not quite right

Friggin fraggin. The person taking care of the funeral program misspoke and told the layout person that the program was good as-is and did not need formatting. I did the photo collage and indeed that was ready to go, but the text was unformatted and the spacing needed adjusting. It was also missing the text that was to go down the edge of program on each page. So now we have several hundred rather primitive looking programs. Unbeknownst to Gumby and I, we were to be the ones to fold them. We just stumbled into the task. They don't fold straight down the middle; the folds are offset so that the edges are staggered. Someone else's initial attempts were horrendous. So I set it up approximately right. But we didn't have all the programs. Elsewhere someone has approximately a hundred and had already folded them all--straight down the middle no doubt. We brought the ones we folded home so that we could staple them--we have a long-reach stapler. As for the other hundred, we don't have them so they're not stapled. Sigh. Not your average funeral.

out of it

Been kinda busy. Doing what, I can't remember.

I did a little something with the Dominican volunteer stuff last week and that took a little time. Not sure it is of any assistance to them, but I had fun while working on it.

There has been death in the "family." Not close to me, but I did have to spend a couple of late nights dealing with the funeral program. I didn't put it together, I only had to put it in the computer and then send it to the right folks to finish. The funeral is Saturday, so I guess the wake will be Friday night. The whole thing is not your normal death/family/funeral deal but I don't want to get into it. Oh, it was a natural death, if you're wondering.

I didn't go to work on Monday. Tuesday and Wednesday I was at work but I was either half-asleep or downright sleeping on the job. Wednesday night was Red Mass at the Cathedral then a dinner out with a friend. Today I was still struggling with sleepiness. At this moment, I am finally feeling kinda awake.

The thing I lost is still lost. Yes, I've implored St. Anthony, Jesus, Mary, and any Saint I could think of. "Jesus, Mary, I love you; save souls. And please restore to me the xx I lost." If I could be so distressed over this lost thing, then just imagine Jesus' "sorrow" over a lost soul! For the sake of Jesus, may all souls be saved!

My second of two church volunteer gigs has started back up. May my head be clear enough for me to juggle what little multi-tasking I have signed up to do.

backpack shield

Talk about sign of the times: you can now send your kid to school with a "bullet resistant" shield in their backpack. I think it's actually bullet-proof, but less chance of a lawsuit if you just say bullet resistant. Heck, I think it's a good idea. If you're a scout, you ought to have one of these handy, eh? I suppose it would be a bad image if they start carrying these things in college bookstores. I'd like to have one, though I'm not sure what I'd do with it.

doo

Doo-doo, that is. I'm in doo-doo. I seem to have lost something that was not mine to lose. I've searched the logical places; the illogical ones don't register in my brain. I've been on the web for hours searching for a replacement. No luck. I have no talent for looking and finding things. I don't remember well, either. The frustration is ... @#$% frustrating!

a fitting lid

I made an impulse buy and got a plain baseball cap the other day. It's my first. The "ONE SIZE" tag caught my eye as I was cutting through the section. "Oh yeah?" I thought. You see, I've not found a hat to fit me. They're usually too big. So I stopped and tried it. Too small. Hmm...this might work. I let the adjustment out a bit and after some fidgeting, it fits. Turns out it's a youth cap. Even then, the adjustment is toward "smaller" from what would be a neutral setting, resulting in just a slight pooching out of the back of the cap. And the dome was not too deep. I put it down but hovered a bit and picked it back up on the way back to the front of the store. I checked the adjacent display for a girl-specific version but no dice. That's ok. So now I have a cap to keep the sun out of my eyes (most of the time). It works best when the sun is high.

So if baseball were never invented, would there ever have been a baseball cap?

Come to think of it, when I was at the local bicycle shop ("LBS") years ago, the fellow said "wait a minute" and returned with a youth helmet which then actually fit my noggin. Hey, that's competence. So support your LBS.

day with the OP's

The Dominicans hosted a day of prayer today for us discerners; I was fortunate to be able to attend. I think we all had a great time. And I'm grateful that the Sisters gave of their time, effort, and resources to do that for us; I know they're very busy.

One of the discerners had visited Grand Rapids Dominicans. I asked her whether she knew Natty. After a little memory jogging, it was, "Oh, yeah, I know Natty!" She asked whether I knew Natty and I said only through her blog. Aint it cool?

And Natty, if you're reading this, I can't divulge her name but I can say that she takes lots of notes. She was writing, and writing and writing...

the family grows

I was at the Cathedral today instead of my parish. 27 adults were received into the Catholic church. Hooray! I'd estimate that a little less than half were catechumens. Also as usual, the rector gave a great homily. Happy Sunday to all.

anticipation

I just can't wait until they open the new cat scratcher!

obedience IS difficult

Obedience is difficult. When I last met with my Dominican liason, she had challenged me to spend 15 minutes daily to meditate on God, and to begin pronto. This was based on the fact that my spiritual director has repeatedly urged me to adopt such a habit. I balked at the challenge because I had failed so many times at this endeavour.

But because I love my Dominican liason and consider her a most wonderful gift from God, I resolved the next day to follow her prompting. I was no stellar performer at this, and at my next meeting with my spiritual director, we discussed the matter some. Then after that meeting, I pretty much fell off the wagon as obligations once again crowded my schedule. So busy was I that there were several nights when I had but a few hours of sleep. But things have now leveled off (for the moment) and I need to try and get back on the wagon.

Today is first Friday, and we have Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament at my parish. I stopped by for my 15 minutes with the Lord. (Sorry, I can't do and hour yet.) In the incredibly long 15 minutes, my mind lollygagged hither tither. But it did occur to me that if my Lord had requested that spend 15 minutes with him daily, then I have in effect said to my Lord, "I can't." Now that ain't gonna cut it is it?

What do you do when you fall down? You get back up. And if you fall down again? You just get back up again. So here I go again.

Hopefully I'll have a better report when I meet with my spiritual director next week.

wonderful

I know some wonderful people. The term "know" is used loosely here. I can't help but praise God, for He has made such wonderful creations as these, the wonderful people. The existence of just any ONE of these wonderful people is sufficient for me to declare that this world cannot be a bad place. This world is wonderful simply because you are in it.

cat

fun mail

Oy, mail from friends is always fun. I have received a surprise package from Natty! In her travels she has taken me with her by keeping me in mind. See what she has collected for me (sorry the photo isn't better).

The "...the story of the The Old Cathedral" booklet has a copyright date of 1949 (and an old smell to accompany it). The church bulletin bears the more recent date of June 24, 2007. The back cover of the booklet has a photo of the altar. It can be compared to the postcard to see how it has changed over time. Booklet, bulletin (and offering envelope), and post card are from St. Louis, Missouri. The brochures are from Illinois.

It will be some time before I get to really looking at these things.

Anyhow, THANKS NATTY!

photography knick knack

new vocabulary

KAP: kite aerial photography. A method for obtaining aerial photos by attaching a camera to a kite string and thereby rendering the camera airborne.

Picavet: A method/contraption for maintaining horizontal alignment relative to gravity, suspending four corners using one continuous cord threaded through two pivot points.

This is interesting how they use kites to take aerial photos. Other options include radio-controlled planes and helicopters, or helium balloons. None of these options are cheap for me if I am to render my relatively spanking new A630 camera airborne, which is not usually recommended due to the possiblity of crashing. Also, it's kinda heavy, requiring larger or more powerful "vehicles" which drives up the price.

intervalometer: the functionality which enables the camera to take shots at fixed time intervals

The KAP folks never mention "intervalometer." I bet they would love to have this function. This functionality seems hard to come by. Lucky me, I happen to have bought a camera for which there is a hack (CHDK hack) which provides this function!

Yes, I have tested the intervalometer function. It works! It will be fun to set it on a tripod and let it take pictures every so many minutes ... at the Dominican meeting next week. I will turn off all its sounds so that it does its business rather discreetly. Its little red focusing LED will still shine before each shot, else we can just forget its there.

Labor Day

May everyone have a great Labor Day. I know there are jobs that don't have holidays off. These include hospital, nursing home/home care, law enforcement, retail, and technical suppoort. I feel for you guys. My "summer job" didn't allow holidays off and I have since learned to really appreciate my paid holidays.

May we all have jobs that bring out the best in us and enable us to support ourselves, family, and church spiritually and financially.