Canonical follies

 Two days without posting... interesting.  Last night I made the odd choice to attend my friend's bday fest at Crocker Fest (I misread the calendar and thought I would be in-office that day).  It was... well, going there it was fine, but midway through dinner it seemed to get a bit snowier.  Not a lot, mind you, but... anyways, dinner was at Barocco, and it was...good not great?  I guess it was fine; food was good, a bit spicy, but I was full (too much so, in retrospect) afterwards.  The arepas are interesting; basically overstuffed tacos but with a thicker crust.  Anyways, after a brief meander through the mall, it was time to drive home, which was somewhat perilous.  Guess it was the wind, because the roads were quite crappy, which surprised me, as it seemed we barely had an inch of snow.  (My driveway guy plowed, not that I blame him, but... I barely had an inch and a half.)  By the time I did arrive home I just wanted to crash -- driving in snow is a bit more stressful than I thought.  I know I have 4WD, but.. is it me, or do more people just put blinkers on and drive dangerously slow on highways now?  More to the point -- as always -- you never see cops doing anything about them.  Oi.

Is it me, or is the Pope (or Anti-Pope, as increasing numbers of Catholics call him) trying to have it both ways?  The man says you cannot bless sin, but you can bless a same-sex union?  Provided, of course, it doesn't resemble anything like a canonical marriage?  I am not exactly sure what he is doing though I would not completely disregard the idea that this came out on the same day as the verdict in the Vatican corruption scandal...  as I so often say, we never seemed to have these problems when the Pope was Polish...and Catholic.  Another thing:  I got a kick out of one of the TV channels interviewing a minister from the NeoConfederate Methodists.  This could be me, but asking a minister of that denomination about this -- considering how beneficial it has been for them! -- is... utterly ironic.

If Europeans should pay reparations for slavery, what about Africa? (msn.com)
I would love to see someone -- anyone! -- bring this up, and see what the African/Islamic community has to say about that.  I forget who it was, but the comment about the Foreign Office being the place where future diplomats go to learn to stutter seems to be most appropriate here.

Hard to believe Christmas is one week away...the arrival of snow may put me in the mood, somewhat, as will the completion of the last round of gift shopping, but it seems as I get older, it just hits you faster and harder.  Maybe if I had kids it would be different, but... I put the tree on, and it is quite beautiful, so that might put me in the mood more.  I think I will try to keep it up longer this year, to preserve -- in my own small way -- the beauty of the season.  I should also be less lazy and put up some Christmas decorations, too.  Ahem.