Last night's disjointed entry was the result of too much multi-tasking - I was knitting on the latest hat, IM-ing the Girlchild, then on the phone to the Boychild, then on the phone to the Girlchild, then...you get the picture.
Hot topic du jour: the acquisition of a puppy. Girlchild has had dog fever for some time now, and I am willing to get her a wee canine as a pre-graduation gift. She is wrestling with the breed decision. She wants a small dog, because her return to the nest at the end of this month is but a pit stop. Any pet must be apartment-ready, because when she leaves again she will be taking it with her. Her friends have a pug and a longhaired chihuahua and she is in love with both breeds but is thinking purse-sized and travel ready. A toy poodle is the front-runner right now. I'm leaning toward poodle myself, I like the idea of non-shedding and low-allergy potential. The cats have a lock on the shedding and triggering guests' allergies duty and they don't need backup. We had miniature poodles when I was a child, they are very smart, delightful little dogs. Who knows what we will end up with, but it looks like at some point this summer, Murphy will become an uncle.
So last night we were talking dog talk in IMs. It will be interesting to have her living at home again for the first time in four years - many of my evenings end up in IM conversations and it will be quite a novelty to NOT chat with her online. I have made a point in recent years of not giving out my IM screenname to many people because online chatting is the mother of all time eaters. Girlchild is pretty much the last person I ever instant message, and when she is living here, suddenly my hands will be free to pursue other activities. What a freakin' concept!
I feel my ability to write something coherent and interesting waning lately. Maybe I'm having a bit o' Blog Burnout. It appears that the great Kerstin has hit blogger burnout - not surprising, considering the detailed, researched and well written political and social commentary she'd been cranking out for months. I, OTOH, am burning out on babble. I have intentionally laid off political ranting because it was wearing me out. I don't know how Kerstin kept it up as long as she has - keeping up with the bullshit fed to us by the Bushies and their friends in the Not So Liberal Media is a more than fulltime job and mentally draining - it's playing an insane whack-a-mole game, chasing the lies and distortions. It wears you down and makes you crazy.
Anyway, I've been thinking about blogging and why I do it and realizing that lately I'm boring myself, so I can't imagine what a thrill it must be for others.
I think this week I will pull out the knitting books and allow myself some shameless Start-itis, pull out the beads and fool around with them, plant some flowers, pull some weeds, send out more resumes, spend more time reading, and give myself some interesting things to blog about.
Film at 11....
I don't have strong feelings about JPII's passing, either. In some ways he was what was needed, vocal and public. However, he took a hard stance on many doctrines tenets and I just could not agree. He was far too conservative for me.
ReplyDeleteIf you're interested, I've been listening off and on to miscellaneous discussions on Radio Canada International on JPII and his influence. I caught the tail end of an interesting discussion this morning that his death means the possible reopening of debate on several issues, such as the ordainment of female priests.
I listen partly because I get homesick, but it's also nice to have a different view of world news, even if it is Canada-centric.
http://www.rcinet.ca/rci/en/
Go to the bottom left hand side and under "Listen in English", click on the player of your choice.
I have strong sentimental feelings, for a dear man who impressed me very much. He was a doctrinal hardass, this is true, but very gentle in his actions, and he took the Church further than anyone expected to see it go - for contrast, look at some "More Catholic than the Pope" websites - they make JPII look quite liberal. I think overall he did a good job of bringing the Church forward a few hundred more years. I noted on MSNBC they were handicapping the cardinal contenders, and most were either liberal, moderate, or "moderate to conservative" - so if this is a horse race, the odds are good. ;-)
ReplyDeleteHeheh. I'll be very interested in who gets appointed.
ReplyDeleteThose "More Catholic than the Pope" types I find somewhat scary. I've always thought of the Catholic Church as one that encourages intelligent debate, but these people are of the "My mind's made up; don't confuse me with facts" school.
My Catholic upbringing was heavily influenced by my Jesuit-educated father. It's an intellectual decision, argued into the ground. It is SO not "The Church Says SO and That's That!" That is the media-created impression, that every time the Pope says ANYTHING in public, it's doctrine. The most recent distortion of this is the Schiavo matter - yes, food and water should not be withheld under reasonable circumstances, but is 15 years reasonable? Not according to the standard that has held for centuries, but the media didn't say THAT, did it?
ReplyDeleteAnd there are millions of people like me - At this point I call myself a Jesuit-influenced Franciscan leaning Catholic, with some Buddhist icing on the cake. The biggest mistake I see, judging from the world around me, is the media position that the Church is a monolith with room for only one POV. It has never been that in my lifetime.
Oh, don't get me started on the Schiavo case. You'll run out of room.
ReplyDeleteThere were a few lone voices trying to make themselves heard above the media din, explaining that the Catholic Church does not condone heroic or extensive measures to extend a life that is basically, done. The dramatization of her being without food and water made me angry, as well as the twits trying to bring her water. What did they think they'd do? She was hooked up to a feeding tube for a reason. If they tried to give Schiavo water by mouth, they'd have drowned her.
I wasn't Jesuit-influenced (I don't think). My mother was not terribly devout. I only went to catechism and mass and a catholic school when we lived near Mom's much more devout family.
But certainly some Buddhist icing on the cake here, too.
It's not so much burnout, it's more a serious lack of time right now. Also, I'm tired of feeling hopeless and powerless and I want to change the focus of my sites. Just because we're being led by assholes doesn't mean we have to be perpetually angry. We need to give those moderate conservatives a reason to turn progressive! I agree that the Pope had a kindly demeanor and I liked his economic progressivism. But when he blamed feminism for the world's ills, he lost me. I think he would've felt differently if he had been born a woman. ;) And I won't start on his handling of the priest rape cases. Argh. Hey, have you read anything by Karen Armstrong? There is a good article on her in this month's Utne.
ReplyDeleteI'll be in Sanibel in a couple of weeks and I should be raring to go when I get back. I hope. :)
Kerstin
Cathering, I am also a Catholic with Buddhist leanings like you. I do agree that JPIi has taken the Church further than many ever thought he would but it still has a ways to go, I just hope the next Pope does not take things back.
ReplyDelete