When I was younger, I used to be able to be out of and and out the door in about 40 minutes. I think I was this way until grad school. Classes didn’t start till the evening, but I had to be at my tutoring gig by noon. I had an hour commute via CTA, so I knew I needed to leave the apartment by 11. I’d be up by 9, let myself do a bunch of bullshit internetting, make a real breakfast, dilly dally about what I was going to wear that day and what have you. I think I mostly liked the idea of watching late morning TV – back then I’d watch 2 hours of ER. Continue reading
QOTD
343 posts
I remember asking for “a Beatles album” for Christmas. My parents obliged with Abbey Road. That could have been worse.
The first records I remember buying for myself were Never Mind the Bollocks, Blow Your Face Out and The Flying Lizards, the last of which I had to special order from the “punk/new wave” record store in town. I still have the vinyl, with “PROMOTIONAL COPY: NOT FOR RESALE” embossed on the jacket. Continue reading
Thanks for agreeing to come into the office today. Let’s talk about you for a minute. Just hop up on the comfy couch, lean back, close your eyes and get yourself centered.
Today, we’re going to talk about life choices. Sometimes, the universe presents us with choices that we would rather not make. In some situations, we would prefer to make no choice at all, but we have to make choices anyway. Get ready to “steal the rice and roll the dice.” Read the questions, make some decisions and tell us why you chose the thing you did. Continue reading
Today we discuss names. Real names, that is, of people both real and imaginary.
See how many of these character’s real names you know (or can successfully guess). Answers will be given at 5 pm eastern time. No Googling! Continue reading
Mardi Gras is a time to party and Lent is the solemn time leading up to Easter. Being a Catholic, it’s always been my practice to give up something for Lent. In my adult years it’s been buying shoes or clothes or not shopping at all, red meat or my time. The last few years I’ve said I would go to daily mass once a week and do Stations of the Cross throughout Lent.
As I have been searching for a new church to call home since I moved back to New Orleans, I think I’m going to spend some time parish-hopping during Lent and hope I find the church that’s right for me. It may not be “giving something up” per se, but I am using this time to do some reflection to figure out what parish is right for me.
What about you? What are you giving up for Lent? Continue reading
On the left, the famous/infamous red leather shoes of Pope Benedict XVI, soon to be ex-Pope. Who will fill them in his absence?
His resignation today, apparently for reasons of poor health, stunned the Catholic world – it is the first time since 1415 that a reigning pope has resigned. It is reported that he will continue to live in Vatican City – how will the new pope handle this?
So many questions and, so far, so few answers. Not exactly a new circumstance for the Catholic church.
What do Catholics want in a new pope? A true personna christi, a good embodiment of Christ’s teachings, as seems to be the concern of many responders to this 2012 Our Sunday Visitor article? Continue reading
Abstract:
A couple of nights ago a number of us conducted a Scientific survey about the number of bottles of wine that the average Crasstalk commentator drinks in any given week. From as little as one glass a week to several boxes was the result. Some of our scientists even suggested that “boxes” or “boiîtes” would be better units of measures to yield more accurate results from our gang of drunks sample community. Continue reading
Growing up in the McBoy household there were a lot of rules, most of which disappeared when I turned 15. Some were good and made sense to a child others still stick in my craw.
The two rules that still bother me the most involve television. One was that TVs were not allowed in the bedroom. Til the day my father died, he refused to have one anywhere outside of the living room. It’s so ingrained in me that as an adult I have never had a television anywhere but in the living area of any of the houses or apartments I have lived in. Continue reading
If you had asked me 10 years ago how my life would be different today, I certainly wouldn’t have said that it would involve me living in Arizona of all places. Continue reading
I love Prince.
I have mostly terrible taste in music but my long-standing, top volume devotion to Prince is my one musical saving grace. His Royal Badness has rescued me in many a social situation, after I mistakenly think a party can handle the raw power of “Teenage Dream” and when I am trying to sleep at night after spending day 324 in a row listening to a playlist entitled “Call Me Maybe 4 EVA.” Prince is an incredibly prolific artist and it’s been pointed out there is a Prince song (or entire album) that has gotten a Crasstalker through every fragment of life, so trying to pick just one favorite song really isn’t enough space to capture the full range of wonderful that is Prince the artist. Continue reading