Final Post.

It's becoming ever more apparent to me that this particular blog has outlived it's usefulness. It has become quite a burden for me to come up with something even remotely interesting to say. I scour the Internet daily for something to pontificate upon but, as one can see, I haven't been very successful of late.

I think, perhaps, the problem is one of too much "diversity".....or, rather, lack of focus, if you prefer. I have forty nine labels listed on the lower right side of this page; I've been jumping from pillar to post, writing on anything that suits my fancy. At first, this method seemed to work - I was posting frequently. I could write on any subject I saw fit.

Over time, however, the flaws in this way of blogging have become ever more obvious. Without any particular subject area or limits on what I could write about, it was becoming harder for me to make a decision on where I should go. The number of posts for this year - not to mention the content- is unimpressive.

So, I will "mothball" this blog. I will, at some point, start up a new blog - one with a more organized theme. That may be today or tomorrow or next week. At this stage, the theme of this new blog hasn't come to me yet. It has to be something I can become enthused about. If I'm not, then neither will the readers.

My New Portrait.

This past Sunday, my four year old son, J.P. wished to give me a Father's Day gift ...... he would draw a portrait of me, my wife and himself.

For those who do not recognize us, I am wearing green, J.P. is wearing blue. It should be obvious to everyone which is Cathy.

No More “General Betray Us”.

When I first learned of Obama's dismissal of General Stanley McChrystal and his replacing him with General David Petraeus, I immediately thought of the 2007 Moveon.org ad which referred to the General as "General Betrayus".

I wanted to refresh my memory - I wanted to be certain of the facts before putting my thoughts down on (virtual) paper, so to speak. Step one: Google the phrase "General Betrayus". Unfortunately, any link to the original moveonorg ad proved to be a dead end; it's as if the advertisement criticizing the General was merely a figment our collective imagination.

I wasn't the first to notice this. The website Weasle Zippers documents evidence that references to the ad has been removed from Moveon.org after Petraeus was chosen as Obama's man in Afghanistan.

Fortunately for us, the ad has been preserved in other locations.

Yesterday, the Left ridiculed General Petraeus, but now, the question is being put forth "Is the Petraeus Decision the Most Widely Praised Thing President Obama Has Ever Done?"

Obama's decision is now being hailed as "a masterstroke", "a stroke of brilliance, an unassailable move, politically and strategically". One writer, Victor Davis Hanson, calls the move "workmanlike and wise in its emphasis on continuity of strategy".

Hanson also notes;

"It is one of ironies of our present warped climate that Petraeus will face far less criticism from the media and politicians than during 2007–8 (there will be no more “General Betray Us” ads or “suspension of disbelief” ridicule), because his success this time will reflect well on Obama rather than George Bush."

While Obama's toadies are calling his latest decision a surprisingly brilliant move, I, on the other hand, view this choice as the obvious one for Obama. Petraeus is, most probably, the only other General our President has heard of.

Dad's Boogie Woogie Dance Party.

On Father's Day, after Mass, my four year old son, J.P., told me that we needed to go to sproutonline.com to do the Dad's Boogie Woogie.
The result of that visit can be found here.

Although we could watch the video right away, we were not able to share it immediately. The website's software wouldn't allow me to post a link until Monday....and I was working a double shift then and didn't have time.

At any rate, the video is finally posted for everyone's enjoyment.

Mystery Solved?

In Tuesday's post, [The Mystery Saint] I related the story of a recent addition to our parish's garden area. I referred to the statue, pictured at left, as the "Mystery Saint" as there was (is) a bit of confusion as to the identity of the saint the statue represents.

The statue was originally given to our (late) former pastor, Father Miceli who kept it in the rectory garage. Our new pastor, Father Patrick, decided to bring it outside for all to see. However, no one knew who the saint was supposed to be and an Internet search was initiated to discover the name. According to the most recent church bulletin (page 5 of this pdf):

"After a vast Internet search and several inquires, one company responded: ' By a process of elimination, we have determined that your statue is St. Jerome. Based on our research, there were four doctors of the Western Church. These four doctors were traditionally pictured with a church in their arms. Of the four Patrons of the Western Church, St. Gregory, St. Augustine, St. Ambrose and St. Jerome, St. Jerome is the only one not a Bishop. Because he is sculpted without a miter - the traditional ceremonial headdress of Bishops of the Catholic Church - the mystery statue must be St. Jerome.' "

I have a problem with that assessment, however.

Take a look at the statues of St. Jerome below. (Click on images to enlarge). Our statue does not resemble any of these. In none of these statues of St. Jerome is he holding a Church. If anything, he holds a Bible. (He was responsible for translating the Vulgate into Latin. )


Comparing the known statues of St. Jerome to our mystery statue, I am convinced that ours is not of St. Jerome.

Who is it?

At first, I thought the statue represented St. Stephen. I based that assumption on these images found on this website.




As we see, St. Stephen is holding a Church in his left hand. In his right hand, St. Stephen is holding an incense burner. That fits with the fact that our statue was holding something at one time.

I have, after posting my previous post, come to change my mind about our mystery statue being of St. Stephen. The images above come from the Greek Orthodox tradition. I've since learned that, in the Roman Catholic tradition, St. Stephen is usually portrayed holding, not a church, but stones - he was stoned to death.



If not St. Stephen, who is it?

The best argument I've seen, since blogging this, comes from Mary Ann of Les Femmes - the Truth, who believes the statue is of St. Bernard. Her post and photos are most convincing.



While this may not settle the issue, if I were to bet on this, I would put my money on St. Bernard.