And I was just starting to like nature

I went for a walk yesterday. In flip flops! I must admit, I have always had a fondness for the flop-flop noise that they make! I was so happy after my walk!

I went for a walk the night before with...umm...TheOrganPlayer. I complained rather loudly about how I wanted to see a bunny and then he mocked me for loving small woodland creatures so much. Of course, we can't hate him too much for this, dear friends, because he also makes sure to make me special vegan treats at dinner parties and never lets people pick a restaurant without first consulting me as to whether or not I can eat a reasonable meal there. Hee. Watch out, MMMono, he is going to take your place as my bestie.

In other news, I found this article today and am now afraid of the outdoors. Yes, my love affair with spring has come to a sudden, crashing halt due to science.

Coming soon to a blog near you: Aussie Adventures.

Thinking too hard

I watched the Quiz Bowl team compete with another school this afternoon. Wow. I would have cleaned-up all by myself! We won, of course, because Catholic education is so superior. And one of the kids on the team is a verifiable genius. He skipped grades and everything. He checks out hardcore science books for leisure reading.

Part of the problem that the remainder of the team faced, I noticed, was an inability to ascertain what the question was asking. They couldn't pull-out keywords. Even the smartest kids are not information literate enough to kick major ass at trivia.

I found this interesting graphic that might explain, to some extent, what the problem is. Also, the brain is displayed in a life-like pink color!

There is a work party this evening, so I shall likely regale you all with a lovely tail about that fabulous brand of entertainment in the days to come.

Top o' the mornin' to you!

Today is a great day. It is sunny...and excellent bar-hopping weather. Which is excellent for me, because it is the feast of St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. Apparently, in Ireland on St. Patrick's Day, they all go to church. Here in America, we feast on beer. Green beer, at that. Green is my favorite color!

Today is also an AWESOME day because yesterday I got a fabulous prize in the mail: a form to fill-out for Toi! You guys!!!!!!! I flove forms!!!!!!!! No worries, Toi; I shall refrain from using green ink.

Speaking of Ireland, I am going to Ireland this summer. On a bus tour. That way, my cousin and I can just be drunk the whole time and then stumble onto the bus in the morning still drunk or hung-over and then sleep and wake-up to take a picture of the Blarney Stone and then sleep some more. Preferably not on the Cliffs of Moher.

In other news, I am going to look at a house on Saturday. Look at it with a Realtor because I am considering a purchase. I...I don't know what has come over me.

Ash Wednesday

Thank to Dr. Marko--or "The Bobber" if you prefer--I can no longer take Ash Wednesday liturgy seriously. He railed-on one day in class about how Theologically preposterous the whole concept of Ash Wednesday is.

His points:
1. Starting on Wednesday means that Lent is not 40 days long. No mater how you count it. Lent ends with Triduum, so Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday do not count in the 40 days of the Lenten season. If you skip Sundays you come-up short.You certainly can't skip every-other Sunday. It's all just a cover-up of some pagan-ism.
2. Sundays are not "mini-Easters" that you can cheat on during Lent. It is the blank Sunday of Lent. They count as Lent. And I quote: "The Priest is in that dorky purple. It's Lent."
3. "Who the hell keeps their Palm for a whole year and then remembers to bring it back to be burned and made into nice, clean ashes. What a load of crock. The Church buys it from a distributor--they throw away your dead, brown palm."
4. That song that we sing every Ash Wednesday about rising again from ashes and "an offering of ashes/an offering to you" that we grew up on and just love? Heresy. It is gnostic heresy.

So, here I am at the school mass, trying not to giggle as the Bishop goes to town marking up the children with not so much a cross of ashes, but an entire forehead full of ashes. And then I wiped-off my ashes after school to go to Mass again with my RCIA candidate. Does that mean that I have to give-up two things for Lent this year?

**UPDATE: OMG! I flove Stephen Colbert! He wore his ashes on the Colbert Report!!!!**