Life Now

1. Clinging to sleep.
2. Polish.
3. Reading sad news.
4. Writing sad news.
5. Watching Youtube Riverdale "crack" videos.*
6. Sleep.

*Not endorsing Riverdale to children, teens, clergy, nuns, the unmarried, anyone under 40, et alia.

Historically Home-less

Prudently I cannot say much about it, but for reasons I will not go into, I have very few clean clothes,  and Benedict Ambrose and I have to live somewhere else for at least a week.

(Pause while I run for an enormous "Tłusty Czwartek" [Fat Thursday, i.e. beginning of Carnival] doughnut.)

My home office is a little closed-door island of sanity in an environment suddenly gone upside down.   The accident-to-the-system we have feared for almost ten years has happened, and we say things like, "Well, at least it wasn't a fire" and "It could have been worse" and "If it had to happen, it happened in the best possible way."

Someone suggested it happened because I wrote this, and the devil was mad.

P.S. Sugar is evil, but not on Tłusty Czwartek.

P.S.2 I'm afraid my best clothes have been ruined, but as they still haven't dried out (!), I can't yet tell how many.

On the one hand, thank heavens it wasn't the books. On the other hand, clothes are necessary to life.

Would you be mad or glad if you suddenly lost 50% of your (already Kondo-ized) wardrobe?

Coming Up for Air

Does anyone want to read about someone who works all the time?  Hot Fuzz, the famous British comedy about workaholic cop Nicholas Angel, was brilliantly funny. It is one of the few films that has literally made me weep with laughter. But in reality....

Perhaps not that interesting.

Nevertheless, my parents still read my blog, so this is what my weekday looks like:

6:50 AM --Wake up, thinking about work.

7:15 AM -- Check Facebook, thinking about work.

8:00 AM - 11:00 AM -- Language study/get groceries/laundry/housework.

11 AM - 7 (or 8) PM -- Work.

7 PM or 8 PM -- Make dinner and eat it with B.A. Think about work. Take breaks to check work. 

8 PM - 11 PM -- Try not to think about work. 

It's Saturday, and I don't want to think about work. Shortly I will close the computer and look up Polish words instead. One brilliant thing about language study is that it is all-absorbing, which means it prevents me from thinking about work. 

Of course, sometimes I translate something for work, which means I am doing language study and work at the same time. 

While I work, Benedict Ambrose sits in a chair between the radiator and the empty fireplace and convalesces. He is slowly gaining weight, but his eyes are still sunken in his lined face. He reads a lot of Catholic news, so when I ask him at supper what he's done today, the conversation becomes about work. 

The change from writing (tops) an article a week to writing up to three articles a day has been nerve-wracking. It's an entire different discipline. In fact, the first activity isn't really a discipline: it's just fun. Well, maybe not ENTIRELY fun.

When I wrote this article, I spent several hours in my guesthouse room or in a cafe reading and translating (with dictionaries) various Polish news articles. Since I had been at the Warsaw Independence March anyway, out of sheer curiosity, it made sense to write it all up the next day and send it to Catholic World Report. I was a year ahead of my time; the western media took more of an interest THIS year, when I wasn't there.

Not being there made it a bit frustrating to write THIS article, but it was morally necessary to write it because of all the fake news in the English-language press. This time I had to contact people who WERE there and would both talk to me and consent to their names appearing in LSN. And now, of course, I have set deadlines, so I usually need people to talk to (or message) me at once. 

Another frustration is that Poland (not just Polish) is hard for the English-speaking world to understand, and the English-speaking world is hard to explain to Poles who don't speak much English. It's like trying to explain the Second Amendment to the American Constitution to Swedes, and Swedish comfort with nudity to Americans. 

One of the problems papered over by the Agents of Diversity is that people--peoples--actually are really diverse. It's not just their foodstuffs, or their religious traditions, or what women wear. It's also their relationship to the physical environment in which they live, and their attitude towards politicians, and their concepts of manhood or womanhood, and their histories, and their borders. 

Diversity is not changing dresses on a Barbie Doll. Sometimes diversity is almost all people in a given area sharing a multi-generational experience of the same place, language and history. That's not how it is in my hometown Toronto, but as much as I love Toronto, I don't think the world is or should be a giant Toronto. 

With the exception of conquest of the Channel Islands by the Nazis (which is almost never spoken of), Britain hasn't been invaded since 1066. Perhaps that's why the English* allowed their borders--mental, religious, cultural, personal, sexual--to have become so porous, whereas the Poles--whose borders have been erased and redrawn dozens of times in the past thousand years--have firm and distinct borders regarding Poland and Polish life. 

Complicating this, are internal Polish battles over what these are or should be. From a conservative Polish point of view, a left-wing Pole (still absolutely furious that the conservative PiS party won the last election) would sell his grandmother on the streets of Brussels, let alone write a whiny article in the Guardian about how awful Poland is. 

Anyway, so much for my attempt not to think about work on a Saturday. Maybe I will flee the Historical House and take refuge in a hipster cafe.

*Update: Britishness, by the way, is by its very nature multi-national and multi-ethnic. Canada has never had colonies--being made up of former British colonies--but it too has always been dramatically multi-ethnic, starting with three major groups: First Nations peoples, French-speaking Canadians (mostly descended from the French) and English-speaking Canadians (mostly descended from, or born in, Britain). 

Why the American Under-30s Aren't Married

For my day job, I volunteered to read Mark Regnerus' new book Cheap Sex: The Transformation of Men, Marriage and Monogamy for LSN. I read it on the bus to and from the hospital and, when I wasn't staring anxiously at him, at my husband's hospital bed.

I wrote a workmanlike article on it, but I wasn't happy. What I really wanted to do was right a proper blog for Single girls. So the next day I did exactly that and sent it in to the editors.

Here it is.

Cheap Sex is a bit depressing, but it's very well written and absorbing. It doesn't pull its punches, and it will give you a good idea of what on earth is going on in the USA (and probably Canada) today. In short, this is not your fault--unless you're cohabiting with some guy, or travelling around the world sleeping with random men, of course. Then you are indeed part of the problem.

The Fruit of Not Quitting

I did a Polish interview via email and translated the results. Here it is. 

This is the result of six years of work (and two dictionaries) although I didn't work THAT hard in the first years. I have no innate talent in foreign languages, so this translation is a testament to the power of work and not-quitting. 

Today I put in a good day's work before rushing out to visit B.A. at the hospital during the late visiting hours. Polish Pretend Daughter and French Pretend Son-in-Law have returned from abroad, so they are back with me. This is great because I find the walk from the bus stop through the dark woods less scary when PPD and FPSIL are in the House. I phone them up on my mobile and natter until I am safely at the door. 

B.A. and I received a wonderful card from long-time reader Emma, who sews habits for Dominicans. (Perhaps other long-time readers will remember Emma.) Actually, it was three cards and two prayer cards, and we were very touched and edified! 

Jestem Znowu Słynna w Polsce

Well. not as famous as Mary Wagner, obviously. But clearly someone in Poland reads LSN.

One nice commentator wants me to get honorary Polish citizenship. That might come in handy. Another commentator says that Poland's cultural strength is due not to Catholicism but to ancient Slavic customs that not even Catholicism could destroy. Yet another says that ...

Well, let's just say there seems to be a great diversity of opinion underneath the Polish report about my report about Poland. It reminds me of the Patriots' rally on Polish Independence Day (November 11), which ranged from ordinary patriotic families to a small number hardcore neo-pagan "white power" fanatics.

Marriage Advice for the Young Ones

I've been thinking a lot about the ideas in this post. I was going to put them in a letter, and then I thought I'd put them on this blog, but then I decided just to give them to my boss.

B.A. hasn't actually lost all his charm. Okay, maybe other people wouldn't find him charming at the moment, but I have a soft spot for guys who look like a cross between Saint Anthony in the Desert and Bill the Cat.

People keep asking me how B.A. is, clearly expecting me to say "Oh, much better, thanks!" But the best I can say is that he is not worse--and also surprisingly patient and even sometimes verging on cheerful.

He's not worse, and my mother is here, and various people from the TLM community are going to visit them this weekend, so I can go to the LSN Gala in Washington D.C. this Thursday.  I will be home first thing Monday morning.

Lois Lane, C'est Moi

I worked hard all day, producing three articles.

Here's the one that's up. 

If I'm Lois Lane, that makes B.A. Superman! And it also makes Polish Pretend Son Jimmy Olson although I think he would resist being Jimmy Olson. He has probably never heard of Jimmy Olson, however. The Polish resistance to  American pop culture is an awesome and wondrous thing.

On the other hand, if I am Tuppence, and B.A. is Tommy, does that make PPS Albert? I wonder if he would like being Albert. Probably not.

What other youthful sidekicks are there? Every couple needs a youthful sidekick! On the other hand, I've just had a celebratory shot of ice-cold krupnik, and that could be the krupnik talking.

Seraphic instead of Sologamist

Here's something on and for Singles I wrote for LSN.   

Takeaway point: marriage is about service. To train for (and perhaps attract) marriage, find a way to serve.

Time Zone Edge

As I generally wake up at 7, which is 2 AM Toronto time, and am plugged into UK news, I was the first LSN journo to see this story. The MSM didn't note that this was Gerard Manley Hopkins' school.

I note that girls were first admitted in 2004. Now it seems that the school anticipates that some boys there will want to be girls. But I can't mock co-education: at St Paul's Girls School, some girls want to be boys. On the other hand, that makes St Paul's co-ed, doesn't it?

I foresee more UK homeschooling in future,

Work Abroad

My first piece in venerable Canadian-American institution. Hold on to your hats!

My Only Story for Now

The tale of B.A.'s brush with death (with B.A's real name) can now be read in Catholic World Report. The limitations of the original 800 word cut-off have been remarked upon in the combox. It's a fair cop.

I am not having the most life-opening Lent, I must say. My world has shrunk to the Historical House, B.A's activities and my shopping paths. However, it is a mercy I am on the Blood Sugar Diet because the way I usually deal with stress is to stuff my little face with comforting food. I can't make up my mind if dieting is a more or less self-absorbed activity than indulging in eating whatever one wants whenever one wants to eat it. It's a good lesson in short-term pain for (hopefully) long-term gain. But it sad that my most enthusiastic Lenten reading is about food.

Here are my current thoughts:

1. How is Benedict Ambrose today?
2. What household task needs to be done first?
3. Can I get away without doing any household task?
4. Why did I leave the household tasks until now? AAAAARGH!
5. I do like the new bed. Stylish and comfortable.
6. Will this dress do for E's wedding?
7. Is it too soon to have another coffee?
8. Does one use the Polish instrumental case in this context? (Answer to B.A's "What are you thinking about?")
9. Have I written for money recently? I really need to write something not about myself or B.A. soon.
10. Do I need to buy a jacket for E's wedding?
11. Will I be the only woman besides the bride in a floor-length gown? Oh dear...
12. Maybe I gave Sir Arthur Evans too much credit in my last Ancient Greek class and ought to say something about Henrich Schliemann, too.
13. Why can't I find the score for the Greek Orthodox "Phos Hilaron" anywhere?
14. Are we going to get to the bottom rung of the Edinburgh property market before it's too late and we can never, ever save enough for a deposit?
15. What kind of hat can one wear with a strapless floor-length gown?
16. Why must the British always wear hats to weddings?
17. How shocked will Benedict Ambrose be if I don't wear a hat to this wedding?
18. Oh good. I weigh 3/4 of a pound less today than yesterday.
19. Goodness me, the Westminster Terrorist's daughter wears a face veil.
20. Why am I more stressed out by B.A.'s medical appointments than he is?

My New Year's Resolutions in the SCO

Me on the subject of me in the Scottish Catholic Observer. But perhaps I may be forgiven, for I talk about Ignatian spirituality, recycling, the 100th anniversary of the Fatima apparitions and Robbie Burns' famous poem "To a Louse".

Catholics at Scottish Universities

Here is my article about Catholics at Scottish universities for the Scottish Catholic Observer. Critics may shout that it is too focused on "the Central Belt" (i.e. Glasgow and Edinburgh), but I tried other universities and they didn't get back to me.

This is part of a series I am doing on the different faith communities within the Catholic Church in Scotland. I began with the Ukrainians, and then spoke to university students. Next I interviewed a very kind Syro-Malabar priest about his community, and then I talked to some Poles.

Next up are the traddies, and I would like to emphasize that most of these are all very overlapping groups. For example, there are Poles in Scottish university chaplaincy, and there are Polish trads, and Poles go to English Mass, and there are trads beside me who go to Polish Mass and also to English Mass on occasion.

I haven't met anyone so far who wanted to stay in his or her own little liturgical or national bubble. The Syro-Malabar priest spends half his day ministering to English-speaking Scots in the Latin Rite, and half ministering to his fellow Indian Syro-Malabars. One of the Ukrainian Catholics I interviewed was actually Latvian!

It's been a very interesting project so far, and all this diversity is a nice change from thinking about nationalism.

I should point out to everyone who is shocked senseless by my interest in nationalism that I am not a particularly obsessed with my own nation. I am of mixed ethnicity and from a city of which only 50% of inhabitants were born in Canada, let alone the city itself. My joy in being a fourth generation Torontonian is rather tempered by the ongoing physical destruction of the Toronto I grew up in, never mind the Toronto my British great-grandparents knew. This is one reason why it is quite nice to be married to someone whose identity is 100% Scottish and helps preserve Scottish architecture for the nation. The big drawback, however, is that he loves his country too much to emigrate to Canada. Well, I respect that.

What I Read, What I'll Read

Happy New Year, dear readers!

Here is my contribution to Catholic World Report's "The Best Books I Read in 2016."  I wanted to keep it short, or else I would have added Graham Greene's Brighton Rock. You can find my thoughts on Brighton Rock in Quadrapheme.

My principal New Year's Resolution for 2017 is to continue recording all the books I finish. Among other things, this serves as a goad to make me persevere with a book that is less than compelling. Again I would like to raise the number of "real books" I read to 52.

In addition, I have resolved to do more housework more often, to reduce our amount of household waste, to study all the information regarding the Marian apparitions at Fatima one hundred years ago, to do a nightly examination of conscience, and to spend less time on the internet.

When I was studying theology, Marian spirituality was barely discussed. Certainly it is seen in some circles as a block to Christian Unity, although "mainstream" (if Anglicanism and the curious entity called the United Church of Canada can still be deemed mainstream) Protestantism has shown interest in Our Lady as a feminist heroine....

I could continue in this vein for quite awhile, but true to my resolution, I will save these thoughts for the Catholic Register. Suffice it to say that although (or because) I have a daughterly devotion to Our Lady, I don't subscribe to the Fatima Crusader.

Meanwhile, I have also resolved to become the best teacher of Ancient Greek I can be, which means I have been spending a lot of time listening to the following recording. I am half in love with the professor's old-fashioned Yankee accent:

Chartres Pilgrimage in CWR

Just in time for Traddy Tuesday, my account of the Chartres Pilgrimage is up at Catholic World Report.

I left out the part where the Irish brought a flag commemorating the centenary of the Irish Easter Rising. It was the only overtly political symbol I saw there. The Scots marched beside a banner of the Queen of Peace.

"More Capable of Evil Than Anyone"

Who? Us. Find out more at Quadrapheme.

Update: While there, have a look at C. Akers on the alarming Scottish Named Person scheme.

Slammed by CELAM?

Saint Augustine of Hippo and Me. Jesus sent him.

Everybody go back to Catholic World Report and read the combox. I am given a sermon by a Top Mexican Scholar of Saint John Paul II who works or worked for the Latin American Bishops Conference, that hotbed of orthodoxy. (A quick Google search shows that he's a layman and therefore not actually a member of CELAM.)

At first I was annoyed, but then I found it funny. (Apparently some Canadians just don't understand what theology is, o ma foi! Quel dommage! Nous sommes tout simplement aveugles, bien-lá, t*bern*cle, c*l*x!)

As a matter of fact, I did pray before--or while---I read Amoris Laetitia and before I wrote my piece. I remembered very strongly being at a meeting of Catholic feminists who were plotting to have the Vatican removed from the UN: they didn't start with a prayer. Although by then I had drifted into a radical Catholic feminist stance, I found this lacuna disturbing. Surely if you're Catholic and trying to thwart the Pope, you ought to pray first? But they didn't, and they also spoke favourably of "Catholics for Choice"--ugh--and at the end of the meeting, they sadly reflected on how their children didn't go to church anymore, the final shockeroo. "Our children won't carry on our fight," one whined, and I was done. That meeting was a great blessing, for it stopped me in my descent down the ideological spiral staircase.

(For the curious: My Catholic radical feminist period was from c. 1996-2002. You can safely ignore anything I wrote during that period, if you can find it. Anything after August 2002 should be okay. I was (under God) salvaged by Saint Augustine of Hippo: it was a miracle. Picture a particularly woolly sheep stuck in the mud among rusty wire and brambles yelling Maaaaa! Maaaaaa! Maaaaa! Then picture Saint Augustine looking over a fence, seeing the state I'm in and sighing, "Oh, dear Lord." Then Saint Augustine picks up the muddy me-sheep, slings me around his neck and carts me back over the broken fence amid much bleating. That about sums it up.)

So as a matter of fact, I did pray before and while I wrote, and as you know I kept before me the fictional image of beloved Jesuit profs and classmates reading Amoris Laetitia and saying, "This is so consoling!" I was pretty sure I wouldn't agree with them, but that's not the point.

For the record, had I more time to read and absorb Amoris Laetitia, I would have been a lot harder on the minds that wrote it. I see that Mr Lopez assumes Francis wrote it and that I was talking about Francis. If Francis actually wrote that document, than I guess I was writing about Francis. But everything I said about the minds writing that document I gathered from the document itself. (Whoever wrote Work 2 gave a strong impression of being most comfortable with what Bernard Lonergan S.J. calls "commonsense thinking", i.e. pre-abstract.)

Meanwhile, I do feel guilty about one thing: if it isn't good dogmatic/systematic theology, it isn't really good pastoral theology. The harmless parts of "Work 2" (i.e. Chapters 1, 4-7, 9) could be read with enjoyment by ordinary families and simple-hearted parish priests looking for good ideas and themes for their homilies. However, the worst parts of "Work 1", "Work 3" (shudder) and even "Work 2" involved a terribly disdain for the perennial teaching of the Church. I was too easy on the author or authors of "Work 2."

In other news about Catholics of position online, I tried to console a man on Facebook that he had something in common with traddy hothead Steve Skojec. This idea the man vehemently rejected. He and the "rightwinger" had nothing in common! I found this refusal to see ol' Stevie as a fellow Catholic, layman, father, human being, et alia, a tad odd for a Catholic, so I looked up the chap. Head of a major Catholic organization dedicated to, er, peace.

Yeah, you know what? Every one of us who says something on social media, on blogs, on Disqus, or whatever is VISIBLE and potentially MEMORABLE. This is something always to remember.
Meanwhile, now that I am a traddy, I can say that I have learned TONS from progressives, either what NOT to do, or how to love, or learn from, someone whom you don't agree with. Meanwhile, I learned at  my mother's convert knee that the Head of the Church is not any given pope but Our Lord Jesus Christ. And that, dear readers, was when the brilliant and holy Saint John Paul II was the Vicar of Christ. For a long time I thought that was her residual Protestantism talking, but now I see that her instincts against papolatry were prophetic.

Storgis Laetitia: Wherein I say what I think

Catholic World Report has published the thoughts of a symposium of its regular contributors on the recent Papal Exhortation. Here's mine.  My working title was "Beach Ball Theology". Wah ha ha ha ha! The editors chose not to go with that. Frankly, as I entered into the joy of Girl Guide camping (stay tuned), I thought they might spike the whole piece. Let's see if they kept the line about... Oh, they HAVE!

"Do Something!" Repost

Here are my thoughts on "See Something, Say Something" reposted in Quadrapheme. Underscore my fame and make the editors happy by clicking. They don't have any money, so the clicks keep them going.