and JP2's Theology of the Body
Search Catechism and Code of Canon Law (Internet required)
Over 1000 Bible Art Images, Over 100 Bible Maps
Illustrated Church history

At your fingertips, you'll have the Summa Theologica (Thomas Aquinas), The Spiritual Exercises (St. Ignatius of Loyola), The Interior Castle (Teresa of Avila), Introduction to the Devout Life (St. Francis de Sales), The Story of a Soul (St. Thérèse of Lisieux), and much, much more.
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At least most of that stuff would be online, of course, but still, it would be nice to have a copy on CD as well. :-)

From yesterday's Gospel reading:

"But Jesus said unto them, Ye know not what ye ask: can ye drink of the cup that I drink of? and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?" (Mark 10:38)

I was tagged by my friend Mardi, and I tag whoever wishes to do this, stating what you like most about the seasons :-)
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In Spring: Easter, beautiful weather, spring training/start of baseball season

In Summer: good weather still (even if warmer than spring), All-Star game (well, ever since 1997, perhaps that's not a highlight anymore. lol.), my birthday.

In Fall: falling leaves, holidays (like Thanksgiving), World Series, most of Advent (since Winter doesn't technically start until a few days before Christmas)

In Winter: Christmas, and.....er....well....(I'm thinking! I'm thinking! lol.) New Years and Lent? Otherwise, I'm just waiting for spring. :-)

Rules of the tag

1. Tag at least three people after your post.

2. Post back to the blog that tagged you.

3. Post the rules of the tag and please don’t post the things you least like about the seasons, but what you like best

If you wish to read a very, very good post, click here. Wow. That is so good...

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Well, this morning I went to Church. Sadly, my priest's niece died a few days ago (prayers would be appreciated. Thanks). So he was not there, and another priest came instead. Afterwards, I came home and wrote a letter that I will be mailing to a friend, and otherwise have basically been on the Internet, not doing much. Unfortunately, I forgot to post yesterday (d'oh!). I'm doing a little better on keeping a schedule at least. Just trying to add a little at a time. Right now, about the only thing I have done is make sure I visit LJ everyday, but that's something in any case....

My drafting/surveying teacher will be out of town on Monday-Wednesday, so as I said, tomorrow I do not have any school (except Geology), and Tuesday and Wednesday,we will be having an open lab to get caught up on any assignments we need to do. Then Thursday will be learning about identifying trees (for surveying class).

Hope everyone has a wonderful Sunday!

Not much to write tonight...I haven't really done much today. I went to the college this morning to see what all exactly I needed to do to find out if I was eligible for financial aid, and later in the day I went out to Wal-Mart and a couple of other places, but I haven't done much else today (except get on the Internet and read from the Bible.)

The other day I decided to start listening to my CD of Gregorian chant I have that was recorded by the choir of Benedictine Nuns of the Abbey of Regina Laudis. Besides the fact that it is very beautiful, the meditations that were included as well were by Mother Dolores Hart, who I have mentioned before on my LiveJournal. That inspired me to search YouTube to try to find a scene with her from one of the movies she was in (before she became a nun, of course. :-))

Here is one that I liked I found from the movie "King Creole" (which I have never seen), where she played "Nellie".

I don't know what I will be doing tomorrow, but hopefully I can get some stuff accomplished over the weekend that I was wishing to. Since I do not have any school Monday except my Geology class in the evening, that should help. :-) Anybody who wishes to help me is more than welcome to. lol.

OK, nothing else to write tonight. I hope you have a great weekend! :-)

Prayer requests
"Preserve me, O God: for in thee do I put my trust" (Psalm 16:1)

I don't have much to update tonight. Rather, I was wishing to make some prayer requests....I have a couple of good friends, and some family members going through some rough times right now who could use some intercession.

The first friend asked for some prayers (and gave me permission to post the following)

...I will take you up on your offer of asking others to pray for me. I would like my name and the personally identifying specific details kept confidential. I wouldn't mind if you mentioned that I, a sister in Christ, has been robbed, maligned and shunned by people calling themselves members of the faith, and as such, I would appreciate prayers for justice, and healing, and reconciliation and reunification.

Also, prayers especially for protection over my son, and that Jesus reach him, and reveal Himself to him, that my son may find salvation as I have. That my son not be brainwashed and led to believe lies. That my son grow to have a heart that is compassionate, understanding, and forgiving, one full of God's love and peace and joy. Also that God convict the hearts of those who've wronged me, only so that it may lead them to repentance, that God be merciful on them, and give them the opportunity to get right with Him, and to make amends with me, for the sake of God's Kingdom, and of my son, who is an innocent in this.

Also, since I am not the only one affected like this, please ask whomever you do, to include not just me a sister you know, but all mothers, fathers, people, who are affected in similar ways to me. That God reach out to them, touch them, give them peace, comfort, joy, and justice.

Another friend also is going through a very difficult time, and while I do not wish to give any more information than that out of respect for that person's privacy, it would be very much appreciated if you prayed for her.

And finally, I ask you to please continue praying for my sister and her family as well. Thanks.

Hmmm. I'm wishing to start updating every day (*cue sound of moans from everyone* lol) but unfortunately on Mondays and Wednesdays I have Geology class in the evening, which makes me get home later at night (this past Monday was an exception since I did not have class). Hopefully I'll be able to do it in any case. Anyway, I am feeling better about my regular classes. As I stated, I have been struggling a little (in a couple of classes), but I have seemed to be doing better this week, I think (especially in one class in particular). I am very glad that my teacher is so patient. He is very good as well.

One thing I have recently done is canceled Dish Network....I had no problems with it; it's just that I hardly ever watch TV anymore (and I only had Dish Network because of one channel in the first place, which I can watch over the Internet, though with some problems). At least that is one thing I won't have to be worrying about paying anymore. :-)

I also cleaned up my LJ profile a little...(It looked a little cluttered. :-))

OK, nothing else to write right now. Except, I nearly forgot, tomorrow is my nephew's eighth birthday. :-)

Something a friend shared... :-)

BTW, I am planning on sending out Christmas cards this year....(Which I haven't ever done before. D'oh!) If anyone wishes to receive one, please email me an address to send one to. Thanks! :-) (I know it's early, of course, but I just wish to have the information I need already when I do get to sending them out).

Wow...I'm updating for the third day in a row...I wonder how long its been since I did that.

Anyway, I was fortunate that tonight I did not have geology class like I usually do on Mondays (and Wednesdays also). So I was able to come straight home tonight after my other classes. I also found out that I will be having *only* geology class on Monday, and none of the other classes. So that will be nice to have a little break (even though I just got done with a five day break. lol.)

One thing I have been doing for the past month or so is trying to read through the Bible from beginning to end...It's been a couple of years since I did that last. Right now I'm in 2 Kings, and I hope to finish by the end of the year (Once the semester ends about December 12, I'll have some more time).

I suppose before I forget I should list the books I read in September (I still haven't updated on

christianreader, so I'll have to do that later....

( Books read in September )

OK, not much interesting, I realize, but I decided perhaps I should share some daily stuff more often...

Hope everyone has a great week!

Promised to Joshua:

"We will obey you as completely as we obeyed Moses." (Joshua 1:16)

Am I the only one who ever wondered if Joshua was thinking to himself something along the lines of "That's exactly what I am afraid of!" lol.

OK, that was random. :-)

Anyway, went to church this morning. The Gospel reading about the rich young man (Mark 10: 17-30) makes a very good basis for a reflection on the value of detachment.

Even detachment from caring about the fortunes of your favorite sports team being swept in the first round of the playoffs. lol.

OK, nothing much else to say right now. Hope everyone is having a good Sunday!

An update
I really, really need to keep up with LiveJournal more. :-) I am going to try to do so, starting next week. I actually have an idea to make sure I start keeping up with stuff again: starting a schedule! Keeping my time a little more organized would be very helpful. :-)

Anyway, I've been back in school for a couple months almost. The classes I am taking right now are Drafting Fundamentals, Parametic Modeling, Surveying (with a Lab), and Geology. I've been struggling a little bit with everything for various reasons, but I'm hoping I will start to do better from now on. I am very fortunate in that I have a great teacher for my main classes*. In fact, he is probably the best teacher I have ever had in my life.

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to do much reading lately....In September, I only read three books (and none so far this month). Hopefully preparing myself a schedule will help in that area as well. As it is, I've decided to start getting rid of a lot of my books (At last count, I had over 1300, and I'm trying to get rid of as many as I can).

Finally, if everyone could, I would greatly appreciate prayers for my sister. I do not wish to go into details, but it would be much appreciated. Thanks!

OK, I realize that I have a boring life, and so I will not be taking up any more of your friends page. :-)

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*Noticing that the way that is phrased could be misleading, let me emphasize that my geology teacher is great as well. It's just that I am referring to my other teacher at the moment.

I really need to follow LJ more....D'oh! (I've been checking here and there, but...) If I have missed any specially important posts by anyone (since all posts are important, I needed to add the qualifier), please let me know. Thanks!
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From the Illustrated London News (March 17, 1906):
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I see somehwere in the papers that a man has exercised his testamentary rights by leaving his wife a rope to hang herself. Over this bequest, it is not surprising to learn, has arisen a certain discussion about the reasonable limits of the legal fulfilment of wills. It certainly seems a little odd that the legal officers should be called upon to convey to a person the instrument of a legal crime. It opens a vista of possibilities. I may leave to some large and powerful acquaintace of mine a heavy axe or club to which a label shall be attached with the words "To kill Lord Northcliff." The legal officers are duly to carry this simple tribute to the legatee and to leave it in his hands. On my deathbed I may bequeath to my sorrowing relations the whole of my outfit as a criminal; bequeathing my jemmy to this nephew, my revolver to that, to another my dark lantern, to another a skeleton-key fitting all the front doors in the street. I may leave to my family a row of little bottles of poison, each correctly labelled with the name of the literary rival to whom I wish it to be administered. Some people die and leave a cellar of champagne to be divided among all the hospitals. I may die and leave my little cellar of arsenic to be divided among the hospitals. Some people leave money for the improvement of public buildings. I can leave dynamite for the improvement of public buildings. All these things, perhaps, the law will gravely and respectfully carry out. Perhaps it will publicly and politely present my heir with the large dagger ultimately designed for my oldest creditor. Perhaps, on the other hand, it won't.

I do not know how the law stands about the gentleman who left a rope for his wife. Perhaps, like religious orders in the eyes of some theologians, it depends upon the intention. One is, perhaps, too prompt in supposing that the legacy implied a hostile and malignant feeling towards the surviving partner. Perhaps the husband merely meant to convey the hope that his beloved wife would soon rejoin him in the spirit world. Perhaps that piece of rope was really a dubious-looking compliment. Or again, there is another hypothesis. Perhaps he felt that his wife was too much disposed to a superficial and insincere pessimism, and that the sudden suggestion of death would remind her of the essential happiness of living. I can remember that in my ardent youth I carried about in my pocket a large but harmless revolver, and whenever anyone said, "Life is not worth living," I produced it, and always with the most satisfactory results.
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"What then? If he be like to die, he had better do it, and decrease the surplus population."

Scrooge hung his head to hear his own words quoted by the Spirit, and was overcome with penitence and grief.

"Man," said the Ghost, "if man you be in heart, not adamant, forbear that wicked cant until you have discovered What the surplus is, and Where it is. Will you decide what men shall live, what men shall die. It may be, that in the sight of Heaven, you are more worthless and less fit to live than millions like this poor man's child. Oh God! to hear the Insect on the leaf pronouncing on the too much life among his hungry brothers in the dust!"
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-Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol

Interesting interview with bestselling author Dean Koontz concerning his faith....(He's a convert to the Catholic Church). I haven't ever read any of his books, but apparently he's a pretty popular author (his books have sold over 400 million copies).

You can find a link to the interview (about 30 minutes long) as well as a few excerpts from it here:

http://catholicexchange.com/2009/08/01/120925/

Here's a couple of them (and yes, I *did* have to put the GKC reference in bold. lol):
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Dean Koontz: By the time I was going to college, I was looking for a different path from where I had been. Then I began to be drawn to — I wouldn’t say more organized, but a more formalized kind of faith. I did become engaged, more and more as the years went by, by the intellectual rigor that lies behind the Catholic Church. A lot of people will possibly laugh at that but if you know St. Thomas Aquinas and some of the other famous writers of the Church — or laymen who wrote brilliantly from a Catholic perspective like G.K. Chesterton — then you understand what I’m talking about. There is a deep intellectual basis behind it and that always appealed to me.

CC: A facet of your book Brother Odd that I appreciated was that it established that faith and science are not enemies. When did you realize that faith and science…are historically linked as walking hand-in-hand?

Dean Koontz: The birth of science comes out of the Catholic Church. People always say, “No, no, Galileo.” They don’t really know the history; they just know talking points. The reality is through various times in the Catholic Church, various sciences were founded and encouraged. There is no distance between (faith and science) except for what people try to make for political reasons. I’m interested in a number of sciences. I read a lot in quantum mechanics and I’m interested in molecular biology too. They’re not incompatible with faith but especially quantum mechanics. Quantum mechanics is ever-more describing a universe to us that’s uncannily like some things that faith believes