Author: Kris

  • Tricia’s trying to find out the origin of the word “spendy” (slang for expensive). Have you heard this term used? Where? Let her know.

  • Wow! I just found out that our neighborhood, Newtown, has a website! It’s mostly crap, but I love the home page. The information about the history of the community is pretty good too.

  • As if that game weren’t bad enough, Snookums just sent me this optical illusion. My mind is officially blown for the day.

  • Bookworm is my new obsession. My highest score so far is just over 150,000. It’s also sucked two hours of my life away. Be warned – this game is extremely addictive!

  • Disheartening news, ladies. Apparently a study has concluded that breast self-exams haven’t really been that effective in lowering breast cancer death rates. That sucks.

  • New Poll

    What’s your favorite part of the county fair? I’ve been getting pretty homesick listening to my family talk about all the festivals going on at home. I’d kill for an elephant ear right about now.

  • Another Blogger Union

    Steve wrote a touching essay on the occasion of his first wedding anniversary. He and his wife Lyn met online a few years ago. Here’s the part I really related to:

    We disagree often, but as she observes, we agree on the large outlines of so many things that when we do find an edge case that we disagree on, it can seem more important and become more contentious than it really ought to be. Each of us can’t believe the other doesn’t see the obvious illogic of his/her position since s/he’s usually so sensible… The trick is to remember that it’s usually such a minor thing we’re sparring over. And I’m grateful that’s all it is.

    I’m going to try to remember that the next time we get in an argument about the ethics of direct linking on the Internet.

  • Buffy

    Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Theologian of the Year. I really enjoyed that article. See, that’s what makes the show so great. You can read it in so many different ways. There’s just a depth there that you don’t get in shows like Friends or Everybody Loves Raymond. And even though I didn’t like the 4th season so much (we just finished watching the DVD), I can still see what the producers were trying to achieve. Adam was boring, but that doesn’t negate their attempt to contrast Buffy’s “supernatural” style of fighting evil with the government’s “technological” approach. It was a worthy experiment. Now we’ve started on Angel Series 1, which is a much different show than I had imagined. It feels darker and more realistic. (But thank god for Cordelia, who I missed terribly from Buffy.) I’m getting off track a bit. Basically, I just like that the show can be read in so many ways by different groups. The religious types can see Buffy as a Christ-figure and discuss whether Joss is a fundamentalist. The feminists can focus on Buffy’s shattering of gender stereotypes. And the fashionistas can gripe about the horrible puke-worthy outfits Willow wore in Season 4. Actually, that last one isn’t such a good thing. 🙂

  • My sister sent me this link. So yeah, she’s still makin’ fun of the Atkins thing. 🙂

  • The founder of Opus Dei is being canonized. I don’t know much about Catholic sects, but I do remember the minor scandal that ensued when ND‘s magazine revealed the existence of a local campus branch. One of the guys in my Philosophy class was in it. (He was an ass, but in all fairness I don’t think that had anything to do with religion.) I remember being horrified reading about their self-flagellation. I seem to remember the article going into great detail about some wire thing you were supposed to wear around your leg that cut into you all day long. I still shudder at the thought. Hey, I’m all for self-discipline, but some of this stuff borders on self-mutilation. I don’t think it’s very saint-like to endure suffering that you yourself cause. The guy in the article tries to play it down, but he still emphasizes the “constant sacrifice” that is necessary for “God’s work”. It sounds so cult-like. (You can read an “unofficial FAQ” here.) What do you Catholics think? Is this good or bad for the Church’s image right now? (Does that even matter?)