Something to ponder

According to my sister, I can't work a television remote because I can't do algebra.

Any other theories? Because, you know, it extends beyond the remote....

Watch out Dole

Evidently my mother is growing pineapples (that means my father is growing pineapples for her).

Is Oprah the anti-christ?

I know that title sounds a bit incendiary. Maybe I mean it, a little bit. I'm just amazed by the power she wields. Usually, I don't give her too much thought. I don't watch the show. It's not some kind of cool posturing--you know--the kind that when you're young you listen to awful dissonant music because it's the cool thing to do. Not like that. I just don't watch a lot of tv. Unless you count HGTV. Yeah, but that's not real tv.

Anyway, I was saying that Oprah seems to have a lot of power.

I know this because I had a student tell me that she was voting for Obama because Oprah said so. True story.

Anyway, tonight I was reading about how to buy jeans for body types and it had a link. When I fillowed the link, it took me to the Oprah website. Evidently, while I don't watch the show, I am not immune to the information on her website. I was sucked in and quite entertained when all of a sudden, the website was closed down for a LIVE WEB EVENT.

Oooooh.

It turns out that Oprah has some on-line school for improving people's lives. Hmm. Somehow, I just don't get why a celebrity is qualified to mold society. And yet, that seems to be the case.

To think that I thought Church of Oprah was a joke.

Ok fair readers, come one come all to this very cool event

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ATLANTA, GA - April 21, 2008 - During the 42nd World Communications Day, Pope Benedict XVI stated that, "The new media - telecommunications and Internet in particular - are changing the very face of communication; perhaps this is a valuable opportunity to reshape it!"

Following the encouragement of Pope Benedict, as well as Pope John Paul II before him, the first Catholic New Media Celebration will be held in Atlanta, Georgia on June 22, 2008, the day after the Eucharistic Congress that is conducted annually by the Archdiocese of Atlanta.

"Our motto is come for the Eucharistic Congress, stay for the Catholic New Media Celebration," says Greg Willits, COO of the Star Quest Production Network, the host of the event.

Held at the Georgia International Convention Center, the same venue as the Eucharistic Congress, the Catholic New Media Celebration is a day to Learn, Share, and Explore how New Media can help the Catholic Church in the New Evangelization called for by Pope John Paul II.

Anyone interested in New Media is invited to attend. Registration and admission for both the Eucharistic Congress as well as the Catholic New Media Celebration are free. Participants can register online at http://celebration.sqpn.com

Parishes, dioceses, and other Catholic organizations are encouraged to send their technology representatives to learn more about the technologies that can assist both religious and laypeople in evangelization efforts through the use of technology.

"It is amazing how much new media - such as podcasting, blogs, and other technologies - have helped people grow in their faith and grow closer to God," says Willits, who with his wife Jennifer created the popular "That Catholic Show" video series and also co-hosts the award-winning Rosary Army Catholic Podcast. "We want the Catholic New Media Celebration to be exactly that - a celebration of this technology for the people who use it, as well as for those who create it."

The Catholic New Media Celebration is a festive, educational, and spiritual one-day event to help all Catholics live out the "great relaunching" of evangelization called for by Pope John Paul II. In the spirit of the Holy Father's writings regarding the New Evangelization, the CNMC is a day of sharing the latest technologies and techniques used to creatively and effectively invite others to grow in the Catholic faith through new and modern ways, not only in parishes and dioceses, but throughout the whole world.

New media includes podcasts and online video, games and software, websites and blogs, mobile technology and all things interactive. The Catholic New Media Celebration is a gathering of today's new media producers within the Catholic Church, as well as of those who simply enjoy and have a desire to learn more about new media content, to grow as a community in an effort to more effectively create and share powerful and unique content for the benefit of the universal Catholic Church.

The event is hosted by the Star Quest Production Network. SQPN (www.SQPN.com) produces on-demand audio and video programs, also known as podcasts, and offers a portal for a select number of affiliated Catholic podcasters that share the vision and media strategy of SQPN.

Contact: SQPN
http://www.sqpn.com GA, USA
Greg Willits, President +1.206.984.1899
Keywords: SQPN, New Media, Podcast
Category: Catholic resources

****END PRESS RELEASE********

Anti-Prom

Prom!

My brain recovered

Only, it started to implode again from a totally different scenario.

We have mystery holes in the yard. We thought maybe it was a snake issue, but the holes don't go anywhere. They are shallow little pockets scattered all over the place!

It's like some small light-weight prankster has hopped across the yard on a pogo-stick.

Yesterday, I saw a chipmunk scurry across the yard and jump straight into the bushes in my neighbor's yard, and today I researched random holes and discovered that chipmunks make those kinds of holes.

The other culprit could be a pine vole.

Pine vole? At least Chip and Dale are cute. I'm not so sure about a vole.

Of course, I'd really rather entertain the idea of Martians hopping around on pogo-sticks.

My brain imploded

Every once in a while, I have a bit of an intellectual breakdown. It happens with a somewhat predictable frequency, say, every three months or so. I can see the warning signs--a kind of antsy anxiety looming around. Go ahead and anaylze me--I'm fine. I think it is a natural by-product of my profession.

When I am surrounded by things that don't make sense, and my mind works overdrive to organize and classify and otherwise try to find order in the disorder, the machinery burns out. It's kind of like grinding geers or burning rubber when you spin the tires.

I am depressing myself with the analogies.

Anyway, yesterday was my day of reckoning in this bizarre cycle of mental health. I dealt with a little medical emergency at work--nothing that affected me in any way, but it was unpleasant, certainly for the patient, but for everyone else, too. There really wasn't anything extraordinary about the event (okay, it was dramatic, but it was handled and then life went on for everyone else). That I should be called upon to perform my job in an emergency is not the issue.

The issue came later, when I had a revelation.

I teach Tribbles.

The trouble with Tribbles* is that I am a Klingon.

*I make myself laugh. Perhaps that's part of the pathology. Anyway, either you get this, or you don't. If you don't, try not to implode your brain trying to figure it out. Look at what happened to me.

Hey Vic, for you. Or Danny. Maybe.

We got cable and I was sucked into the black hole of HGTV

I've been really entertained in the evenings while waiting for the kiddoes to get home. In addition to HGTV, I admit that I also like the food network. Weird, I know.

Tonight I was watching something...I don't know what. The truth is, most of those HGTV shows are pretty much the same. Anyway, this show was prepping a home for an open house. There was a carpenter named Deus.

Seriously? GOD? The guy's name is God?