By Joe LeClerc

Apple's Rose Canto


The apple
.......................drove home
...................................................a nail
......................................................................in pine wood
blonde
...............violins
............................married
...........................................african violets, flowers bearing,
giving birth to
...........................wooden willows
..............................................................singing sonatinas

Marimbas rang chimes
................................................as star clouds drift misted
and kissed moon's pale cheek
.................................................before morphing to water

Willow choir
..............with angel's lyre
...............................strings that harp melody arrows
flying
......................,,,,,.to the ears
.................................................................of the Pleiades

The star cluster
..........cries with pleasure
........................at hearing the music of blonde violet boughs
branched with flowers
................................................../////........of soft glory

Good game ladies~

ROTFL!!!

I'm still a liberal.
It's those people who
aren't liberals.
~ G. K. Chesterton

(Emphasis mine:)


From:

Chesterton Quotes

Magnificent!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLF9iEXnBRo

Thanks to K. for the link to Paul Potts.

Anyone who would like

to view Dawn's appearance on
the Today Show can catch it
here...

Dawn already wrote words of
praise for the network - I'm a
bit disappointed that she didn't
appear alone, but after having
taken on Yale last month, it's
obvious she's no lightweight.

More follow-up later today
from The Dawn Patrol, with
a list of her upcoming tour
dates (including one in May
at the Seattle Chesterton
Society) listed here.

To the top

as a reminder for tomorrow...

Author & blogger Dawn Eden
will be on NBC's "Today" Show
Monday, March 3rd @ 10 A.M.ET.

Dawn will discuss her book
The Thrill of the Chaste:
Finding Fulfillment While
Keeping Your Clothes On,
now in its sixth printing. It's
available in English & Spanish,
with soon-to-be translations
in Chinese & Polish...

Read more about it @
The Dawn Patrol.

& YAY DAWN!!!

OMIGOODNESS!

My new screen cleaner...

It tickles!!


Thanks to Nick:)

"Oh look..."

"... it's Mildred's baby!"

Which is what I believe the line
was in the photo Terry posted
from the movie Desk Set, one
of my favorites starring Spencer
Tracy & Katharine Hepburn...

Used to help illustrate Terry's
autobiographical story, as he
continues with its next chapter,
over on Abbey-Roads.

Prayers please

for Melodybleu, who
hasn't been feeling well...

although she still managed
to beat me soundly during
our last game of Scrabble.

Feel better girl!

Am currently enjoying

an online biography about Charles
Dickens, by G. K. Chesterton...

Chesterton, "Charles Dickens" (1)

&

Chesterton, "Charles Dickens" (2)

Found through G. K. Chesterton's
Works on the Web,

and a link from CAF.

Found a neat 'Special Projects Blog'

... from Jeffrey Smith, featuring

Russian Art.

Very nice!

Another gem

picked off from a signature
on CAF:

"Anyone can believe in something
sort of stupid. But in order to be able
to believe in something REALLY stupid,
you need a doctorate."

- Fr. Benedict Groeschel CFR, (Ed.D.)

A few words...

Indeed, the whole world is only
heaven's womb.

... from Peter Kreeft's article
on Heaven.


HT: The Philosophy Forum
@ C.A.F.

A Meme for Youyou

Was tagged the other day for a meme
by Deb from:

Debra's Random Thoughts,

Who I met on the 'funnest' stomping
ground:

Catholic Answers Forums.

Here are the rules, (copy & pasted,
thank you Deb:)
You can ignore them if you wish.

The rules for this meme are:

(1) Link to the person that tagged you.
(2) Post the rules on your blog.
(3) Share six non-important things/
habits/quirks about yourself.
(4) Tag six random people at the end
of your post by linking to their blogs.
(5) Let each random person know they
have been tagged by leaving a comment
on their website.

***********
I...

(1) ... prefer wearing dresses.

(2) ... love old movies, and going to the
movies, although I don't go that often.

(3) ... am very forgetful, and always tired.

(3) ... am very forgetful, and always tired.

(4) ... have been singing in church (the choir)
on and off for 30 years.

(5) ... proposed to my husband - actually
more like brought up the subject - as he
really didn't want to get married, having
done it before...
It's been 25 years:)

(6) ... am by no means a fashion plate,
but love me, love my accessories.

... & am tagging:

(1) St. Nick from Nick's Bytes,

(2) Terry from Abbey-Roads,

(3) Jeffrey Smith from Back to
Damerosehay,

(4) Thomas from
Living Next Door to Alice,

(5) Melodybleu @
The tropics and other stuff

&

(6) (Hmmm... thinking, thinking)
Eric @ The Daily Eudemon.

Enjoy, all:)
& thanks Deb!

Is Super Bowl Sunday

tomorrow?



???

GO

GIANTS!!!!!!!!!!

& an alternative...

for those who admire
this admirer of


Beethoven,


&


Wolves.

How beautiful!

Merci beaucoup! :)

Thank you very much!!

Here's another...

...from

CAF:

"God has placed clear limits on
human intelligence, but none on
human stupidity."–Fr.John Corapi.

An interesting quote

and a most unfortunate truism,
from a signature @

Catholic Answers Forums:

To educate a man in mind and not
in morals is to educate a menace to
society.
Theodore Roosevelt

Fairy tale

My mom loves the Flower Fairies
by Cicely Mary Barker.

This is one of my favorites,
because both of the fairies in
this picture look like my mom
when she was little.

:)

Don't let me forget!!!

It'll be available in February...

Watercolors for Dummies

by Colette Pitcher.

Always loved doing pencil
sketches, but have only done
a few watercolors - the results
of any & all my efforts IMO on
a par with a well-coordinated
five-year old...

Am definitely looking forward
to this publication to improve
(or actually get!) a technique:)

Better late than

not at all...

On the (fascinating subject of):

the Magi...

From:

The Daily Eudemon.

Our Lady

..................................*

of the Sign (Isaiah 7:14)

This icon, painted for a priest,
was done by Terrance Nelson
from Abbey-Roads2, (link:)

& is available at
Bridge Building Images. (link)

Another great art print

by portrait artist,

Ylli...


Whose eBay store

is linked under 'Neat Stuff'

New Year's Wishes

From:

Barbara Beyer Malley,

to us! :)

May peace break into your house,
may thieves steal your debts.

May the pockets of your jeans be
magnets for$100 bills.

May love stick to your face like
Vaseline, may laughter assault your lips.

May your clothes smell like
smoking tires of success.

May happiness slap you across the face,
may your tears be of joy.

May the problems you had forget
your home address.


May 2008 be the best year of your life!

Dear St. Francis of Assisi

from
Bridge Building Images. (link)

There are more images
here (link)...

All by our friend Terry
from Abbey-Roads:) (link)

A Chestertonian mantra for 2008

"An inconvenience is only an
adventure wrongly considered;
an adventure is an inconvenience
rightly considered." -
On Running After Ones Hat,
All Things Considered, 1908

Note to myself: Keep this in mind.

From the:

Quotations page

@ the:

American Chesterton Society.

More from the Archives...

Treasured in Her Heart

by Kathy Lawrence.

When I was young I had a
favorite paper doll named
Beth Ann. She was created
by artist Kathy Lawrence,
the daughter of Queen Holden,
a renowned paper doll artist
whose creations my mom
played with as a child in the
1930's.

Found out just recently that
the artist that did this painting
is the same artist whose baby
doll I loved from childhood...

Here's a link to more of her
beautiful work.

A Christmas Carol

By G.K. Chesterton

(& copied from a post by Eric
@ Chesterton and Friends.)

The Christ-child lay on Mary’s lap,
His hair was like a light.
(O weary, weary were the world,
But here is all aright.)

The Christ-child lay on Mary’s breast,
His hair was like a star.
(O stern and cunning are the kings,
But here the true hearts are.)

The Christ-child lay on Mary’s heart,
His hair was like a fire.
(O weary, weary is the world,
But here the world’s desire.)

The Christ-child stood on Mary’s knee,
His hair was like a crown,
And all the flowers looked up at Him,
And all the stars looked down.

Behold!

Has anyone ever tried?

Mystic Monk Coffee...

?

If so, let me know -
it sounds delicious!

H/T to an informative post

@

Catholic Answers Forums.

My Christmas list

includes this recent
publication:

A Family Christmas,
by Caroline Kennedy.

Her last book,

A Family of Poems:
My Favorite Poetry
for Children

is a beautiful compilation
of classics, & I'm looking
forward to adding this one
to my own growing collection
of favorites.

"Just One More Thing"

One of many

wonderful works

of art for sale

(& by:)

the wonderful

Mr. Peter Falk.

R.I.P.

Dear Dan Fogelberg


:(


Saw him in concert

in the early eighties, &

have enjoyed playing

my recorder along with

his songs since forever...


Melodybleu, too,

remembers...

Seen on a signature

at

Catholic Answers Forums...

Even the atheist is half afraid of the dark.
-Bishop Fulton Sheen.

Which reminds me of this from

Fr. Benedict Groeschel,
(who can be seen on EWTN's
Sunday Night Live)...

If you don't believe in God, but feel the
need to pray...

By all means do!!!

Lifted this

from Jeffrey Smith @

The Roving Medievalist ...

St. Michael -
Corigliano d'Otranto, Italy

Lest we forget...

“The message of the cross
is foolishness to those who are
perishing, but to us who are
being saved it is the power of
God." (1 Corinthians 1:23,24)

Hot-diggity

dog!!!

Melodybleu has a neat new
music player contraption thingy
over on her blog:

The Tropics and Other Stuff.

I'll get one someday, when I
figure out how to upload/down-
load music - HA!

Mosey on over & listen in...

& don't forget to turn up
the sound:)

First Sunday of Advent

Liturgy of the Hours: Week I of the Psalter

We do not know when "the Son of Man' will
come again or how God's kingdom will be
established--whether peaceably (Isaiah)
or by destruction (gospel). Yet the readings
and Advent call us to look forward to the
future with hope and expectation. Why?
Because Christ's Second Coming will bring
to completion God's work of salvation.
This hope undergirds our efforts in daily
life to "conduct ourselves properly" and to
"put on the Lord Jesus Christ" (second reading).
--Living Liturgy, First Sunday of Advent 2007

Check out the reverse...

of the Lincoln penny, &
you will see the work of
the 10th Chief Engraver
of the United States,
Frank Gasparro- (8/26/09-
9/29/01)

Mr. Gasparro, whose initials
can be seen at the bottom
right corner of the Lincoln
Memorial (see above,) also
designed the obverse &
reverse of the Eisenhower
Dollar, the Susan B. Anthony
Dollar, & the reverse of the
Kennedy Half Dollar. He is
the most copied artist ever,
due to the Lincoln cent.

He worked for the U.S. Mint
as Chief Engraver/Sculptor
from 1965 to 1981...

& was every bit as kind as he
was professional.

The Complete "Father Brown" Series

by G. K. Chesterton ~

online...

Thanks to:

lak611

at:

Catholic Answers Forums

for the great link:)


Enjoy!

Wonderful coverage!

in the latest issue of

Gilbert Magazine

of the recent conference
I attended of a local chapter of the

American Chesterton Society.

(Which featured two of my
favorite speakers, ACS president &
author Dale Ahlquist, host of EWTN's

G. K. CHESTERTON: THE
APOSTLE OF COMMON SENSE
(Sunday 9PM ET);

& noted biographer & editor of the

St. Austin Review
(StAR) periodical...

Joseph Pearce).

Received my beautiful book

by Sister Wendy Beckett,

In the Midst of Chaos, Peace

from Ignatius Press -

featuring the work of two of my
favorites, paper-cutting silhouette
artists, Sister Mary Jean Dorcy &
Dan Paulos, whose work is featured
on this blog courtesy of Trinity Stores.

Egyptian Watercolors

Giza. Inside the Granite Temple (11x14)

By Janet Hamill (link)






















Y

Recent acquisitions

of a poet friend:










































&...

A recent interview (link)
with the books' author, Joseph
Pearce which originally appeared
in the magazine,
Ediciones Palabra, (link)
following the release of the Spanish
translation of his book,
Literary Converts. (link)

By Joe LeClerc

Thrown

white nights glimmer pink champagne’s
......pyrotechnique sparkle glamour throne
..............woven blanketique astral sewn twinkle
....................patterns - each blink a wink connected
...........................by the eye needs a line - draughtsman’s
..................................horse, nymph hidden, swans y los toros
........................................bidden - all to populate enormous sphere’s
...............................................interior surface - terra unsun - those in darkness


...../spy bright glories - enlightened eyes see infinite



blue or clouded azure


who threw the ball?


- so much blazing mystery within

A Pachabel Connection?

Between recent pop hits &
the melancholy 'Canon in D'?

Whether you hear it or not,
the question was posed as a
result of an interesting
(& entertaining) post from
Dawn Eden @

The Dawn Patrol.

& if you have the time...

while you surf, then
listen to:

Catholicism: The Heart
of History,- (link:)

with Joanna & Jamie Bogle,
from EWTN.

New to my library

The Adoremus Hymnal,


&

















No Place for God,
by Moyra Doorly -

Which was recommended
to me by Joseph Pearce,
biographer & editor
of the Saint Austin Review -
(at the recent Chesterton
conference I was fortunate
enough to attend).

Am finding the book on
church architecture inter-
esting. I haven't finished
it yet, but will say that while
I understand that recent
church architecture (unfor-
tunately) reflects the recent
age, we have to acknowledge
that, whether we like the
design or not, He's still there.

Imo, like everything else made
by man throughout history, only
some are exceptional to behold.
This is my opinion. Beauty, practi-
cality & content aren't always
found altogether. If today's
churches do not seem reverent,
well - the content is still there.
The function is the same, even
if it's not awe-inspiring to behold.

As a child, I vaguely remember
altar railings - but mostly attended
Holy Mass in the gymnasium/
cafeteria of the local Catholic
school after the beautiful
church building was sold.

Grew tired of the guitar-strumming
minstrels with their sweet but simple
tunes.

Would read all the readings for
the day before Mass even started,
then sit staring at the incredible
Crucifix on the wall next to me,
where I'd always sit in the back.

And as mundane as it all seemed,
you could tell that He was there.
& the reverence, though expressed
somewhat differently, was still
there, too.

Couldn't resist the book of
music - got the choir edition
which is helpful as I'm an alto
& need it for the parts.

Both from Ignatius Press.

Liking the prettiful

prayer shawls, *hand made
& available from:

Trinity Stores.

*And the sales help provide
an income for the families of the
women who make them.

An excellent site

that has done excellent work,
(link) over the years.

I would encourage any regular
internet user to get in the habit
of checking it regularly... their
work is essential, has helped a
great many people, & continues
to help solve as well as prevent,
further tragedies, thank God...

& may God bless the difficult
work that they have to do.

Funny!!

Honey... :)


From Terry @

Abbey Roads.

Happy Birthday! :)

to you!

Happy Birthday to you!

Happy Birthday dear lifelong pal
Melodybleu-uuuu....

Happy Birthday to you!!! :)

Briefly, MB & I have known
each other for over forty years.

Her interests are vast & varied -
She introduced me to most of the
music that I have loved for a life-
time, from classic to rock - & now
on her blog she continues to post
fast & furious on much of what
she cares & is concerned about...

& if I didn't know it was her blog
& I read it, I'd know it was hers:)

HB Jen, &
God bless you!!!!!

Neat!

Someone translated
this blog into

Russian!

:)

(& thanks!)

Many thanks to whoever translated this...

Praying that the local public library
adds Nancy Brown's study guide:
G. K. Chesterton: The Blue Cross
to its collection. It's a wonderful
introduction to the Father Brown
detective series by GKC, written
for students in grades 8-12...

(I got my own copy anyway:)

Good work, Mrs. Brown!

Update:

Congratulations, Mrs. Brown!
Your published work will be
added to the adult collection:)

...to this!

星期天, 2006 年3月26 日

祈禱


地方公立圖書館

增加南希布朗的研究指南:

G. K. Chesterton: 藍色十字架

對它的彙集。它是美妙的

父親的介紹布朗

偵探系列由GKC, 被寫

為學生在等級8-12...

(我無論如何得到了我自己的拷貝:)

好工作, 布朗夫人!


更新:

祝賀, 布朗夫人!

您的出版工作將是

增加來成人彙集:)

From Michelle

the Mermaid, an interesting
book recommendation on the
subject of unnecessary
consumer consumption...

Affluenza: When Too Much
Is Never Enough,

by Clive
Hamilton & Richard Deniss -

Read all about it, over at

Justitia.

Follow the links...

from:

Chesterton and Friends, (link)

to hear the voices of C. S. Lewis,

&

G. K. C.

Happy 10th Birthday!

to Gilbert Magazine! :)

(From the cover):

A man's soul is as full of
voices as a forest, there
are ten thousand tongues
there like all the tongues
of the trees: fancies, follies,
memories, madnesses,
mysterious fears, and
more mysterious hopes. -
G. K. Chesterton

A Love Letter

from God to us,
posted by:

5Cooliocumble92

@

Catholic Answers Forums -

(Registration is free, & open
to everyone!)

Please remember in your prayers

the family of young wife &
mother, blogger

Carmen San Diego...

who passed away the
morning of October 30th
of Sceroderma. She was 34.

Thanks to St. Nick for
his continued posting on her
condition, & for passing along
the info on the
Scleroderma Foundation,
where donations can be sent
in her memory.