Sit-coms should only run a couple of seasons.

Short runs are better.

I've always thought that most sit-coms should only run a few seasons, since the writing generally gets so bad after an extensive run. "Seinfeld" was an exception - the writing got better and better - except the finale bombed. Remember "Mad About You"? I loved it until the kid came a long - way to wreck a good show; have a baby. "Friends" got pretty bad after awhile - but since they were my only friends, it was hard to say good-bye. British sit-coms seem to run a few seasons only, such as my favorite classic, "Faulty Towers" - I still watch it on tape. The best sit-coms were short-lived. "Designing Women", "Square Pegs", "Cybil", I better not go on - these are all really old sit-coms.

Anyway, I think blogs are like sit-coms in that respect. I only visit about 7 or 8 blogs regularly, and maybe 3 or 4 daily. That's kind of a lot. I don't really know how many visit my blogs - I have the neo-counter but hate the scrolling so I never wait to see the total. I have SiteMeter, but I've never installed it. Whatever, I don't think I get that many visitors -except when I post about the Legionaries of Christ - I should make each comment I 've received on the Legion a post - hey! that's an idea!

The Internet is a curse however, or is it just the blog that is evil? Since I have started blogging I have lost touch with the real world. I lost interest in my job and quit. I lost touch with family and friends - okay - I was never in touch with them. I hardly go out to social functions - okay - that is all the same as well. I know - I don't watch TV like I used to do. Of course TV sucks because they cancelled all the good sitcoms. Anyway - I've lost my life to blogging!

I read too much news on line and miss the TV news where hardly anything is ever reported. But it was nice, it limited my scope and formed my opinion. I was so much more open to the idea of say, war with Iraq and nuking Iran. Oh, that's right, National News doesn't carry the nuke Iran story - yet. But you know what I mean.

As far as Catholic stuff goes, I was pretty darn happy not knowing about all the liturgical abuses and other crap that goes on in the Church. When you blog and surf other sites, you find out about accusations of bishops pilfering money (Bp. Pilla), or getting beat up in a domestic situation (Bp. Pellote), or some priest running around the neighborhood naked.

Speaking of gay, I don't think for a minute that Senator Craig is gay. Why can't we take a man at his word? He told us he isn't gay. He should have simply told the press, (ala George Michael's "this is what gay people do!") "Get over it, this is what bi-sexuals do!" Doesn't the "B" in GLBT stand for bi-sexual? And shouldn't GLBT people and their supporters be coming to Craig's defense? That includes Republican and Democrat politicians. Talk about hypocrisy. (Again, LOL!)

I'm burnt out on the gay thing though. And all of the Church weirdness gets old too. Especially the coffee and donuts non-issues; like talking in Church, what people are wearing, leaving Mass early, Communion in the hand, altar girls, female ushers, big bosom-ed cantors, etc.. And I can't stay interested in all that ordinary versus extraordinary stuff, who agrees or disagrees. I better stop with that subject however - some people have devoted their lives and blogs - in some cases they seem to be synonymous- to these issues.

It seems my writing has become more labored and cautious however. When I first started out, I just wrote whatever I thought about. I was much freer. After a year and a half of writing - which I've made a creative substitute for painting I guess (LOL!) - I feel more restrained - nay, restricted. I don't like that. I'm always worried about getting people upset - you know, some of the church ladies - male or female.

Once again, I'm thinking about cutting back or even quitting the blog. Although, on Abbey 2 there is a calendar of days which shows the dates I don't post. I'm kind of OCD about that - I hate it when a day shows up that I missed a post - it's like a time clock thing in a way - so I almost feel compelled to post something each day. (That's okay though, Adoro.) I don't know what I'll end up doing. Probably posting this will occasion a flurry of posts - a veritable renaissance. Every time I think of quitting, it seems I come up with stuff I want to post. So maybe this complaint will get me out of my slump.

For a long time I've always wanted to do a post on the costumes worn by certain organizations of Catholic knights - you know, capes and berets that are wrinkled and smell like mothballs, or marabou feathers that are grungy and dirty. I have a friend who is a Marist priest, and one time while we were visiting, as I was walking around his room looking at things, I picked up a huge blue satin skull cap. He collected art and antiquities, so naturally I thought it was something from a bygone era. Laughing I asked, "What is this?" Somewhat defensively, he replied, "That is part of our habit." On second thought, I better not make fun of what people wear.

Princess Diana

Tomorrow is the 10th anniversary of her death. I have been told Mother Teresa was very fond of her.

The Crusaders...

(I loved that group - "The Crusaders" - with Randy Crawford of course.) Cathy has a good post on some local crusaders who go to dissident parishes and quietly pray the Rosary for truth. She has posted a schedule of where they will be.

I remember years ago, I used to bunch my Rosary in my hand as I prayed it so that people wouldn't notice. That is because the Rosary was considered old fashioned and people labeled you as a "Wanderer type" or "pre-Vatican II" if you prayed the Rosary and wore a scapular. That was the '70's - an era of flaming liberalism and charismatic prayer groups. Even the monks of my monastery looked down on the Rosary. Now I don't care if people see the beads.

Guess who I ran into at the Minnesota State Fair?

Cathy at the Beer Garden. That girl sure knows how to have a good time.

Blessed Teresa of Calcutta

"To surrender means to offer God my free will, my reason, my own life in pure faith. My soul may be in darkness. Trial and suffering are the surest test of my blind surrender... surrender is also true love. The more we surrender, the more we love God and souls. If we really love souls, we must be ready to take their place, to take their sins upon us and expiate them in us by penance and continual mortification. We must be living holocausts, for the souls need us as such." - Blessed Teresa of Calcutta
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I'll be off-line for a while.

Carry on

Post Vatican II Reforms...

Snarchitectural Digest.

Look what happened to this Church after the renovation was over. I like the green rug and glass ceiling however... kind of a Hogwart's illusion thingie going on.

(Thanks to Jeffrey at Roving Medievalist for the photo.)

"What the heck goes through your mind?"

Private thoughts from the toilet... made public.

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My mother often asked me that question; "What the hell goes through your mind?", and I'd lie and say, "I don't know?" Another time a commenter to this blog scolded me and wrote, "You don't have to write everything you think about." (I thought, "Oh shut up!")

Most people who read my posts and are the recipients of my comments also wonder the same thing. So here are some things I think about when I'm engaged in mindless works, such as brushing my teeth and other stuff - geniuses do their best thinking in the shower you know!

Some things I thought about today while showering and shaving...

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Women and make-up. Why do they wear it? I have to admit that I like women with make-up - if they do it right. I love dark smokey eyes on women - like Janet Jackson used to wear - I've always liked women with eye-liner and heavy mascara. I hate colored eye shadows though - you know, how old women wear blues and greens, and you can see all the creases.

I hate hard, red lips - especially on blondes... now this thought came to me as I looked in the mirror, with foamy toothpaste dripping out of my mouth, down my chin, and I noticed that my lips were darker than the rest of the skin on my face. So then I wondered why and realized that is why women wear dark lipstick - you get it? I still like pale lips though.

Poop

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Have you ever wondered what happens to the stuff you flush down the toilet? Like where does it go? I know, the sewer and the sewage plant - but how does it get there from my house? Is it a continual flow of water that carries it away?

Crap

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Thinking about bloggers, I wondered how many there are who really do have mental problems - or how many are as Catholic as they seem to be? Don't you ever wonder about that? Then I said to myself, "Don't get started on that bullshit!" I drive myself nuts sometimes. A very long time ago, when I would drop acid - years ago - no one liked to trip with me because I'd get so intense about analyzing people and things. I always ended up freaking out because I ended up categorizing and pigeon-holing everyone, and I didn't like what I saw. I think that is why I now like mentally ill people so much - they do that - it doesn't mean they are right of course. I wasn't always correct.

BS

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Arguing with people. Why do people who disagree, while both believing that what they believe is truth, bother to argue or debate? Doesn't the one cancel out the other? Say you meet someone who by his lifestyle and actions is hell-bent on going to hell, and he doesn't believe as you do about salvation and stuff. Why not leave him alone and let him go to hell?

Doody

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Normal - in a way I always wanted to be normal, but when I looked around at what people commonly associate with normal - it scared the hell out me. Mental people often think they are normal - these are some of the types who blog. (Remember, I'm not normal, so I'm in another category. And both my Dr. and Spiritual Director told me I'm not mentally ill! Gosh! That means I'm culpable then!)

"Your life is in the toilet."

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As I was shaving, I had to wonder why I do it - shaving that is. (I haven't shaved in 3 days.) I'm just as ugly shaven or unshaven - why do I even care how I look? When I go to the store - which I intend to do in a minute - I'll see ugly fat people just like me who don't care what they look like. A lot of guys don't shave - well - some women don't either.

Why do women have to wear skirts and dresses? What's wrong with wearing pants - if they didn't wear dresses and skirts, they wouldn't have to shave - same with sleeveless tops. Women make their lives hard for themselves - men don't.

Bitch, bitch

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A commenter on another post on same sex sexual harassment was miffed that I excluded male to female sexual harassment. Hello! That's all we ever hear about anyway. She mentioned how guys always look at her boobs. I wanted to ask, well do you wear tight tops? Do you wear t-shirts with printing on them? Do guys read the printing? I mean, where are people supposed to look, busty? Dress like a slut - look like a slut - a guy is going to look... not that wearing printed t-shirts is slutty - not at all - I was just thinking of how some younger women do kind of dress, should I say, less modestly.

Impressions - snap judgements - we all fall prey to that stuff... it gets old - and we are usually wrong about something. (Except me - I really know a great deal about people...)

Old

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Speaking of old - Dyed hair. Not on old guys. Most women probably should dye their hair though - or at least get hi-lights. (If they dye their hair, they should always have hi-lights, otherwise it looks dyed, and that looks dumb. Just like women with tight perms.)

Somehow all of this leads back to eternity - not the cologne though. Every once in a while I get this "Ah! I don't know what" feeling popping into my consciousness. I once referred to this as a 'contemplative moment' and some bitch commented, "I don't think there are any contemplatives here" - she meant on my blog. (See how scary it is to reveal your true thoughts?)

Ms. Religious-know-it-all-I-have-a-degree-in-theology didn't get the point. What I was referring to was when sometimes, just for a split second, you can get a glimpse - it happens to kids all of the time - like when they are starring at the sky and the thought of eternity enters in, only to disappear before they can grasp it... faster than the speed of light. It happens. And when it happens, most of the stuff I think about seems pretty stupid.

Mindless drifting

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I wondered who is going to win "America's Got Talent" tonight as well. Don't you just love Sharon Osborne? She used to be a porker.

Then I was thinking how Chris Cuomo on GMA reminds me of Little Freak. I felt badly because Little Freak hasn't called, stopped over - even though I never let him in - he hasn't emailed, nothing. All I can think of is that he's found out the true me and doesn't like me.

(I think Fergie is hot.)

When my mother was dying and she and I were planning her funeral, she told me she was sure no one would ever show up because no one liked her. (That's where I got that attitude!) Her funeral was packed with people I had never met - losers she had often been kind to and befriended, as well as a few notable people. (A tear; forefinger tracing it down my cheek.)

We are all going to die - then everyone will know...

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Are you ever afraid that if people find out the true you they won't like you? I know! And that explains why I never socialize, talk on the phone, or write about what goes through my mind - although I'm kind of doing that now.

I have to go to the store, and the bank, and I want to make a visit at Church. They lock up in the afternoon, so I pull up to the door in my car, and sit there, making my visit from outside - since the entire church is really one big tabernacle - don't you agree? After all, Matt Talbot used to kneel in prayer on the church steps before the sacristan unlocked it for morning Mass.

...

Anyway - I really have to go - but I thought I'd write about what goes through my mind. It changes all the time - LOL!

It ain't over, it ain't over yet...

The Monster that devoured Cleveland... Scandals.

Naked priests, battered bishops... Church scandals. The Cleveland Diocese now has a new one - embezzlement charges.

CLEVELAND, Aug. 19 — A former assistant treasurer of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Cleveland is to go on trial Monday, accused of taking part in widespread financial mismanagement and looting of church funds. - NY Times

It ain't over yet.

Leona Helmsley, dead at 87

Well, I hope not. R.I.P.

Doctor! Doctor! Mr. M.D.!

I think I have to see my proctologist, Dr. Seymour Butz, who will probably send me to my urologist, Dr. I. P. Daley. I hate going to the doctor.

Desperately sick people...

Internet addiction.

A report out says Internet addiction is a form of OCD and is worse than sexual addiction, gambling and kleptomania:

Internet addiction is classified by mental health professionals as an Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, a mild to severe mental health condition that results in an urge to engage in ritualistic thoughts and behavior. "Internet addiction is not manifesting itself as an ‘urge.’ It’s more than that. It’s a deep ‘craving.’ And if we don’t make the change in the way we classify Internet addiction, we won’t be able to treat it in the proper way," Dannon said Friday in a release. - UPI

My first thought was about all of those people at work, wasting hours out of their day, surfing the net and blogging on the job. But the study is actually pointing to teens and people in their mid-50's as the true addicts. Obviously the office workers aren't being caught yet. Like gamblers who embezzle money from their companies to support their habit - Internet surfers at work pretty much embezzle time from the employer.

I consoled myself as I concluded, just like gay activists who persuaded the Psychiatric profession to remove homosexuality from the list of mental disorders - if we Internet addicts stand together - we can get this one off the books too. (Those pesky mental health professionals! Always looking for more business!)

Best new ad...

The new Old Navy denim ads are the best - the music is wonderful - the vocalist has a Billie Holiday style about her. In a time when Madison Ave. ads are on the down turn - business isn't good - Old Navy tops the charts with their new ad. Have you noticed how French looking and sounding some of the ads are getting?

That's hot!

Hundreds get naked to expose Global Warming.


Is it art or is it politics? (Maybe it's Maybelline.) All I can say is that I'd be embarrassed - you know - shrinkage. (It doesn't just happen to glaciers.)

Anonymous comments.

Closet snarks.

I've never liked them - and obviously, they have never liked me or what I've had to say. I have to wonder however, why do they post anonymously? Are they afraid I'll snark them out - or somehow beat them up? Or are they hiding their identity so that others won't think badly of them for what they had to say? Or do they know me and occasionally see me - friendly to my face, but having another face they don't want to show?

Anyway - comment moderation is staying on and anonymous comments will not be posted in the future. If you want to say something negative that is fine - but get some balls and leave an identity.

St. Clare of Montefalco

Today is her feast day. As a young teenager she first consecrated her virginity to Christ, clearly comprehending the unitive power of holy chastity with her Divine Lover. She died in 1308; following her death, a crucifix was found miraculously inscribed upon her flesh above her heart. It is preserved uncorrupted to this day, as is her body.

Calling Miss Marple...

Dark at the top of the stairs.

"The Roman Catholic Diocese of Gallup is insisting its bishop was injured when he fell down the stairs at his home, despite speculation he might have been assaulted." - Las Cruces Sun News

And so the speculation and investigation continues. Bishop Donald Pelotte insisted he fell at his home, yet his injuries suggest an assault - which is why the doctors were obliged to call police in the first place. He had been discovered locked in his room at home after a representative of the diocese went over to check on him when he hadn't shown up for work at the office.

"The local Gallup Independent newspaper has published two editorials calling for a police investigation.

"From everything that has come out, we have no doubt that this is what happened: Pelotte was viciously assaulted and now he's trying to cover up either because he wants to protect the person who did it or wants to keep secret the relationship he has with the perpetrator," the newspaper wrote Aug. 11." - Las Cruces Sun News

"Gay. You're gay."

Daddy Bear...

I hinted at it in a previous post, but new revelations are coming out and I have to say - yeah, I was right, this priest has a history. Gerald at Closed Cafeteria has more. I'll bet it's a NAMBLA thing going on with this guy.

Post title: From KQ "Brainerd Cash Call".

Did you read the latest study?

Men are the most miserable in their mid-30's to 40's - not until the age of 65 do they start feeling better about themselves. I guess my 2 decade-long mid-life crises isn't so unusual then -like I'm supposed to feel better about this?

Where's Cathy?

Snap out of it!

"Cathy, you just can't walk out on Ray and I! Don't fall for that tuxedo-clad, soap-opera-loving charmer, Mitchell. And Vincenzo - so he promised you a film career - do you even know him? Think about all you are throwing away!"