Pictures Tomorrow, Help Needed!

I finally will be posting photos tomorrow after much delay.

On another note I need some help. I have decided I want to add some creativity to life this week and am looking for some fun ideas. You know how school sometimes can get mundane in the daily grind of work. Well seminary is no different. It has been a busy week with papers and a rainy weekend (which I understand is the case for NH). The combination has made life a little boring this weekend. It is suppossed to rain tomorrow too. AHHHHHHH

As I am a big believer in making your own fun, I figure it is time to have some fun and a brilliant idea is in order. Not having any I turn to you for suggestions.


On a side note Monday should be a big day as I will get my first paper back. I am a little nervous as it is for Philosophy. However, the professor is really an awesome guy and wants you to do well. He even will allow one rewrite so that you can get it right. Hopefully he will not have many suggestions, although it is likely he will have plenty.

Tomorrow I have to finish a paper, clean my room, do laundry and get my first haircut in Baltimore. The haircut prospect is a little nerve racking as everyone else around here seems to be getting really bad ones. I am not sure where to go as everyone seems to be having bad luck. There is nothing worse than getting a bad hair cut!

Happy Birthday!

I will be posting again later tonight but could not let today pass without wishing a special Happy Birthday to the greatest fan of bellringers ever to attend Trinity High School (besides me of course- as this is a public blog I will not post this current Sophomore's name, but you know who you are- if you need a hint and are a current Trinity student... cross the story of the prodigal son and one's enthusiasm for bellringers...). As this blog is 1/2 bellringers I needed to make special mention. In your honor. I am posting a bellringer J.F.Y.B. Just for Your Birthday. Who could ask for a better present?



Bellringer:
In 3/4's of page describe the perfect theology themed birthday party.



p.s. I might suggest writing it down and passing it out when you celebrate tonight.

p.p.s. Seriously- have a great birthday (you can thank one of your teachers for this posting, they mentioned it was your birthday and I knew it needed to be recognized)!


* if you are not one of my former students and are reading this blog, sorry this posting is an inside joke.

Party, Pounds and Polls

Things continue to go well! The Birthday Party Friday was sweet! After a beautiful Mass we had a huge reception and dinner with about 150 seminarians and priests. In a weird turn of fate i ended up at a table with a priest with a Trinity connection. Msgr. McKenna from the Theological College Seminary in Washington,D.C. sat at my table and was a close friend to Ovide and Bettie Lamontagne, in fact performed their wedding. Ovide is a Trinty grad and won the Campus Ministry Award at last year's banquet. Brittany Lamontagne graduated two years ago. It is a small world indeed.

On another note I was excited to attend the special dinner because I had the chance to abandon my diet for the night. That's right I am on a diet. Shocking I know. I am eating carefully at every meal, the food is very bad for you and very good in taste. Dessert at lunch and dinner, ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. I am walking 2-3 miles a day and trying to swim a few times a week. The end result is I have lost 11 pounds. My goal is to lose twenty by Thanksgiving/Christmas. I will keep you up to date. Losing weight is nice, the more important thing is that I am eating well and excercising.

It looks like the poll results indicate I should be preparing some photos for you soon. I will try for this weekend.

-Good Night :)

Video Link!

When we first arrived at Seminary last month some of the guys made an wicked funny orientation video. Below is a link to part of it where they spoof Star Wars. The two main characters are seminarians, the final figure a very funny member of the faculty. Enjoy the clip and a little look at the back of the building.

-Time to write another paper :(

September 17th

Today is one month from my birthday! Oh by the way my address has just been added to the left portion of my blog. This of course is not meant to be a ploy to get care packages. Did I mention my birthday is one month away.


Well after a few days of computer craziness I am back online. Things this week have been busy as ever. Today I began my "apostolate" at a local center for learning. Each week I will be volunteering Wednesdays to help people, who never graduated from high school, earn their G.E.D.'s.

As soon as I arrived this morning I was quickly welcomed by a sweet nun. Moments later I heard the very words that brought a shiver to my spine, "you will be in charge of math." NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, I thought, dare I say better philosophy than that. I was suddenly having flashbacks to high school and being in the back of the classroom having no idea what the teacher was talking about. Not sure if any of you have had that experience or not? You know the feeling when you are so confused that you feel good about a test you are doomed to flunk. You convince yourself you know what you are talking about, you even study, but you are all wrong. I once got a 27 on a math test I studied for. I even was put on probation for the National Honor Society five minutes after being inducted because my math grade was so low (sorry mom, I never told you about that..... I must have forgot..... kind of like the time I forgot to give you my progress report until the middle of Christmas Eve Mass because I knew you could not kill me in the presence of God....although you almost did in God's driveway....)But I digress.

I began working with a group of women in fractions and learned so much from them. They wanted to do pass the test so badly so that they could receive their diplomas. Both of them had dropped out of high school and had always wanted to go back because they could not get jobs without a diploma. It was very uplifting to help but very sad. It was a reminder to me of how lucky I was to be able to go to and finish school. I could not help but think of how different life is for so many people out there. I always see life through my own eyes, but don't stop often enough to think how privileged they are. Later that day I worked with someone who was in their sixties and learning to read. I can only say I was humbled to be in the presence of such an amazing and powerful man.

Perhaps, I should remember how lucky I truly am tonight when I do my Philosophy homework. arghhh!

On a side note we are gearing up for a big day on Friday and a party. We are celebrating Seminary style. For those of you hoping for it to be wild and crazy please understand those are relative terms. We are having a special Mass and reception to celebrate the founder of the Sulpicians (they run the seminary) 400th birthday. All of the Seminarians from the Theological College in D.C. will be joining us as will Archbishop Wuerl. I will keep you posted as I will be sure to be the life of the 400th birthday party. (former students: please imagine listening to my favorite birthday song-remix now)

Off to work!


(blogs to follow: my diet (no I am serious), exercise(really I am not joking), pictures of my room and a new poll with some ideas for the blog)

Computer Trouble?

I accidently changed a setting on my computer which has made it impossible for me to access the blog for the past two days. I just solved the problem and am back. Hope to post later tonight. Sorry for the delay

Beauty

This week in one of my classes we have been looking at the role of beauty in the world. In studying beauty we have been looking particularly at what beauty says about its creator. In particular we have seen how everything that exists in the world bears the imprint of its creator. It reflects that which made it.

The examples one of our authors used was children, sculptures, music, painting and lava. He explained how children reflect their parents, sharing their genes, physical features, etc... He then went on to discuss how the arts reflects the minds, emotions and feelings of the artist. In fact as I type this I am listening to some beautiful classical music that reflects the mind of the composer and the vision that travels within. Even something as simple as lava, reflects the energy and the elements that make it up.

What was the point of the author? If everything that exists in the world, is created in some manner or the another (whether through chemical interaction, the workings of an artist's mind) and nothing comes from pure chance. Than imagine what the beauty of the earth and all its creation says about the ultimate creator. It is late I am going to bed and have likely butchered the concept, but think about. All things bear the imprint of their creators. We need not look far to see the beauty of ours.

I hope you enjoyed the photos from places I have lived or visited the past few years.