Updateness

Concerning BOL: Things are looking a little brighter.

Went to submit my application to work at the credit union. I hope this goes through; I need some cash! :P Mostly for college. Man, I have so little saved up, it's not worthy of even being mentioned. It makes the thought of attending TAC dwindle ever so. *sigh*

Now, I'm thinking about joining the Air Force, going in as a photojournalist. I don't exactly want such a job, but I do consider the photography aspect much. From what I've seen working at the Base Multimedia Center, it seems like a rather steady job, provided you don't "mess up" and you're willing to learn; not much required really, so people have it easy there. Plus, there are military benefits... Oh bah, I'm back at square one again. I need to reconsider my life yet again.

Sorry, Jess, this isn't much of an update, but I can sure tell you that I'm so mentally preoccupied right now. Prayers appreciated greatly.

Pax.

I'd hate to be the bearer of bad news

...for anyone who has been away from BOL for a long while.

Straight to the point: BOL is on the very edge of shutting down, going offline, and ceasing to exist. No one can seem to foot the $300 monthly server bill, so by 30 April, if things continue on the way they were, BOL will be no more.

:(

I for one have not lost complete hope, but it is indeed dwindling. There is an understanding side and a hopeful side of me which says, respectively, "If it is BOL's time, so be it," or "BOL won't shut down; we'll gather enough funds for it to stay alive."

BOL has been the most homiest place besides, well, home. Being a military "brat," one cannot cease to express the hardships of moving often and not being able to be grounded someplace, just to enjoy a sense of community, friendship, and basically, belonging. Even though I've moved twice, I always had BOL to go to. Some would say I absolutely had no life, and by george, perhaps I didn't, but what I gained mentally and spiritually from BOL cannot be dismissed. I've actually made better friends on there than I have in person, and the discussion held there have indeed helped me develop myself as a Catholic and a person. The being able to relate to other homeschoolers, Setoners, people around my age, sharing my Faith and who were like-minded was a relief from the years of being a "loner." My confidence in myself has heightened a bit, and an improvement as compared to previous years of being insecure and doubtful of my intelligence and opinions. I attribute most of these self-improvments to having discovered BOL on the Seton Message Board and having interesting and thoughtful discussions on various aspects of life, living life as honest Catholic, striving to do God's will.

Most of my good friends are from BOL, and I hope to retain their friendships in the years to come. It sounds silly to say that I've never had truer friends who were concerned for you enough to pray for you and listen to your woes, not to mention be honest enough to give you the truth as you needed it always. It really isn't silly though. I'm very much grateful to have met their acquaintance and I hope they know that and take my word for it.

I must also mention the administrators of BOL, and the founding members of this awesome, Catholic board. Joe Sparks and Tony Marzi. I didn't have the honour to be made a mod under the headship of Mr. Sparks (and hopefully, Fr. Joe in some years), but from his posts and from other's accounts, he was a great guy. A true leader which people could look up to, and ever rarely doubt what he had to say. As one friend said, "He'd make a great priest." I hope you do, Joe. After Joe and Rob left to tend to other things in their lives, Tony Marzi footed the financial concerns of BOL. Unfortunately, being the busy college student-now-intern that he is, he could no longer manage to provide funds. However, many of us are quite grateful for him to have even done so.

As I said earlier, I'm still hopeful. Several members have been discussing ways to continue BOL. Contributions are still being urged, and I for one could indeed contribute if I had access to my savings. :/

The Cantina HTML has been saved, thank goodness. A piece of BOL history: my only thread that lasted 42, darn-good pages. But it's not all mine. Thanks to Theophilus (Adam), Ilia22 (Julie), Princess Tenel Ka (Hannah), and a relatively newer member, Inene, the thread has grown much, not with incessant spam, but with lengthy, colourful, and delightful posts of inside jokes, literary genius (:P), and a seemingly never-ending story. So, the Cantina wouldn't be the Cantina without this charming group whom I've lovingly christened the "hodgepodge gang of heroes."

Ah, I'm rambling again. I should head off.

Pax.

+ + +

So many things have been happening lately. The news anchors have been busy writing and reporting their stories. Many discussions are frequented by recent events. Some people are avid about it, some merely brush it off. I won't even begin repeating them because it's been repeated so many times, yet I think about it often.

God bless you, Ioannas Paulus PP. II.



And today for us is Divine Mercy Sunday.

Green Tea Crush

You'll need

1 Lime; cut into 8 wedges

3 Tbsps of grated palm sugar (or brown sugar in its place)

6 Large mint leaves

1 Cup of orange juice; frozen into cubes

1 Cup of cold green tea

Lemonade

Using a mortar and pestle, crush the lime, sugar, and mint leaves together. Place orange cubes into glasses and top with the recently made fruit mixture. Pour green tea over and add lemonade.

This was based on some quick note-taking, so it does seem a bit incomplete with the variable ratio of green tea to lemonade. One will just have to go by trial-and-error to get the taste perfectly. If you do make this, tell me what you think, and if you've come up with any adjustments to the recipe or instructions, let me know.

From Jess' blog, who got it from Lace, etc.

the past week survey

1. Cried? When my grandpa died last June. God rest his soul.

2. Laughed? With Jules, though it was more of a violently, surpressed giggle/chuckle/thing.

3. Made someone laugh? Jules. Again. This evening. :P

4. Made someone cry? "Not to my knowledge." Ditto that.

5. Helped someone? "Counting all my good deeds now?" Yeah, I'd rather keep them hushed ;)

6. Bought something? An Almond Joy...mmm.

7. Did something new to your hair? Put it up in a less-loosely tied pony tail for tae kwon do. Nevertheless, it still managed to come apart.

8. Felt stupid? Gee, there are so many times...I can't remember which one to relate to you ...

9. Written a real letter? It's now been a good month or so since I've written to Missy-dear.

10. Written on paper? "I’m with Seton…how can I NOT write on paper. :-p" Good one, Jess. :P And ditto that, again.

11.Taken a test? Had Religion's last test...grade TBA

12. Met someone new? "Hmm..not this past week" Same.

13. Written in a journal? If blogs don't count, then I'm still looking for a hardback journal to keep thoughts in.

14. Watched a movie? Remember the Titans.

15. Heard your favorite song? I found more nice songs that have become insta-favs, but I won't name one because there isn't just one.

16. Talked to someone you love? "I live with my family..so of course ;)" Yep.

17. Given someone a present? I'm sending mine via snail-mail sometime...soon :P

18. Had a serious talk? Hm, sometimes I consider bits of my recent convos serious talks, and they're sometimes frequent so I can't say when the last one was.

19. Hugged someone? Tonight before the parents went off to bed.

20. Kissed someone? "*flashes eyelashes*" *grins* Me? You're talking to me?...

21. Missed someone? *sigh* *nod*

22. Fought with your parents? Hmm...yes, about two days ago, though we're quite resolved by now.

23. Fought with your friends? Nope.

24. Hung out with your friends outside of school? They live quite a distance away so...no. :P We need to invest in some plane tickets and chill someday *cough*

25. Did something different from the ordinary? Am I ordinary? ;)

26. Anything amazing happen in the last week? Not only Terri Schiavo's case and her death (God rest her soul), but also the passing of a great man and Pope, John Paul II, whom I believe was a living saint.

27. Went out of town? No, I was near the house for days.

28. Anything tragic happen? No, not with me.

29. Did you get really sad? Yes

30. How was the past week? Physcially, mentally, spiritual hectic. Call it a three-fold exercise of life's workout :P

Poisson d'Avril

There are several explanations for the origin of April Fools' Day, but here is the most plausible one. April 1st was once New Year's Day in France. In 1582, Pope Gregory declared the adoption of his Gregorian calendar to replace the Julian calendar and New Year's Day was officially changed to January 1st. It took awhile for everyone in France to hear the news of this major change and others obstinately refused to accept the new calendar, so a lot of people continued to celebrate New Year's Day on the first of April – earning them the name April fools. The April fools were subjected to ridicule and practical jokes and the tradition was born. The butts of these pranks were first called poisson d'avril or April fish because a young naive fish is easily caught. A common practice was to hook a paper fish on the back of someone as a joke. This evolved over time and a custom of prank-playing continues on the first day of April.

-From Dictionary.com.