Look up, in the header, it is a bird, it is a plane, ...

... it is a new blog title graphic. Thoughts? Like or dislike? Why?

Why the window?

I found out today that when they were taking the back end off my car, they found a chunk that was knocked out. It was a miracle that it had not shattered they said, as with a back window having that damage, a hard wind and some small rocks it could have shattered in a million pieces. That is what happened when they took it out. Praised be God that it did not happen when Anastasia was in the back seat!

This is too funny!

Ann Coulter Talking Action Figure

Push the button on the figure, and you'll hear such "Coulterisms" as:

"Liberals can't just come out and say they want to take more of our money, kill babies, and discriminate on the basis of race."

"At least when right-wingers rant, there's a point."

"Swing voters are more appropriately known as the 'idiot voters' because they have no set of philosophical principles. By the age of fourteen, you're either a Conservative or a Liberal if you have an IQ above a toaster."

"Liberals hate America, they hate flag-wavers, they hate abortion opponents, they hate all religions except Islam, post 9/11. Even Islamic terrorists don't hate America like Liberals do. They don't have the energy. If they had that much energy, they'd have indoor plumbing by now."

Microsoft Employee gets fired For Blogging!

No, really, go read about it here! :-o

Oookay ...

So I call up the auto shop since they asked me to call and check up today, and I am told they are putting a window in the car now and to call back tomorrow. The only odd thing about this is that I DID NOT HAVE A BROKEN WINDOW! LOL! Maybe they broke it trying to pry my mangled trunk off of the frame? The said it was amazing that the back window did not break in the accident, after all. LOL!

More Orthodox Christian Humor from the Onion Dome

Moscow Patriarch's Warning: Russian "Mail-Order Brides" May Not Be Orthodox

In a recent anouncement to Orthodox bachelors of North America, His Holiness FEOFAN, Metropolitan of Moscow, St. Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod and All the Russias Besides, warned that not all Russian women seeking to come to North America as "mail-order brides" are necessarily Orthodox Christians.

"Better you should deal direct with certified Russian matchmakers," explained His Holiness. "Please to see Russian Matchmaker website for details. We were being very sad if North American Orthodox bachelor sent away for wife, and got atheist or even Baptist. Is not possible being too careful."

Torrential Rain Storms + Lots of Fallen Leaves =

Clogged drains, flooding and hydro-planing. Not fun!

French government forsees preemptive nuclear attacks!

The French government has outlined possible plans for preemptive nuclear attacks on rogue nations and terrorist organizations. Were they not, just a year ago, attacking us for doing the same minus the nukes?

I guess France was not the anti-war saviours that peaceniks had championed them as!

More fire pictures!

Read prayer requests here.

According to the Foilage Network ...

This week is the peak period for beautiful autumn leaves changing in West Virginia. Looks like my trip was a little too early! LOL!

Fire!

FBI: al-Qaeda detainee spoke of fire plot

Links

A few people have wondered why my links to the left are in the order they are. Some have read an importance ranking by the list or their being grouped by site type. Actually it is more simple than either of those ideas: I just have the shortest name on top down to the longest name on bottom. I used to have it the other way, but when redesigning the blog I reversed it for kicks. Sorry to not have any deeper meaning to my linkage list order! LOL!

Night of the Panther Redux

I was just thinking how amazing it was, that in a large mall, the line to buy Mac OS X 10.3 Panther was wrapped around past the mid-point of the mall! I took my friend, who is our IT guy at work. He deals with Windows at work and runs both Linux and Windows at home and was very impressed by Panther. Everything was 10% off, so I wish I had the money to buy a new Mac or an 40GB iPod! :-D

I hate doctor's offices!

There always seem to be magazines of dubious natures laying around. Today it was the latest copy of GQ or Esquire with nude photos of Brittany Spears. Like I needed to see that! Ugh! So, seeing that I proceeded to bury it under all the other magazines in hopes that no one else accidentally comes upon it either!

Good News and Bad News!

First the Good News: Starting next week, I will only visit the chiropractor and therapist once a week! I still have to take it easy, but my recovery progresses!

Now the Bad News: My car is not going to be done until Friday. :-(

I just do not get Cyprianism!

According to Cyprianism (The Ecclesiology of Metropolitan Cyprian's True Orthodox Church of Greece), the World Orthodox/New Calendarist Orthodox Churches are heretical, but still have grace in their mysteries. How can this be so if the fathers of the Church said that a heretic is cut of from both the truth and the grace of the Church? It seems to me that Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia/Russian Orthodox Church Abroad no longer teach that the World Orthodox/New Calendarist Orthodox groups are heretical. Did the ROCOR/ROCA perhaps agree with Cyprianism when they first chose to come in to communion with the Cyprian True Orthodox Church and have since changed?

Remember to fall back!

At 2 a.m. (the first time!) those of us that have to suffer through Daylight Savings Time get a reprieve and should set our clocks back one hour. Enjoy that extra hour's sleep in the morning before the 3^rd and 6^th Hours and Divine Liturgy all you Orthodox Christians with a church nearby! :-D

Lightning struck set of THE PASSION twice!

According to CNN the actor, James Caviezel, who played Christ in the movie even was struck by lighting during the filming. Does anybody else get the feeling that maybe, just possibly, God did not want this film be made? LOL!(You know there are canons against Orthodox Christians being actors or viewing the theatre)

Tonight is the night ...

Tonight is the Night of the Panther! I, along with some friends and my daughter, will be there from 6 p.m. (When the first presentation begins) until 8 p.m. (when Mac OS 10.3 goes on sale) at least! I look forward to installing Panther on my Mac when I get home! Woo-hoo!

Ahhhh!

11 hours of sleep. That, along with Excedrin PM will cure a migraine indeed!

Figures!

The day my back is feeling the effects of the weather, my heating pad dies on me! :-(

Argh! >:-(

My car will not be done until Monday it seems. Ugh!

Peaked

In my area, it seems that the leaf changing peaked yesterday as a lot more leaves look dead today after the freeze last night. Oh well, it was neat while it lasted!

Heater ... ON!

Monday night I actually had Anastasia turn on the heater for the first time this season, but only up to 60. Last night, with the more severe cold and rain we finally turned it up to a comfortable 65. I find that these temperature changes really can be felt in my back. So it has a heating pad night again like Monday night was. Personally I prefer it cold but have been advised to not allow myself to get cold or this could bring on cramping in the back.

I hate ...

Heartburn! Ow! >:-(

Pushing

Sometimes people think that they can push me to do their will. But for me, this only pushes me away from them and makes me want to NOT do what they want. It is kind of like a picture I have hung up on one of the inner windows of my office. There is a man in a computer chair with logs on fire. Under the picture it says, "There is a better way to motivate staff." LOL!

Progress!

I have reached a new milestone in my physical therapy and chiropractic treatment schedule. I now only have to go twice a week! Yay! Plus I am finding it easier to stand for longer periods of time. In Orthodoxy we do not use pews but stand for Divine Liturgy and most of Vespers and Matins, so this is very good for me. Perhaps within a week or so I can return to going to both Vigil, Hours and Liturgy on the weekends. Yay!

Ecumenism Class at Saint Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary :-o

Church History 372 (472, 572)
Credits: 2 or 3 (3) credits / Professor John Erickson

Orthodoxy and ecumenism. Historical and canonical perspectives: changing perceptions of schism and heresy in the early Church. Chalcedonian-Non-Chalcedonian relations: an example of estrangement and reconciliation. Orthodox-Anglican relations and the beginnings of modern ecumenism. The modern ecumenical movement: Life and Work, Faith and Order. Councils of churches. The Roman Catholic Church and the ecumenical movement. Current Orthodox-Catholic dialogue. Contemporary Orthodox critiques of the ecumenical movement.

And now for a nicer picture. :-D

After that horrible image below, I wanted a better image to headline my blog entries for the day. So here is Ann Coulter reading the conservative newspaper of the University in North Carolina, Carolina Review. I am blessed to have a few friends on the staff of that fine periodical. She visited them recently for a very small sum. Conservative groups are actually growing on college campuses, even at Berkley. This is a good sign for the political future of the United States of America.

If you had any doubts that "Monastery Icons" were pagans ...

Here is some of their so-called "icons" from a pagan catalogue I got in the mail yesterday. >:-( They claim to be Syrian Orthodox these days, and most of their customers are Byzantine or Latin Roman Catholics, but just check this out:



If you want to read more about these pagans and how their "icons" are not truly icons at all, here.

Great finds!

During my trip, we ended up visiting and old library that was selling books. I ended up getting a very old copy of The Complete Works of Shakespeare, along with some other books, for only $1 each! What a bargain!

Legislature acts to save Schiavo!

Praised be God!

Terri Schiavo wants to live! State & her husband wants to murder her!

Woman to be murdered by state wants to live!

I have been following this state-ordered murder of this woman for some time. It is sickening and sad. Thank God that Glenn Beck has helped make people know about it over the last few years! It is just too sad that so few people care. :-(

I am home!

Just got home! It was a good vacation, although south of PA there was very little color in the leaves other than green and brown.

While on the trip, we stopped at the President Woodrow Wilson Museum, but got there too late as the last tour was at 4 p.m. and we got there at a quarter to 5. We did visit the country's largest Confederate cemetery which was both educational and beautiful. (Joe Zollars would have loved this! :-D) There is even a grave with a Russian Orthodox cross on it! Who knew there was such a thing as "OrthoDixie" during the Civil War? At least he fought on the right side! :-D

On the way home I say something that is totally southern hick joke fodder, as a guy in a van pulled over and started quartering out and skinning some fresh roadkill! LOL! I do not think I will ever forget seeing that!

We took a new route back which avoids the major cities and their resulting gridlock. I think next time I make this trip, I will take that route, going North up CT Route 34 to I-84 East and then down Interstate 80. It is further in distance, but faster over all.

Well, time for my heating pad to go on and for me to lie down. Thank you to all that prayed for us on this trip!

Pray for us!

Well we are about to take off for our autumn changing-leaf viewing vacation. We will go from Connecticut to Virginia and hopefully see hundreds of different kinds of trees. Please pray for us to have a safe trip and for this little rental car to make it! :-D

I hate that!

I just put a pizza in the oven because I am really hungry and then not even 20 minutes later I get dead tired and only want to sleep. WTH?

Wow, Bush must have had a really good speech to the UN!

From Fox News:

"UNITED NATIONS — The United States is poised for victory at the U.N. Security Council (search) as its resolution on the reconstruction of Iraq is expected to get unanimous support.

Syria, which was expected to abstain from the vote Thursday morning, instead will back the measure, a U.N. official told The Associated Press. Earlier in the day, Germany, France and Russia -- the leading opponents to the U.S.-led war in Iraq -- said they will vote in favor of the resolution.

The resolution authorizes a multinational force under U.S. command and calls for troop contributions from other countries. Plus, it seeks "substantial pledges" from the 191 U.N. member states at a donors conference in Madrid, Spain, on Oct. 23-24."

The USA getting Germany, France and Russia on her side and then Syria? Wow, that is amazing!

New Blog Style

I hope you like the new digs. The old look was just top heavy, so I went with something new and something orange.

Best Snack Packs Ever!

I recently bought some Hummus & Pita Athenos Travelers and boy are they a great snack! The Roasted Garlic flavored Hummus is my favorite, but there are a lot of varieties. Not only does it taste good, but it is fasting food too! Yay!

Tut, tut, looks like wind.

Oh the weather outside is frightful,
but in here its quite delightful,
so as long as those winds will blow,
let it blow, let it blow, let it blow!
*winds blows power out again*

Car Update

Car parts finally came in yesterday. Will be finished next week. Wednesday if I am lucky, more like Friday. Argh! :-(

One of those days, nay, weeks ...

Its been a rough week for a couple of reasons, but finding out that Anastasia still is not doing all her work in school and the parts to my car are still not in has only made today worse. (I was supposed to get my car back today BTW!) So this weekend, to get away from the stress of life, we are going to cruise up and down the Atlantic Ocean and see the various kinds of trees with their changing colors and falling leaves. The autumn leaves is very metaphorical to life I think. We are going to leave Friday morning since Anastasia has the day off and return sometime Monday. Unfortunately we will probably be in that tiny rental car of mine. >:-( I think I will print off a few resumes and see if I can find a new job while on the road trip. Please pray for us!

Oops!

Time to go to sleep!

OCnet gets a new banner!

With all the joke banners of late, I decided to remake the serious OCnet Forum banner, since I was the creator of both the original OCnet logo and the joke ones.

Here it is:

No one expects the Slavic Inquisition!

"Our chief weapon is surprise ...
surprise and fear ...
fear and surprise ....

Our two weapons are fear and surprise ...
and ruthless efficiency ....

Our three weapons are fear, surprise, and ruthless efficiency ...
and an almost fanatical devotion to the Bishop ....

Our four ...
no ...

Amongst our weapons ...

Amongst our weaponry ...
are such elements as fear, surprise ...

I'll come in again."

I think these things are always supposed to come in threes! At least thats the way the Spanish Cardinals did it. :-P

Orthodox Islam Dot Net?

Look what happened to the OCnet forum!



The blood stains are fitting for Islam however. :-D

Tag!

You are it!

An Excerpt From The Onion Dome

Visit The Onion Dome for more funny stories like this:

Ohio Online Orthodox Forum Attracts Retired World Wrestling Star

Former World Wrestling Entertainment star Nick "The Russianator" Bosovich has decided to become Orthodox, based on his experiences on the Ohio Online Orthodox Forum (OOOF). "I used to think Orthodoxy was all old ladies with wool rosaries," explains Bosovich, "Until I realized that those old ladies have canes and they hit people with 'em. Now that's my kinda religion! Then I hooked up with this Ohio Online thing, and these people don't hold no punches! Lemme tell ya, smashin' a chair over somebody's head ain't nothin' compared to what goes on on that there Ohio Forum. I ain't never seen such name-callin', nose-thumbin', face-slappin' and eye-pokin' religion in any church before. Sign me up! This Orthodoxy stuff is for me! Arrrrrgh!"

Figures!

I was enjoying my first pain-free day since the car accident and then as I open up my junk mail, I get a huge paper cut. Owww! :-(

OrthodoxJudaism.net???

So early today I am lurking at OCNet and look at what I found. The Jews have not only taken over the news media and Hollywood, but OCnet too! :-P LOL!

10 Little Orthodox

Ten Little Orthodox came to church all the time;
One fell out with the priest, then there were nine.

Nine Little Orthodox stayed up late;
One overslept on Sunday, then there were eight.

Eight Little Orthodox intent on Heaven;
One took the low road, then there were seven.

Seven Little Orthodox, chirping like chicks;
One didn't like the singing, then there were six.

Six Little Orthodox seemed very much alive;
One took a vacation, then there were five.

Five Little Orthodox pulling for Heaven's shore;
One stopped to take a rest, then there were four.

Four Little Orthodox each as busy as a bee;
One had his feelings hurt, then there were three.

Three Little Orthodox couldn't decide what to do;
One couldn't have his way, then there were two.

Two Little Orthodox each brought one more;
Now don't you see, two plus two equals four.

Four Little Orthodox worked early and late;
Each brought one, now there were eight.

Eight Little Orthodox if they double as before;
In just seven Sundays, we have one thousand twenty
four.

-Author Unknown

Yeah.

uh huh, uh huh, uh huh, Yeah.

Finally!

The ads on the blog are back to Orthodox Christian ads! Yay!

I apologize!

I found out tonight that I may have unintentionally offended some people that I care about with one of my earliest blog entries and have deleted it and am publicly apologizing and asking their forgiveness. I am very sorry. While I am at it, it seems a proper time to ask forgiveness of anyone this blog may have unintentionally offended.

Random memories from Saint Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary ...

Orthodox Christian Rock is just as bad, if not worse than the worst of Protestant or Roman Catholic "Christian Rock". Yuck!

I am unsure if there were lots of Roman Catholic clergy in attendance or if they OCA and Antiochian priests and bishops, since there were a lot of short haired, clean shaven faces in clerical suits minus pectoral crosses on campus.

Observations

Society is depraved.

One can see hordes of white trash at sports entertainment venues.

Leaving during the main event is a good way to avoid bad traffic.

Pepsi seems to be changing the shape of their cans slightly.

Some people never get the clue that forwarding a message will not do anything special.

It is sad when you have to put relatives on your spam block list.

Good Site.

What else needs to be said?

• Save The Males — Exposing Feminism

Death by cracker!

No, the title has nothing to do with this posting, just a random insane rambling.

Yesterday was a painful day. Did a Reader's Service but was only able to handle reading 2 Gospels instead of the full 4 and I read kind of fast. I also could not stand the whole time for it or my morning and evening prayer rule.

Today I am still sore, but the big cushy chairs at work provide relief. Most of my day yesterday revolved around laying on a heating pad, not even getting up to answer the phone more times than not. My physical therapist & chiropractor has today off because of the Jewish holiday, Yom Kippur, so no therapy until tomorrow and then I get 2 days of therapy in a row!

I have won tickets to a sports-entertainment event tonight, so hopefully the chair are comfortable there too!

Ow! Ow! Ow!

The drive to Saint Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary along with all the walking up and down hills is causing me major hurt now, so please pray for me. I could not even stand up for all of my evening prayers. :-(

Funny Things ...

At Saint Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary, kids got free t-shirts. Ksenia said they only had one size and I said that was fine. The thing reaches to Anastasia's ankles and wrists! LOL! It looked like a dress, as it almost completely covered the one she was wearing!

Later, Anastasios was the cashier when I bought my tapes and Vicki asked if I would dare trust a New Calendarist's addition. I just told them I would subtract 13 from whatever number he came up with. :-P

Also, it seems that after my visit, the home page of all of Saint Vladimir's library computers are now http://www.EuphrosynosCafe.com! I wonder how that could have possibly happened? LOL!

My day at Saint Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary

Today I went to Saint Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary for their annual Education Day and Book Sale. While there I ran in to TonyS, Vicki, Ksenia and Anastasios from the OCnet, as well as a few people from my parish, including my Godfather. Neither one of us knew the other was going to be there!

We got there quite late, however, as the directions on the seminary page were bad, leading us to an exit that was closed due to construction. Luckily, I had the foresight to also bring Map Blast directions. So we back tracked and found it after getting lost a time or two. :-o

While there, we got pierogies/pyrohys/pyrogies (is there a wrong way to spell it?) and kielbasa. Yummy! Also, since there was a book sale, I bought The Ladder of Divine Ascent, The Mystagogy of the Holy Spirit, Father Arseny, 1893-1973: Priest, Prisoner, Spiritual Father on tape and The Way of a Pilgrim: And the Pilgrim Continues His Way on tape as well.

I did not know it, but in reading the front of my new books, I found out that my Godfather, Joachim Ronald Wertz, actually translated the part by Father Justin Popvich/Popovich of The Mystagogy of the Holy Spirit! Sometimes it is a small, small world after all.

Before we left, we got a tour of Anastasios' abode, which was pretty nice married seminarian living for only $650 a month.

On our way home we started listening to the Way of the Pilgrim which got Anastasia excited about reading the book, so right now, that is what she is doing! Yay! :-D

But now I am quite sore from the driving and walking. I hope I am able to go to Divine Liturgy tomorrow. If not, it may end up being another Reader's Service day!

Russian Orthodox Ads?

The advertisements are still not Russian Orthodox or Greek Orthodoxy ads. I mean why not advertise something for Orthodoxy Christianity on this blog?

I know, I know, I spoke so much about something else, that it sees those as the key words still. :-/

But at least at last look the related searches are for Saint Duchess Martyr Anastasia Romanov and Saint Tsar Martyr Nicholas Romanov II! Gee I woder how that happened? ;-) At least the related searches are Russian Orthodox I guess! :-D

No Go.

Bummer! Wal-Mart did not have an opening for me this time, but is keeping my application on file. So it is back to putting eggs in other baskets as I find them. Please pray I find one.

My car

It is still at the shop, now on a frame machine. The insurance guy is going to go back and look at the frame and cut me another check and then the auto show will start the work. It will take about 2 weeks from Monday to get it all done. So for now I am stuck in the rental.

I am a Canon Breaker! :-o

I found out today that my doctor is a Jew. That is technically against the Canons in the Rudder. :-o

Trash Day!

I hear the garbage truck! Someone gather the trash quickly!

Part Two: The Sequel :-p

Here is a cartoon I drew a while back that proved to be quite popular in some circles:


And here is the oft-demanded sequel that I was recently inspired to draw:


Yes, those round things are supposed to be air bubble escaping from the hull of the ship! :-D

Finally!

After a while working on this church web site, which was an enjoyable job, it is now live.

Father Dionysi has allowed me to reconstruct the web site for his parish, Saint Basil of Kineshma. If you would like to look at the new design I came up with, it can be seen at http://SaintBasilChurch.org.

Touching Story

Last Saturday we had Reader's Services as home and I read from The Great Synaxaristes of the Orthodox Church, September Volume and my daughter got excited about wanting to go to Jerusalem on the feast day next year and possibly get a piece of the True Cross.

Later she thought about it and said if we could go and only get one piece, while it would be great to have a piece, she would give it to her friend with seizures, Helen (who you can read about here), since she really needs it and we do not. It is moments like this that really makes you realize the blessing of the selflessness of children.