Seven Quick Takes

May 2, Feast of St. Athanasius, bishop and doctor, who defended orthodoxy against the Arian heresy.

-- 1 --

First things first.  I've been playing a mental tug-of-war all week with the idea of "re-branding" and changing or moving this blog.  See, I want to be an author--a poet and storyteller, really.  And authors should have platforms.  And websites.

I can't afford a website, but I can lay the foundations for what will become a website in the future.  So I did.

-- 2 --

The new blog Paper & Wool, named from a post here, will, I hope, offer a lot more original content with the same spirit of Everything to Someone.  It will also give me a bit more visual creativity.  I love the format I have now, but it's almost too simple.  When I get a full website going, I'll be able to streamline the blog again.

-- 3 --

Notice that the blog url is different than the blog name.  That's where the website will (fingers crossed) come in one day.

-- 4 --

Because of this, I've let the domain name for this blog expire.  You may have noticed if you were used to typing in everything-to-someone dot com.  I'm so sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused, and hope you've been able to find me still.

The good news about that, however, is that this blog is going to remain here as a sort of archive.  'Cause I don't have the technological wherewithal to move it and because my large photographs wouldn't translate well to a new format, anyway.

-- 5 --

The move isn't going to happen until another two weeks, which I hope will give people plenty of time to subscribe to the new blog.  And do spread the word if you know or have contact with anyone else who reads this blog.  Thanks!

-- 6 --

I intend to simply change the names of my Facebook and Twitter accounts; if all goes as planned, you shouldn't have to do a thing to keep following!

-- 7 --

This is blog isn't the only thing that's changed its cover.  The 2012 Tuscany Prize for Catholic Fiction: Short Stories collection has been renamed Eyes that Pour Forth and Other Stories.

The 2013 Tuscany Prize collection is also available now: What World Is This? and Other Stories.  I'm itching to get my hands on a copy.  Maybe for my birthday?

And that was some quick takes in the truest sense!

Seven Quick Takes: Volume 31

April 4, Feast of St. Isidore, bishop and doctor; he mastered all branches of knowledge and was one of the most read scholars of the middle ages.  Brother of St. Leander and personal friend of St. Gregory the Great, he is patron of computers, computer technicians, computer users, students, and the internet.  And Everything to Someone!

-- 1 --

Today is our patron's feast day on EtS.  That gets a whole take, don't you think?  Happy Feast of St. Isidore!  (See what Pope Benedict XVI has to say about St. Isidore.)

I wanted to do a little something to celebrate around here, but I'm feeling fatigued today.  I've had some dizziness over the last week and a two nosebleeds yesterday, following the general symptoms of a bad cold the week before.  Do you think it could be an ear infection?  I've never had one before.

-- 2 --

Publications update:

• Two poems and three photographs were accepted for publication in my alma mater's literary magazine, Sandhill Review.  Unfortunately, the Sandhill is only available as a hard copy.
• Rose Red Review accepted some photographs for the spring issue which goes live on April 22.
• Other submissions still in-progress are for Fairy Tale Review, Poetry Wales, and Dappled Things.

And if I can settle down and concentrate on writing again, there are several half-finished pieces I have that might be suitable elsewhere.  (If you have a minute and you haven't already, check out my Publications page for links to previously published fiction and poetry.)

-- 3 --

I finished watching the three seasons of Portlandia available on Netflix, and the percentage of content on that show that is applicable to my life is eerie.  Seriously, have I really never been to Oregon?  Is Oregon like the Wales of the United States?  I would wear practically everything Carrie Brownstein wears on that show, except for fleece vests and hiking shorts.

Does this mean I'm a hipster?

-- 4 --

The beginning of this is especially relevant:

Re-applying for deferment yet again.  Gee, that Master's degree was so useful.

-- 5 --

Remember when education used to actually count for something?  All you needed to do was get that Bachelor's degree, and you'd be putting a down payment on your own house in a few years!  Am I the only one who thinks that spending all that time, money, and energy on education would have been better channeled toward tangible skills I could use for myself rather than a third-party company that gives me money so that I can buy those things I'd otherwise be making/using for myself?

It's funny because it's so true, and then it turns the joke on its head!  And let's be honest, that would probably be me making furniture.  :P

Also,

What?  I know it's a joke . . . maybe.

-- 6 --

Or the backup plan of everybody: let's not deny that I've thought of this many times, with an abundance of chest-heaving sighs and rose-tinted glasses.

Event-planning, delivering groceries to the elderly, landscaping, making jewelry . . . it's a good thing I'm convicted of my writing vocation and am utterly focused (ha!) because that sounds like me and my wannabe-ness to a T.  But with crocheting.

Told you Portlandia was scarily relevant.

-- 7 --

I made this little liturgical graphic for the month of April.  Basically swiped from CatholicCulture.org.  Feel free to pin and/or print.  Combine with Haley's Feast and enjoy!

Looking forward to Eastertide and a heap of liturgical goodness!  Now I'm going to go lie down and wait for the drunken feeling to subside.  In the meantime, is there anything can I can offer up for you?

See Jen for more Quick Takes!

Seven Quick Takes: Volume 30

March 28, Feast of St. John Capistrano, confessor.

-- 1 --

-- 2 --

We've been ill with colds over the last few days, so I spent most of my time in bed watching Avatar: the Last Airbender on my dad's Netflix.  Much like my Firefly revelation, I can say heartily "I get it now!"  It's warm, breathing characters make the show.  Without them, Avatar would be just another fantasy world with all the good guys uniting to defeat the one really evil overlord, but it's the characters' development and personal struggles that kept me from clicking away to watch Portlandia.  The fact that they've managed to do all this while not complicating is a real strength, I think.  It would have been so easy to misconstrue "simple" with "shallow."  Somewhat reminds me of Ender's Game in that way.  It's easy to understand and follow the deep emotional and moral questions without dumbing them down.

The only thing I just couldn't get into is the same thing that made cast down The Golden Compass in the first chapter.  Reincarnation isn't in itself something I can't accept for the sake of story; it's the I'm-more-than-one-person-at-a-time thing.  If you're not familiar with Avatar, the main character Aang is a reincarnated being similar to the Dali Llama.  But when they present his past lives as other selves--as opposed to times when he lived other than in his present lifetime (think Tolkien's elves or "the sending back" of Gandalf in tLotR)--my Thomistic sense of philosophy rejects it with all my being.

Despite that, look for a 10 Reasons You Should Watch Avatar: the Last Airbender post in the future.

-- 3 --

I'm brushing up on my Welsh with a Welsh starter course, and I'm pleased with how much I've retained.  I never learned it like I wanted to when I was here before.  The free course offered at the university conflicted with my one and only weekly lecture.  And then I was elbow-deep in my studies (and a romance!).  It will be good for me in the future to speak conversational Welsh when looking for work.

The Welsh language is one of the reasons I wanted to study in Wales.  It's beautiful, lyrical, and not as hard as Irish.  And while it's phonetic, the spelling is intimidating and lovely.  Words like llyfr (book), cynnwys (contnets), and wyddor (alphabet).

Hint: the y and w are actually vowels.

-- 4 --

I've never heard a child eat so expressively.  With each bite or sip, Afon growls and "mmmmmmmmmm!" from the very depth of his little being.  It's the cutest.

We took him to visit a playgroup yesterday.  It's like a preschool, though it starts with two-year-olds, and then they move on to the actual preschool, which they call nursery school.  It's almost fully funded, and with my experience working at a childcare center I could see that they were very well run.  We signed him up for two days a week, for the social interaction.  They are also trained there in speech therapy and working with children who have disabilities, so I think this is a good choice, though it makes my homeschooling-wannabe self a little nervous.  They were already talking about him going on to "nursery school" in the September term.  Now as I'm typing this, I think I ought to look up some homeschooling groups in the area.

-- 5 --

There were a handful of things I prepped myself for before moving across the Atlantic, some good some not so good.  Things like:

• the cashiers at the stores sit down and aren't required to help you pack your groceries
• you bring your own grocery bags or get charged for each they provide for you (granted, they're much sturdier than the flimsy, see-through bags Walmart offers)
• the electrical sockets themselves have an on-off switch
• people ask "Do you drive?" instead of "What kind of car do you drive?"
• Worcester sauce tastes good in everything; this is an indisputable, scientific fact
• flowers are a part of daily life, not just for special occasions; if they don't have them in pots or planted in the yards, the shopping carts have built-in holders for affordable bouquets of flowers--and people do use them
• curtains are functional--75% or more of the population use closing curtains rather than blinds
• there are two taps (faucets) at each sink, one for hot water and one for cold; there's no way too get luke-warm unless you mix them
• there are duplexes everywhere, aka semi-detached home; even the name suggests that the norm is to have houses smack up against one another
• the doctor is seen in his actual office, rather than moving around to patients in consultation rooms
• Mother's Day is this Sunday, not in May
• and, of course, the left side of the road, fish-and-chips, metric system, yadda yadda, etc.

Hm.  I'm beginning to see the formation of a master "You Know You're in Wales When" list.

-- 6 --

I'm finally happy with my title banner picture thing-y on the top left side (for now).  As I've mentioned previously, I'm the worst kind of perfectionist, so this is kind of a big deal.  And um, just in case you were wondering when the look of this blog was finally going to settle down (for now).

-- 7 --

The bedroom window is open to let the cold freshen the the room, and Afon and I have a game of bed-making calling our names (he lies under the covers and I throw the duvet up-and-down, up-and-down, like a parachute).  Thank you to everyone who have sustained us with your prayers and intercession throughout this tedious transition.  It's feeling more and more like home everyday, and I'm so happy to be at home with my baby.  I've got more energy now to play with him and attend to him than I ever had when I was working and worrying about paying the bills.  God is good.

Take a moment to add me to your Google+ circles (bottom left side bar) if you keep with that kind of thing, and visit other Seven Quick Takes at Conversion Diary.  Have a lovely weekend!

Seven Quick Takes: Volume 28 // Theme Thursday

Jan. 24, Feast of St. Frances de Sales, bishop and doctor.  Memorial of Our Lady of Peace.

A scene from my friend's wedding last weekend.  For more photos from the wedding, see below.

-- 1 --

The Kumquat Festival ushers in early spring cleaning.  I actually took a personal day from work because otherwise I'd never have managed.  We're clearing out, gathering up, and tucking away.  The plan is to hold a yard sale tomorrow (my first!).  If you have any advice about how to best direct a sale of this type to be the most lucrative, the comment box is down below. (*points*)

As for clothes (mommy & baby), I have an inner criteria that go something like this:

• Do I still like it?
• Does it look good on me?
• Do I still wear it?
• Have I worn it in a year?
• Do I fit in it?
• Will I ever use it again (honestly)?
• Does it have sentimental value?
• Did someone I love give it to me?
• Did whoever gave it to me mean it as a special present?

It's surprisingly easy to weed things out by these.  Many of the clothes I'm holding onto answer a resounding "no" to all of the questions above.

-- 2 --

While we're executing this project, I'm listening to the latest Audrey Assad CD my sister gave me.  I knew it would be a beautiful album because of the songs I had heard on YouTube and blogs, but I didn't guess that every song would be moving (with maybe the exception of Track 2, whose name I don't know, but I have to disclaim my exceptionally picky and temperamental sense of taste in music).

As a synthesis of liturgical, medieval chant, psalm, and actual prayer, it's incredibly moving and passes well beyond into the realm of Art with a capital A.  I think your average Christian pop radio tune is praise, but that's only one kind of prayer.  Audrey's songs are the deep internal groanings of the soul searching for God, the pilgrim aching for home never seen.

Jenna introduced me to this one, and it hits far too close to home for me to hear it without shedding a tear:

From the love of my own comfort

From the fear of having nothing

From a life of worldly passions

Deliver me O God

From the need to be understood

From the need to be accepted

From the fear of being lonely

Deliver me O God

Deliver me O God

And I shall not want, I shall not want

when I taste Your goodness I shall not want

when I taste Your goodness I shall not want

From the fear of serving others

From the fear of death or trial

From the fear of humility

Deliver me O God

Deliver me O God

And please pray for her husband.  My sister tells me he has cancer.  Again and again, God has shown me that in a mystery I don't understand, those who are most precious to him experience the most suffering.  If you love Jesus, you love the Cross.  The two can't be separated.  And in the darkest moments, the fact that the former comes with the latter, is sometimes the only comfort.  But it is utterly sufficient.

-- 3 --

The Squirt's birthday is coming up soon, and seeing as he has little friends to invite this year, I really want to throw him a birthday party.  It's the day before Valentine's Day, so I was thinking about the weekend before.  I already know a lovely lady who makes delicious cakes, so that's set.  As for the rest, it will have to be low key for financial reasons, but I am all. about. themes.  Right now, it's a toss-up between St. Valentine's Day and Where the Wild Things Are.

What kind of themes and birthday party life-hacks have you implemented?

-- 4 --

This week's Theme Thursday was catching people unawares.  Oh Cari, what will you think of next?

-- 5 --

My nephew will be baptized into the Body of Christ this Sunday.  I'm sad I won't be able to be there, but will you remember him in your prayers this weekend?  I don't have permission yet to use his name on this blog, so you can just refer to him as "Christie's nephew."  c:  Thank you!

-- 6 --

Haley sweetly shared Everything to Someone over on Carrots for Michaelmas, which delights me because I respect Haley for her thoroughly good literary taste and have turned to her well-established practice of liturgical living in striking out on my own liturgical lifestyle.  Someone must have acted on her advice and nominated EtS for Bonnie's Sheenazing Catholic Bloggers Award, in two divisions.  Like in Whose Line Is It Anyway?, where the points don't matter, the only reward for winning is the sparkly-smug self-satisfaction . . . but that works for me!  And it's just really fun.  We need more fun for fun's sake.

Venerable Fulton Sheen, pray for us!

-- 7 --

Links I love this week:

Wardrobe Adjustments--Being Pretty by Masha at Piękno
How to Keep the SAINT in St. Valentine's Day by Madni at Messy Wife, Blessed Life
A Bloody Anniversary by Leila of Little Catholic Bubble
Getting Started with Homeschooling at Sure as the World
23 Things to Do at 23 (No Matter Your Relationship Status) by Molly at Molly Makes Do
Kyle Andrews's "You Always Make Me Smile" music video on Yotube (definitely makes me smile)  c;

There's more Quick Takes, or so I'm told, at Jen's.

Seven (Awesome) Quick Takes: Volume 27

Oct. 18, Feast of St. Luke the Evangelist; patron of artists, bachelors, bookbinders, brewers, butchers, glassworkers, goldsmiths, lacemakers, notaries, painters, physicians, sculptors, stained glass workers, and surgeons.

-- 1 --

So much.

-- 2 --

Let me steal a few seconds of non-fevered coherence to say that I finished Firefly with Serenity while bedridden and now feel I can honorably use the word "shiny" to describe things that are not but are otherwise pretty cool.

-- 3 --

On the plus side, we're almost all better now.

On the down side:

-- 4 --

Additionally, I learned something very valuable from Firefly, and applicable in everyday life.

-- 5 --

While we're on the Doctor Who line,

See?  Awesomeness is not a coincidence.

-- 6 --

So I would love to get a bunch of people together one year and go trick-or-treating as the cast of Firefly.  I call Inara.  Not because it's always been a secret wish of mine to masquerade as a high-class courtesan, but because she gets to wear the. most. beautiful costumes.

Plus, I have the hair for it.  Awesome.

-- 7 --

Speaking of group costumes, the Squirt is in perfect hair shape to pull off a mean Draco Malfoy!  Wouldn't that be--you know--awesome?  But they don't make Slytherin robes in sizes that small, and I don't have time to make (hahahahaahahahaha!!!) one, so I'm reserving that for next year.

I'll go as Hermione.  Because . . . I also have the hair for it . . . also.

So for now, it defaults to Wizard of Oz.  Because my youngest sister has been Dorothy for the past twelve years straight and has all the costuming; because a little scarecrow works well as an adorable standalone Halloween costume for a toddler; and because I never tire of the traditional witch costume!

See Conversion Diary for more Quick Takes!

Seven Quick Takes: Volume 26 // Theme Thursday: Secret

Oct. 4, Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, religious and confessor.  Out of humility, Francis never accepted the priesthood but remained a deacon all his life.  He was the first recorded person to ever receive the stigmata, and is patron against fire, of animals, dying alone, ecology, the environment, families, lacemakers, merchants, and zoos.

-- 1 --

Yesterday marked the beginning of our Parish Mission with Transitus, a Franciscan tradition that celebrates the passing of Saint Francis from this world into Eternal Life.  It started outside at the grotto, like on Palm Sunday, and then candles were lit as we all processed inside the church.  The main prayers were sung by candlelight.  Then the lights came on, the visiting Franciscan priest gave a homily, and we processed up to venerate and kiss the first-class relic of Saint Francis.

-- 2 --

Let everyone be struck with fear,
the whole world tremble,
and the heavens exult
when Christ, the Son of the living God,
is present on the altar in the hands of a priest!

--Saint Francis of Assisi

-- 3 --

This evening, the Mission continued with a high Latin Mass.  I've only ever been to one before, at Saint Winifred's well in north Wales.

The Mission will continue for all the rest of next week, so I expect to be busy.

-- 4 --

Did you know that the US Conference of Catholic Bishops have called for this time to observed as the 40 Days for Life?  Groups from individual parishes go to local abortion clinics daily to peacefully pray for the sanctification of all human life, especially those of the pre-born.  But you don't have to go track down the abortion mills--spending an extra ten minutes in prayer, attending weekday Mass, or fasting in solidarity with the other souls working during the 40 Days for Life will bear much fruit.  So please join us!

-- 5 --

Theme Thursday catch-up.  This is not a new picture.  I posted it a while back, in the early weeks of August when we were extremely busy.

So whatever happened to this secret?

Well, it wasn't so much a secret after all.  One day after work, when I came over to my parents' to pick up the Squirt, I overheard my sister discussing with my father that the mama bird had freaked out, flown too high toward the door, slammed into the top, broke her neck, and fell down dead.

Long story short, one of those eggs had already hatched a day-old baby.  I researched its breed, listened for the father, and determined that it was abandoned.  For three days, I fed a featherless chickadee moist canned kitten food with an infant spoon or my finger every thirty minutes during daylight, and caught his fecal sack when he (she?) turned himself around to poop it up and out of the nest (the mamas usually catch it in their beak and eat or dispose of it).

I tried to incubate the other eggs under a lamp but nothing came of it.  After a few days, and researching that the eggs of this species always hatch within 24 hours of each other, I performed a layman's autopsy.  Only one other egg had an infant in it, and it was clear from its development that it had died long before.  The other two eggs were unfertilized.  One wildlife specialist I spoke with suggested that the whole clutch was "a bad batch," and that is perhaps why the father abandoned it when the mother died.

After playing telephone tag with various animal sanctuaries in the area, I finally stopped into a vet's office and got the little thing handed off into proper care.  Then I left abruptly to head up to Tallahassee for my sister-in-law's baby shower and a weekend on the beach.  What a month that was!

-- 6 --

And September followed suit.  From the looks of it, October's going to be packed full as well.  The end of October going into November is an especially busy time, liturgically speaking.

-- 7 --

Gosh, I'm tired.  See the rest at Conversion Diary!

Seven Quick Takes: Volume ??? (Let me get back to you.)

Joining Jen at Conversion Diary for 7 Quick Takes Friday.

-- 1 --

So.  I disappeared for about a week there because MY AIR CONDITIONING BROKE.  You have to understand.  September is virtually still summer where I am, and it was worse inside than out, in an apartment that has no fans and only one tiny window that opens in the back room.  Like trying to breath and move in fudge that's just come out of the oven.

We took refuge at my parents' house for most of the week, which would have been fine and dandy if it hadn't been for the fact that. . .

-- 2 --

I started my brand new job this week!  Even though we were headquartered at my parents' house (with frequent trips home to restock on vitamins and changes of clothing), it was worth it to receive this opportunity.  I am now part-time secretary (read: Jack-of-all-trades) at a small Catholic childcare center in small Catholic community outside of the slightly larger Catholic community in which I grew up.  Daily responsibilities include writing creative ads for bulletins, polishing up the website and Facebook page, making pretty fliers for book sales and fundraisers, answering the telephone, and occasionally holding babies.  You know, the pits.  c;

I'm still working at the grocery store on Saturdays, to keep the much-needed income . . . well, coming in.

-- 3 --

Because I'm working at a childcare center, it only makes sense to take the Squirt along with me.  So he's going to be getting toddler-interaction on a regular basis now, with a lovely employee discount (totally free once DCF plucks me off the waiting list).

I also think it will be good for him to be under the care of a non-sentimental adult authority figure.  You know, to reinforce the behavior he's learning at home outside of the home.

-- 4 --

That means Sundays will be my only "off" days.  Friends, take note!

Having Sundays free regularly is a change of pace around here.  Usually, I'm having to squeeze in Mass between a late Saturday schedule and noon Sunday.

I've started walking over to the Episcopalian church the next block over to take the Squirt to the nursery.  I know the woman who watches the kids, and the church's secretary works with me at the store.  After that, it's an quick walk to the local Catholic parish for 11 o'clock Mass.  It's not our home parish, but I like that I don't have to load everyone into the car; and the Squirt and I can take our time enjoying a Sunday morning stroll, while I point out nature.

-- 5 --

I intend to carry on full-speed ahead with the Harry Potter book club (dubbed Harry Potter Project on Spinning Straw into Gold) and will try my best to continue to write timely posts.  (I'm failing already!)

About two weeks ago, we had our first live Harry Potter book club meeting in a small natural food store while Jenna was down visiting with her grandmother.  Masha joined us via Skype.  The other patrons probably gave sideways glances when I announced that out loud, but I! Just! Don't! Care!  It was that awesome.

We can confirm that Jenna is a flesh-and-blood person.  Jury is still out on Masha.  c;

-- 6 --

All this on- and off-the-clock activity does not bode well for my writing.  While I am a little grieved at that, in over the summer I've solidified the knowledge that my storyteller track is one for the long run.  And I'm okay with that.  I'd rather take a long time doing something, and do it right (or at least well).

And who knows?  Maybe I will find myself in a cottage in north Wales, my husband playing with our son in the garden, me pregnant with our second (of many?), and writing by the open window in the quiet evening with a hot cuppa after supper, this time next autumn.

Only probably much louder and messier.

In the meanwhile, I've a poem in the newest issue of Dappled Things and one in Goblin Fruit, with a recording of me reciting it.  Goblin Fruit is great fun for the imagination, visibly beautiful, and in harmony with the seasons, but their poems tend to the more fantastical and hard-to-interpret.

These may be the last publications for a while.  We'll see.  As others have noted, autumn tends to be a writing time

-- 7 --

Speaking of seasons, I've had it on my heart for a good while now to order our lives toward the seasons, both literal and liturgical.  I'm not entirely sure how I'm going to do that.  For one, the seasons are subtle here, and while beautiful in their own way, I'm an Anglophile raised in the mid-west.  I want my stark fall, winter, spring, and summer.  For another, I wasn't raised steeped in Catholic culture until I was an adolescent, and even then it was only a Sunday and praying-before-meals thing.  I crave the monastic rhythm of the middle ages, the liturgy laced inseparably with the harvest cycle, like bone and muscle.  But how does one incorporate that in an age that is so detached?

And how does one do that working almost thirty hours a week, and keeping house and making healthful meals, and raising a two-year-old?

Seven Quick Takes // What I Wore Sunday

Linking up with Conversion Diary and Fine Linen and Purple!

-- 1 --

I wouldn't have if I couldn't have, but I can, so I will.  I said I'd do a What I Wore Sunday linky--had all the images ready and everything!  Credit to my sis Caroline for the photographs (and flattering pose advice).

Polka-dot dress:  Rabbit Rabbit Rabbit (Bealles)
Cardigan:  Mossimo Supply Co. (Target)
Flats:  Mossimo Supply Co. (Target)
Costume watch:  Premier Jewelry
Glasses:  Walmart (is that a brand?)
Gold crucifix:  jewelry store/gift shop at the tippy-top of Saint Peter's Basillica
Naturally frizzy hair:  genes, by Mother Nature

-- 2 --

I hauled the Squirt into the car last Sunday for a 55 minute drive to the closest Marionite Rite Catholic parish: part of an idea I've had in my mind for the past six months beginning the Squirt's Catholic education and enriching my own.  It was a pretty little church, sparse but arranged like other Roman Catholic churches I've been in (not the octagonal ones, thank goodness!).  Though there wasn't an abundance of art, what they had was mostly iconography--with a photo of Pope Francis and the traditional Sacred Heart painting--and lots of pretty writing in Arabic.  So pretty.  Did I mention how pretty it was?

I expected the Mass to more closely resemble the Latin extraordinary form, but it too appeared to have been modified via Vatican II.  The priest faced away from the altar, responses came readily from the congregation, and I only counted two veils.  Before the reading, the lecterns turned to the priest and asked him to bless them, which he did, and then blessed the rest of the congregation as well.  For the sign of the peace, the ushers walked down the aisle, from the front to the back, and greeted only the people on outside of the pews.  Instead of shaking hands, the ushers placed their palms together in a prayerful gesture and held them out, and the people placed their palms on the outside of the ushers' hands and slid them off.  I've never known anyone from the Middle East very well or otherwise been exposed to the culture, but I assume that is how they shake hands!

The sacred music consisted overpowering voices chanting in Lebanese, though I could discern an "amen" and an "alleluia" every once in a while.

I didn't get to take any pictures or stay around and socialize because the Squirt was being Especially Bad.  But I don't regret taking him, and I'm really glad we went.  I wouldn't mind going back, so . . . we'll see how my days work out that I'm free and able to drive two extra hours to attend church.

-- 3 --

Yesterday was my mom's birthday, so my sister made a homemade red velvet cake with cream cheese icing.  It was so soft and spongy and moist.  Happy birthday, Mom!  Happy birthday, Uncle Chris!

-- 4 --

Here is the sprightly lady at a the tender age of [message garbled]--ahem.  My sister took the photo of her on the same day she did the ones of me above.  I tried to give her some instruction, but the posing and look-capture is all her.

I edited this photo in RAW format for clarity, lighting, and sharpness.  Also messed with the noise reduction, which I'm not entirely sure is necessary.  I can't remember if I adjusted the white balance or not.

No makeup--pretty good, right?

But I wanted to give her the softness a little makeup would add (not that she needs it--my dad is insistent).  So I converted the RAW file to JPG and uploaded it to Photoshop.  Using the Perfect Portrait action from Coffeeshop Blog, I smoothed her skin, reduced redness, whitened her teeth and pupils, highlighted and brightened her eyes (these things are done manually by "painting" on the photo in different "layers").  There probably wouldn't have been much to do if I'd had my soft lens filter on the camera that day.

In the latter photo below, I played with lighting so that it looks like the evening is creeping up from behind on the left.  (The photo was taken at dusk.)

Last, in Picmonkey, I added some color to her lips and cheeks

and experimented with different types of effects.

There's even a tool to smooth/remove wrinkles, but I stand against that on principle!

I feel like I'm getting more and more ready to start a little side business soon.  Thoughts?

-- 5 --

Tomorrow my sister and I are attending the wedding of a college friend of mine.  I haven't seen him since my own wedding, and I'm looking forward to toasting the nuptials and dancing like nobody-that-I-actually-know-is-watching.

-- 6 --

The Squirt got his British passport in the mail on the same day Queen Elizabeth's great-grandson was born.  He is now officially a citizen of "her Britannic Majesty."  I quipped on Facebook that someone should be made aware that my boy is now available and eligible for the position of Tiny Gentleman-in-Waiting.

-- 7 --

Read the first chapter of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets--hope to have the introductory post on that up before Monday (fingers crossed?).  See Jenna!

Seven Quick Takes: Volume 23

Joining Jen at Conversion Diary for 7 Quick Takes Friday.

-- 1 --

Happy America Day, ya'll.  Hope you had a nice one.  We did.

We bid farewell to the man of the house as he departed on an airplane back to Cymru, to continue pursuing our immigration progression and prepare the way for us to join him (I pray sooner rather than later).

After an early afternoon nap, the Squirt and I joined my folks at the annual part hosted by a prominent family.  People show up each year in the hundreds, each bringing a side dish or dessert.  Beverages, beer, and barbecue are provided by the hosts.  It's nice to see old acquaintances and to indulge in the intimacy only large parties can provide, to quote Jordan Baker from The Great Gatsby.  It really is rather like our Gatsby party . . . the small town version.

-- 2 --

We finished the night with a bloom of fireworks.  About ten minutes, which is a long running time for a private affair.  The Squirt was tired and cranky, but when the lights sparkled, he was quite and paid attention.  It wasn't until the grand finale that he made that slow, deep frown that signified he'd had enough.

Firework-gazing on soft blanket over crunchy summer grass is among my fondest childhood memories.

-- 3 --

The meal-planning initiative is only one part of a greater attempt at honing my life to holy domesticity and liturgical rhythm.  I enjoyed immensely the Byzantine fast this past Lent (as much as one can enjoy a fast--taking pleasure in a worthy sacrifice is more accurate), and I've been looking for ways to incorporate other medieval Church traditions.  I missed Saint John's Day and the fern flower, I'm afraid.  I believe I was working!

Anyway, a Google search retrieved this book, which has apparently been around for a while.  Anyone recommend it?  Is it cutesy crafts or more permeating practices?  I'm open to recommendations.

-- 4 --

You know what is great for keeping the liturgical seasons, though?  Feasts and Seasons, which is aired sometimes on EWTN.  I'm all over these Saint Bartholomew's Day Honey Apples.  And the Saint James grotto might catch the Squirt's attention for a good fifteen minutes (he likes dirt, playing in dirt, rolling in dirt, eating dirt, and rocks).

-- 5 --

Another practice I'm integrating is (almost) daily walks, with the little heathen in toe, strapped into his stroller.  There's a pretty trail in the midst of the city-town, not far from our apartment building, a mile in length.  Getting there, walking down, turning back, and returning home, I'm guessing, adds up to about 2 and 1/2 miles.

Exercising used to be incredibly hard for me; I mean, my body had a physical aversion to breaking down energy, which, in all my twenty-eight years of suffering through it, I have yet to find a modern medically approved term for it (though I meet all the criteria here, modern medicine doesn't recognize this a medical condition).  Now I drink daily all-natural energy drinks, and I'm like a different person.  I enjoy the brisk walk, sweating is not synonymous with slow death, and I don't feel faint and nauseated during and after.  When we get home after the walk, I feel better, not worse.  And I believe that starting the day off with vigorous exercise energizes me for the rest of the day.  And we all know that it helps us sleep better and eat less.

Still not quite ready to jump on the running bandwagon, however.

-- 6 --

I'm looking to purchase candles in bulk because the cheapest votives available around here are $1 minimum, and they only burn for a few days.  I also like to burn candles for recreation and comfort, and as often as I do, they get expensive.  I'm guessing a parish supply store would have affordable deals.

-- 7 --

Congrats to Ms. Hannah!  She was the only person who put a bid in for my copy of the 2012 Tuscany Prize for Catholic Fiction: Collect Short Stories, so she wins by default!  Hannah, please e-mail me your mailing address and let me know if you would like me to write anything special in the in-sleeve when I sign it.

Seven Quick Takes: Volume 22

Tuscany Press Edition & Giveaway

Linking up with Conversion Diary for this week's 7 Quick Takes Friday.

-- 1 --

Tuscany Press is accepting manuscripts for the 2013 Tuscany Prize for Catholic Fiction.  Genres include novels, novellas, short stories,and young adult novels.  If you've got a manuscript lying around, or one that needs just a bit more polish, send it on over.  If they like your work, they might offer you a publication contract aside from the Tuscany Prize.  So even if it's not 100% ready for submission, you might be letting the right people know that you have a skill and to expect more from you in the future.

-- 2 --

They've recently put up an author's page so you can get to know the people behind the award-winning fiction.  We range from all over the country (and out!) and vary in race, gender, age, and ethnicity; but the one thing we have in common is a Catholic vision of art and literature.  Some of them have links to blogs and such, so you can even get in contact.

-- 3 --

And here's a comprehensive essay addressing what is Catholic fiction?  We may be inclined to think Catholic fiction requires convents and rosaries, or indiscreet moral stands such as the writings of Michael O'Brien and Regina Doman (both good authors), but the category is actually much wider.

-- 4 --

The founders are looking for ways to promote Tuscany Press and her sister projects CatholicFiction.net and CatholicInk.com, so if you work with or for a university, library, Catholic parish, or other organization that you think would benefit from an event with Tuscany Press, get in contact.  Or you can let me know, and I can contact them for you.

-- 5 --

Tuscany Press has ties with the prestigious Catholic literary magazine Dappled Things.  Some of the authors for Tuscany have also published in Dappled Things, and the editor of Tuscany Press, Joe O'Brian, is active with DP as well.  So this is a strong and growing Catholic sub-culture, with truth and beauty as its aim, but not at the expense of art.  See Pope John Paul II's Letter to Artists.

-- 6 --

Tuscany Press is currently looking for a freelance Fiction Substantive/Line Editor.  Requirements include:

1.) Experience with Book publishing  

2.) Experience with Substantive/line editing

a.) analyze the manuscript 

b.) Work in the manuscript 

c.) Address issues:

i.) Story Arc 

ii.) Character Development

iii.) Chaptering and pacing 

iv.) Transitions 

v.) Fictional Dream Issues 

vi.) Beginning, Middle and end 

3.) Knowledge of John Gardner and the Fictional Dream – also The Art of Fiction 

4.) Know of Flannery O’Connor and Mystery and Manners

Do you know of anyone who needs work or is interested?  I assume at this stage that they're going to prefer a practicing Catholic, but I don't actually know.

-- 7 --

I'm giving away my copy of 2012 Tuscany Prize for Catholic Fiction: Collected Short Stories.  Want to be eligible?  Here's what you have to do:

• comment on this post saying that you'd like to be included for the random drawing
• in the following week, write a brief post or paragraph advertising Tuscany Press on your blog/Twitter/Facebook/internet platform to help support its mission and get the word out

That's it!  I'll sign and address the book however and to whomever you want!  Okay?  Okay!  Thanks so much ahead of time for participating.

Seven Quick Takes: Volume 21

Linking up with Conversion Diary for 7 Quick Takes Friday.  AmIright?

-- 1 --

Best news first: my husband will be here on the 13th!  It's been almost seven months since he departed to his home country of Cymru to prepare the way for our immigration, and he's finally feeling settled enough to come back for a visit.  I hope that the next time we see him after this, we will be joining him in the U.K.

-- 2 --

I turned twenty-eight on Tuesday.  It was a good birthday, all things considered.  My family bought me a bouquet of flowers (I'm unused to receiving flowers from others), and we had a savory dinner at Yamato's.  I love Japanese cuisine, the non-experimental kind.  I drank a tall vase of hot sake and had some to spare!

-- 3 --

I'm going to dangle these pricey yet oh-so-pretty Noa Noa pieces in front of my nose as motivation to count calories and lose weight.  Meal planning?  Not going so well.  Since I'm working thrity hours or more a week now, a lot of what I'm doing is grab-and-go.  So I'm trying to do whole wheat toaster waffles, eggs, soups, and gluten-free sandwiches, with organic chocolate bunny grahams for the Squirt.

And a bottle of blueberry wine for Mama.  c;

-- 4 --

The latest in the Harry Potter Project is here and here.

-- 5 --

Birthdays bring evaluating, and a fair amount of angst.  I spent most of my time at work this evening re-evaluating.  What do I want to do with my life?  Since I'm not able to be a stay-at-home mom (an extremely honorable and preferable vocation, if one can afford it, though not necessarily the easiest route), I need a career that will elevate as well as bring home the bacon.

I'm working on noveling, but I'm decidedly for a slow-but-steady mastery over an instant gratification quick route, so I'm resigned to that being on the back burner for a couple of years to a decade.

In the meantime . . .?

-- 6 --

Blueberry wine.

-- 7 --

Warm Bodies was an uplifting, positive romantic comedy suitable for teens.  I might have to write a review of it in the following weeks.  Quite good.

Seven Quick Takes: Volume 20

Linking up with Conversion Diary for 7 Quick Takes Friday.
Update: And The Beetle Shack!

-- 1 --

The thirty-three hour work week is nearing its end, and all I have to say is: !!!

-- 2 --

My grandmother visited this weekend and sweetly treated me and my sister to a spa day.  The last time I got a pedicure was B.S., before Squirt.

Let me astound you with my impressive vocabulary: shellac is awesome.  If you're going to splurge, considering getting shellac because if you average cost for use/time it lasts, it comes out overwhelmingly over regular polish.  Going on three days of hard kitchen-labor, and my nails are still shiny and smooth.  Get this: my color is called My Vampire is Buff.

-- 3 --

Thank you for all the thoughtful comments on Theme Thursday's photograph.  I chose the most flattering pose/contrast/photo possible, of course.  Here are some, I don't know, things-I-just-thought-of, that I think could be classified as tips for good self-portraits.

Same one from Thursday, in color.  Not as dramatic, huh?

• always hold the camera slightly above you for the best angle
• experiment with tilting your head and putting the camera to the side, as opposed to a straight head-on portrait
• soft lighting is universally flattering--that goes for all portraits; try late afternoon or dusk sunlight

-- 4 --

Here's a photo I took of my sister using the methods above.

-- 5 --

The latest in the Harry Potter book club:

• Jenna talks about sorting and Hogwarts houses
• Masha introduces us to problems of magic, with a side note on houses
• a delightful comparison between Hogwarts houses and Lady Gaga songs from Laura
• and Ms. Loveday explains tarot symbolism in Harry Potter

Mine is coming tonight, tomorrow at the latest.  Saturday is my day off!

-- 6 --

Wreath-making?

I saved the materials from my Christmas-season pine wreathes and used the clippings in the throw-away wheel barrow while the Squirt played in my parents' "yard" after work.  Then the sun went down, and that's as far as I got.

-- 7 --

The roses are in full bloom for the end of May.

They're not my favorite flower.  I prefer the bluebell, and the wild daffodil, and hydrangeas.  And anything that grows wild on the side of the road.  I'm going to be twenty-eight next week, and all I want for my birthday is bouquets and bouquets of flowers.