In memory of Mr. John Williams

The belt of Christ about you

on your going out and on your coming in.
May God be on your road every way you go.
And in the name of Him who made a pathway of the waves,
may He bring you safely home at the end of the day.

Requiem aeternam dona ei Domine:

et lux perpetua luceat ei.

Family and Frozen Water

This weekend I decided that I may as well go home for a spell (after all the home folks are only 2.5 hours away). I tend to do this random sort of thing every now and then, get the idea in my head that I want to go home and...There I am! So I left Ypsilanti around 9:30 on Thursday night (the last warm night before God left the heavenly freezer door open) with out a care in the world looking forward to a few days with the family. Yea...So I ran right into a fierce wind/ice storm that blew across the northeast (hurricane force winds at times). Needless to say it was very interesting and I discovered that weather reports can sometimes be good things to listen to before trips...lesson learned.

I did make it home all in one piece thanks to divine intervention I think! I arrived around midnight/one in the morning and just decided to crash in the living room so that I didn't wake anybody up (when I come home...I just come and nobody ever knows...yea spontaneous). So in the morning I am greeted with a "hmm...That's interestin'" from my dad...they don't get surprised anymore. They even thought that I might show up that weekend as I have an uncanny way of picking the worst times to come home.

So I am home...the countryside is magically changed into an icy landscape reminiscent of the frozen land of Narnia...but it is FREEZING COLD! On top of all that all I have is light clothing and a spring jacket (lack of weather foreknowledge again) and the electricity is out because of the ice storm...and where I live...its stays out until everybody else in the country has electricity...we live in a low priority area (to the right is my road just to give you an idea). So my weekend was fun...

Needless to say I was happy to get back to school for a hot shower, hot food, and warm bed (without having to wake up ever few hours to replenish the wood stove). I think that I am getting soft living in the city...oh dear!!!

Efemi-phobia

So...Are the interest that you have what defines you?

Earlier tonight I was in the John Vianney common Room watching the Olympic games with the guys. The luge, speed racing, all was good and filled with adrenaline and the testosterone was getting rather thick for the United States...When low and behold (gasp! shock! horror!) Figure skating comes on. I like figure skating and I am not afraid to say so, and fight vehemently to keep it on...but that does not matter in this dorm of guys filled with a fear of (shock horror) watching such a feminine thing as figure skating...ugh...

I am tired of the common conception among guys that manliness means that you cannot have an interest in certain things. That figure skating is somehow something that is just wrong for a guy to like. Liking these certain "feminine things" does not affect your masculinity. Masculinity is an interior strength, of purpose, character, and of personal integrity. What you like has not basis...because that is in large part an exterior part of you. What you do may define you (ie show your character), but what you like has nothing to do with it at all. Masculinity is not affected by what you like, but how you live your life and certain "men" need to learn that.

This notion that a guy having finer tastes then the majority of his boorish and unimaginative fellows somehow means that he lacks in masculinity is bogus. I don't like sports, I find it boring and I hate it when people get so competitive (its a game guys...its not your life!!!), that's just me, if you like it then its fine. I like figure skating and would rather draw, play music, or (gasp, shock, horror!) watch the Style Channel, HGTV or...Sense and Sensiblity. I appreciate beauty and I find it in a lot of things...but not in sports. So there you go...now you know. I am a man, and having conventionally "feminine" tastes does not make me any less of a man.

That's what I think, so there you have it!

I don't like doing all this computer stuff...

You know! I am not a computer geek! All I want is to simply be able to fix my blog the way that I want without having to figure out all this computer language!

ugh...

Well in other news, I am trying to get a little more dedicated to my fledgling blog and actually post here a bit more. My consolation, however, is that Meghan has not updated her blog since I last posted either. Small consolation, but laziness seeks some company.

Okay that is enough for today...other than that it is SNOWING!!! Finally winter has decided to bless us with some more of the the lovely white stuff!