Merry Christmas!

Celebrating Christmas in a grand style, internationally acclaimed sand artist, Sudarsan Pattnaik, has erected a 35 feet high sand sculpture of Jesus Christ in the scenic beach of Puri, Odisha, India expecting to set a new world record.

The 75 feet wide sculpture of Jesus was made in just 3 days before the Christmas Eve using at least 1000 tons of sand in. Pattnaik was assisted by 25 students in his project.

Pattnaik, who holds seven other records in sand art, said that he had approached the Limca Book of Records this time to break his own record of making 22 feet tall sculpture of Jesus in 2011.

“This is our attempt for creating the eighth world record and hence we requested Limca Book of Records to make a note of it. The existing record was of a 22 feet tall Jesus, but we crafted a 35 feet high sand Jesus, this time. Tourists can see the world’s biggest sand Jesus here at Puri Beach during Christmas,” he said.

Meanwhile, tourists from across the world thronged the beach for a glimpse of the marvelous structure.

A European tourist, Annie James, said that she had seen nothing of this sort ever before, anywhere in the world.

“I have never seen anything like it in my life, anywhere in the world. It’s really special. Puri has a tremendous piece of art here in the beach and I understand that it is something for which Puri is very famous for. So it’s wonderful to see this, a tremendous piece of sculpture here in the beach during Christmas holiday celebrations,” she said.

This was Pattnaik’s gift to the tourists visiting Puri during the ongoing Christmas holidays.

Many westerners and people from the hills and northern India visit Puri at this time of the year as temperatures remain pleasant here.

Links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudarshan_Pattnaik
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_Christ
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puri
http://www.limcabookofrecords.in/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puri_Beach
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas

'Twas the night before....

Christmas tree at the office building.

'Twas the night before Christmas...3 years ago that I started this blog. I was inspired by blogs by a nephew and niece. In addition to documenting highlights of what was happening in my life I hoped to increase communication with members of my family: siblings, parents, children, uncles, aunts, cousins, nieces and nephews, and friends. In that sense it was a HUGE failure.

Obviously no one cares. And that is a symptom of what is wrong with our society today. No one cares about anyone else. Everyone is too busy with their own life. You're on your own.  Even my nephew and niece got tired of blogging and stopped. What's the point about trumpeting how holy you are if no one is paying attention (except a skeptic old relative).

You might think there would be a difference between those who call themselves Christians and those who could care less about God or religion. Nope. I guess all that stuff about loving your neighbor doesn't include taking a few moments on the web to see what is going on (unless it's Facebook). I guess the Christians don't realize (or care about) the kind of witness they are presenting. That only demonstrates the depth of their Christianity (no diving allowed). So it's not surprising at the state of things today. Was that an iceberg we just hit?

Thanks to those who have checked out this blog (once in a while at least). I'll keep pedaling on. Your apathy is not a roadblock to my trek.

12/29/2013 Addendum:  This year I sent over 50 Christmas cards but as of yesterday (Saturday 12/28, 3 days after xmas) only received 13 (!). Thanks for your consideration.

This lack of response is crushingly depressing. It is a heartless act that witnesses to the selfishness and inconsideration of our society today. It is particularly disappointing that so many family members have stopped the common courtesy of sharing at least an annual card/greeting.  The message I am receiving from this noncommunication is that I am not worthy of their time. If we have such a lack of respect and decency for our family, than what does the future for our country hold?

Out of 11 siblings and my mom, I only received 3 cards. I fared a bit better with uncles and aunts, hearing from 3 of the 4 sets (the "missing" set always sends a card with a hand written note in January). My uncle who was my confirmation sponsor disappeared from my life a couple years ago when he suddenly divorced my aunt.

Out of all my cousins, I heard from one.  Out of my adult nephews and nieces, I heard from none (these are the good RCs). Out of Lynn's family, I got 1 card.

Most of the cards I sent are unchanged from previous years. This is the 2nd year I have been at this address too. Technology is no excuse. F(acebook) you!

I did receive an email from one of my brothers but it would be something of a stretch to call it Christmas greetings. One of my sisters (who did not send a card) did call me Christmas night. But that's it.

I realize I am whining about this (and no one obviously cares). Christmas-time has long been a frustrating time for me due to the overwhelming greed, materialism, and consumerism.  My stubborn German genes will likely propel me to continue sending annual cards in the future in hopes of preserving a sense of family. Apparently, this is a value that no longer has much currency. What is the matter with us? May God have mercy on us.

Links:
http://ricketwrite.blogspot.com/2010/12/birthing.html
http://ricketwrite.blogspot.com/2013/12/christmas-cards-bethlehem.html

The Hound

Richard was quite involved with this play from start to finish. He got involved in the striking the set from the previous play and stayed on to help with construction of the set for this one (if you look at the pictures from the theater website, he takes credit for painting a lot of the design on the floor). He received two credits in the program for Scenic Crew and Back Stage Crew.  During the show his responsibilities involved prop management and assisting the actors with costume changes (in the blink of an eye).

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s most celebrated Sherlock Holmes story gets a gloriously funny makeover in “The Hound of the Baskervilles.” When Sir Charles Baskerville is found dead on his estate with a look of terror still etched on his face and the paw prints of a gigantic hound beside his body, the great detective Sherlock Holmes is summoned from Baker Street with Dr. Watson in tow to unravel the mysteries surrounding his death and investigate the ancient curse of the Hound of the Baskervilles.  Three (3) male actors play all the characters.

I ended up seeing the play the evening of Saturday 12/14/2013. Because the play was scheduled during the middle of a winter storm warning, only about 30-some people showed up. Fortunately, I got a comp ticket. The show must go on.

The show ran from December 4th through the 22nd, Wednesday through Sunday. Did I mention this was volunteer work for Richard?

Links:
http://www.playhouseonpark.org/pop/20132014Season/mainstageseries_hound.html

written W01/01/2014

Christmas Cards-Bethlehem

Bethlehem, CT Post Office.

Saturday December 14, 2013.

Like so many times in the past, I went to Bethlehem today to mail my Christmas cards.  This year I went alone. I think Richard was apprehensive about going because of the weather forecast: Winter Storm Warning! (and it did snow a bit this morning but the worst came later, at evening and during the night). 

I have been mailing my Christmas cards from Bethlehem since I don't know when (one of these days I will have to actually check my files and try to figure it out)-I think it has been every since I moved to Connecticut. I like posting them from Bethlehem because I hope it reminds people of what Christmas is really supposed to be about. I wonder how many people notice that my cards are postmarked from Bethlehem?

Each year they have a new cachet. This year's (#77) features 26 angels in the shape of a tree to honor the victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in nearby Newtown, Connecticut.

I also like to use the "religious" postage stamp (usually a madonna & child) to further remind people of the "true" meaning of Christmas. This year's stamp features Jan Gossaert's 1531 painting "Virgin and Child." Draped in purple and blue, the Virgin Mary supports her own head by leaning on one of her hands, an unusual pose that art historians see as a sign of sadness and contemplation. In her other hand, a curly-haired infant Jesus draped in white holds a bunch of red currants, which scholars believe are meant to foreshadow his future suffering. Gossaert's painting is currently in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. 

Every year I struggle with finding an appropriate card.  Recently so many cards are printed in China. (I won't purchase any Chinese cards because they are produced using "slave" labor plus production in China has eliminated decent paying middle-class jobs here in the USA. I don't know how anyone can morally purchase Chinese products when USA produced items are available.).

This year I tried cards designed and made by the local Catholic Worker organization. There were two (2) designs:

No Room at the Inn.

Oh Come Let Us Adore Him.

Because there was nothing inside the cards, I added an image I found on the website of the nearby Abbey of Regina Laudis (Bethlehem, CT). I went twice before Christmas to try to purchase cards made by the Abbey but each time there were nun (pun intended).

Our Lady of the Red Dress.

Addendum (1/1/2014):  As has been my practice for several years, I included a "Annual Highlight" report in most of my cards. I sent to all family members and some friends. This year I did not include a "secret message" because...frankly, I forget in the rush to complete (plus I wasn't feeling good when I was finishing up).

2013 Highlights

Links:

http://ricketwrite.blogspot.com/2012/12/journey-to-bethlehem.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bethlehem
http://www.clevelandart.org/art/1972.47
http://hartfordcatholicworker.org/

http://abbeyofreginalaudis.org/

IMAGINE PEACE - Remember Love

Today (December 8th) is the anniversary of the murder of John Lennon in New York City. John Lennon was one of my heroes when I was growing up. During high school (and a bit before and after) I was infatuated with all things Beatles.  While I enjoyed Paul McCartney's music more so than Lennon's, I was very influenced and inspired by John's activism, his honesty, and his struggle to find his place in the world.

John was very vocal and challenging for peace: "War is Over If You Want It!" "Give Peace a Chance." He also promoted Love: "All You Need Is Love." And despite some very public failings, he worked at his relationship with his wife, Yoko Ono, as well as promoting fatherhood.  He was not shy about admitting his sins; he was certainly not perfect.

He challenged us to discard the deification of idols (e.g., The Beatles, Lennon, Christ, Buddha, Pope, Priests, etc.) and instead to focus on the good things and work to make them a reality. Imagine.

In 1980, I was in college. The evening of Monday December 8th found me at home working on homework for chemistry lab or something. I don't remember how I heard the news, if someone called, or someone saw it reported on TV. It was late and there was little news at first. But by Tuesday morning, it was clear: John Lennon was dead!

I remember going to a candlelight vigil downtown in Public Square later that week (Tuesday?).  At the time, I worked at a record store in Parma. We sold so many copies of John&Yoko's latest album, Double Fantasy. Some stores were selling it at full price in order to maximize their profit but our store manager refused to profit over such a tragedy-we sold it at regular price.

Double Fantasy was the first album by Lennon after a 5-year hiatus as "house husband." The album was preceded by a single, "(Just Like) Starting Over" on the A-side and Yoko's "Kiss Kiss Kiss" on the B-side. Everyone at RecordRev was quite disappointed when we first heard "Starting Over." 1980 was the height of punk rock and Yoko's song seemed more in touch with the energy of punk. "Starting Over", on the other hand, sounded like a throw away version of an old rock-n-roll riff, pleasant but nothing to really grab ya.

With the death of Lennon, came the end of our hopes for the Beatles to reunite. They were the messiahs of our generation and there was so much hope that things would get better if they would reunite and capture the magic and energy of the 1960s. Now, with the death of Lennon, we were faced with having to take the responsibility on ourselves.

RIP John Lennon.

"Remember Love" is the Yoko song on the flip side of Lennon's "Give Peace A Chance" single.

Links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_John_Lennon
http://www.johnlennon.com/biography
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beatles
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_You_Need_Is_Love
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_Fantasy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXwodT5ANis
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Give_Peace_a_Chance
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJWLHq5CzE4

Amy in the sun

Amy in the sun.

When I was in college, I took a photography class. That was when a camera actually used film and you had to develop the film using chemicals in a dark room. I took a series of pictures (virtually portraits) of most everyone in my family individually standing in the backyard facing the sun. The lighting was fantastic but each one had to squint. So it wasn't my most successful project.

To mark Amy's birthday, one of her portraits from that series is posted above. Happy Birthday Amy!

Devils Vanquished

The outcome was not favorable for the Blue Devils today.  In a rare 12 noon start, the Devils were not fully awake for most of the game, which ended in a 54-21 defeat by the Robert Morris Colonials.

The weather was challengingly cool (45F) and cloudy during the game.  Perhaps that's what kept attendance down to 2004.  Hardly any fans sat on the Students/Visitors side. Richard and I sat on the Home side because that was closest to the refreshment booth and restrooms.  We should've worn gloves. Instead, I bought a cup of hot coffee (2X) mostly to hold to warm our hands. Toward the end of the game, we moved to the Student stands because it was getting the sunshine (which made it slightly warmer.

Richard bundled up during Half-time.

RMU is the most distant school in the conference that we play. It is located in Moon Township outside Pittsburgh, PA. Perhaps today's early start time was to offset the long commute the Colonials had to return home.

In addition to the two (2) cups of hot coffee (which I only had a few sips), Richard enjoyed a pulled pork sandwich (heavenly aroma) and I had a Frito pie.

Usually, there is some sort of free promotional item given away. We have received illuminated devils horns, rally towel, and back sack. This time nothing was distributed at the gate but later the mascot passed out rally signs.  There was not much use for the "Beat RMU" side.

  

In addition to cheerleaders and dancers, the Blue Devils have a very fine marching band (for its small size). In the picture below you can see how empty the (Student/Visitor) stands are.

Two other humorous episodes that we witnessed during the game: a young kid next to us got his picture on the scoreboard via the fan camera but he was holding his rally sign upside down (until I told him). Despite the success of the Colonials,they were not perfect. In one case, the quarterback threw an incomplete pass and hit one of his players standing on the sideline who went down for about 5 minutes. Hope it wasn't a season ending injury.

Links:
http://www.ccsubluedevils.com/sports/fball/2013-14/boxscores/20131109_90r1.xml
http://www.rmu.edu/

I Voted Today!

Today was my first live in-person election at my new/current residence. Last year I had to do an absentee ballot because I was out of town for work.  This year I was working from home. Since it was a beautiful sunny day, I walked to the middle school which is my voting place. It was about a 10 minute walk. We use the computer card (fill in the bubble) and then insert it into a machine that looks suspiciously like a shredder.

In my town, there wasn't much to vote for: only the town council and the school board. The results were rather depressing since all of the incumbents were re-elected.  There is only 1 new person on the council.

My criteria for voting this time was:

     * No incumbents;
     * No Democrats.

I wanted to also rule out supporting lawyers but that would've eliminated almost everyone. What a sad state of affairs. Status Quo.

Ironically, election day coincided with Guy Fawkes Day but nothing happened (Thank God). Later, I heard about a Million Mask March. Pretty clever. I especially enjoyed the "We're Gonna Trip the Light" video clip by Matt.

Links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Fawkes_Night
http://millionmaskmarch.org/
http://www.wherethehellismatt.com/

Trick-or-Treat (Not)

This is what the school website looked for much of the incident.

On Monday November 4th, Lynn called me at 12:09 p.m. while I was at the office. She informed me that she and Richard were safe and no longer on campus but something weird was going on. She had arrived to pick him up and was going to meet him at the Student Center.

She parked the car nearby and as she walked toward the building, a loud siren started to sound and there was an announcement to get inside immediately and stay away from windows. Lynn retreated to her nearby car just as Richard arrived. He hopped in and they got out of there. She called me to let me know they were safe so I wouldn't worry if I heard/saw anything on the news. But she had no idea what was going on.

My initial thought was that someone screwed up and a drill had inadvertently gone live. However, when I went to the school website, it was gone and had been replaced by a stark white screen with blood red letter screaming "Campus Emergency" (see picture above).

The whole thing lasted about three (3) hours. The information didn't change much for essentially the first hour and half. Something about a suspicious person on campus that looked to be carrying a sword and may have a gun.  The next update indicated that a suspect had been "contained" in a dormitory, James Hall. (see map above),  For a while, there was the implication that there might be hostages.

The police were reported to be onsite only they looked more like the military (see pictures above). Ironically, an active shooter training workshop was being conducted a few miles away.

After a couple hours, a number of students got bored and started leaving the buildings. Finally, it was announced that three (3) people of "student-age" were in custody.  Later, it was announced that the suspicious person was actually a student returning from a weekend at another campus.  He was still dressed in his Halloween costume (a ninja fighter) and had gone to his dorm to drop off his stuff and change clothes. For the first hour or so, he was unaware that he was the center of attention.  They eventually charged him with breach of peace.

The suspicious person taking elevator to his dorm room.

The next day, the university released security pictures of the student.  They were quickly able to pinpoint point his location because of his security swipe card needed to enter the building.  The Huffington Post had a pretty good summary (but inaccurately indicated a BB gun was present).

As you can see from the picture, the student is wearing a hoodie. What may not be apparent is that he is the same race as Trayvon Martin. So far the race card has not been played even though there are some striking similarities (although no one was killed at CCSU).

Links:
http://www.ct.gov/demhs/ical/eventDetail_page.asp?date_ID=C9CECBCFCD83CDCACC
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/06/ccsu-lockdown-ninja-costume_n_4222689.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trayvon_Martin

Fr Hattie Email Letter

The above letter arrived today via email. Fr. Hattie's last letter arrived in the mail and was printed on a half sheet of paper with text on the opposite side about the terrorist attack on the mall in Nairobi, Kenya in September. Since Father lived in Nairobi for a while (after Uganda) I emailed him about it.

As you can see from the picture of the letter, Father still types his letters and then has them scanned as a jpeg file.  I did a bit of basic tweaking to improve the readability of the file-I think I did a pretty good job so I am not going to transcribe the text in this post. If you want a larger image, click on the picture above (you can also right click to save a copy to your computer). Call me if you need help doing this.

As you will notice as you read Father's letter, a bit of ingenuity is required in order to decipher some of the typos. But you should be able to figure it out based on context.

Links:
http://ricketwrite.blogspot.com/2013/10/back-from-africa-uganda.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westgate_shopping_mall_attack

DVD Viewing

Here (below) is a quick overview of some of the DVDs I have watched recently. All were borrowed from the public library. These are not necessarily in chronological order.

"The Wages of Fear" was a DVD I picked up by chance. I had been thinking of another movie, which was a remake of this 1953 B&W film. It was pretty long and deep. Dialogue in French. Very arty. No happy ending.

 

I like to have some comedy to ease the tensions of life and clear my brain.  Watching Season 1 and Season 2 of the old TV series, Get Smart definitely clears out your head. Would you believe that our library only has seasons 1 and 2 but not the other 3? I watched these back-to-back (that turned out to be something of a challenge).

One Day on Earth was another one that I found in the library. I remember hearing about it and it looked interesting so I took it home.  It is a documentary, a series of events happening around the world to document 10-10-10 (October 10, 2010). I watched it on 10-10 (2013), another reason I got it.  I liked it so much that I watched it a second time and tracked down a similar movie ("Life in a Day" - which I have yet to watch).  "One Day on Earth" made me feel so connected to all the people around the world. It was awesome because it showed so many different kinds of people doing different things, showed birth, death, weddings, music, etc. Highly recommended!!

Another, sort of light, TV series I watched was Jackie Gleason's The Honeymooners. Because it was from the 1950s, it is in B&W. No problem for me. Ralph Kramden (Jackie Gleason) is always getting himself in trouble. I love his wife's character, Alice. She doesn't let him push her around but loves him nonetheless because she knows he's only trying to get ahead (but he can't win). For some reason, Disc 4 is missing from the Library-hopefully it will be returned soon so I can actually see all 39 episodes.  The set is pretty beat up and I have suggested they invest in a replacement copy. "Bang! Zoom! To the moon...."

Lost in Translation is sort of a meditation on mid-life crisis, marriage, and the meaning of life. The movie is set in Tokyo. Because of the age difference between the Bill Murray character and Scarlett Johannson, it reminded me of the Pygmalion story. I also think there were some similarities with Michael Caine's Educating Rita.  I liked that despite the flirtations between the two leads, their relationship remained chaste as they struggled to make sense of their individual roles as spouse in their own marriage. I liked the ambiguous ending because you can contemplate the different potential futures depending on how the relationship impacted them.

I almost forgot this film: Drive. It was pretty weird and violent. I didn't really care for it. To me, it seemed like a long, bad modern TV plot. I'm not sure why I got it.

Links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wages_of_Fear
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Get_Smart
http://www.onedayonearth.org/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1687247/?ref_=nv_sr_1
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Honeymooners
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_in_Translation_(film)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pygmalion_(play)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Educating_Rita_(film)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drive_(2011_film)

Sound Tigers - Lose!

My ticket-this is how ugly all the tickets look, not just Comp seats.

Last night, we (Lynn, Richard, and me) went to see the AHL Sound Tigers battle the Wolf Pack. Out first game of the AHL season. Our tickets were courtesy of a friend of Lynn's (who has "connections"). However, we did not sit our assigned seats. Rather we sat in the middle, opposite the benches (to the left of the penalty boxes).  The Sound Tigers lost 5-3.

Shot during warm-ups.

We arrived early in order to watch warm-ups. I like to sit behind the goal and watch the pucks come right at me. I did get a puck that squeezed over the glass and through the netting. Richard gave it to a little kid (we have a ton of warm-up pucks from over the years).

Not too many people attended (officially 1857 but probably actually less) because tonight was the 6th game of the World Series in Boston (and the Red Sox ended up winning the game and the Series). However, we did run into Richard's old roller hockey coach (Dean) and a woman that Lynn knew from high school days.

Food was fair. I bought chicken tenders and fries for $8.  Had to go to the other side of the XL Center to find it. Richard took only a few bites because he wanted BBQ sauce. Unfortunately, the XL Center  doesn't have sauce packages (like BPort); instead you have to squeeze out into an open tiny cup from a bulk container. Hard to carry that back to your seat. A 20 ounce bottle of Aquafina was $4. Parking in the garage at the Center was $10.

One exciting moment came during the 2nd intermission when Richard was selected to go on the ice for a contest. They wanted a Sound Tigers fan to compete against a Wolf Pack fan.  Being close to Halloween, they shot little plastic skulls into a hockey net.  Richard got 2 of 3 goals during the first round but so did his competitor. Richard was not so lucky in the 2nd round and lost but he did get a (Wolf Pack) T-shirt out of the deal.

During the first intermission, they had a "Howl-o-Ween" costume parade around the ice. Lots of kids plus a few parents plus some scary adults dressed up like medieval warriors or something. We saw them walking around the concourse before the start of the game. They were dressed in black with black executioner masks and carrying very real looking axes. Don't know how Security let them in - we found it rather unnerving. I wish I had taken a picture. When I wrote this up, I found a short blurb that seemed to indicate they might have been actors from a local amusement park's "Haunted Graveyard." Pretty spooky.

Links:
http://www.soundtigers.com/
http://theahl.com/stats/game-summary.php?game_id=1011223

Revd W11/6/13 for Howl-o-Ween parade notes.

Hedda Gabler

Richard's first play in college was this past week. They had rehearsals last week and performances this week. This made for long days and late nights for Richard.  He was getting home around 11:30 p.m. during rehearsals and 10:30 p.m. when the show was on. Most of the time, Lynn was driving him to school in the morning for classes, picking him up in the afternoon so he could be home for a couple hours, then taking him back to school ~ 6 p.m. and picking him up at the end of rehearsal or play. I took over a few times in order to give her a break.

Richard is credited in the program as "Light Board Operator." He was involved with installing the various lights, focusing, and setting up the light cues. He said that this show had more cues (over 100) than any show he's been involved with. During the performance run, he had to arrive early and check to make sure all the lights and lighting equipment was working properly; if not, it had to be reported and resolved prior to the start of the show.

The play was an adaptation of Hedda Gabler (A Dream Play),  the classic Henrik Ibsen play: a psychological study of a cultivated woman, recently returned from her honeymoon, whose boredom and dissatisfaction in a stifling environment lead her to destroy others — and herself. Steve Ginsburg, the co-Artistic Director of HartBeat Ensemble was guest director. Steve conceived this production as a dream, which underscores the central character’s desperation as well as its early feminist themes.

Lynn and I went to the Saturday evening performance. We like attending the last show. I have to confess that although I had a vague concept of what the play was about, I really had a difficult time following the story. I kept waiting for the feminist part but I just didn't catch it. All I saw was play about a neurotic woman. Perhaps that is what today's feminism has morphed into. I hope not.

Ironically, one of the biggest sensations of the evening had nothing to do with radical feminism but rather a newborn baby.  After the show, the director was walking around with his newborn baby (less than 2 weeks old) carried in one of those sling pouches at his chest. Of course, everyone had to have an admiring look. So tiny and fragile. For all of Hedda Gabler's feminist ranting about wanting "the power to mold a human destiny", becoming a parent is such an awesome and creative act.

Richard got comp tickets for us. We were a little nervous because the tickets were printed for Thursday rather than Saturday. But there was no question and we picked out our seats per Richard's suggestion. The theater is a black box theater. This type of theater is a very intimate setting.  The show was about 2 hours with a 10-minute intermission.  Richard did a good job with the lighting-it all looked good to me.

Links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedda_Gabler
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/18/theater/18ishe.html?pagewanted=all
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_box_theater

Updated T10/29/2013 for director's baby and NYT article.

Back from Africa (Uganda)

"This picture is of a quilt that 1 of the Nurses here made for me, using the pictures I bro't back from Africa."

Received another letter from Fr. Hattie. Actually, it arrived in Thursday's mail in a small envelope with a homemade DVD (see below) documenting his return visit to Uganda in August. He is now back in Michigan at the Columbiere Center.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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My dear Rick: Peace of Christ!

     As if by schedule, your lovely & generous Gift of $XX.00 rolled in like clockwork. Thanks for being so kind. I think I had told you that I had written, after my trip to Africa, to the 110 donors who had stopped giving Gifts after my return to the USA. Well, the effort is paying off, for I received Gifts from 15 of them along with theirs. Pray that it keeps up. They had probably thought that I no longer had any connection with orphanage. But, in my letter, I assured them that I definitely HAD & was the only fundraiser.

    On my trip to Africa, I gave the Sisters 2 large Charitable Foundations & told them that they would have to learn to take over since I was NOT going to live to be 120 in spite of what they might think. They'll find it hard & time-consuming in the beginning, but if one is appointed to beg for their entire Congregation, they'd be better off.

     We buried 1 Father last Monday. I was shocked because I had eaten dinner with him the previous night & he seemed to be in good form. Another is on his way 'out', so I've been sitting with him for hours since he is terrified of being alone & tries to get up. It gives me a good opportunity to make a meditation on death..how all the trivial things that bothered us in life, seem nothing then.

     Be sure that you have your special place in my daily Mass & prayers & please don't forget my 5 wonderful Sisters, my 1000 kids & myself in yours. Meanwhile, keep smiling & spreading His & Her love, peace & joy all over W. Hartford.

      Tons of love & gratitude.
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A DVD containing highlights of his visit to the Nsumba Orphanage in August was included.

Mark your calendars for the 60th anniversary of Father's ordination; he was ordained November 21, 1953.

Send your cards & letters to Fr. Hattie at:

Fr. Gene Hattie, SJ
Columbiere Center
9075 Big Lake Road
Clarkston, MI 48346

or email to: EHattie@Ymail.com

Send donations for orphanage to:

IHMR Convent
c/o Sr. Christine Nantaba
5802 Evanston Avenue
Indianapolis, IN 46220

Include a note on your check that donation is for Fr. Hattie's Nsumba orphans.

Finally, you may recall that this connection with Fr. Hattie and the orphans is via my late Grandma Marie P and her Circle 7 mission group. As a rosary was part of their gathering and this is October, the month of the Rosary, praying a special rosary for Fr. Hattie would be very appropriate.

PEACE!

Links:
http://www.colombierejesuits.com/about_history.html

Catholic Team Falls to the Devils

Saturday October 26th was another home game for Richard's college. And they played another Catholic school....and WON!  For the season, the Blue Devils are 2-2 versus Catholic Schools.

This week's opponent was the Salve Regina Seahawks. "Salve Regina"" is a Latin term which translates as "Hail (Holy) Queen." It strikes me as somewhat blasphemous (or at least vulgar) to hear fans shouting 'holy' words while cheering at these games (e.g., "Go Salve", "Go Sacred Heart", etc.). To me, it shows the ignorance of their fans toward their own religion (and just think how much tuition costs at these private schools).

The weather was cool but sunny (I felt sunburned by the end). Richard and I again sat in the Student section stands, towards the top, about mid-field. The Blue Devils Dance Team was on our side of the field, along with the Marching Band, while the Cheerleaders were on the opposite side of the field (by the Reserved seats).  For some reason, there weren't too many fans; the official attendance was only 3312 (Hardly OSU or Georgia or Tennessee).

Having played in my high school marching band, I have to say that I am very impressed with the Blue Devils Marching Band. While it is small in numbers, it is very professional and polished. They do a nice medley of Rhapsody in BLUE, Behind BLUE eyes

So far, for each game, they have distributed "goodies" at the gate when we entered.  This time we received little NEC backpacks which included a pen (blue ink, of course) and some sun screen (which I didn't realize until after the game-see above).  We found out later, they were also giving away single servings of flavored pretzels. Ended up getting a "bunch" of those too.

The Blue Devils dominate the game. At half-time the score was 35-0. The Devils third TD was an exciting 94-yard run.  The final score was 47-13.

I was looking forward to a tasty cheeseburger from Ted's food truck but it wasn't there this time. So instead, we each had a "Frito pie".  This is a tasty small dish (only $3) of black and red beans in a chili sauce, poured over Fritos with a sprinkling of cheddar cheese. Yumm.

After the game we walked around the campus; had hoped to go to the bookstore but it was closed. Had to get home in order to get ready for this evening's final performance of the play, "Hedda Gabler."

Links:

http://www.salve.edu/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salve_Regina

https://www.facebook.com/CcsuMarchingBandFans

http://www.northeastconference.org/

http://www.ccsubluedevils.com/sports/fball/2013-14/boxscores/20131026_inbm.xml

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frito_pie

http://ricketwrite.blogspot.com/2013/10/hedda-gabler.html

Double Dead!

Double-our beloved friend.

Lynn's long-time orange cat, Double, went to the Big Sky on Wednesday October 16, 2013. Lynn's other cat, Cutie, was by his side at the end.  Double was something like 10-12 years old. Kidney failure.

Double was the king of the cats in Lynn's house, the alpha male. When I came by, he was always at the door to greet me and lead me into the apartment. Same when I left. He was the first cat to get petted when I arrived, and last when I left.

He would watch TV with Richard and me. When Lynn joined us and sat in the rocker, he would jump into her lap where she would scratch his head and pet him; he would only do that with her.  He liked to drink from the large plastic "Double Gulp" cup that Lynn got from 7-11. That was HIS cup-he knew.

Double arrived after Trouble. Hence, at one time, Lynn had "Double" (and) "Trouble." After Trouble met his match with a car, Double became an indoor cat.

I remember a time playing roller hockey in the driveway at Lynn's place against Double. Perhaps that was the start of Double's connection with hockey. In subsequent times, it was not unusual to look for Double and find him curled up in Richard's hockey bag (do cats have a sense of smell?).

Double must have remembered his time outside because he periodically would try to slip out of the apartment and run down the stairs. Then we would have to scoot him back up the stairs.

Double liked to sleep on the edge of Richard's bed (on the orange comforter).

Slightly blurry picture of Double in the fridge.

Double was a "cool" cat in more ways than one would think. One day, Lynn noticed that Double wasn't around. She looked everywhere for him but to no avail. Thinking he might have slipped outside, her search extended outdoors. No luck. Where was Double?

When Lynn opened the refrigerator to get a drink, there on the bottom shelf sat Double. He looked up at her with a blase look as if to say, 'where did you think I was?' Apparently, he was hot and wanted to cool off. At first, we thought he slipped in when someone left the door ajar too long. However, after we found him in there several more times, we realized he was able to open the door himself and climb in. I learned that this type of behavior is not as unusual as one might think.

After Lynn took him to the vet and found out that Double's kidneys were failing, she made a valiant effort to prolong his days. This included special food, and almost daily fluids via IV. Sometimes I would help: I sat on the floor and held Double, while Richard inserted the needle and monitored the flow, while Lynn stood on a chair to hang the bag of fluid from the chandelier in order to hasten the flow.

During his last few weeks, Double took to curling up in a shoe box on the window sill in the sun.  Often, the other orange cat, Cutie, was nearby.

Cutie (L) & Double (R).

Initially, Lynn wasn't keen on cremation. But after Richard requested it, there really wasn't any other option. She found a good deal where she got a swatch of his fur, paw print in plaster, and a very handsome wooden box with "Double" engraved (wood burned) on the top. So now Double is still with us, still nearby as we sit in the living room. Thank you Almighty One for Double, our beloved friend.

Links:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/08/cute-cat-photos_n_2088407.html
See also: http://www.ourcatspictures.com/cat-loves-the-refrigerator-322.html

Updated T10/29/2013 for refrigerator.
Updated Sun11/03/2013 for hockey bag & fridge pic, window sill pics, IV text.