Walking in Memphis

I thought this song was pretty appropriate.  I don’t have blue suede, but I do have brown suede. Also, I have yet to go to Graceland. I’m waiting for an elvis fan to come visit me so we can go together. Until then, I’m simply walking in Memphis.

Marc Cohn

Put on my blue suede shoes
And I boarded the plane
Touched down in the land of the Delta Blues
In the middle of the pouring rain
W.C. Handy — won’t you look down over me
Yeah I got a first class ticket
But I’m as blue as a boy can be

Then I’m walking in Memphis
Walking with my feet ten feet off of Beale
Walking in Memphis
But do I really feel the way I feel

Saw the ghost of Elvis
On Union Avenue
Followed him up to the gates of Graceland
Then I watched him walk right through
Now security they did not see him
They just hovered ’round his tomb
But there’s a pretty little thing
Waiting for the King
Down in the Jungle Room

(Chorus)

They’ve got catfish on the table
They’ve got gospel in the air
And Reverend Green be glad to see you
When you haven’t got a prayer
But boy you’ve got a prayer in Memphis

Now Muriel plays piano
Every Friday at the Hollywood
And they brought me down to see her
And they asked me if I would –
Do a little number
And I sang with all my might
And she said –
“Tell me are you a Christian child?”
And I said “Ma’am I am tonight”

(Chorus)

Put on my blue suede shoes
And I boarded the plane
Touched down in the land of the Delta Blues
In the middle of the pouring rain
Touched down in the land of the Delta Blues
In the middle of the pouring rain

 

The daily drone

I haven’t posted anything on here since March–that’s several months ago, but at least it’s not a year! I have really been the victim of my own vices. I have gotten into a routine and I have become involved with a variety of groups here and I have been fairly busy with them and with new friends. No crazy trips have occurred, although I did get to go to Ft. Worth for a Conference. I get to go to another country in August for some work, so if I am able to cut through the red tape and go, I will be pretty excited for that adventure.

I hope to get back to posting soon. I will be scouring for some new ideas to post about, so hopefully I’ll put up some good material!

 

American Crust-a Poem by R.S. Gwynn

taken from “Grace Notes, Poetry from First Things

We upper-crust must be discussed
In deferential accents,
We want not, waste, exhibit taste,
Possess exquisite tax sense.
In France’s terror we were there,
Our necks outstretched for ax-mince,
But here our dough’s so long-ago
We’ve mostly been relaxed since.

We middle-crust of course are just
(Between two poles) the middle.
We see the pie up in the sky
And want our slice, but it’ll
Take more than faith (the Profit saith)
For we to solve the riddle.
In short, a lot of us are not
Content with second fiddle.

Us lower-crust are full of lust
For wrestling, beer, and Nascar.*
We live on crumbs but spend big sums
To find where bigger bass are.
If you like books we’ll hate your looks
(That’s what we’ll kick your ass for).
Our necks are red–must be inbred.
Who says there ain’t no class war?
—May 2008

*My note: Nascar should be written NASCAR because it is actually an acronym: National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing. I’m willing to imagine that the author does not regularly follow NASCAR.

 

Greetings from Mobile

I was not very enthused about this latest travel. I guess I am a little over the constant up and down of traveling, so when I arrived in Mobile, AL for some training, I decided to stay positive. I arrived at my room only to find out it’s a corner suite with a HUGE balcony overlooking part of the downtown of Mobile. Very cool! Now all I need is a good beer or a Gin and Tonic to enjoy this even more!
I took some pictures but my computer isn’t cooperating, so I will post them some other time. Now to explore the city!!!

 

We need more warm hearts, not cold cash

In his Encyclical, Spe Salvi (Saved in Hope), Pope Benedict XVI writes: “His [Marx's] error lay deeper. He forgot that man always remains man. He forgot man and he forgot man’s freedom. He forgot thst freedom always remains also freedom for evil. He thought that once the economy had been put right, everything would automatically be put right. His real error is materialism: man, in fact, is not merely the product of economic conditions, and it is not possible to redeem him purely from the outside by creating a favorable economic environment” (50).

 

Nuns on Oprah!

As many of you are aware, I do not watch much TV. It’s mostly boring (and advertisements–if you doubt me, click here ), and I really don’t watch Oprah.  However, I just learned that her show did a segment on the Nuns of the Dominican Sisters of Mary, located in Michigan. Check out the article, Keeping The Faith,  here. It is a pretty cool segment.

for the whole segments, click here(thank you to American Papist):

Video of the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, who were on Oprah yesterday.
Part I:

Part II:

Part III:

Part IV:

Click here to see their discussion on the importance of silence and reflection.

 

Saint Josemaria Escriva on Youtube

My Confirmation Saint, Saint Josemaria Escriva (founder of Opus Dei), has his own Youtube Channel!

Click here for it.

 

ZENIT – Britain Considers Sex Education for 5-Year-Olds

ZENIT – Britain Considers Sex Education for 5-Year-Olds.

LONDON, FEB. 21, 2010 (Zenit.org).- Britain’s House of Commons is set to vote on legislation this week that would introduce a program of sex education to primary school children from as young as 5 years of age.

5 years old may be a tad too young, don’t you think?

 

The Weekend Interview with Temple Grandin: Life Among the ‘Yakkity Yaks’ – WSJ.com

The Weekend Interview with Temple Grandin: Life Among the ‘Yakkity Yaks’ – WSJ.com.

I have some friends who have little kids who have some autistic tendencies…it is a really interesting disorder and I saw this article as I perused the Journal this morning at Starbucks and thought this would be a source of hope to them and others who have kids who have different types/levels of autistic tendencies. Click the link above for the whole read!

‘Who do you think made the first stone spear?” asks Temple Grandin. “That wasn’t the yakkity yaks sitting around the campfire. It was some Aspberger sitting in the back of a cave figuring out how to chip rocks into spearheads. Without some autistic traits you wouldn’t even have a recording device to record this conversation on.”

As many as one in 110 American children are affected by autism spectrum disorders, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Boys are four times more likely to be diagnosed than girls. But what causes this developmental disorder, characterized by severe social disconnection and communication impairment, remains a mystery.

 

The Myth of the Techno-Utopia – WSJ.com

The Myth of the Techno-Utopia – WSJ.com.

This is a really interesting look at the recent calls for internet freedom and the weird/disturbing relationship that Hillary Clinton’s State Department has been having with internet companies such as google. The internet, it seems, does rile people up, but does so as they sit on their couches and don’t actually do anything…

This article is well worth your read if this topic interests you.

Such paradoxes abound in the Islamic Republic’s complex relationship with the Internet. As the Iranian police were cracking down on anti-government protesters by posting their photos online and soliciting tips from the public about their identities, a technology company linked to the government was launching the first online supermarket in the country. Only a few days later, Iran’s state-controlled telecommunications company confirmed it had struck an important deal with its peers in Azerbaijan and Russia, boosting the country’s communications capacity and lessening its dependence on Internet cables that pass through the United Arab Emirates and Turkey.