Peggy Noonan strikes again. Wow.

You can save tons on software -

Did you know that you can get an academic discount on software if you are a student or teacher, a school administrator or a faculty member, or are purchasing for an accredited school, college, or a hospital directly affiliated with an educational institution?
Since almost everyone is one of these, or KNOWS one of these who can make the purchase, NO ONE should be paying full price for software.
It's really, really true. We saved a ton on Adobe Acrobat just recently using O.O.'s student status.
Here is the website of just one of many stores on the internet that are set up to accept student discounts.
I will be vacationing here: Massanutten Resort - Virginia Four Seasons Resort. Will let you know if it's any good.
The Onion - I Haven't Achieved Greatness So Much As I Was Born Into It: " I was young and driven, and I wanted whatever life had to place into my lap. "

So -

I really need to go to bed, because I am sick. I am not sick that often but this time I have a mega-cold. And my fishes' water pH dropped for no reason, and I had to deal with a problem at work that, praise God, worked out for the best.
But I wanted to say how much I enjoyed meeting Flambeaux, his wife Laura, and their son Christopher in Dallas, and Angus the Mansfield Fox in New Haven. I hope to visit with all of them again soon.
O.O. says: "They have brains the size of ... brains."
A post-abortive woman on her experience at the pro-abortion march. More worth your time than anything here.
FOXNews.com - Views - JoanneJacobs: "What legislators don't seem to grasp is that kids bully - and turn, in some cases, to more serious forms of violence - not because they are prejudiced in any familiar adult sense but because they are crude, Darwinian creatures trying to stake out territory and proclaim their dominance. "

TIRED -

I am very tired. Up and at 'em. You know you're tired when you start praying for the telecommunications industry.

One Night in Newarkok

- Thanks to Amtrak, I spent the night tonight in lovely, cosmopolitan Newark, NJ, rather than Dallas.

Dallas

I'm going to Dallas and Austin next week. If you live there, we MIGHT be able to visit. I have a tight schedule. But I thought I'd mention it.
Then New Haven. So probably not much blogging.
O.O. says, "I'm sorry Mrs. Hitler - I am for real."
O.O. says: "When we have a house, we will train our animals to make power."
Tax Code Kills Civil Liberties via Fr. Jim.
As you may have noticed I have not posted on Iraq, since I have not really been able to figure it out. Here's the only thing I'll say: it seems every darn city in the country is a "holy city."
O.O., while cooking: "If you smell the disturbing smell of burnt human hair, don't panic."

Help

- I have a stupid problem. I NEVER know what I want for my birthday (coming up), or Christmas, or anniversary, or anything. Except money, which goes into the retirement fund or into general savings, which will eventually go towards a house and family and such. My mom is a doll and actually gives money, but wants to give something "real" too.
So what cool thing should I ask for? I usually look around the house, find something that is broken, and ask for a new one of those. But there ain't nuttin broken. So I need some creative ideas. Something to bring excitement into the life of mantis. What do you think?
Today: "Kerry also is meeting Thursday with Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, the archbishop of Washington, D.C., and chairman of a task force studying the church's stance toward politicians who don't adhere to church teachings. Kerry, a Roman Catholic, has been criticized because his pro-choice views on abortion conflict with the church. "

You know what to do.
Australian Court Authorizes Sex-Change for 13 Year-Old Girl
CBS News | Caffeine High Tech | April 15, 2004 "This baby won’t be on the market for another six weeks or so, but we’re going to put our order in today.

It’s a microwave oven that’s actually got a brain. Thanks to those same UPC symbols that made the supermarket checkout lines go faster twenty years ago, this oven takes all (ok, most) of the guesswork out of microwave cooking. You simply pick up the scanning wand attached to the front of the oven and scan the UPC of whatever it is you want to cook. If it matches one of the 4,000 items stored in the microwave’s memory, the proper cooking time and settings will appear in the LCD window. All you have to do is hit “start” (after you take the food out of its box, and put it in the oven).

If what you’re cooking isn’t in the memory, you can teach the oven how long to cook it, and store it for the next time you scan that same item. It’s so easy, it’s scary."
Brilliant Fisking by Secret Agent man.
Grab the book nearest to you, turn to page 18, find line 4. Write down what it says.
arose and went together to Beer-sheba

Stretch your left arm out as far as you can. What do you touch first?
A doctoral dissertation on the place of Bible literature in public high schools.

What is the last thing you watched on TV?
Channel surfing between the various news channels.

What is on the walls of the room you are in?
A calendar, my diploma, a bulletin board, a piece of wrapping paper with partying dinosaurs on it that I like, a wedding picture of me and my husband, an instruction sheet on how to use our workout machine, a poster showing all the Popes, a crucifix. It's a big room.

What is the last movie you saw?
The Passion of the Christ.

If you became a multi-millionaire overnight, what would you buy first?
I think about this way too much. After paying off debts, I would probably pay off my in-laws' mortgage and buy a house. Then I would get several dogs. One would be a basset hound.

Tell me something about you that I don't know.
I experience photic sneeze reflex. Aren't you glad you asked?
Catholics Against Kerry
Zorak in the news
Today we got no less than 10 solicitations from credit card companies in our mailbox. Not only do we have to shred all 10 to prevent identity theft, credit cards are the financial equivalent of pornography.

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR. Hmm. I don't think mantises growl. What does a mantis do to show anger? I'll have to come up with something intimidating.
The mighty Eve Tushnet has introduced me to this site: whatsbetter?com. It is pretty awesome - a new dichotomy every second!
We are going to go pray in front of an abortion clinic with the Bishop at 7 am. I am nervous because I have never been to pray in front of a clinic before. I am afraid I will do something wrong and somehow influence someone to have an abortion. Which would be the worst thing I can imagine doing. So I will try not to do anything like that.
If you're looking for a way to spend time after church on Good Friday, go to the grocery store. We saved $75 on great cuts of meat at Giant.
The O.O. decided to buy a leg of lamb. He sees it as a challenge. We got it for $14.
Funny quote from the store:
O.O.: "I haven't had that since I destroyed its page in the cookbook trying to make it last time."
USATODAY.com - Survey: U.S. race relations improve, yet problems persist
Fifty-seven percent of Americans support affirmative action, a finding that Henderson called a pleasant surprise. "Americans in a general manner accept the equitable principle that, for every wrong, there is a remedy," he said.
AFT: Publications: American Educator: Spring 2004: All Good Jobs Don't Require a College Degree
O.O. says: "You secretly like it when I torment you."

Later, after reflecting on Gallup poll data on how many people believe in the Loch Ness Monster, and noting that he not only believes in the monster, but is "in favor of it."

"People want a new beast. I mean a really new beast - not just some sub-sub-sub-sub species of monkey. Six mouths. It eats everything in sight - people, ants, buildings. We crave that in the human family.
Very round head."
Saw The Passion. Thought it was overstaged and overposed, and that the music was highly distracting. Thought I was going to see a realistic portrayal of the Passion, saw a Gibsonized, stylized version. Did not think the actors looked Jewish enough. I know Maia Morgenstern is Jewish, but she's as white as I am. And that's white.
What was good - the fact that it wasn't in English, the violence (realistic), the Eucharistic parts.
But overall I am very frustrated. Maybe it was overhyped.
"ROMAN CATHOLIC" John Kerry takes communion at AME Church

Do you remember the scene in Braveheart where Murron knows she is going to be killed, and keeps looking anxiously across the hills in the distance, hoping William Wallace will appear on his horse and save her?

And unfortunately he doesn't come.

This is how I feel about the scandal of John Kerry and the rest of the BS going on in the church today. WHERE ARE THE BISHOPS?
Sacramento Catholic School Fires Teacher for Assigning The Passion: "(LifeSiteNews.com) - A Catholic teacher has been dismissed by his Northern California Catholic school for recommending that his students see the Passion of the Christ with their parents. Stephen Hathorn suggested that his seventh grade students see the Passion with parental supervision as an extra credit for their religion class and was given notice on March 26th.

The school has no official comment saying that Hathorn was dismissed for personal reasons, however, the school principal said that it is against school policy to assign R-rated films from kindergarten to eighth grade."
Mexican woman performs own Caesarean to save baby
The unidentified 40-year-old woman, who lived in a rural area without electricity, running water or sanitation and was an eight-hour drive from the nearest hospital, performed the operation when she could not deliver the baby naturally.
She had lost a previous baby due to labor complications.
"She took three small glasses of hard liquor and, using a kitchen knife, sliced her abdomen in three attempts ... and delivered a male infant that breathed immediately and cried," said Dr R.F. Valle, of the Dr. Manuel Velasco Suarez Hospital in San Pablo, Mexico.
Before losing consciousness, the woman told one of her children to call a local nurse for help. After the nurse stitched the wound with a sewing needle and cotton thread, the mother and baby were transferred and treated by Valle and his colleagues at the nearest hospital.
Kerry: "My oath is to uphold the Constitution of the United States in my public life. My oath privately between me and God was defined in the Catholic church by Pius XXIII and Pope Paul VI in the Vatican II, which allows for freedom of conscience for Catholics with respect to these choices, and that is exactly where I am. "

Couldn't have said it better myself.
A picture of me and the O.O. first thing in the morning.

Results...


I smell, I'm mean, I live in a trash can and I really don't like people. So just go away and leave me alone. You're Oscar the Grouch!


What Sesame Street Character Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Results...

Grammar God!
You are a GRAMMAR GOD!


If your mission in life is not already to
preserve the English tongue, it should be.
Congratulations and thank you!


How grammatically sound are you?
brought to you by Quizilla
O.O. says: "It's not about Christianity! It's about efficient use of public space!"