CATegoreez

okay - so I’m a writer and an artist trapped in an accountant’s body.  whatever.  BUT, I want to be more organized about this blog and am trying to give things a more efficient/professional look and feel.

So - one of the features that’s cool about WordPress is that I can organize posts by CATegory AND by Tag.  Cool, eh?  This means that I can organize my thoughts better.  Which… um… is part of why I like blogging.  It helps me organize my thoughts.

Currently I’m thinking about:

• Knowing God
• Creation Cares
• Human Cult-ure
• Stoopid “Christianz”
• On Being A Woman
• Mrs.Q’s Memoirs
• Loving Philadelphia

… but even THAT feels like too much stuff.  Hmmm… I’ll have to think about it.

 

Lucky Cat

Well - the new site is under construction at WordPress instead of Blogger. Don’t get me wrong, I really like google, but WordPress iz bettr. Anywho - I needed an Avatar, so I posted a snippit of this:

It’s a beautiful cat, which reminds me of my own dear Zipporah (aka the Wife of Moses, and Zippy the WonderKat.) Also, this lovely Lucky Black Cat shares my appreciation for the water and for beautiful plants. So, I cropped her and made her mine.

But, to give credit where credit is due, the painting is not my own. This is the original artwork of a British artist named Sally Anderson in Devon, England. Check out her work. She has some lovely pieces… and a fine taste in felines.

 

Teh Ceiling Catz Ebbidense

An reed teh commenz, too!!1! LOLZ!!1!

 

Paris Sucks

Runway models are dying to get jobs, because they’re starving themselves.

After a rash of deaths in the last year or two, some EU countries are requiring that models have a healthy body fat index…

Wall Street reports that one model, Ali Michael, (i thnk she was undr wt last yr) gained 5 lbs and… couldn’t get any runway gigs this year!!!
– she could only land a Japan gig.

go figure.

Paris… women are dying to get there.

unfortunately, most of the complaints i’ve heard about paris this year have been related to the FUR!!!!
– how dare we kill animals. killing models seems so much more humayne…

 

I can haz Vegas?

bwa ha haaaa… vote for me and send me to Las Vegas!

More on the online Poker Cats Contest

 

Me and My Dad’s Email

I get a lot of emails from my dad, but he never writes (or wrights) any of them. My father is a Right-Wing Republican MSN/CNN-Ditto-Head. He has a gun collection, lives in the Virginia mountains and is a card-carrying militia member. And… he knows how to use a computer, so he churns out recycled Right-Wing Propoganda better than a million monkeys at zombie-bot typewriters.

[Note: in hindsight, this may not be terribly fair. So please note, my issues are with the extreme nature of the emails I get. Not... um... necessarily with my dad. ]

For the most part, the emails are either really cute or complete bullshit. So, I let my sleeping Wolf lie. But every now and then I get one that really pisses me off… and I reply. I should know better — he’s just my dad and he’s trying to make sure that his little girl gets some good information in her (since I shouldn’t trust all the left-wing propoganda I get… like NPR, BBC and the Associated Press. They’re all pink-o commies.)

So, here’s the trainwreck… please feel free to rubberneck my email angst:

………………………………………………………..

… [it's one of those "unpublished letters to the editor" that some wise Newspaper Editor didn't print and some xenophobic retirees figured they'd convert into a chain-letter.]

Written in response to a series of letters to the editor in the Orange County [Florida] Register:

Dear Editor:

So many letter writers have based their arguments on how this land is made up of immigrants. Ernie Lujan for one, suggests we should tear down the Statue of Liberty because the people now in question aren’t being treated the same as those who passed through Ellis Island and other ports of entry.

Really? well, that’s an extreme point of argument, but I can kinda see Lujan’s point.

Maybe we should turn to our history books and point out to people like Mr. Lujan why today’s American is not willing to accept this new kind of immigrant any longer. Back in 1900 when there was a rush from all areas of Europe to come to the United States , people had to get off a ship and stand in a long line in New York and be documented. Some would even get down on their hands and knees and kiss the ground.

of course… because they had been sleeping in disgusting quarters packed like rats in the lower decks of ships for weeks without proper ventilation and food. People DIED trying to get to the US… even then. Nowadays they die in poorly ventilated 18wheelers and pray they won’t die from the heat in the desert or that the police won’t inspect the truck before they make it to Detroit.

They made a pledge to uphold the laws and support their new country in good and bad times

Yup. and the DIDN’t have to wait 3-7 years without income in order to pass an immigration test that the average 12th grader would fail.

They made learning English a primary rule in their new American households

Bullshit. There are 4th generation Italians in Philly who still speak Italian and Jews in Brooklyn that still speak low-German (Yiddish) at home.

and some even changed their names to blend in with their new home.

or was it that they NEEDED to in order to get jobs…. hm….

They had waved good bye to their birth place to give their children a new life and did everything in their power to help their children assimilate into one culture

true… for the most part… of course, this was before cell phones and email. When you traveled 10,000 miles from home 70-100 years ago, you HAD TO wave good bye forever. There would be no turning back.

Nothing was handed to them. No free lunches, no welfare, no labor laws to protect them. All they had were the skills and craftsmanship they had brought with them to trade for a future of prosperity.

Just like our Indian friends have programming skills, Just like our Japanese/Chinese/Korean friends have business skills, Just like our Mexican friends have farming, maintenance, factory and construction skills…

Most of their children came of age when World War II broke out. My father fought along side men whose parents had come straight over from Germany , Italy , France and Japan . None of these 1st generation Americans ever gave any thought about what country their parents had come from.

Bullshit. They were fighting BECAUSE their parents had FLED from the fascism that was developing in Europe… they were fighting because the UNDERSTOOD what they were up against.

They were Americans fighting Hitler, Mussolini and the Emperor of Japan.

yup

They were defending the United States of America as one people.

yup

When we liberated France , no one in those villages were looking for the French-American or the German American or the Irish American. The people of France saw only Americans. And we carried one flag that represented one country. Not one of those immigrant sons would have thought about picking up another country’s flag and waving it to represent who they were. It would have been a disgrace to their parents who had sacrificed so much to be here. These immigrants truly knew what it meant to be an American. They stirred the melting pot into one red, white and blue bowl.

Preach it, sister.

And here we are in 2007 with a new kind of immigrant who wants the same rights and privileges.

of course.

Only they want to achieve it by playing with a different set of rules, one that includes the entitlement card and a guarantee of being faithful to their mother country.

um… actually - they want to be given the opportunity to become Americans legally… but our Immigration Offices are too disorganized and underfunded to handle all of the poor, huddled masses who earnestly yearn to be free.
WE are the ones who are dishonoring our American Heritage of providing a safe haven for those who yearn for freedom and the opportunity to provide for their children.

I’m sorry, that’s not what being an American is all about. I believe that the immigrants who landed on Ellis Island in the early 1900’s deserve better than that for all the toil, hard work and sacrifice in raising future generations to create a land that has become a beacon for those legally searching for a better life . I think they would be appalled that they are being used as an example by those waving foreign country flags.

Really? I think they would be appalled that the US is now closing its borders and refusing to give immigrants a chance for freedom. But I rekon, it’s all just conjecture, eh? Most of the Ellis Island Immigrants are dead now, and their white middle class children and grandchildren have become xenophobic.

And for that suggestion about taking down the Statue of Liberty , it happens to mean a lot to the citizens who are voting on the immigration bill. I wouldn’t start talking about dismantling the United States just yet.

True. Now, if only we could put a Statue of Liberty in Miami, and in S. Texas, and in S. California, and in San Francisco, and in Seattle, and in Buffalo NY… That’s it.What we really need is a Statue of Liberty in EVERY INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT…. but then, that’s just MY Opinion. Shame it won’t get published anywhere anytime soon. Except maybe… online.

(signed) Rosemary LaBonte

AND MrsQ

Peace.

 

What a Wreck!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I’ve got a story for ya…

It was the best of times.

It was the worst of times.

It was a dark and stormy night, when a green car being driven by a woman was rear-ended by a dude from New Jersey. (the sexist image from iStock photo is so close, yet so far…)

- - - - - - - -

Bad News: I was in a car accident with two kids in the car last night.

Good News: Everyone’s fine

Bad News: The car may be totaled

Good News: We could use a new car

Bad News: I wasn’t at fault, but I don’t have car insurance

Good News: It was Jim’s Car

Bad News: It was Jim’s Car

Good News: It happened on a Jersey Bridge so it won’t take points off my PA license

Bad News: We’ll be down to one car for a little while

Good News: We just got AAA+, so maybe they’ll spot a cheap rental

Bad News: This is going to be really annoying

Good News: I’d rather be annoyed than in the hospital.

 

Overall, I’m counting my blessings. There were many MANY things that could have gone much MUCH worse last night. I might just write up the full story of God-incidences once I have the time… and once the pan out.

I’m still worried about many things yet to come, but we got a call from a “3rd party representative” who indicated that the other party will be paying for damages. (whether this means that lawyers were contacted by the Jersey driver INSTEAD of an insurance rep, I don’t know…)

But, I’m back, it’s a new year, and we’re all healthy.

So, I am thankful.

————
PS: I don’t feel guilty about stealing the image because it’s sexist. Serves ‘em right.

 

Advent Update

Howdy folks!

I know that some of ya’ll actually read my blog. Why you do this, I haven’t a clue, but just so you know — I haven’t given up or given in, but I have to put my internet connections on hold for a while (get it? its a joke…)

See, we’ve moved many many times, and I know that I HATE living in an unsettled, disorganized, messy home with an inconsistent schedule. I loose things, forget things, and let people down. Yuk. Also, knowing that we may only be here two years, I didn’t want to let settling in drag out. Why take a year to unpack when I’ll just have to pack it up again another year later? So, I gave myself a timeline. I wanted to be completely unpacked, functioning smoothly, and settled in by the end of the year. Why? Because I want to have people over for dinner from time to time next year, and I know we won’t do that unless we’re settled in. Also, I have these kids who are growing up and needing attention. I have to help them adapt to city living just as much as I have to make sure that I’M adapting to it. This is rather time consuming and draining.

So, there it is. I’ll be back…
– but probably not until after the Mummer’s Parade.

Peace Out!
MaMaQ

_______________
photo note: The bassist, the green queen and the lion. It oughta be a c.s. lewis book. picture brought to you by the Greater Overbrook String Band. (notice the mandolin in the background. good Irish city folk, yes?) See them live on New Years day… then have dinner over at my place just a short drive away!

 

Two… no… more than twenty truths

11/28/07 Note:
Not only did this post prove to be an interesting intellectual and emotional exercise, but it was very useful for me in my present situation. Having recently moved my family from a sub-urban community where we hit spiritual wall after spiritual wall, to a painfully urban community where we have an honest and loving spiritual community willing to accept us and walk in faith with us… we’re all experiencing a bit of a collective mind-fuck. I had become a bit lost in the stress of the situation and forgotten myself. By rattling on so below, it helped me remember who I was. Cool, eh?

Oh… a friend from ages past contacted me with a question or two and I realized that I’d gotten something wrong in my facts below:

1. The fellow I went to Sr. Prom with probably wasn’t an actual son of a witness relocation programme — rather, he had a very Irish name and a very Arabic physique, and his deceased father was from a mostly unknown background… so the relocation story was a fun one to hang onto during those painful teen years.
2. Yes, my mother worked for the CIA. She was initially posted in the DC Post Office, updating CIA addresses from Postal Service address index cards. She had two international assignments that I know of, but retired when she married (to an Arlington Cop) in order to settle down and make babies. I love my mom.

And in other, more mundane news:

1. I’m trying to get my kids into a private quaker middle school.
2. Because he’d rather read a book than play touch-football or basketball, my older son isn’t fitting in on the asphalt playground.
3. I work at a University because I’m sick of the corporate world… and a friend just pointed out that if I stay where I am, the kids will get a free University education. Bonus!
4. I like neo-monasticism, but I know I’m too selfish for it.
5. My family plays games from time to time (clue, upwords, Apples to Apples, crystal chronicles…), and they’re often our best family nights.
6. My tiny little city apartment is starting to grow on me…
7. I have an air mattress, anyone want to come and visit?

::::::::::::::::::::::

Two Truths and a… what?
And now — more information about MrsQ than you ever cared to know and never cared to ask:

I’m not a fast thinker with a quick retort – but I can usually come up with a really good zinger once I walk away. This personality trait has often saved me from terribly embarrassing situations wherein I might have found myself eating crow — having crossed those lovely social boundaries for standard/formal socially appropriate behaviour. BUT, it does mean that if ever WANT to be the life of the party, I have to prepare my jokes in advance.

Case ‘en pointe: Two truths and a lie. I’ve been very boring at this party game many times. I’ve had such a freaky life, I ought whip off some real zingers… but in the moment, when an odd group is staring at me, my strange life seems very normal and I toss out the silliest things… like “last night I ate Potato Chips” or “I have a cat named Zippy.” Dumb stuff. Then, later on, I’ll think of something cool I should have said.

So, here’s a list from me, about me, and for me:

1. I took voice lessons in Virginia from a renowned Japanese Opera Singer.
2. My brother is an FBI Computer Forensics Special Agent.
3. I was a girl scout, but quit when they brought in Mary Kay.
4. I’ve lived in 12 zip codes in the past 15 years… but I’m a home-body at heart and I’ve always hated moving.
5. I miss my free time, and I often resent being a ‘working mom’.
6. My grandpa invented Hogan Alley at Quantico.
7. I’ve gone to therapy with a Hollywood Psychologist.
8. I’ve been to Fishnet, Creation, and Cornerstone - but I missed Soul Fest.
9. I once owned an Iguana named Maximilian Weber Draco.
10. My father-in-law is a (recovering) crack-addict.
11. I’ve peed in bushes.
12. I’ve been the only female in many Ultimate Frisbee games.
13. The president of Goshen College used to be my pastor.
14. I once took a road trip from Virginia to Maine.
15. My Mainiac boyfriend dumped me on that road trip (and I still haven’t forgiven him.)
16. I’ve performed in bars, coffeehouses, concert halls and recording studios.
17. My “maid of honor” was a gay male friend.
18. I’ve always wanted a tattoo, but can’t decide what to get.
19. I got married during my first first-trimester.
20. I was mistaken for a native Turk in Istanbul.
21. I’ve been to the site of ‘Mary’s Ascension.’
22. My mother was a CIA agent.
23. I almost fell into the Grand Canyon.
24. My first date was inter-racial… in KKK territory.
25. Like a vampire, canines grew out of my gums instead of incisors.
26. I want my husband to teach abroad more than he does.
27. I’m a Peace-Church Christian.
28. I’ve studied German, French and Turkish.
29. My sister-in-law has a PhD in Cello Performance.
30. I find that most Christian men are sexist and self-centered.
31. By writing the above on a post like this, I’M being sexist and self-centered.
32. My grandfather’s left hand was shot off by a rifle accident.
33. I resent being a woman in a man’s world.
34. I turned down a job in Harvard’s Arts and Humanities management office.
35. I’ve flown a plane.
36. I’ve never read the bible (w/ apocrypha) cover-to-cover, but I want to someday.
37. My dad’s an ex-cop.
38. My dad quit the force when his partner was shot and killed.
39. I’ve eaten fried squirrel’s legs, but I prefer steamed calamari with wild mushrooms and heirloom tomatoes.
40. I was offered (but did not accept) a bribe by a Korean MATheology student.
41. I’ve visited Dr. Miroslav Volf’s home and met his adopted baby boy.
42. I camped in Asateague, where ponies act like animals.
43. I don’t really have any friends with whom I can confide serious concerns.
44. I have two incredibly intelligent sons.
45. I think that any government representing more than a few thousand people will sustain itself before it will sustain the people whom it is supposed to serve.
46. I’m a (fairly inactive) site administrator for a large Christian News Blog.
47. I have never used birth control pills.
48. I’d still like to open a coffeehouse and fair/trade shop someday…
49. I have successfully quit smoking, but I still keep gum in my purse.
50. I have poison ivy… but I’m trying to to scratch it.
51. I think God has a sick sense of humor.
52. I am almost blind and my retinas might detach someday.
53. My dad quit his Irish Cop gig after his partner was shot dead in a bank robbery.
54. I think I oughta’ loose 15 pounds.
55. My husband is a vegetarian, but I’d eat venison every day if I could hunt it.
56. I live in an ‘up-and-coming’ black ghetto in Philadelphia.
57. I went to my Senior Prom with the son of a relocated witness.
58. I was a pretty good shot with an automatic handgun when I was a kid.
59. I’d have breast reduction surgery, but I’m too proud of my modesty.
60. I think that owning Mercedes SUV with wood interior is a sin, punishable by death.
61. I’m a pacifist.
62. I’m an artist stuck in an accountant’s body.
63. I often dislike who I am… but like the person I’m trying to become.

… well. Those are all true. So, if you want a lie, you’ll have to make one up about me. Just don’t start any seditious rumors, okay?

_________________________________

10-23-07 That was fun! Here’s some more exhibitionist info!

1. I have two sons, born in ‘96 & ‘99, and most people are surprised when I introduced them — they say I look too young to have kids.
2. I’m in my mid-30’s, but most people think I’m in my mid-20’s… or younger.
3. I was once trained in non-violent crisis intervention, with the same course used with Chicago Cops.
4. I once learned some gospel tunes from old black folks on a southern plantation… at a mission on the plantation site.
5. When my girl scout troop went to Savannah, GA and one of the girls was caught shoplifting, they put me in her hotel room… I think they knew I was the only one who wouldn’t be mean to her.
6. My kids are too smart & I worry it will cause problems for them.
7. My grades always suffered because I would over-extend my extra-curricular time.
8. I have lots of arguments with God.
9. I have always wanted to garden, but have never had the land to do so.
10. I wanted to be a Park Ranger when I was a kid, because I preferred spending time with nature than with people. (note the irony that I now live in the city…)
    
11. I am not afraid of people, so folks tend to (mistakenly) think I’m an extrovert.
12. I had a small town paper route and would sell my extra papers for cash.
13. I used a stick shift tractor mower when I was a kid.
14. I think that most “Christian” church-goers in the US aren’t really believers.
15. I believe there is scriptural evidence of Women preachers, leaders, missionaries, etc.
16. I believe that gender inequality is a result of the fall, therefore a woman’s ability to preach will be consistently under attack by all humans with whom (for whom) she ministers.
17. After having lived in Los Angeles a while, I can typically differentiate between Chinese, Japanese, Korean and other SE-Asian cultures.
18. I consider myself a Christian first, a Mother/Wife second, and an American… um… fifth? maybe?
19. I have often wondered whether my inability to recall proper nouns is the result of severe head trauma I received during a bike accident in ‘80.
20. I love quilting, but don’t have the space or the time to do it.

 

Franciscan Fancies: Squirrels and Dealers pt.2

Okay – now about that squirrel:

At first, I considered the squirrel stare-down like the increasingly familiar Hood Stare-Down… but now I’m not so sure.

See, in order to park my car next to my apartment entrance, I need to turn down a small one-way street where quite a bit of drug dealing activity transpires. There are corner spotters watching when you turn onto the street, a small group of dealers sitting on chairs in front of an empty lot and across from a small alley (merchandise getaway) and additional spotters (bodyguard back-up) on a porch down the way. They are always there and they run a smooth operation.

They make eye contact because they’re looking for a drop. I make eye contact because I’m a southern girl who smiles at her neighbors. So, I make eye contact and smile. It’s in my nature. But I don’t stop and give them a ‘handshake’. Poor fellows. At first, they seemed confused by this. Then they began to recognize my car. But recently there were a few busts in the hood, and they hang out up the block a little further away.

[Pray for these folks. They really oughta do some time for dealing in this shit. May God let them go to jail instead of… the alternatives. Jail time would be grace compared to overdose, murder, or worse.]

Anywho – I’m the new kid on the block here, politely invading the local territory. We’ll just have to get used to each other, won’t we?

But then… then… I wonder…

Maybe I’m the squirrel. But if I’m the squirrel…

Who’s the figure in the window?

Who am I flicking my tail at?

The dealer? Maybe. Maybe I’m the smaller fish here. Maybe smiling is my way of flicking my tail and it ain’t gonna do any good.

Or, maybe… maybe I’m flicking off God. Maybe I’ve been a little too angry at God lately. Maybe I’ve been resentful that God brought me back to Philly. Maybe I’m pissed off that my kids have to live on this street with the dealers. Maybe I’ve been in an insufferably bad mood — barking, flicking my tail, jumping around – because I’m pissed off at God.

Woof. (or shall I say “bark”?)

I really need to get over this and start trusting Him, don’t I? Sigh

Well, I might have had a Franciscan-like humbling experience in my spirituality, but at least the squirrel outside isn’t making so much noise.