Wednesday, September 21, 2005
Here's a great way to start the morning on the wrong foot:
Shower with a spider. Oy vey...there was a gigantic spider in the shower with me this morning...this ugly yellowish-orange colored spider that I'm sure was venomous. I couldn't concentrate on the shower, thus making it take longer than necessary (you try to watch a spider AND close your eyes while washing out the shampoo!). Since it was on the ceiling, I was afraid of it falling on me. I'm not much of an arachnophobe, but I do not like spiders on the ceiling. Wall, floor...no problem. Ceiling grosses me out though...the thought of them dropping down on you is just too creepy. Anyway, the spider fiasco made me late for Morning Prayer, and my hair looked kind of flat. Boo for that danged spider. (Which is still at large!!)
Saw another GREAT Italian movie today: Ciao, Professore! Definitely worth watching. It reminded me very much of an Italian version of "Dangerous Minds", which I find wonderful as well. The teacher in me loves children - the punk in me loves the difficult ones. And so, I enjoy watching movies about teachers who struggle with their students a bit, only to find it all the more rewarding. Anyway, I just loved this movie. :)
And now for my little insight of the day:
I worked at a Confirmation retreat for high-schoolers tonight. It was a two-part retreat, with the first part taking place last semester, and the second part tonight. They are to be confirmed this coming Saturday. The group was pretty good - your "average" high-schooler - relatively caught up in image, gossip, whatever is "cool", their cell phones, etc. That is to be expected, and doesn't bother me that much. The thing that got to me was when we were in small groups and I asked the girls "So, what is your Confirmation saint's name?" and they were like, "Um, I don't know, really. She (the director) said to just pick one off the list, and we could research them if we wanted." and so I was like "Ok, do you remember who you picked?" and one girl said "Yeah, Elizabeth". I said "Which Elizabeth?" and she looked at me like I had 12 eyes, so I said "There are a few Saint Elizabeth's. Is it Elizabeth, Mary's cousin?" and she said, "I don't know. The one on the list." The other girls picked "Victoria", "James" (surprising!) and "Kay" (unfamiliar with St. Kay...). It did make me quite sad, though, that these kids were totally unaware of the saints that they had chosen. And then I realized how reflective this is of a lot of Catholics my age, and that makes me sad too. I guess I grew up with a huge love of the saints, and so this is rather foreign to me. I used to read saint books before going to bed all the time. Whenever I babysit, I tell saint stories instead of reading "Cinderella" or something of the like. I just LOVE saints. And yet, I will confess, I didn't really care about the saint name I picked when I was confirmed (things were different for me then...) and I picked St. Genevieve (who really is wonderful, don't get me wrong!) for two reasons: 1. she has a pretty name that goes very nicely with the rest of my name, and 2. her feast day is my birthday. Ah yes, to plumb the depths of my spiritual life in those days... But in all honesty, I really do wish that young children/teens/adults/EVERYONE was a little more educated about saints, only because they are so fascinating, so inspiring, and really have the most amazing stories. Even the saints that were rather common, in that they weren't "Joan of Arc" or "Ignatius of Antioch", they have such a beautiful simplicity and practicality to their lives that, if you let it, permeates into your mind saying "This CAN be done! You too can be a SAINT!" (in this I'm thinking of St. Gianna Berretta Molla or Bl. Pier Giorgio Frassati or St. John Berchmans)
I love it.
We must teach the children.
And on an exciting note: I completely and utterly forgot about my first lab assignment for Human Genetics. It was due Monday, and I didn't have it. I just assumed that because of my stupidity, I deserve to not have the points, so I didn't mention it to my professor. However, it turns out the lab is worth 100 points. Ay caramba! So, I was talking about this with some friends, and they were like "Angela! Ask if you can at least have partial credit!"...so I did. I emailed my professor, explaining that it's really my own fault, and I understand if it's too late for partial credit, but to let me know anyway. He emailed back. If I turn it in Friday, I receive full credit...I just must not do this again.
To those who show mercy, mercy will be shone.
:) Yesss.....
Caritas et veritas!!
Shower with a spider. Oy vey...there was a gigantic spider in the shower with me this morning...this ugly yellowish-orange colored spider that I'm sure was venomous. I couldn't concentrate on the shower, thus making it take longer than necessary (you try to watch a spider AND close your eyes while washing out the shampoo!). Since it was on the ceiling, I was afraid of it falling on me. I'm not much of an arachnophobe, but I do not like spiders on the ceiling. Wall, floor...no problem. Ceiling grosses me out though...the thought of them dropping down on you is just too creepy. Anyway, the spider fiasco made me late for Morning Prayer, and my hair looked kind of flat. Boo for that danged spider. (Which is still at large!!)
Saw another GREAT Italian movie today: Ciao, Professore! Definitely worth watching. It reminded me very much of an Italian version of "Dangerous Minds", which I find wonderful as well. The teacher in me loves children - the punk in me loves the difficult ones. And so, I enjoy watching movies about teachers who struggle with their students a bit, only to find it all the more rewarding. Anyway, I just loved this movie. :)
And now for my little insight of the day:
I worked at a Confirmation retreat for high-schoolers tonight. It was a two-part retreat, with the first part taking place last semester, and the second part tonight. They are to be confirmed this coming Saturday. The group was pretty good - your "average" high-schooler - relatively caught up in image, gossip, whatever is "cool", their cell phones, etc. That is to be expected, and doesn't bother me that much. The thing that got to me was when we were in small groups and I asked the girls "So, what is your Confirmation saint's name?" and they were like, "Um, I don't know, really. She (the director) said to just pick one off the list, and we could research them if we wanted." and so I was like "Ok, do you remember who you picked?" and one girl said "Yeah, Elizabeth". I said "Which Elizabeth?" and she looked at me like I had 12 eyes, so I said "There are a few Saint Elizabeth's. Is it Elizabeth, Mary's cousin?" and she said, "I don't know. The one on the list." The other girls picked "Victoria", "James" (surprising!) and "Kay" (unfamiliar with St. Kay...). It did make me quite sad, though, that these kids were totally unaware of the saints that they had chosen. And then I realized how reflective this is of a lot of Catholics my age, and that makes me sad too. I guess I grew up with a huge love of the saints, and so this is rather foreign to me. I used to read saint books before going to bed all the time. Whenever I babysit, I tell saint stories instead of reading "Cinderella" or something of the like. I just LOVE saints. And yet, I will confess, I didn't really care about the saint name I picked when I was confirmed (things were different for me then...) and I picked St. Genevieve (who really is wonderful, don't get me wrong!) for two reasons: 1. she has a pretty name that goes very nicely with the rest of my name, and 2. her feast day is my birthday. Ah yes, to plumb the depths of my spiritual life in those days... But in all honesty, I really do wish that young children/teens/adults/EVERYONE was a little more educated about saints, only because they are so fascinating, so inspiring, and really have the most amazing stories. Even the saints that were rather common, in that they weren't "Joan of Arc" or "Ignatius of Antioch", they have such a beautiful simplicity and practicality to their lives that, if you let it, permeates into your mind saying "This CAN be done! You too can be a SAINT!" (in this I'm thinking of St. Gianna Berretta Molla or Bl. Pier Giorgio Frassati or St. John Berchmans)
I love it.
We must teach the children.
And on an exciting note: I completely and utterly forgot about my first lab assignment for Human Genetics. It was due Monday, and I didn't have it. I just assumed that because of my stupidity, I deserve to not have the points, so I didn't mention it to my professor. However, it turns out the lab is worth 100 points. Ay caramba! So, I was talking about this with some friends, and they were like "Angela! Ask if you can at least have partial credit!"...so I did. I emailed my professor, explaining that it's really my own fault, and I understand if it's too late for partial credit, but to let me know anyway. He emailed back. If I turn it in Friday, I receive full credit...I just must not do this again.
To those who show mercy, mercy will be shone.
:) Yesss.....
Caritas et veritas!!
