yes I know, I am not one that likes change, but I figured this one was for the better. I needed to update the page anyway and decided to look around at their new templates. I liked this one because it reminded me of a NYC subway map and driving in Jersey, although I am pretty sure it is something totally different, I still liked it. Anyway, I hope you like it as much as I do, since I rarely need to see that page.
Baseball spring training starts today! It will be nice to see my beloved Mets take the field again even though it is not real baseball quite yet. Speaking of baseball, I have started my fantasy baseball league and this year we had quite a response, 16 teams in the league! It should make it for an awfully interesting draft and season. I am really looking forward to it and it is nice since I had nothing really inbetween football season and now since RU basketball is in the toilet and I can't get into hockey like I used to (at least not until the playoffs).
I read this interesting article about narcissim in college students and have long believe a lot of what it has posited actually a bit more than what was written. We are so focused today on making sure that everyone is treated absolutely the same that we lose sight of reality. The tag lines in the article really jump out (as I guess they are supposed to) "We're all above average" - I am amazed at how upset people get when they don't get an A... it has become the new C, anything lower and we think we are failing. I would like to go on record here as saying I am more than happy to accept a C, if it is fairly deserved, if I just did what was acceptable to learn what I needed and did nothing extraordinary. I am reminded of my first Physics exam in which I scored a 18 out of 200, I was saddened because I thought I was going to fail out of school, but then found out the average was a 14, and I got a C+. It showed how little I actually knew in the subject and didn't give me an overall sense of hubris, while I still did better than average. "I am special, I am special" - true we are all special and all have unique gifts, but, in my opinion, it is meant to be in service to others, somewhere we have lost that idea and it has turned inward to say we don't need others in any way. Well, I am getting off my soapbox and out of the limelight, I'd be interested to hear your feedback though!
I am not sure how long the link above will last, I noticed that the link for last postings moment of zen is already removed (it was about a guy who broke the world record for squat thrusts on an elephant, so you didn't really miss much), but for my penance, this time I will provide two... Moment of Zen #1 for those of you who are really bored and Moment of Zen #2 for those of us who are proud to be from New Jersey.
Until next time, God bless and take care!
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Monday, February 26, 2007
It's Time to Re-Lent
Good Morning! I am back in Baltimore after a wonderful retreat and some time off... it is amazing how much we are creatures of our environment, how everyone seems to "need" the time off after a few weeks back at school (4T guys recovering from Comps not included, they deserve it) - I am no different, but I also remember working long days in the past and only taking two out of my three weeks of vacation in the year, I just think it is funny how quick we adapt and find reason to complain. Anyway, as I said my retreat was excellent, it was just what I had hoped for. I went to St. Mary's Abbey a Benedictine Abbey in Morristown and highly recommend it to anyone desiring to go on retreat. The monks were wonderful, allowed me to pray with them, and offered wonderful hospitality. The food was excellent, although if you plan on going they have breakfast and dinner in silence so be prepared. I knew that they had meals in silence and enjoyed it so much that I am going to incorporate some of it in my Lenten practices, one meal per day will be in silence. Everyone knows I talk to much anyway and I think it will be a good idea to listen more. I also had the opportunity to hike a bit while on retreat and spent some quality time at Morristown National Park, specifically Jockey Hollow. I had been there before but it was nice to be able to go when the snow was all around and kind of set the mood as well.
Speaking of snow, we got a bit yesterday and the drive down was not all that fun. Lots of cars going very slowly which was a little bit frustrating since once I got into Maryland it was all rain and the roads were not that bad. It is like a different culture down here during the winter though and I still am not used to it. But Spring is hoped for eternal... yesterday Bill, his dad and I went to a golf show and the thoughts of putting on a beautiful green in the 70 degrees of June in Jersey brought a smile to my face as I was taking deep breaths to calm myself down as someone was going 20 in the left lane of the highway. We are hoping to have a little trip down here to watch the Yanks play at Camden Yards in September and perhaps go out to Ocean City to play some golf on the same time. I am already looking forward to that, the courses that we looked at were beautiful.
Anywho, I am going to keep this short since I need to get down to Sulpician Meditation and start my day. So, until next time, God Bless and take care. Oh and don't forget Your Moment of Zen, reminding you to always go for the gold.
Speaking of snow, we got a bit yesterday and the drive down was not all that fun. Lots of cars going very slowly which was a little bit frustrating since once I got into Maryland it was all rain and the roads were not that bad. It is like a different culture down here during the winter though and I still am not used to it. But Spring is hoped for eternal... yesterday Bill, his dad and I went to a golf show and the thoughts of putting on a beautiful green in the 70 degrees of June in Jersey brought a smile to my face as I was taking deep breaths to calm myself down as someone was going 20 in the left lane of the highway. We are hoping to have a little trip down here to watch the Yanks play at Camden Yards in September and perhaps go out to Ocean City to play some golf on the same time. I am already looking forward to that, the courses that we looked at were beautiful.
Anywho, I am going to keep this short since I need to get down to Sulpician Meditation and start my day. So, until next time, God Bless and take care. Oh and don't forget Your Moment of Zen, reminding you to always go for the gold.
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
sometimes I wish I were you...
so that I could be friends with me... this funny but arrogant statement was highlighted the other day on AOL IM and I originally left it on as my away message cause I thought it would bring a little laugh. I don't know if it was from the study of family dynamics in my pastoral theology class or a discussion that I had with an old friend about what he recieved anonymously or perhaps it is the typical self analysis that I do before lent, but I took some time and reflected on this and wanted to share it with you. I pondered what is it like to be friends with me? How do others see me and is that how I want them to see me? I guess this came about when thinking about conversations I have had with other friends and misinterpreting what they said or how they said it, there were times that I asked for clarification or my reaction signaled that I had not comprehended what they meant, but a couple times, I did or said nothing... how often do we all do this? I like to think of myself as pretty content with who I am and not worried about what the other thinks and I believe this is still the case, but still wonder how it is percieved. Now don't get me wrong, I don't want six billion replies on the subject telling me who I am to other people, but it was something that I thought was worth thinking about for all of us. I encourage us all to think about this as we approach Lent and look for ways to better ourselves, not for the sake of the other, but for the sake of ourselves and who we want to be.
In what has become a small tradition now, Saturday marked the feast of St. Blase and the blessing of the throats, and now I am in my room sick. I finally figured it out two years ago (after getting sick for five or six years in a row within two weeks of the feast day) - it is a blessing for other people not to hear me talk! Unfortunately for you, I still have a keyboard and fingers :). Seriously though, I am not overly sick, just really off; I haven't found a solid sleeping pattern for about a week now and have just been sluggish. I decided to just take some time in my room today to try and recover which stinks cause I hate missing classes, but hopefully I will back up and running tomorrow... we shall see.
The Super Bowl was one of the worst games I have ever watched (I actually started falling asleep twice in the 4th quarter), but the food was good and so was the company as most of the house came down for the super bowl party. I thought the commercials were pretty brutal, I don't think I will ever eat a snickers again. I did like the commercial about the robot arm though, and rock paper scissors and the blockbuster 'mouse' ad weren't too bad either. '24' on the other hand was great last night (SPOILERS ahead - if you didn't watch it skip to the next paragraph). Some of the show was kind of predictable - I mean everyone kind of figured out that it was going to be Morris' picture on the screen, but I also guessed that Jack's father was involved in the whole thing when he shot the other guard. There are small things that bothered me last night though, 1) why was Jack's father able to see Jack interrogating Grahm? I mean come on, how about following some protocol sometimes at least. 2) Why did they leave everything in Grahm so his dad could just inject him? and 3) if they left the tubes in why didn't they leave the cameras on so that they knew he was involved? 4) Does every Vice President hate the President as much as in this show? OK, that's enough for now...
Just remember next week we get TWO new episodes of 24 starting at 8PM!!! Keith is happy :). National letter of intent signing day is tomorrow (college football), this is when all of the players that said they were coming to Rutgers usually sign on the dotted line to make it official. There have been last minute switches, although I am not a big fan of that, and some people, like Antwain Easterling the #5 RB in the country, have not decided. *cough* *cough* I think I will still be sick tomorrow ;). It is shaping up to be an awesome class though and am just happy for my beloved Scarlet Knights, although I may not be able to see them anymore as there has been a hold on new season tickets because of interest (now a 2000 person waiting list) and I no longer have season tickets since I moved to Baltimore. The single game ticket may no longer be available, which is great for the university, but not so great for me. Oh well, such is life, but luckily I still have some friends who might be able to help out.
Anyway, I should stop writing now since I am cold and need to hop back in bed (life is so tough). Hope all is going well wherever you may be and I will talk to you soon. oh, and today's moment of zen comes from a brother seminarian who shares a similar sense of humor - I addicted him to Pearls before Swine and he sent me this beauty - start from the bottom and work your way up. Pax et bonum.
In what has become a small tradition now, Saturday marked the feast of St. Blase and the blessing of the throats, and now I am in my room sick. I finally figured it out two years ago (after getting sick for five or six years in a row within two weeks of the feast day) - it is a blessing for other people not to hear me talk! Unfortunately for you, I still have a keyboard and fingers :). Seriously though, I am not overly sick, just really off; I haven't found a solid sleeping pattern for about a week now and have just been sluggish. I decided to just take some time in my room today to try and recover which stinks cause I hate missing classes, but hopefully I will back up and running tomorrow... we shall see.
The Super Bowl was one of the worst games I have ever watched (I actually started falling asleep twice in the 4th quarter), but the food was good and so was the company as most of the house came down for the super bowl party. I thought the commercials were pretty brutal, I don't think I will ever eat a snickers again. I did like the commercial about the robot arm though, and rock paper scissors and the blockbuster 'mouse' ad weren't too bad either. '24' on the other hand was great last night (SPOILERS ahead - if you didn't watch it skip to the next paragraph). Some of the show was kind of predictable - I mean everyone kind of figured out that it was going to be Morris' picture on the screen, but I also guessed that Jack's father was involved in the whole thing when he shot the other guard. There are small things that bothered me last night though, 1) why was Jack's father able to see Jack interrogating Grahm? I mean come on, how about following some protocol sometimes at least. 2) Why did they leave everything in Grahm so his dad could just inject him? and 3) if they left the tubes in why didn't they leave the cameras on so that they knew he was involved? 4) Does every Vice President hate the President as much as in this show? OK, that's enough for now...
Just remember next week we get TWO new episodes of 24 starting at 8PM!!! Keith is happy :). National letter of intent signing day is tomorrow (college football), this is when all of the players that said they were coming to Rutgers usually sign on the dotted line to make it official. There have been last minute switches, although I am not a big fan of that, and some people, like Antwain Easterling the #5 RB in the country, have not decided. *cough* *cough* I think I will still be sick tomorrow ;). It is shaping up to be an awesome class though and am just happy for my beloved Scarlet Knights, although I may not be able to see them anymore as there has been a hold on new season tickets because of interest (now a 2000 person waiting list) and I no longer have season tickets since I moved to Baltimore. The single game ticket may no longer be available, which is great for the university, but not so great for me. Oh well, such is life, but luckily I still have some friends who might be able to help out.
Anyway, I should stop writing now since I am cold and need to hop back in bed (life is so tough). Hope all is going well wherever you may be and I will talk to you soon. oh, and today's moment of zen comes from a brother seminarian who shares a similar sense of humor - I addicted him to Pearls before Swine and he sent me this beauty - start from the bottom and work your way up. Pax et bonum.
Thursday, February 01, 2007
Is nothing safe anymore?
uhhh... I apologize to those who like to use the comments section to comment back, I needed to add word verification since I was getting spam on the comments. I tried to delete them as soon as I saw them, but apologize if you saw some commercials for online medications - I think it is quite obvious that I did not support them. I hope I do not have to go the route of taking off the anonymous posting since I think people should be free to comment away if they read and do not need to login, but if it does become a hinderance I will change it. My apologies again. Pax et bonum.
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