In Praise of Dates

...Girl Dates, that is. A what? Yes, you heard me. Girl. Date. It's when two women go out and have dinner at a place their boyfriends or husbands don't want to or will not go. It's great fun, and I just got back from one with my sweet friend from church. It's also a reminder that despite our culture's emphasis on pair bonding, one person can never fulfill every need we have.

Pictured above is a be-yooo-tiful french martini from the restaurant. It was truly a thing of beauty, unlike the ugly church I went to yesterday for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. 

I rarely make it to my parish for holy days of obligation since I work longer hours across town. This parish is fairly large, but the architecture is ugly. It reminds me of a boxy, arena style Protestant church. There's quilted tapestries that are straight out of the 1990s style church decor, along with carpeting and pews a certain shade of green that was ubiquitous in that era. I kid you not, I've walked into many different churches that had the same. shade. of. green. The congregation looks down at the altar. As I was telling my friend at dinner, I can't lift up my heart in that environment when the ugliness is pulling my heart into the abyss. In contrast, my parish is the Cathedral, a beautiful neo-gothic place where vaulted ceilings soar. It points to transcendence, and makes it easy to lift up my heart. The architecture has meaning. Yes, I know that it's not everything, but this poor sinner needs all the aid she can get.

Original of the Species

I don't think I've mentioned this before, but I'm a convert.  As with many Protestants, I was very uncomfortable with the idea of all the attention shown Mary. Why issue two ex cathedra statements regarding her?

It was a slow change to Catholicism for me. So slow that I once thought that my conversion was pretty quick. It wasn't until years later that I realized how far back the seeds were planted, and how slowly they grew. When I converted, I didn't know anyone who was Catholic. Even after conversion I was a bit uncomfortable with the Marian dogmas. It's taken time, but I have found a relationship with the Holy Mother.

Through Christ's grace, she was preserved from Original Sin. Here was something new under the sun. Here was an original of the species.

7 Quick Takes

1

Welcome back! I hope you had a Happy Thanksgiving. I had a great one, even though the time with family was short. I cooked the turkey, some of the sides, and TWO pumpkin pies. Alas! I did not get a picture of my bea-YOO-ti-ful turkey before it was all carved up.

2

What I'm currently reading:
Elena Maria Vidal
The Night's Dark Shade

I believe this is the author's first work of fiction. Vidal previously wrote fictionalized biographies of Marie Antoinette and her daughter. (The history is true, but Vidal takes us inside their minds.)

3

What I previously read:
Elena Maria Vidal
The Paradise Tree

I quite enjoyed this novel, and it deserves it's own review. This is a fictionalized account of the author's Irish immigrants to Canada in an era where Irish "Need Not Apply."

4

It seems that humans have been making carvings far longer than thought.

5

Evidence that women's fashion has always been crazy.

This is Catherine the Great's wedding dress. What a tiny waist! It's nearly 17 inches. To put this in perspective, a size zero is usually 24/25 inches. Combine that with panniers that require a woman to walk through doorways sideways, and I'm glad to be living in the 21st century.
Via Tiny Librarian

6

I love these decorated mailboxes from Victoria Magazine.Too bad that I don't have a mailbox of my own to decorate! It's one of the down sides of living in a high rise.

7

I need to get another cat after the holidays are over and I'm not traveling as much. It is becoming apparent that my Siamese is very lonely since Lily the bunny passed away. This is the third day in a row I've come across this.

This was all neatly in one bag when I left in the morning

And now the cat says it's time to quit!

WWII and Mass Market Paperbacks

This fascinating bit of news over at Tea at Trianon hit all the right spots... The WWII history, books, and an idea that changed the publishing industry.

From the WSJ article:

A decade after the Nazis’ 1933 book burnings, the U.S. War Department and the publishing industry did the opposite, printing 120 million miniature, lightweight paperbacks for U.S. troops to carry in their pockets across Europe, North Africa and the Pacific.


The books were Armed Services Editions, printed by a coalition of publishers with
funding from the government and shipped by the Army and Navy. The largest of them were only three-quarters of an inch thick—thin enough to fit in the pocket of a soldier’s pants. Soldiers read them on transport ships, in camps and in foxholes. Wounded and waiting for medics, men turned to them on Omaha Beach, propped against the base of the cliffs. Others were buried with a book tucked in a pocket.


“When Books Went to War: The Stories That Helped Us Win World War II” by Molly
Guptill Manning tells the story of the Armed Services Editions. To be published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt on Dec. 2, the book reveals how the special editions sparked correspondence between soldiers and authors, lifted “The Great Gatsby” from obscurity, and created a new audience of readers back home.

For the link to the full WSJ article or a longer excerpt, go check out Elena Maria Vidal's post over at Tea at Trianon.

Tea at Trianon: Paperback Books and the War Effort