Sunday, August 31, 2014

A Painting I Love

This isn't part of my Rosary Art Collection; it's just a painting that I love and want to share.  I first read about it in a book
called "Princess in Calico."  I learned awhile ago that the paperback copy I have is an abridgement.  Thank God I was able to get the complete version for free on Kindle.  I plan to read it in the near future.




  To see a larger version, click here.

Saturday, August 30, 2014

Sunday Snippets---A Catholic Carnival

Well, once again it is time for Sunday Snippets!  Thanks to RAnn for hosting!  I've discovered some wonderful blogs here.  How about sharing yours?




Books Read in the Past Week

Books read for the first time are marked with a #

Books, except for Sunday books, are grouped by author
and not necessarily in the order read.


"Between Heaven and Mirth"#
by James Martin, SJ
[non-fiction]
(Kindle book)
"A Right to Be Merry" #
by Mother Mary Francis, P. C. C
[nonfiction]
"Travelers Along the Way"
by Fr. Benedict Groeschel
[collective biography]
"Outnumbered!  Raising 13 Kids With Humor and Prayer"
by Mary Ann Kuharski
[nonfiction, biography, autobiography]
(this family has children by birth and by adoption)
"The Story of a Soul"
by St. Therese of Lisieux
{Sunday books}

Bible books read this week:
"Isaiah"
"The Gospel According to John"

"Anne of Windy Poplars"
{carried over from last week}
"Anne's House of Dreams"
{carrying over into next week}
by L. M. Montgomery
[fiction]

"Intimate Practices: Literacy and Cultural Work in U. S. Women's
Clubs, 1880-1920" #
by Anne Ruggles Gere
{carried over from last week;
carrying over into next week}
[nonfiction]

"About the B'Nai Bagels"
by E. L. Konigsburg
[children's fiction]
(openlibrary.org loan)

"Bonnie" #
by Lee Wyndham
[teen fiction]
(openlibrary.org loan.)
Not the same Bonnie as
the protagonist in "Candy Stripers."


This Week's Fan Fiction

Unsuited to Each Other
Katie Rose and Stacy Belford Series

I Didn't Take it Seriously

When I first heard about abortion, years ago when I was in my early teens, I did not take it seriously.  This had nothing to do with the fact that I wasn't a Catholic at the time, it had nothing to do with the fact that abortion wasn't legal in the United States of America at the time.
Was I, then, too young and immature to understand what abortion was?
Oh, no; I understood, all right.
So why didn't I take it seriously?
Because I didn't believe it.  I didn't believe that such a thing was possible.   I did not believe that a mother could ever deliberately choose to have her baby killed.
My reaction was, "That's baloney!  A mother will kill, if she has to, to protect her baby.  A mother will die to protect her baby.
A mother will not KILL her baby."

Oh, if only I had been right about that.

Saturday, August 23, 2014

Sunday Snippets---A Catholic Carnival

 It's time for Sunday Snippets!  Thanks so much to RAnn for hosting.   I've discovered some wonderful blogs here.  How about sharing yours?




Books Read in The Past Week

Books read for the first time are marked with a #
Books, (except Sunday books) are grouped by author, and not necessarily in the order read.


"Between Heaven and Mirth"#
by James Martin, SJ
[non-fiction]
(Kindle book)
"Once a Jew"
by Rev. Arthur B. Klyber, Redemptorist
"A Right to Be Merry" #
by Mother Mary Francis, P. C. C
[nonfiction]
"Travelers Along the Way"
by Fr. Benedict Groeschel
[collective biography]
"Outnumbered!  Raising 13 Kids With Humor and Prayer"
by Mary Ann Kuharski
[nonfiction, biography, autobiography]
(this family has children by birth and by adoption)
{Sunday books}


Bible books read this week:
"Isaiah"
"The Gospel According to John"


"Anne of the Island"
{carried over from last week}
"Anne of Windy Poplars"
{carrying over into next week}
by L. M. Montgomery
[fiction]

"The Autumn Term at St. Gabriel's" #
by Penelope Webbe
[children's fiction]
(the title made me think that this was part of
a series, but it is a stand-alone book.  One of
the teachers is named Miss Sparrow, but she 
is not at all like the nice Miss Sparrow in the
Betsy-Tacy books.)

"Intimate Practices: Literacy and Cultural Work in U. S. Women's
Clubs, 1880-1920"
by Anne Ruggles Gere
[nonfiction]
{carrying over into next week}

Monday, August 18, 2014

Saturday, August 16, 2014

Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival

Well, another week has gone by, and it's time once again for
Sunday Snippets!  Thanks to RAnn for hosting.  I've found some wonderful blogs here.  How about sharing yours?




Books Read In The Past Week

Books read for the first time are marked with a #
Books, (except Sunday books) are grouped by author, and not necessarily in the order read.


"Between Heaven and Mirth"#
by James Martin, SJ
[non-fiction]
(Kindle book)
"Why I Entered The Convent"
edited by Rev. George L. Kane
[nonfiction]
(published in the 1950s)
"Once a Jew"
by Rev. Arthur B. Klyber, Redemptorist
"Travelers Along the Way"
by Fr. Benedict Groeschel
[Kindle book]
"A Right to Be Merry" #
by Mother Mary Francis, P. C. C
[nonfiction]
{Sunday books}


Bible books read this week:
"Isaiah"
"The Gospel According to John"


"Anne of Avonlea"
{carried over from last week}
"Anne of the Island"
{carrying over into next week}
by L. M. Montgomery
[fiction]


"Sounds in the Air:
The Golden Age of Radio"
by Norman Finkelstein
[YA nonfiction]
{carried over from last week}

"A Feast of Light" #
by Gunilla Norris
[children's fiction]
(openlibrary.org oan)

"The Sixth Grade Nickname Game" #
by Gordon Korman
[children's fiction]

"Girl In The Mirror"
by Cousin Carrie
[teen fiction, Amish]

This Week's Fan Fiction

Amy's Punishment
A Little Women/Little Men crossover

One Careless Moment
New chapter added.  I've FINALLY updated this story.

"Ads" The World Turns
A humorous drabble

The Winning Slogan
an AU Another World nanofiction

The New Organist
a 7th Heaven sillyfic/drabble

Thursday, August 14, 2014

Fan Fiction: How I Got Started

Regular readers of this blog (sidenote: It is so pleasant to think of having regular readers; thanks for your interest and support!) know that I love to write fan fiction.
So how did I get started?
It all began with a message I posted on a now most unfortunately defunct AOL message board. (I miss the friends
I made on that board!)  That message got some very positive responses, and encouraged me to start writing fanfic.  I'm thankful that I copied and saved that post; I wish I'd saved the
comments as well.
Okay. Enough of an intro.  Now, without further ado (adieu
to the ado!) here is that post!


If ANOTHER WORLD Were Still On The Air




Here is one storyline that might be going on. Grant has returned, alive and well (remember the last episode!) and somehow, he is still the mayor. However, he has been convicted of a crime, and is behind bars (now there's a pleasant thought) But then, Joe comes across evidence which proves that Grant was framed, and evidence which would have cleared him was destroyed...by Josie. Joe calls Josie into his office and questions her. Josie admits what she did, excusing herself on the grounds that it was poetic justice. Joe, of course, doesn't buy that for a second. He tells Josie that he has to get Grant released. Josie asks if her name can be kept out of it.

Joe answers, "No, Josie, because that would bring this entire department under suspicion. Now, I'm going to the D.A. and then I'm going to Internal Affairs. And I want you to stay here and wait for me, and, Josie,I want you to do some serious thinking," 


Grant demands that Josie be punished (no surprise there)

Joe: She will be disciplined, but her punishment won't be any more severe because you are the mayor.

Grant: Well, it certainly should be!

Joe: But it also won't be any less severe because of my personal feelings towards you.

Joe and Josie return to the 2-3. Joe takes Josie into his office.

Joe: Do you understand why what you did was wrong? You are an officer of the law, and you not only framed a man for a crime he did not commit, but you also let the real perpetrator walk.

Josie: I never thought of it that way.

Joe: And one more thing I want you to think about. When you framed Grant, who were you acting like?

Josie:(small voice) Grant. You're right, Joe, what I did was wrong.

Joe: And you understand I have to punish you.

Josie: Yes, sir.

Joe: All right. I'm suspending you without pay and placing you under house arrest for one week. You'll serve you time in the guest room at my house.

Josie: I don't mind that so much, with Gary out of town. But do I have to stay in the bedroom the whole time?

Joe: Except for meals, yes. And you will be allowed to sit on the porch for a half hour every day.

Josie: Are you telling me I'm grounded?

Joe: You could say that. What is house arrest, if it isn't just grounding for adults? And I want you to understand something.

Josie: What?

Joe: I'm doing this for your own good, because a good cop like you shouldn't have done what you did.

Josie: You still think I'm a good cop?

Joe: Yes, most of the time. Now, I'll need your shield and your weapon. (Josie hands them over and starts blinking back tears) Look, it's only for a week. If Internal Affairs had their way, you would have been demoted way down.

Josie: Like they did to Gary.

Joe: Exactly. You'll get these back this time next week.

They go to the Carlino home, and Josie begins doing her time.

Meanwhile, Remy and Nick are engaged. Dante is in kindergarten, and he loves it. Paulina recently gave birth to another son. They named him Ryan Gabriel.

Saturday, August 9, 2014

Books Read In The Past Week

Books read for the first time are marked with a #
Books, (except Sunday books) are grouped by author, and not necessarily in the order read.


"Between Heaven and Mirth"#
by James Martin, SJ
[non-fiction]
(Kindle book)
"Why I Entered The Convent"
edited by Rev. George L. Kane
[nonfiction]
(published in the 1950s)
"Once a Jew"
by Rev. Arthur B. Klyber, Redemptorist
{Sunday books}


Bible books read this week:
"Isaiah"
"The Gospel According to John"


"Anne of Green Gables"
{carried over from last week}
"Anne of Avonlea"
{carrying over into next week}
by L. M. Montgomery
[fiction]

"All My Life" #
by Susan Lucci
[autobiography]
(Kindle book, much less expensive than physical copy)
This, thank God, is not one of those backstage gossip
books. And I love what Susan Lucci did with the 19 dozen
roses ABC sent her when she finally won that Emmy (it
was her 19th nomination.)  She brought them to her
Church and laid them before the statue of the Blessed Virgin
Mary.
Incidentally, someone from my old parish once told me that her
sister belonged to the same parish as Susan Lucci!


"Sounds in the Air:
The Golden Age of Radio"
by Norman Finkelstein
[YA nonfiction]
{carrying over into next week}

This Week's Fan Fiction

The Egg Cream Non-Existence Insistence
A Big Bang Theory Sillyfic


Remember Brand Loyalty?

I often hear, during one radio commercial break, three commercials for three rival insurance companies.
I remember the days when tv and radio shows were not sponsored by rival companies.  Shows did have alternating
sponsors, but these were for unrelated products.  We didn't hear or see for example, a commercial for Kellogg's Raisin Bran and a commercial for Post Raisin Bran on the same show.  We weren't confused by different bran' names on one program!

It was, to use a cliché, a more innocent time.  We trusted the
tv and radio show hosts, and we believed that if they said
something was good, then it must be good.

Of course, if two or more programs we liked had rival sponsors,
things could get a bit confusing!  At least, it was confusing for
me.  I could not, as a little girl, believe that any of those hosts
would tell a lie; so I finally decided that they must each like different brands.  After all, my friends and I didn't always like the same things!

And do TV and radio hosts still influence what I buy?  Well, let me put it this way.  A few years ago, EWTN's Fr. Mitch Pacwa
was talking about Mystic Monk Coffee on one of his shows.
Guess which brand of coffee I now drink!


Saturday, August 2, 2014

Books Read In The Past Week

Books read for the first time are marked with a #
Books, (except Sunday books) are grouped by author, and not necessarily in the order read.


"Between Heaven and Mirth"#
by James Martin, SJ
[non-fiction]
(Kindle book)
"Reproachfully Yours"
by Lucile Hasley
[nonfiction]
{Sunday books}


Bible books(s) read this week:
"Isaiah"
"The Gospel According to John"

"All The Time You Need, The Greatest Gift In The World" #
by Robert R. Updegraff
[nonfiction]
(another book I wanted to read because I love "Try
Giving Yourself Away," which the author wrote under

the pen-name David Dunn. )
This book also offers good advice, and interesting anecdotes.
{carried over from last week}

"Friday the Rabbi Slept Late"
by Harry Kemelman
[fiction, Jewish (Conservative), Mystery]
(openlibrary.org loan)
{carried over from last week}
(pages missing so did not finish)

"The Younguns of Mansfield"
"Frankie and the Secret"
"The Circus Escape"
by Thomas L. Tedrow
[children's fiction, historical]

"Mennonite Martha"
by Margaret Pitcairn Stratchan
[children's fiction, historical]

"How Green Was My Valley"
by Richard Llewellyn
[fiction]

"Anne of Green Gables"
by L. M. Montgomery
[fiction]
{carrying over into next week}

This Week's Fan Fiction

23rd Precinct
New chapter added.

The Last Drop
A "Beany Malone" story, set after the last book.

Encouraging news about EWTN's Fr. Anthony

Fr. Anthony hopes to be back on the air in the near future.  Oh, HOW I'm praying for that to happen! https://franciscanmissionaries.c...