March 2004 Archives

Marion was telling me about a party that her and Marie went to to celebrate Marie's programming partner's birthday. Programming partner implies CS major; which is correct. Marion was telling about all these things that made it a little different than a normal party- people gathering around the computer, people doing logic on the board, etc. I heard what she said but it was something different to see it.

Notice: Girls dancing.
Notice: Guy dancing with girls.
Notice: Beverage in hand.
Notice: White board on the wall of apartment.
Notice: Logic written on white board on wall of apartment.

Thinking about it, I would never logically put all those statements together.

Kelly and I went to TGIFriday's last night for a little dinner and saw the real-life Teen Girl Squad. There was a group of eight girls, probably in junior high. No way they were high school. It was just comical. It was one of the girl's birthday and having a balloon tied to her wrist and to her hair was, I think, the funniest thing that has ever happened to her with the way her face looked.

It was our guess that they were the popular kids in their school; they all had makeup on and skirts I don't think I would let my daughter wear until they were out of the house. Tip for any future parents out there- when you let your daughters wear short skirts, teach them first the right and the wrong way of getting out of a booth. Kelly caught that one and well, it's a lesson these girls should have been taught.

Kelly and I felt old while watching them. We were the old couple going "those pesky kids these days. Laughing at balloons! In my day, girls wore anti-makeup to make them look less grown-up...."

Wow. I'm a Google fan now (and a nerd).

Go to google and try any of these "searches"
2004 in roman numerals
20 moles in units
sqrt(4)+(15*5)/5
That is awesome!

I'll probably run a few more posts with more cool google functions.

Last night, a group of students from Kansas State University drove in to discuss a Big 12 Catholic Conference. The session had just shy of 20 UT students there to find out more and discuss the conference. My first observation about it all: K-State people are good people. It was a really enjoyable experience first in the info session and followed by a little dinner at Players. I'll be posting more about the conference in the future.

Quote of the Day:
"Once upon a time in a land known as Tarsus was a man named Saul--"
"Was he a noble man?"
"Um, he was a Pharisee."
"Oooo"
--later in conversation--
"He wasn't stoned but he was put in prison."
"Lots of people get stoned while in prison."
--Shannon and Nicole "studying" for the CC 318 exam this morning

I realize my weblog is becoming "Random Lenten Meat Musings" but all the same. I was reading Fr. Jim's blog and he mentioned that on last Friday, March 19, was not a day of abstinence because it was the Solemnity of St. Joseph. I have heard that before but never with evidence and every priest I had talked to about it said abstinence was still the rule. Not to mention every calendar still had the little fishes on it.

Fr. Jim actually cites something- Canon 1251. Canon law states:
"Abstinence from meat, or from some other food as determined by the Episcopal Conference, is to be observed on all Fridays, unless a solemnity should fall on a Friday. Abstinence and fasting are to be observed on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday."

In short, if it's as simple as it seems, since Friday was a Solemnity, that overrides the Friday abstinence. Now I wonder if the US Bishop's said something different... Does anyone have anything to refute the above? For the record, I had lunch with a priest friend from back home and I enjoyed a nice tuna sandwich on the 19th.

I've been reading The Spirituality of the Diocesan Priest edited by Donald Cozzens. An interesting quote:
"While in need of ministry himself, he ministers to others; while wounded himself, he heals and gives comfort. Though broken in heart and spirit, he reconciles and forgives; though anxious himself, he gives courage and hope to the alienated and estranged. In the name of God and the Christ and the Spirit, he has set out on a journey fraught with dangers and dragons. His quest is to set people free with the freedom and grace of the Gospel and in doing so to renew the face of the earth."

I think this is a very interesting view of a priest. He's not perfect but he wants to try to bring perfection to us all. This is something that is not limited only to priests though. We all can help give comfort to others even though we are wounded ourselves. Not everyone at all times to all people but we are able to be Christ to other people and we fail to do that so many times. And I don't mean that we are able to do something huge always (sometimes we are) but sometimes simply just chilling with someone can make a world of difference. I digress....

Before I start rambling too much, I just thought Cozzens' quote had a nice insight on the humanity of the priest.

I was talking to Dawn about a friend of mine from back home and how she doesn't listen to me as well as they used to:

Dawn1182: well shes getting older... maybe shes forgetting that brandon always knows best

I will say I don't always knows best but I have a good idea usually ;-)

Talk about a mixed blessing. The latest thing to hit the Internet in terms of spammers are "comment spammers." They attack sites ran by blog software (like this run running Moveable Type) and posts spam in the form of comments. I'm getting around five or so spam comments a day now.

It's not that big of a deal though because I haven't been able to iron out that bug with my comments. For those who haven't tried to post a comment, you can fill out and press "Post" and an error message will come back. The error is simply saying that the system couldn't figure out how to rebuild the page to include the comment. The comment itself is saved to the database, where I notice it and manually rebuild the page so it shows. The downside is the comment process isn't automatic, as it should be. The upside is that comment spammers posts are being killed by me before they see the light of day.

For any other Moveable Type users, any luck on killing the spammers? As far as my original bug, I'm clueless on it but if the only real downside is the comment issue, I am willing to deal with it.

I was reading a magazine today and saw this in an advertisement for a motorcycle:

Someday.
"I'll do it someday."
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday,
Friday, Saturday, Sunday.
See? There is no Someday.

It's time to ride.

I thought it was a cool ad.

From the few e-mails I have been sent regarding my previous post, Why Meat?, I think I may have not been so clear.

I know that chicken is meat. My question is how did the definition of meat come about as it is used for the Church? Is it simply definition 2b from Websters? "flesh of domesticated animals"? I am just curious on why meat is meat and something that is not meat (fish, seafood) is not meat.

Like, pigs (ham, pork) are meat since they are domesticated animals. What about a wild boar, that is by definition not domesticated? I'm never going to go out and kill a wild beast because it could be a loophole; I'm just curious on what definition the Church looks at.

I'm not trying to find a loophole or get too picky. I'm just curious how much thought there is out there on this.

From what I've read so far, the reason meat was chosen was because it is pretty common and most people would prefer it to veggies and so it seems to be an acceptable universal penance. Is that correct? I have no idea. It's just what I have to work with right now.

As far as my personal discipline: No meat works just fine for me as it is something that is a sacrifice to me and with my current dining habits, it is a challenge. I also follow the school of thought that there is nothing wrong with "going a bit further" on Fridays- such as giving up sweets also on Fridays. However, in questioning why things are as they are, we can better understand our faith and the disciplines of it. The better we understand, the better we are able to express it, internalize it and then spread it.

[Editor's Note: I wrote this awhile ago but never posted it. For your viewing pleasure, I changed the date so it would show up above the fold.]
Innocence Denied

I found this link via Fr. Jim's Dappled Things.

While I've been thinking about this for some time now; I'm not ready to write a full post about it. To keep a timely response though- the dignity of being a woman have been forgotten by so many women. Does Janet Jackson not realize what the Super Bowl stunt did? In front of one of the largest television audiences of the year, she let a 12-year old's fantasy boyfriend (at least a couple of years ago, I haven't kept up in the 12-14-year old girl music scene) tear off a portion of her clothing. Of course, couldn't be just a sleve or anything. Just think how that rubbed off on children.

Another interesting, granted off-topic, article: PrimeTime Family News

[Editor's Note: Due to the high amount of comment spam that this entry attracts, I am turning off the comment feature for this post. Any comments can be sent to web-comments@brandonkraft.com. 04.16.2005]

Since today is Friday, we're all supposed to abstain from eating meat per church discipline. Well, I forgot and had some chicken today for lunch. Brandon Fischer mentioned that he believed that according to old Jewish law, chicken was not considered "meat" for things like that. My question is why meat? How did the Church decide meat and what exactly counted as meat?

Just wondering...

"Tradition means giving votes to the most obscure of all classes, our ancestors. It is the democracy of the dead. Tradition refuses to submit to that arrogant oligarchy who merely happen to be walking around." - Orthodoxy by Chesteron

--

In other news, I upgraded my CMS to MT 2.661 from the previous 2.65. It shouldn't make a difference to any of you but all the same.

To know whom to avoid is a great means of saving our souls. -St. Thomas Aquinas

How true are these words? Birds of a feather flock together is another way to think about it. When we are doing things we shouldn't, we usually end up hanging out with other people who shouldn't. It's true beyond words.

"Change is always seen as a negative thing in our lives because it interferes with our level of comfortability. Might I suggest that we start to become comfortable with change." -Most Rev. Gregory Aymond, Bishop of Austin, Ash Wednesday Homily 2004

The month of March is now upon us. This month is a big month. This month, all 31 days of it being within Lent, is a time for us to think about our lives and figure out if where we are is where we are supposed to be. The month is dedicated to St. Joseph, husband of Mary and foster-father of Jesus, partly because the Solemnity of St. Joseph is celebrated during the month. St. Joseph was a man who was set to marry Mary when he learned that she was with child. At first, he didn't know what to think- this woman that he was engaged to is all of a sudden with child! An angel of the Lord came to him and told him not to fret; she had not cheated on him or gone behind his back. She was simply carrying out God's will.

So for us this month, let us remember to not judge others in our lives without fully understanding why and how they got into situations that they are in. St. Joseph had every reason to think that Mary had sinned against him and God while in fact she was carrying out the very will of God. Too often do I think ill of people because of what I have seen before I try to find out what is really going on.

On another note, new things are about to make itself known. Keep posted.