Sunday, February 28, 2010

i knew i hated mr. darcy for a reason.

right. from the catholic blogosphere.
If today's faithful Catholic is represented by Elizabeth Bennet, bright, hopeful, and coming of age, then the liturgical forms would have to be represented by Mr. Darcy and Mr Wickham.

Mr. Wickham is immediately accessible, loves to talk - especially about how bad ol' Darcy is - has some initial minor flash but soon proves to be tedious and unreliable.

Mr. Darcy at first glance looks stuffy and condescending, but proves over time to be noble, true, of high quality and charitable.

The ordinary and the extraordinary.
this blogger says he's a "St. Louis area Catholic who supports the Traditional Mass and Sacraments" and, as some of you know, casual usage of words like "traditional" and "orthodox" really rubs me the wrong way. [as does casual usage of words like "heresy," but that's a whole nother story] here's the thing. if you're talking about going by church tradition [oops, that is, Church Tradition with some extra-meaningful Capital Letters] or you claim to be orthodox, you should be, by definition, WITH THE CHURCH. you know. the catholic church. which has a hierarchical structure that is sometimes problematic, sure, but it's there. and if you're ignoring vatican ii, hello, you are neither traditional nor orthodox. i'm all about the protest, guys, but can you at least recognize that tradition and orthodoxy, in the roman catholic sense, are actually a thing that you don't get to just co-opt?

anyway, it was bothering me. and i get so rage-y that i thought, hey, maybe i'm just not understanding what this means. so i did some wikipedia research.
Traditionalist Catholics generally prefer to be referred to either simply as Catholics or, if a distinction must be made, as "traditional Catholics" (with a lower-case T). However, since Roman Catholics in general consider themselves to be "traditional" in the sense of being faithful to historical Catholic teaching, the term "traditionalist Catholics" is used in this article as a means of clearly distinguishing them from other Roman Catholics.
so, i don't really know what to say about this. i guess it's starting to look a little better, considering that "traditionalist" can be a subset of "other roman catholics" - they're just the roman catholics who think we should be doing things differently.

but back to you, mr. darcy.

beware of hippie modern liturgy, guys. it might seem like the kind of thing that is understandable and accessible to many people, but it will actually end up trying to steal your money and marry your teenaged sister.

okay, here's my problem.

THE FICTIONAL EXISTENCE OF MR. DARCY IS NOT A GOOD REASON TO PUT UP WITH SOMETHING YOU HATE.

in this case, the analogy's not very nice, and to this particular blogger's credit, certainly he intended to make a joke. i'm sure that, if i were of his opinion on liturgy, i'd be all, "you don't understand the liturgy i prefer, just like elizabeth bennet didn't understand mr. darcy." but seriously? darcy's still kind of an ass, and i'm tired of people suggesting [or seeming to me to suggest] that being rude, distant, and superior to others is a virtue in itself. sure, the less-than-attractive appearance might disguise something that's awesome. but it doesn't MAKE something awesome. and i'm not convinced that the old-fashioned-y inaccessibility of mass in latin, super-high liturgy, pre-vatican-ii forms, and the rest necessarily means that it's better. if that's your preference, fine. but don't compare the way i worship to skeezy mr. wickham just because i'd prefer a liturgy that people who haven't read the GIRM can appreciate.

this, plus a similar discussion [um, actually, only similar because they were both about mr. darcy] with a co-worker friend and two lovely students, has convinced me to read pride and prejudice again. so, stay tuned for further developments in my mind and heart.

Thursday, February 11, 2010

happy valentine's day?

i recently realized that i kind of feel like valentine's day is tomorrow. i'm planning my outfit and my class activities. i'll be showing people my valentine's day argyle socks. [it's okay to be jealous.] apparently being a teacher is affecting how and when i celebrate national holidays.

who's seen the worldwide "all you need is love" video? it'll play when you click here. it made a bunch of valentine-haters say "awww" today, guys. i'm just saying. and, according to what seems like a semi-reliable study, you might be more likely to do something nice after watching it.

a google buzz excitement and backlash hit pretty much simultaneously, here's a weirdly accurate and highly popular article about the quarterlife crisis.

bonus rage: "The study included only female participants just in case men might be more likely to want to aid the female instructor." HETERONORMATIVITY FAIL.

Thursday, February 04, 2010

television commentary, with some bonus rage.

so, i'm sure you all watched NCIS on tuesday, considering that it's television's number one drama. i know, i have such good taste in tv, right? [or, i have the same taste in tv as a lot of other people, which is not quite the same thing.] and i'm sure you're all familiar with the trope in which gibbs is so badass that he leaves his door unlocked, and people are always showing up in his house at all hours.

so, in this episode, we meet a new ladyfriend for gibbs, who then is sitting on his couch when he gets home. and they predictably argue. with a predictable amount of UST.

gibbs: you get five requests [to represent pro-bono cases] a week, and you only seem to pick the ones that bring you face-to-face with me.
ladyfriend: are you really that conceited?
gibbs: you're standing in my house!

hahaaa. good one, gibbs. currently, i'm watching the episode where ziva kills ari for gibbs, and it's all intense. and kate's funeral, where everyone has their kate memories. and abby wears that lacy-black-umbrella getup she always wears to funerals. question - is abby mainstream enough that i can dress like her for halloween without people asking me if i'm some kind of goth doctor?

now i switched to svu. an episode i'm pretty sure i haven't seen, and olivia's hair looks good! very promising. haha, eliot's all, "she seems like my daughter. a normal high school kid." your daughter who is ALWAYS IN TROUBLE for DRAMATIC PURPOSES? sure, she's normal. and - oh, crap. this is the one where the guy is leading the double life. he's not in the congo for work for months at a time! he's his own daughter's boyfriend's father, too! that's why they never want to hang out with other parents!

oh, svu. so out of plots. hahaha, and i love how the one wife is so delusional. olivia's talking to her like, "lady, your double-life-leading husband was NEVER planning to run away to cuba with you. and this concerned look means that i'm secretly judging you."

okay, on with the tv commentary. i love valentine's day, right? but i'm currently snarking the hallmark commercial in which the kid is reading the pre-recorded book. it's like, listen to a recording of a parent reading this book about love! it's cute. maybe your parent is far away. [dad always traveled a lot when we were kids, and he was the best at reading books, so i totally get it.] but then the camera pans, and the parents are just hanging out downstairs. while the kid listens to a recording of one of them? so, as i said, i am currently snarking about this.

i got some sort of free consumer reports health magazine in the mail. the headline is literally "how to keep your heart healthy with pistachio nuts." i'm guessing it's by eating them.

and, because i will not let you go without some feminist rage - a woman from an older generation tasted something one of my friends had baked, and she LITERALLY SAID, "this is so good! now you're ready to get married. maybe i'll set you up with one of my sons." i mean, glad that the days when people thought of women as housekeepers for their husbands is over, right? GAHHH.

argyle thursday!


best part of being a teacher? wearing stuff like this. [that's not the real best part, but i'm just saying, guys.]