Well, Mom just got back from San Leandro two hours ago. She described a small feeling, unlike that of culture shock, when flying from Cali to Japan and vice versa, noting differences like the quality of clean streets to the attitudes of the locals. It seemed to be a huge relief for her to fly from San Fran to Kansai, Japan, and stepping into a clean airport with lovely Japanese attendants who are just the sweetest people when helping you. I wonder if I'll get that feeling, flying to Cali.

I love Japan's culture. Coming from an American one, I notice these little things like heightened politeness, mannerisms, respect, etc. People never flick you fingers on the road, no matter how crazy they may drive here. Every time you enter a shop, the store keepers always meet you with "irasshaimase" as a cutomary greeting. Japanese have this high regard for customer service. Once, we were held back before a flight and had gotten lost when one of the attendants - in her heels - came by, assessed our situation, and then ran across the airport to get what we needed in order to board, plus showing us the way to the gate from which we were to depart. All through it, she was so patient and so very hospitable; so different from the type we've gotten in the US. Their attitudes during their jobs are very effective; Americans ought to take some lessons. They can be so precise and professional for the smallest things. You see it in the way they keep up their shops, as small as they may seem. Even the crowded neighbourhoods are very neat and orderly. One would think that it wouldn't be safe for a 6 year old to be walking around at dark. Here, you see a number of kids doing that. Crossing the street, they're taught to raise a hand to notify motorists who usually have no problem with road courtesies. It's fun and relieving to be able to go outside at night and hang around the local playgrounds (which tend to beat anything most public State-side parks may offer - three-story tall slides!). Yes, I love living overseas. I'll miss it when I have to move in two-years time.

Besides, I love driving on the left, since - as the fam likes to say - I'm such a dyslexic, American driver. Meh.

TACers/CA residents out there, just how is the area of Santa Paula and Ventura in general? I know it's some hours from L.A. and the airport, but just how far does the city atmosphere extend toward the college and its surrounding vincity? My curiosity heightened when Mom came back saying she was relieved to be out of California :P I know it might not be that terrible everywhere in the state, but I haven't lived in CA before, and my visits didn't give me much insight.

Nine Catholic women unofficially ordained as priests in Canada
By JANIE GOSSELIN, Associated Press writer

TORONTO -- Despite the threat of excommunication by the Roman Catholic Church, nine Catholic women were unofficially ordained as priests and deacons yesterday aboard a tour boat near Ottawa.
The women -- seven Americans, a Canadian and a German living in the United States -- were ordained by Christine Mayr-Lumetzberger of Austria and Gisela Forster of Germany, who were unofficially declared bishops in 2003. The ordinations are not valid within the Catholic church and seven women who tried it in 2002 were excommunicated by the Vatican.
Four of yesterday's nine were ordained as priests and five as deacons in the hymn-filled ceremony. The smiling women filed into a hall on the boat behind a rugged log cross entwined in wire.
Although forbidden to act as a priest within her faith, Michele Birch-Conery, a former nun, said "it is more than just a symbolic action."
Birch-Conery, 65, said she won't be giving up her teaching job for now, but was willing to exercise her priesthood in British Columbia with people who feel more comfortable going to her, like gays and lesbians, for example.
Marie David, of Harwich, Mass., said she also hopes to minister to "disaffected Catholics," including those who are divorced, as well as gays and lesbians.
She plans to celebrate Mass and perform baptisms and weddings at her bed and breakfast, the Harbor Breeze Inn, which she and her husband convert each winter to a retreat and spirituality center.
"What they are doing is stepping outside of the church, and I believe it's an automatic excommunication," said the archbishop of Kingston, the Rev. Anthony Meagher. "It saddens me. Sacrament is so precious and they are trivializing it," he said, adding he would be willing to see women get more involved in church, but not "wearing the colors of priesthood."
David, 48, who is married to a former priest, said she would be sad to be excommunicated, but insists the ordinations are valid because they are being performed by women bishops who were consecrated by legitimate bishops.
John Kearns, a spokesman for George W. Coleman, the bishop of Fall River whose diocese includes Cape Cod, said the ordination was not valid.
"We believe that we need to follow Christ's commissioning of men as apostles and continue that with a priesthood that is a male priesthood," Kearns said.
Regina Nicolosi, a German living in Minnesota, was ordained a deacon. Married with children and grandchildren -- although Catholic priests are not allowed marry -- she didn't see a problem in being a woman and becoming a priest.
"I believe it's valid even if it's against the law of the church, because it is an unjust law," she said. Nicolosi is also vice president of the Women's Ordination Conference, an organization founded in the United States in 1975.
Although aware of the consequences, she said she did "not fear an excommunication, because I don't feel excommunicated."
Meagher deplored the action taken by the women, saying it was not a church event. "Actually, there are two sides to this story," he said. "It is not a valid ordination because it is not done in a cathedral by a valid bishop. And second, they had to be males."
He said women cannot be ordained because Christ decided so. He acknowledged it was not mentioned in the gospels, but said it was part of the tradition, an explanation the women brushed away.
"How long did the Church take before apologizing and saying the world wasn't flat?" Birch-Conery said.
The first ordination of Catholic women took place in the summer of 2002 in Austria on the Danube River. Seven women were ordained, including Forster and Mayr-Lumetzberger.
All seven were excommunicated by the Vatican, in a statement by the Offices of the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, signed by its then prefect Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, who became Pope Benedict XVI last April. It said the ordination was "a grave offense to the divine constitution of the church" and an "affront to the dignity of women."
______________________

This won't be accepted by the rest of the Church, that's a fact. And who were these "legitimate bishops" in the first place? Those against this unofficial ordination would need to give a stronger argument than "they had to be male." Looking at the role of the man, God gave him the responsibility of the earth, over his family, a protector. It would be appropriate for a man to have responsibilty over the Church on earth. There are many little factors that are involved with having a woman at the helm of a parish. Although some natural characteristics of females are a positive thing, they usually complement that of the male. However, in concern for the Church, I believe there are reasons for men to be rightfully ordained as priests.

There is not much of a problem of equal rights when only men are priests. Woman are just as important, only on a different tangent. As I said, the woman complements the man. In the same way, the gifts a woman can give to the Church complement what the man can contribute. This representative as "Another Christ" is one that should not be taken lightly, and considered open for equal opportunity. It should be exclusive. It should consider how much more the man can fill the role as a leader in a parish, diocese, etc.

I would really go on and elaborate on points, but I've much to do, ironically, on a Saturday.

Your brain: 60% interpersonal, 180% visual, 60% verbal, and 100% mathematical!

Congratulations on being 400% smart! Actually, on my test, everyone is. The above score breaks down what kind of thinking you most enjoy doing. A score above 100% means you use that kind of thinking more than average, and a score below 100% means you use it less. It says nothing about how good you are at any one, just how interested you are in each, relatively. A substantial difference in scores between two people means, conclusively, that they are different kinds of thinkers.

My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 41% on interpersonal You scored higher than 93% on visual You scored higher than 45% on verbal You scored higher than 49% on mathematical

Link: The 4-Variable IQ Test written by chriscoyne on Ok Cupid

Move to the groove of the chtune

Eh. Yeah.

I made this pic with the intention of "showing off" my "cool to be Catholic" shirt which Mom'd bought me. Out of all the t-shirts I have, this is one of the most comfortable that I have. I wear it quite frequently, even out in public, and it's not so much to make a statement, but simply because it's so very comfy and I like so very comfy things on a so very comfortable basis if I can so very comfortably afford it. No, I'm not very hedonistic, but who isn't to a pinch of a slight degree? Anyway, I'm on a stroll with a Kiwi band called Goodshirt. One of their songs is "Green" (got a good shirt/ got a good, green shirt), hence the green shirt which is really dark-blue (see adjacent image).



So be a pal and check them out.


Currently grooving to:
Fiji Baby

Sorry >_>

Got pulled in again with these darn quiz things that aren't really quizzes.

Your Hidden Talent

Your natural talent is interpersonal relations and dealing with people. You communicate well and are able to bring disparate groups together. Your calming presence helps everything go more smoothly. People crave your praise and complements.

What's Your Hidden Talent?

What kind of Rocker are you?

You Are an Indie Rocker!

You are in it for the love of the music... And you couldn't care less about being signed by a big label. You're all about loving and supporting music - not commercial success. You may not have the fame and glory, but you have complete control of your career.

What Kind of Rocker Are You?

You Are a Punk Rocker!

When it comes to rock, you don't follow any rules You know that rocking out is all about taking down the man You've got an incredible stage presence and rock persona You scare moms, make bad girls (or boys) swoon, and live life on the edge!

What Kind of Rocker Are You?

So I'm something of both: an indie-punker? *shakes head* Let me not label myself with things that don't quite have consistent defintions. If it was mandaotry for me to make a choice, think I might prefer indie over punk though; they over-play punk way too often or maybe it's just me. Or, I could be the punkness of a punk punker: relatively conservative, Catholic girl living on the edge...of everyday life. :P

The Music Issue

The following is a bit from someone on the topic of music and its moral affect.

---------
"After studying Psychology and Philosophy, I came to the decision that there was alot more at stake than just "listening for the sake of pleasure." I made the break--which was anything but easy--and in retrospect all the effects stand out in great contrast.

Before the world was materialist, the philosophers were all unanimous in asserting that Music was a force to be reckoned with. Boethius wrote that "the association of music with man is a natural one; music can, moreover, both establish and destroy morality...For no path is more open to the soul for the formation thereof than through the ears." Plato takes it further:

For a change to a new type of music is something to beware of as a hazard of all our fortunes. For the modes of music are never disturbed without unsettling of the most fundamental political and social conventions . . . It is certain, he said, that this is the kind of lawlessness that easily insinuates itself unobserved.

Yes, said I, because it is supposed to be only a form of play and to work no harm. (that was my rationale exactly.)

Nor does it work any, he said, except that by gradual infiltration it softly overflows upon the characters and pursuits of men and from these issues forth grown greater to attack their business dealings, and from these relations it proceeds against the laws and constitution with wanton license, Socrates, till finally it overthrows all things public and private.

It is not the lyrics that are the main problem--it is something intrinsic in the nature of the music itself. All of the ancients understood this. All modern philosophers who are worth the name understand this. Josef Pieper, the great modern Thomistic Philosopher, continually lamented the decline in music as one of the principle sources of decadance in our modern culture. Benedict XVI, even though he is not a Thomist Philosopher, asserts that modern music is one of the main catalysts for the decadance in the world. Indeed, his words have struck a nerve with many. In Spirit of the Liturgy, he wrote:

Rock" [music]. . . is the expression of elemental passions, and at rock festivals it assumes a cultic character, a form of worship, in fact, in opposition to Christian worship. People are, so to speak, released from themselves by the experience of being part of a crowd and by the emotional shock of rhythm, noise, and special lighting effects. However, in the ecstasy of having all their defenses torn down, the participants sink, as it were, beneath the elemental force of the universe."

He pulled no punches in what he thought about it back in 1986--even independant of the concert settings that he refers to above. He calls it "the decisive vehicle of a counter-religion. ... Rock music is completely antithetical to the Christian concept of redemption and freedom, indeed its exact opposite.”

Music has a power and the power can be utilized for good and for evil. The Angels sing their praises to God on high--the highest forms of worship that can be rendered to God by humans are given in song. There is obviously a form of mystery here. This power can be used for good or ill, given its direct effect upon the human soul. Would it not seem logical that in our world of modern decadance, the music that is proposed to the youth would be just as evil and harmful as all the other cultural disasters that most youth dive into? A bad tree cannot bring forth good fruit. Why should we expect something good, or even harmless, from a culture that has as its very end the destruction of all that is good and all that is true. Namely, the obliteration from God in the world and in the souls of man.

According to the philosophers this type of thing is the equivalent of psychological narcotics. Modern music has just as much of an effect--unfortuntely, it just cannot be quanitfied or proved with charts and graphs. Spiritual realities cannot be expressed in so primitive a manner as charts or numeric values. We simply cannot gauge them perfectly--but we can see many of them. Unfortunetely, as Pieper observes, the music itself works against this abilitiy to see the spiritual--and eventually, even to see the natural. This was exactly the case with me when I was plunged in it."
----------

I can't quite bring myself to agree with him completely. Mind you, he used to listen to the likes of Linkin Park, Evanescence, The Calling, and other similarities. Perhaps I'm just not seeing something in particular right now. One should be careful as to what is being listened to, but I don't quite know how rock, rap, or the like is intrinstically bad.

Think twice

She calls out to the man on the street
"Sir, can you help me?
It's cold and I've nowhere to sleep,
Is there somewhere you can tell me?"

He walks on, doesn't look back
He pretends he can't hear her
Starts to whistle as he crosses the street
Seems embarrassed to be there

Oh think twice, it's another day for
You and me in paradise
Oh think twice, it's just another day for you,
You and me in paradise

She calls out to the man on the street
He can see she's been crying
She's got blisters on the soles of her feet
Can't walk but she's trying

Oh think twice...

Oh lord, is there nothing more anybody can do
Oh lord, there must be something you can say

You can tell from the lines on her face
You can see that she's been there
Probably been moved on from every place
'Cos she didn't fit in there

Oh think twice...

- Another Day in Paradise :: Phil Collins

I love this song. The tune, the lyrics, all complement one another. Collins does such an awesome job with his music; instead giving a load of meaningless rhythm and wasted chords, he sends out an important message. This song I've listened to since I was only 2 (Dad has a recording of me singing it behind the stereo speakers too :P).

Random visuals

[Excuse the lack of quality scanning; our scanner isn't the best of the lot]


< My loverly converse-lookalikes (Disclaimer: Right. "Lookalikes." They aren't authentic Converse. The actual ones aren't as cute-looking as mine.) I Photoshopped the image to desaturate the colours a bit, give it a sort of "old" feeling, and sharpen the edges. This one, I call "Lazy Days."


A cartoon of my friend, Jules, in her much-loved Sailor Moon-styled outfit (had to humour her). ^


< Another sketck of another good pal, Steph. She had a thing going with the Red Hot Chili Peppers at one point, hence the "I <3 RHCP" t-shirt.


< Your's truly, wearing contact lenses. I look rather tomboyish in this one but I suppose I do find comfort in loose jeans (it'd be a miracle if all stores had the perfect jeans for a disproportionate girl like me), sneakers, and a slightly-fitted t-shirt. During warmer, normal, summer days, you'll find me looking like that minus the sneakers, having been replaced with slippers (my family's terminology for the American "flip-flops," Oceanic "jandals," and Guamaian "zorries.").


< A quicky sketch done whilst preoccupying myself with a good dose of ennui (though I don't deserve to even say that, but nevermind, you don't know what I mean). There are a couple of inside-jokes which are applied to this image so if you question the snail t-shirt the word "jacket," you'll know why you don't get them...sorta. The girl on the left is Julie again; on the right is some...weirdo dork idunnowho.


Yet another sketch of yet another pal, Peter. But um, not having seen a very, very recent picture of him, I doubt that I've even captured the real essence of the entity known as Peter T. So, yeah, sorry, Pete, for having messed up your facial hair. :P Had to just post it on here because I found it in the folder of all my scanned sketches, plus I was bored. ^

Death!

To Spongebob Squarepants and all its stupidity!

*kicks into the firey cauldron of television hell*:
Southpark, King of the Hill, JackA**, virtually all pathetic reality tv, and whatever-stuff-I-don't-think-of-because-I-don't-watch-them-anyway; for the ones that I do know but forgot to mention, throw those in too.

Mercy me

I'm not a perfect person, I know that very well, but for some reason I've reached another point in life where I tend to wonder just how much I haven't realised and when I do realise something, it's just like...hitting your head on a brick wall.

Or something like that, but not quite *shrug*.

I dog-ear my books.

After watching "Finding Forrester," the character William Forrester goes, "...you've dog-eared one of them. Show a little respect for the author, huh?" It rather made me re-assess myself when respecting books and those who wrote them, and when he mentioned dog-ears, I had to think a little more about it only because I did exactly that. I wondered why some people didn't like to dog-ear their pages, and no one had told me why it could ever be wrong in the first place. Again, I get this feeling of "Oh, you dope, see? You brutally flip pages of the book and mercilessly give them dog-ears as you please. How terrible. And to think that this is your natural state of thinking; that you never thought of it that way?"

Maybe it's just a sense of trying to preserve one of the best things that came into the world from man's inventions. Maybe it's just a scrupulosity. Maybe it's just simply wanting to take care of any object that one might have in their possession because it's the right thing to do. For me, I suppose it is in the best interest to take care of what I own, to keep it in its best condition so it will last, but I think I've gotten the point of not dog-earring the book for perhaps a deeper reason. You look at a good book and would hate to see it look less of a sight years later. When you finger the pages of a good book, you really can't let it go after finding it intriguing and satisfying. The story is attached to the pages of the book, and the story is a good gift from the author. You wouldn't mishandle any good gift, now would you? I don't know, maybe I'm just rambling rubbish on here. I just think that there's more to a book that one ought to take into consideration. I'm such a slow poke at realising such things, but bah, oh well. :P

So, yeah, I won't I dog-ear my books anymore; self-revelation has made it so.

So far

Mini update here because I've not much of an update to entertain you all with, my lovely little crickets.

Didn't get the bank job so I've applied to six positions in the 18th Services squadron. Hopefully I'll get a better chance at one of them in time to save up a faintly sufficient amount of funds by the end of the year.

Been listening to the punk rock covers of oldies. Not a very good idea considering the quality they display in singing those songs. They've been getting annoying to me, I suppose because my brother's been playing them all the time and he thinks it's so cool. Recently, I've been going back to listening to some cool 80's tunes; you know, the ones that came out when you were a toddler (if you are around my age). I just had to download songs that I used to dance to (as a tod) like "Like the Weather" by Natalie Merchant and the 10000 Maniacs. I also got Edie Brickell and the New Bohemians' "What I Am" and The Cars' "Just What I Needed." Nice to be able to have some older tunes to turn to when the more modern ones get boring.

Unreasonable

Being a military dependant, I see a lot of servicemen from all branches of service. Some would think- if they knew me - that I would be bias for the USAF when it comes to rivalries but that is not the case. I appreciate each branch for what they provide. AF folks will tease the Army for lacking high IQ's, or the Navy for their um, weirdness (though it could be true according to some actual, sane Navy guys), and then other services will call the AF the "chair force" and overwieght because they stay behind desks a lot. The thing is, they all have pro and cons, so what's the difference?

Another note: AF does seem to have an unreasonable sense of uniform. First they had the weird, blue camouflage (which is ironic since it sticks out from anything). I rather like the Marines' black service dress. To me, they seem to make the white slacks and black coat work out :P It's also traditional. The AF is still rather young compared to the other serivces. The digital BDU's that the Marines and Navy makes more sense to wear for work. Even the Navy's working blues are far more efficient than BDU's. It's just weird how that is. Besides, beret and BDU combination works out better than the plain cap [/random]

w00t w00tness!

Yowzers, I finished the ACT and finally got my results back. It's not much, just a 26, but it gets into TAC. YAY!! So, I've got two tests down, and I need the essays plus the three letters of reccomendation to go. Today was starting off with a slightly sour, if not, down mood, but it's heightened since I checked the mail. Yip yip, slowly but surely, I'm getting things done.

This just in: closing date for the teller position is today, so hopefully they'll look over my application and consider me. I'd really like this job, particularly at a bank, so much prayers are appreciated.

Ennui

It's a little annoying to realise that some of the inspirations to write come from boredom. Thus, I write. And here you are reading this (those of you who do read this sort of stuff- again, when you're probably bored :P).

Life. Life, the Universe, and Everything. I've finally started Douglas Adams' series of books involving a guy named Arthur Dent, his weirdo alien-humanoid friends, pink towels, and a best-selling galaxy guide in the making. Just look at this: "The Guide says that there is no art to flying or rather a knack. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself to the ground and miss."

It's makes interesting read. Now that is an annoying statement. A lot of people have said that, so now why should I repeat it? To honour the fact that Adams wrote a book that is funny, and not really boring, and randomly organised? No. I say it because I have a problem with the space-time continuum. It owes me money.

One thing I don't like about the novels is the fact that it hints at (as many people have already gathered) anti-Christian/Catholicism.

House of Flying Daggers. Nice choreography is an understatement.

But the bit about the girl and two guys? *sigh*

"She betrayed me because of you. Now you must die."

"You killed Mei. Now you must also die."

Interesting to say the least.