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wJun 4, 2010 | |
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Rage Elsewhere on the Internet, in a post that is unfortunately locked, various things have been purported. I am sick to death of motherfuckers telling me that entire aspects of my identity do not exist because of the labels they ascribe to me. Because I am Catholic, there is no way that I could hate my bishop, want women to be priests, or be adamantly supportive of the separation of church and state. Because I am religious, I must have never given any serious thought to politics (even in spite of my major in Political Science), why rituals are performed, or what the Bible actually says. Clearly, I am a sheep - right? Because I spent two summers working as an unpaid intern for a Republican, there is no way that I could be a Democrat (at least, not according to nearly every Democratic office in the Wisconsin State Legislature). Because I am a 24-year-old woman, I must want to get married as soon as possible. Because I am pro-life, I must not be a feminist. Extremism in any form is dangerous. And taking away someone's ability to construct their own identity is harmful - even moreso when we are all potential allies. We are all angry about something. What I'm angry about is everyone buying into the soundbytes created from false dichotomies that assure us that our goals are not common, that our enemies are each other. And that we must stay busy fighting one another, so that we are incapable of waking up, banding together, and doing something. In the end, I think that everyone wants to make the world less fucked up than it is now. The way to start is to think, to dialogue, and most importantly, to challenge people around you every day to analyze and deconstruct their own lives. And to stop acting like jackasses. Labels: identity, politics, religion scribbled mystickeeper at 8:45 PM 
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wMar 14, 2008 | |
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What's your favorite liturgical memory? I think that former members of my high school Youth Liturgy team will appreciate this story. I'm a member of the liturgy team that meets once a week at the ungodly hour of 7am. This week, as a sort of ice-breaker, we went around the circle sharing our favorite liturgical moment. One said, getting his marriage blessed by the Pope. Someone else said watching people get full-submersion baptism on Easter. And then it was my turn. "Hmmm, it's hard to choose.....I guess my favorite would be Pentecost that one year, when we set the baptismal font on fire."scribbled mystickeeper at 12:06 AM
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wFeb 5, 2008 | |
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Everything and its mom I should blog, in order to prove to the Internet that I do other things than just watch anime. However, by the time I have enough spare moment to get a blog entry together in the evening, I have reached the point in the day when my bitterness threatens to poison my words and thoughts, and convince me that things are much worses than they truly are. My time is consumed by work, class, homework, and barely having time for life-things like groceries and shopping. Although I am still afraid of graduation, I can feel my insecurities slipping away as my resolve hardens and I realize that this isn't going to be bad at all. What the hell am I so afraid of? Life? I can totally do this. I am hopeful that this will force me to kick myself into higher gear. Ash Wednesday Speaking of having a full life, though, tomorrow I'm going to be gone from 6:30am until after 9pm. The only time I'm going to have to go to an Ash Wednesday service will be at 8:00am, which means that I have to walk around with ashes on my forehead all day. I never understand why the Ash Wednesday reading always has Jesus telling people not to make a big deal about it publicly when they pray, etc. And then we all get marked and leave it on all day. I might wash it off when I go to work, but I'm not sure yet. I'm not a fan of mixing government and state, but this is more like....practicing my own religion and not pressing it on others, right? Speaking of Ash Wednesday....I have no idea what to give up for Lent. Did I even do anything last year? I suck at being Catholic. Politics and the Ideal I spent my evening watching the election results with Antoine and Chad. My favorite TV show of all time is The West Wing, although I haven't watched it in quite some time (I really should). Chad sent me a link to a clip of the show tonight, and I find it pretty fitting after watching Mike Huckabee talk to ABC's Charlie Gibson about his good fortune tonight. Gibson asked Huckabee why he had invoked references to the Bible in his campaign thank-you speech. Huckabee told Gibson that "Bible" was not a second language to him, but a mother tongue. Blah, blah, your mom. It's no secret that I consider myself a religious person. But I've never understood people tendency to mix religion with government. We either live in a free nation, or we do not. Separation of church and state aside, it's always bothered me that by layering on all kinds of archaic rules, people tend to miss the whole point of Christianity. OMG BUFFY/ANGEL WHY DOES NO ONE TELL ME THESE THINGS!? The actress who played Willow on Buffy is married to the actor who played Wesley. OMGWTF. AND, Christian Kane (Lindsey in Angel) is best friends with David Boreanaz (Angel) in real life. THAT IS SO CUTE. OMG!! SPOILERS Labels: college, graduation, politics, presidential election, religion, tv: angel, tv: buffy, tv: west wing scribbled mystickeeper at 11:57 PM
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wDec 8, 2007 | |
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The Golden Compass I feel like most of this post will not be helpful to my friends who are avid readers, especially of the fantasy genre. But I do have friends who don't read much fantasy, and haven't read The Golden Compass, so I'm imagining it will be more helpful to people who read my blog, as opposed to LJ friends. No, I haven't seen the movie yet. (And, I am afraid for when I do, as a couple of my friends who are fans of the books have posted in their LiveJournals that they didn't like it, :( ) I've been exchanging a couple of messages with a friend from middle/high school via Facebook, after she joined one of the many "Boycott the Golden Compass movie" groups. For the life of me, I simply cannot understand the line of logic that would lead a person to boycott the movie. Yes, in the plot of this fictional story, the goal is to kill God (aka, The Authority). And, all over, the message from people is, "OMG! These movies/books will teach our children to be atheists!" (PS: The Golden Compass was originally published over 10 years ago, and I don't recall any similar outcry. This furthers my belief that fundamentalists who enjoy boycotting things DO NOT READ.) I don't think so. At least, I grew up with The Golden Compass being one of my favorite books (and it still is), and I am still a Christian. I am even still Catholic, despite the book's portrayal of "the Church." Like the Harry Potter series, I think that the books do an excellent job of teaching children that it is okay, and even honorable, to question authority. But this all beside my point. So, the books are supposedly anti-Christian because of a corrupt Church, and a plot that revolves around killing God. Has anyone ever read Paradise Lost, by John Milton, on which the books are based? (Even taking the title of the trilogy, "His Dark Materials," from a line in Milton's work. In Paradise Lost, Satan is a protagonist! Oh no! Think of the children! Think of all the students who are forced to read Paradise Lost in university! They will all instantly become atheists, due to a sympathetic portrayal of Lucifer! But where could the plot of Paradise Lost possibly have come from, this blasphemous work that has influenced The Golden Compass and its sequels? Where else could one find such a story of a character rebelling against God? Wait, that sounds familiar - the Bible! What a horrible thing for a book to teach our children! Our mindless, influential children, who will believe and emulate every story they ever read! Let us boycott the Bible without reading it in its entirety! Let us call upon others to do the same! Seriously. In general, I have always failed to understand why people would boycott books like To Kill a Mockingbird or Harry Potter because of their subject matter (or for any other reason). But I guess I just feel like the controversy surrounding this movie (and, only now, the books) is beyond idiotic. I've already heard from friends who didn't like the movie. Here are my hopes for the movie:
Labels: literature, religion scribbled mystickeeper at 11:16 AM
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wJun 23, 2007 | |
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she swears the moon don't hang quite as high as it used to I know, I sucked at blogging this week. Mostly, it's because I have been experiencing a constant state of nausea since last week Friday. All day, every day, no other symptoms. And no, readers, I am not pregnant (my co-workers, sister, and brother-in-law have already been sure to ask me). Yes, I am sure. Not that it's anyone's business, but unless I'm carrying the Second Coming of Christ in my womb, I am not pregnant. Just feeling about to throw up, all the time. Antoine has convinced me to call UHS tomorrow, though, and at least talk with the people over the phone. Speaking of this sickness and the "pregnancy" people thought I had - they referred to it as a possible "immaculate conception." NOES. It is a common misconception (bwah, a pun!), but the immaculate conception does NOT refer to the virgin birth of Jesus. Immaculate Conception refers to the idea that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was born without Original Sin (according to Catholic theology). The idea of Jesus being born from a virgin is simply referred to as a virgin birth, so far as I know. So! Be aware! This Thursday was similar to the last few Thursdays in that after work, I went out with co-workers for drinks. I still like beer, and also like margaritas, although I'm pretty much drunk after 1.5 of them. I haven't sampled much else in the way of alcohol, although I tasted gin, and it was a magical experience. Must try it again. My friends assure me that alcohol is a magical world, and any time I am unsure, I should just drink more. Luckily, thus far I've managed to not drink to excess, and have had generally pleasant experiences. I need to read more. I have all of these books that I want to get through this summer. It's turning out to be a pretty excellent summer thus far. I'm excited for next Tuesday - the Senate will take up the budget in session. Nobody leaves until the budget is done. Last time, two years ago, they were in there for 23 hours. I am bringing a 12-pack of Diet Mountain Dew, a toothbrush, and a change of clothes, and am hoping for the best. Most of my co-workers are apprehensive, but my mentality is very much OMG SLEEPOVER IN THE CAPITOL! Except, you know, no sleeping and I intend to go to work the next morning (I could definitely not go in and my boss wouldn't care....BUT I LIKE MONEY). Antoine missed the 6:00 bus from work today, so I drove out to Verona to get him (yes, I am tooting my own horn; I am a nice girlfriend!). In doing so, I got to drive through hills and farmland and greenery. I guess that I don't think about it too much, but I spend a ton of time in the city now, and I really miss being so close to countryside. My parents are Up North this weekend, and I wish that I could be with them. Being Up North probably contained some of the best memories of childhood - going out for the most excellent meals with my parents and other relatives, swimming in the lake, walking in the woods, the drive up there through woods and stops at antique stores, and lounging in hammocks, the pontoon boat, couches, and beds reading through the stacks of books Mom and I had hoarded from the library. I need to start planning my life a bit more in advance than I already do, and maybe I can make it up there more than once this summer. That would be awesome. Current Music: 3am - Matchbox Twenty Labels: family, religion, work scribbled mystickeeper at 12:39 AM
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wApr 29, 2007 | |
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Then, I am still and wait here in the silence... You may or may not be wondering what books I decided to mooch after seeking your advice. It turns out that I spurned you all! I went for the Star Wars manga instead. Manga is more expensive, even when used, and more difficult to find at both bookstores and libraries. As for my computer, my boyfriend Antoine told me to download the free anti-virus program avast! and I did. It took a while to do its huge scan-thing, but now my computer seems fine again. Apparently, it caught 75 corrupted files that Symantec Antivirus and Spy-Bot could not. Ridiculous. I'm still at my parents' house for the weekend, which has been very peaceful. My sister has her parents-in-law staying over, so at nights I don't even hang out there - I've just come home and worked on homework, watching anime, and reading. It's a nice break from everything before I go back to school for three more weeks of hell before summer. My purpose in coming home was to attend a family gathering at my sister's house, celebrating my niece Amelia's fourth birthday, my niece Olivia's First Communion, and my cousin Sami's Confirmation. Going to church for Olivia's First Communion was so nice. I've felt so disconnected from my faith lately, and have felt bad about it. It's part of me and I need it in my life, but I haven't yet found a way to feel okay about it at Madison yet. While I sat in the pew with my family during the mass at which Olivia made her First Communion, I looked up and saw Carrie, one of the most amazing people I've ever met and so very much a part of what my faith was in high school, and Alex, my good friend Jennifer's younger brother and a member of a youth liturgical planning group we had formed at the church when I was a freshman to create "youth masses." Sitting by them made Nativity feel like home again. I hope that this summer, when Madison is much more quiet and I have no stress of homework, I can find a parish, or find my place in a parish I've already attended. This feeling of peace and strength is part of who I am, and I can't keep losing it. My thoughts on Spring 2007 anime thus far Or, at least, what I've been able to watch. So far, I've been using anime as a reward for working on my mountains of readings or preliminary paper-writing work. So, I'm behind on most series and still haven't watched all of the ones I want to sample (not even Victorian Romance Emma, season 2!). Romeo x Juliet, ep. 3 I wrote so much about this episode that I gave it its own LiveJournal post, complete with screencaps. Enjoy! Link is here. Bokura no anime, ep. 1 This series looks pretty meh. 15 kids at a summer camp randomly walk into a cave and discover a man and his computer (which get plugged into what, boulders?) network. The man promises a "game" which needs beta testing, and each kid, minus the fourth-grader (the rest are seventh-graders) touches a metal panel to seal a contract. They then watch the creepy older man fight a mecha robot with his own mecha robot. What the mecha robots are doing is unexplained. I found the premise pretty unbelievable. Additionally, the characters seem very one-dimensional. Each one has one defining personality characteristic. After the creepy guy battled the other mecha robot, he disappeared. My prediction is that each episode will focus on one character, and come down to a will-they-won't-they-fight psychological stuff. I'll try one more episode to see if the premise gets a little more believable, but for now I'm not a huge fan. My friend Louise has a detailed post with lots of thumbnail screenshots here. It also appears as though she enjoyed the episode much more than I did, so you gain another perspective there. Claymore anime, through ep. 2 The main character is a half-demon, and her job is to slay demons, being employed by a faceless organization that "creates" Claymores, females who become half-demon and fight demons so long as they control their sanity (at which point they have to be killed). The stories in the first two episodes were pretty not-surprising nor imaginative. It seems like a pretty common fantasy story, actually. A young boy follows her from the first episode and becomes her cook. Clare tries to remain emotionless and detached from him. She kills demons in various towns. Yawn. Which is a shame, because the animation quality is pretty nice. I'll try to keep an eye on what other anime bloggers have to say about future episodes, in case it starts to look interesting, but I'll stop watching for now. Labels: anime, anime: bokura no, anime: claymore, anime: romeo x juliet, family, religion scribbled mystickeeper at 1:08 AM
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wFeb 26, 2007 | |
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why am i not asleep yet? I still need a new blog layout liek whoa. This one is starting to disgust me. I procrastinate. Today was weird. I wrote a paper on Thomas More and Utopia (which inevitably makes me think of "Ever After" and is probably the reason I rewatched it a few weeks ago). I also wrote essays on how Romantic writers viewed women, how Hans Christian Andersen idealized nature, and how two other Scandinavian writers wrote about peasants. And that was basically my entire Sunday. There was this blizzard thing this weekend and I haven't left the house since Friday evening. I'm really not looking forward to walking around tomorrow. I like my boyfriend! Not much happened this weekend, but I forgot to mention something that I find interesting about dating. Six months is a long relationship for me. This is my second of two relationships EVER (unless you count the time in 6th grade when Chad and I "dated" for a week and a half), and everyone keeps assuring me that the "OMGYAYness" will wear off soon, or should have already, but it hasn't. On Tuesday, for instance, I was feeling crappy, so I called Antoine up and we met at McDonald's for dinner. McDonald's. And yet, when I hung up the phone, there was this grin of inexplicable glee on my face, and my mental thought process was something like this: "I GET TO SEE ANTOINE! AND EAT FRENCH FRIES! AND BE WITH ANTOINE! IN TEN MINUTES!!!" It's really weird to feel happy all the time. I mean, I feel pissed about homework and tired from work and confused about life-after-college, but I'm talking about day-to-day overall mood. There is no depression (except for the odd hormonal imbalance), not quite as much cynicism, less hating of myself. It's weird and I'm wondering if those things will come back with the OMGYAYness leaves. Church Attendance (or lack thereof) Part of this bit is just me saying things that have been on my mind for a long time, but a recent entry in Steph's blog got me thinking. I think I went to church last Sunday for the first time this semester; I didn't go on Ash Wednesday despite making time for it because it was literally the only time I had all week to catch my breath and study for Friday's Shakespeare exam. Church-going is something of a strange habit for a college student, maybe. There are certainly things the Church does that I don't agree with, but I don't really see that as a reason to stop going. I don't think I agree with all of the tenets in any organization I am, or have ever been, a part of - even Anime Club has rules I don't agree with, and I'm the freaking president. I certainly don't agree with any of my friends on every issue, but I still spend time with them. I don't know. I guess that, for me, if I feel like I grow in a certain environment, I'll keep going. I don't often feel like I grow in church due to the other people who inhabit it, or at least not often. In my experience, it's rare to find a priest who gives a homily that is deeply based in Catholicism and challenges me on my own beliefs and why I act the way I do. I've met about 4 such priests in my lifetime, and although 2 of them are at the University Catholic Center, I still don't go every Sunday. And why not? The reasons sound cold, but they are true. I find it very inconvenient to go to campus on Sundays. Going in my own car makes for the most efficient there-and-back game, but it's difficult to find free parking on campus, and I really don't care for either of the priests at the parish close to the house here in Madison. Sundays are my only uninterrupted day for homework. Also, I don't have to go. I mean, I should go and I would like to go, but unlike, say classes (which I also find inconvenient, and in some cases, useless - unlike mass), there aren't tangible consequences for me not going. And what are the intangible consequences? I feel like I'm kind of slipping in my faith. Not like I don't believe in it any more, or like I don't want to go any more, but like I'm slowly falling off a cliff and nobody's really noticing. None of my close friends here at school regularly go to church except for Paul. Although, Paul doesn't go until 5pm and by that time I've already mentally decided, "I have too much homework to be able to go to church and also get to bed at a reasonable hour." I find it really sucky that my personality and views on faith seems to clash with people at my campus parish. I never realized how lucky I was in high school to be able to go to church with people who had realistic faiths like mine. And I guess it really feels like I have no one to share that with here at school, and I'm kind of afraid that I never will again. It's not like I was conditioned to feel guilty about it. I mean, technically Catholics are supposed to go weekly, but my parents never really habitually went on Sunday mornings. So while my brain is like, "Okay, whatever," every time I think about the fact that I haven't been going to church, I feel like crying and not knowing why. I don't even know what I'm giving up for Lent (and yes, Lent began 5 days ago), but still. Labels: antoine, college, religion scribbled mystickeeper at 1:07 AM
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wDec 24, 2006 | |
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3 manga down....1 stack of books to go! I really don't understand the hype surrounding Barack Obama. I mean, he seems pretty cool. But, the man gave one good speech at the Democratic National Convention, and it hasn't really done much since then (aside from almost completing his....first term as a senator! The guy has no experience! I don't know. We'll see what happens. The 2008 election will be interesting, if nothing else. Also, someone has created a very amusing Christmas greeting about the origin of Santa Claus, and setting it to the music and (altered) text of the opening of Battlestar Galactica. It is here, and you should watch it even if you don't watch BSG, because it is amusing. Anyway, I should go. Mom becomes upset if I sit down for more than 5 minutes, and wants me to do things like fold stray blankets. Also, Dad is making me vacuum the stairs! OMF, Christmas Eve at our house! I should probably shower before we go to mass at 4:00 pm. EVEN THOUGH Catholics are supposed to go to church twice this weekend - once for the 4th week of Advent (you should've gone yesterday afternoon or this morning) and then again for Christmas (tomorrow/tonight), I'm only going once. But, can I say that sleeping in today for the first time in a very, very long time was SO nice? Because it was. I really hope that Jesus understands. If I had had another 'first day all semester to sleep in,' then I would have gone twice. Labels: christmas, family, holidays, politics, religion scribbled mystickeeper at 12:33 PM
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wNov 1, 2006 | |
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Shits, it's 3:58! This is kinda random, but I really appreciate the fact that I don't adopt any sort of "blog persona" when I write in here. I can't stand people who are overly pretentious, or who act like they're the smartest or most interesting people alive. My blog might be dry, or sometimes random, but I think we can all agree that it's me, pure and simple. OMF, Halloween! We had like, three trick-or-treaters come to our door, lol. VG Cats had a funny Halloween comic. I know it's 4 am, but I slept for an hour and a half on Antoine's couch earlier tonight, so it's okay. Actually, it's probably not okay. I should go to sleep. What the hell is the matter with me? Today's been kind of weird. I haven't gotten much done in regards to homework. I did, however, take my oral exam for Political Science, and I got a good grade! So excited! Also, we sorted out the crap with the Internet/cable bill, so things are okay for now. That took care of a lot of stress! Gee, it looks like I get to write a letter to the Madison Catholic Bishop next! It has always bothered me a lot when Catholics are very gung-ho about their anti-homosexuality. Because according to Catholicism, the reason homosexual sexual relations are wrong is because there is no chance for the couple to reproduce. So if a Catholic is going to condemn a homosexual because of their immorality, then they should also condemn every person they know who is having sex while using birth control. Which probably includes themselves. The first thing I did was make a Facebook group. I didn't have time to go through my entire Friends list, so I just added people in Madison who go to St. Paul's...and also Eli Judge, who's in charge of my campus' chapter of Students for a Fair Wisconsin. If you'd like to join, go here. The group is global. You should invite other people, too. The group is supporting a boycott of mass in Madison on Sunday, November 5th. I already have two members (including me)! The bill isn't just about gay marriage - I don't think most people who intend to vote yes realize that it also bans civil unions for all people in the state of Wisconsin, whether they're straight or gay. Labels: college, politics, religion scribbled mystickeeper at 3:58 PM
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wOct 24, 2006 | |
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you practically raised the dead First of all: Guess what I found today in the closet/attic space when I finally gave up and put the window fan away?? No, seriously; guess. No. No. Okay, I'll tell you: A SPACE HEATER. It has been here THE WHOLE TIME. I screamed/cried with joy. I screamcried. I am a very clumsy person. Last night, Chad was showing me how to set his alarm (OMG I have a snooze button now! Maybe I'll stop sleeping until it's time to scarf down breakfast and run to catch the bus!) and I got up off of my bed and lost my balance. I tried to catch it, half-twirled, and landed heavily on the ground, half-doing the splits and then crumpled in a fit of giggles. This afternoon, I decided that on the way to the bathroom, it would be a great idea to leap over my basket of laundry. Of course, I went straight into the wall, knee first. So now my knee has this hideous bruise on it, and any time I bend it, I feel like bone is rubbing against some other bone. Hopefully it'll go away once the swelling stops. For now, I hobble around trying not to bend it, and climb the stairs on all fours. I actually bruise very easily. Does it mean I have some kind of disease? I finally watched the latest episode of Battlestar Galactica. Oh, man. Can I just say how much I love this show right now? Definitely the best show I'm watching on TV right now - I'm trying to love Studio 60 because Aaron Sorkin made it but thus far I think it's pretty crappy; The Office is obviously funny and I love Pam/Jim, but it's not as dark as I need it to be; Grey's Anatomy is about the sex lives of doctors. It's a fun soap opera, but you only get so much out of it. But, Battlestar Galactica? I'll fully admit that some of the second half of last season was sucky. It got stale. The characters, the premise, everything. So what does Ron Moore and the writing team do? This is what they do: In the middle of the last season finale, they jump one year into the future. They use a planet as a plot device, and basically mess with every character, especially a select few, as much as they psychologically can. Then they reunite everyone. Staleness? Totally fixed. Can I say how much I love Colonel Tigh right now? And I've hated him for the last 2 seasons! I love how this show manipulates your feelings for the characters. You never stay comfortable (except I've always loved Starbuck), never the same. So awesome. Even if you "don't like" science fiction, you should give Battlestar Galactica a try. Seriously. Best drama on television right now. I think that episode is tied for some West Wing episodes for the best 43 minutes of television that I've ever seen. The church I attend here in Madison is called St. Paul's. It's right on State Street, and pretty heavily populated by UW students. One of the priests' name is Father Victor, and I like his homilies a lot. He's probably my favorite part of going to that church, because he's really cool. He spent 30 years serving in Sierra Leone, and was twice captured by rebels (and escaped the second time). While in prison, he saw people's hands chopped off, and eyes plucked out. The man has his own Wikipedia page. He's publishing a book some time this fall, presumably about his life in Sierra Leone. I want to read it. There's another article here. Badass. A Trader Joe's store opened up here this last Friday, and my housemates and I went there this evening. I got lots of delicious food, and it was all very reasonable, too! I only spent $15, I think, so that was good. I'll need to scope it out more thoroughly in the future. Why do professors who force their students to read 50+ pages of articles per week not give them a reading packet?! Seriously, the money I spend in ink is going to end up being double what I could have spent on a reading packet at Bob's Copy Shop. Your Jackie Quote of the Day (and actually, it was yesterday, but I fell asleep before I finished blogging): (To Chad, who is standing in the kitchen with his hands in his pockets, looking at me expectantly) "Don't stand there waiting for conversation! Go back downstairs! We're done!" Current Music: The Pot - Tool Labels: friends, religion, tv: battlestar galactica scribbled mystickeeper at 11:12 PM
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