7 Quick Takes (Vol. 17)

— 1 —

Its Friday! And I remembered that I’m supposed to not eat meat! Yes! Catholic win! Have no idea what I’m talking about? I used to think, as many Catholics still do, that the whole thing about not eating meat on Fridays was thrown out the window years ago (except during Lent of course). But that’s not entirely true. In England, for example, meatless Fridays were revived by their bishops a couple years ago. In the US, Catholics are still supposed to do some kind of penance on every Friday of the year and abstaining from red meat is encouraged.
From EWTN

On the Fridays outside of Lent the U.S. bishops conference obtained the permission of the Holy See for Catholics in the US to substitute a penitential, or even a charitable, practice of their own choosing. They must do some penitential/charitable practice on these Fridays. For most people the easiest practice to consistently fulfill will be the traditional one, to abstain from meat on all Fridays of the year. During Lent abstinence from meat on Fridays is obligatory in the United States as elsewhere.”

— 2 —

I’ve had a string of happiness the last couple days. (Don’t read this unless you’re a woman please.) Sometimes my body treats me bad but then sometimes hormones align and I feel great: I’m happy, I want to sing, I’m positive, things are going great in my life. It’s great! It’s funny how hormones have such control over our mood and energy levels. Sometimes it’s downright annoying. But somedays you think “this is really nice!”. And hormones cause both days. If you want to read more on how our minds are effected by our cycles check out this article.

— 3 —

Now, was that awkward? Tell me honestly. You see, I’ve been considering writing on the topic of cycles but I shy away from the idea as well. I don’t want to be a source of scandal or anything. Charting my cycle is something I’ve been considering because of issues I’ve noted. But even if I do start charting that doesn’t mean I have to blog about it. What do you think?
To ask you officially here’s my very first poll. Feedback please!

— 4 —

Moving on, I found a great site for pictures! It’s called MorgueFile and apparently they have pictures available for free that you use, modify, etc even commercially. This means I no longer have an excuse for not including pictures with my blog posts and I can do it with my conscience clear. 🙂

Here’s a sampling of pictures available through MorgueFile. Check them out!

individual images via MorgueFile

— 5 —

Waitresses have interesting paychecks I learned. At least at my restaurant. You see we report all our tips and they are taxable. Taxes are taken out for all sorts of stuff including federal and state withholding. The way it wound up for me yesterday is that more money was taken out for taxes than the check itself wound up being worth.

— 6 —

Regarding my July Goals… there’s a couple that I plan to do simply to avoid the consequences I assigned myself. Dang it! Why do I have to know myself so well! I must have realized that the consequences would motivate my procrastinating self in the end.

— 7 —

Lastly, today is one of my brother’s birthdays. He’s 11 today. Happy Birthday bro!

 

For more Quick Takes, visit Jen at Conversion Diary and check out the link-up!

7 Quick Takes (Vol. 8)

— 1 —

I forgot to say last week…I had an interesting experience during my layover in Chicago. I got to help a foreign lady use a pay phone. Random, I know. I walked past the gate where my flight would leave a few hours later and continued down the terminal almost aimlessly. Then she pulled me aside and asked for my help. It was interesting, not least because I myself had never used a pay phone. She and I managed to communicate and I managed to understand the sign enough to place the call. Looking back, it was really cool. Not everyday you get to do a random act of kindness at the airport.

— 2 —

Abby and I.  Earlier this week Abby Johnson, a great leader in the pro-life movement, shared this on her Facebook:

So while she evangelized this way, I did my more subtle though arguably less impactful assistance. What I did wasn’t much, and it wasn’t the biggest thing I could have done I guess. But I think we all evangelize in different ways. We each have different talents. Abby Johnson has the talent of being a bold, courageous, no-nonsense kind of person.

— 3 —

This week was my birthday. I celebrated by going out with some lovely and hilarious ladies. My mom and godmother took me to Mass (yes we’re just that Catholic), lunch, and shopping at Hobby Lobby and Barnes and Noble. Crafts/decorating and books what could be better?

— 4 —

Today I’ve been working on calculating how much it would be to study abroad. It’s not as much as I thought I calculated earlier in the week…but that’s not including travel in Europe. Also, do I really want to go Italy and compartmentalize myself to only a few days in Ireland? But, as I was reminded this week, I have to be realistic. Money is money. And I can only afford so much. Moreover, do I really want to be by myself in Europe? Probably not for a full semester.

— 5 —

Still in need of a summer job. I honestly haven’t been working on the search this week, but tomorrow I’ll get back into it. We’ll see what comes of it… Prayers please!

— 6 —

The offensiveness of “handicapped” signs. I never would have noticed this before my intro to special education class. But today we were driving down the road and I saw a sign. The top had your typical handicapped symbol:

on a yellow sign and beneath that were the words “deaf child”. Well, here’s the thing….deaf children aren’t in wheelchairs normally, and if they are it’s not because of their deafness. Yet, generally when someone says “handicapped” what do we think? We think of wheelchairs. Why? Many who people who would be considered “handicapped” or who have a disability are not in wheel chairs: the deaf, the blind, those with learning disabilities or autism. Some might say that this symbol is easily recognizable and so when you’re flying down that residential street at 45 mph this let’s you know something’s up. Sure, I grant you. But what does it let you know is up? If you don’t have time to read the words you can only speculate as to whether the child represented is actually in a wheelchair, or if they’re blind, or have autism. In certain situations a general broad brush symbol may be necessary, but is it necessary here? Is this sign helping to perpetuate an inaccurate stereotype?

— 7 —

I’m on Twitter! Follow me to get the latest from The Beginning of Wisdom, as well as cool pro-life articles, and whatever else I decide to tweet. You can see my latest and sign up to follow at the right (and a bit up) —–>

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!