Book review: Mistress of the Vatican. Meh.

Mistress of the Vatican: The True Story of Olimpia Maidalchini: The Secret Female Pope by Eleanor Herman

My rating: 1 of 5 stars


How could I not be attracted to a book about a "Papessa" (lady pope)? The writing is a bit breathless and I question whether some of the conclusions are just extrapolitions. But this is basically "Pulp Fiction" of the 17th Century Vatican. Can't really recommend it much though.



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Flock no more...

I fare thee well, Flock.  Thy startup time is doth too great!  I will sigh no more, sigh no more while I await a usable page.  I return to Firefox (loaded with a few choice add-ons.)

Flock Browser - The Social Web Browser

Good Friday

Eli Eli lama sabachthani? ("My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?", Matthew 27:46 and Mark 15:34).

This to me is one of the most powerful statements that Jesus ever said. We've all had times when we feel completely alone--times when the entire world seems to have fallen on top of us. As a believer it comforts me that God understands this--that Jesus experienced it first hand.

All Saints Day

Last night I was speaking with Wendy about a family we met years ago at an Autism Parents' Group. Like us they had 2 sons with autism. During the course of our conversation the mother made a comment about our sons and their sons which have stayed with me for years: “The boys: they are a blessing to each other.”

This morning Wendy saw in the obituaries that one of their sons had died on Friday. Your heart just breaks for the family. We don’t know any of the circumstances. At one point one of our boys was in the same classroom as the boy who died, but it has been awhile. Our lives went in different directions.

We are praying for the family and living in the belief that the boy is enjoying the light of the face of God.

Abercrombie & Fitch fined in MOA discrimination case | StarTribune.com

"The hefty penalty from the Minnesota Department of Human Rights pleased the Maxson family of Apple Valley, which was forced to push hard for satisfaction after the retailing giant refused to apologize for the incident and even questioned whether the girl was disabled."

Abercrombie & Fitch fined in MOA discrimination case | StarTribune.com

What gets me the most is that the company questioned the girl's diagnosis--even though she was diagnosed when she was 2 years old. Abercrombie & Finch even "subject[ed] the girl to an interview with a forensic psychologist."

Wow--what wonderful customer service.

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Citizenship in a Republic - Wikisource

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat." -- Theodore Roosevelt

Citizenship in a Republic - Wikisource

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Appeals Court Says Ex-Detainee Can Sue Ashcroft, Rejects Legal-Immunity Claims - washingtonpost.com

Appeals Court Says Ex-Detainee Can Sue Ashcroft, Rejects Legal-Immunity Claims - washingtonpost.com

Read this and weep for America. (That might sounds a bit over the top, but this was the Attorney General.)

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9 Things Parents Should Know About District 9 | GeekDad | Wired.com

I was reading through the GeekDad blog on Wired and saw this:

Will I get motion sickness?

Most of movie was shot using handheld cameras. That means lots of jerky movements. I appreciated the visual impact of the camera movements during some sequences. It got stomach wrenching after a while, leaving that giant Slushee uncomfortable in my belly. They really should have spent some of that budget on a few more camera mounts.

9 Things Parents Should Know About District 9 | GeekDad | Wired.com

I loved it. After Transformers I need to know this information!

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Pittsburgh's Children's Hospital

Children's Hospital' Oakland site's future remains uncertain

As a child I remember travelling to Children's Hospital once every 6 months or so. I was born with a heart defect which was fixed when I was in 3rd grade by open heart surgery. It is so odd to hear that the building is now empty.

They have moved into a wonderful new facility in another part of Pittsburgh. It sounds like it is truly state of the art. Hopefully it is also less maze-like than the old building was. Though, maybe, that was part of it's "charm".

I remember the cafeteria in basement. As a kid it was an adventure to get to eat there. I also remember the X-ray department since part of my routine exam was to get a chest X-ray. And then there would be the EKG. I don't really remember much about the operating room except the bright operating light. I do remember various rooms I was in and the play area on the top floor with the roof top outdoor play area.

Cities change. Places change. I'm not really sad to hear that the hospital has moved to another place. It would be nice if the old buildings could be put to good use.

Here is a picture of the new building:

Time to move on

This article on Michael Jackson and psychics is considered news worthy? Wow, is it really that slow of a news day? I'm trying to understand the depth of people's despair over his death. I understand it for his family. But the whole media circus just seems to be an extension of the what makes his life a cautionary tale.

Away too long

I haven't blogged for quite a while. A work project took over my life for a while here. Although it is still in progress, I think I'm seeing enough of a light at the end of the tunnel that I can restore some balance to the force in my life.

I'm trying to clean up my desk a bit. My eternal task. We all had a really nice day--took the kids to the Mall of America. Although it is still one of my least favorite places, the kids had such fun that it didn't matter.

Well, back to the cleaning.

Obey the Inner White Squirrel

Standing out, no fault of his own « The Traveling Monkey

Thanks for Allegra for this posting.  In response to the question at the end of the post:  I seem to like surrounding myself with "albino squirrels."  I like to think that even the "typical" squirrel has their own "inner albinoness".  I like people who are comfortable with that.
 

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Busy Saturday

We woke up to about 3 inches of snow this morning. Tommy and I slept in even though we were the first that needed to leave for his piano lesson. Wendy and Tony were already up. We were a bit late for the lesson, but the lesson went well. Then my Tommy happened to suggest that stopping for breakfast at "The Egg and I" might be a good idea. How could I say no. I love taking him to the one on Lyndale Ave. I told him it reminds me of when I was a kid and my father would take me with him in the morning to run errands on a Saturday and we would end up at a good place for eggs along the way. Later Tommy and I went to see "The Gruffalo" at the Children's Theatre. It is really intended for younger kids, but both Tommy and I had a great time.

While we out for that Tony talked Wendy into taking him to Burger King and Target--so he was a happy camper. Tommy and I got back and I finally got the walks cleared and then stayed in for the night. Tonight is a snow emergency so the cars are parked in the right places so they won't get towed. All in all it was a nice day.

Minneapolis/st. Paul - City Pages - The Blotter - President Bush monument erected in Dinkytown front yard

Minneapolis/st. Paul - City Pages - The Blotter - President Bush monument erected in Dinkytown front yard

Doesn't this kinda of look like the pose that Saddam had for that statue that they pulled down in Iraq?  Just askin'.

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Lazy Sunday

I love Sundays--especially when we have nothing planned. So, what have I done today? I made biscuits. I also made coffee. I wrote an entry on my Note Head blog. We need to get the recycling out for the week.

This has been a weekend of Shakespeare for our youngest. He saw Two Gentlemen of Verona on Friday and yesterday he saw Romeo and Juliet. I saw 2GOV but Wendy went with him alone to see R+J. He liked R+J better--it has the better script. The oldest has been mastering his fine art of "Strong Bad--in our house we believe in mixing culture from many different sources.

Well, time to gather the recycling. Oh joy. Oh bliss.

RNC chairman condemns controversial Obama song - CNN.com

RNC chairman condemns controversial Obama song - CNN.com

I'm glad that the RNC chairman is condemning this.  Not only is the song about Obama offensive, the very title of the CD is also:  "We Hate the USA".  It is just a continuation of politics of vilification that unfortunately the GOP has mastered. 

"I think most people recognize political satire when they see it," Saltsman told CNN. "I think RNC members understand that."

There are jokes and then there is prejudice that masquerades as a joke.  Mr. Saltsman, this is an example of the second case.

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On the feast of Stephen...

Happy Day after Christmas! It has been great just to spend time with the family. Waking up when the body says to wake up. Going to sleep when I'm tired. Watching the temperature rise to 38 degrees today. These are of the gifts of Christmas that mean something. Don't get me wrong: I appreciate the 4th Season of Lost and the shirt and the books, but the main thing has been to just enjoy the 'now'.

I got a Christmas Card today from a friend I knew growing up. I'm such a deadbeat when it comes to snail-mail. I need to write back and see if I can find an email address--I'm much better at keeping in touch with people that way.

Well, it's getting time to start winding down for the night. I find I sleep better if I log off the computer an hour before bed. Otherwise my mind is still too active. Hope all are enjoying their holidays!

xkcd - A Webcomic - Lisp (For geeks only)

xkcd - A Webcomic - Lisp

I've been having LISP on the brain lately. Thanks to Mike L. for pointing out this one to me.

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Denny Hecker almost killed my shredding machine

Denny Hecker (the famous Twin Cities Denny Hecker who just recently closed a whole bunch of his auto dealerships and laid off 400 people just before the Holidays) almost killed my shredding machine. I'm paying my youngest $5 to shred junk mail. One of the junk mails had a small thin metal key in it. I probably would have stuffed it into the shredder without really looking at it too. (To be honest, it probably should have just been thrown away, but somehow it got put in the shredding pile.) And the ^#$&@#$ key got jammed. A pair of plyers did the trick to saving the shredder.

I never got a good feeling about the Denny Hecker dealerships--and this just adds to that feeling.

Book Review - 'The Wordy Shipmates,' by Sarah Vowell - Review - NYTimes.com

Book Review - 'The Wordy Shipmates,' by Sarah Vowell - Review - NYTimes.com

This reviewer has a problem with Vowell. Reading the review I want to get the book just to decide if it is truly annoying (and yet the reviewer kept on wanting to read), or is it just that the style is conversational. Not all history needs to be overtly scholarly (read 'academic').




from Amazon.com

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