Easter Dinner at Denny's

Easter dinner! (Minus LuLu, who wasn't feeling well. Legit ill,  not the "my kid is being a jerk so I wouldn't let them come but I'll tell people they're sick so they don't judge me" ill. LOL)

7 hours of sleep - minus one interruption for a Junie fit - ???? Truly a Easter miracle!

My Thoughts: The "Pagan" Nature of Easter

Ack, usually this stuff only pops up on Facebook around Christmas, but I just saw a meme about how Easter (and the eggs, etc) is just a "pagan" holiday. Quoting my comment: 

I've pointed this out for twenty years, and it never seems to sink in for people, but here goes: Duh, and who cares? Of course, when Christianity moved into new areas it was easier to incorporate the existing celebration practices into the new religion. Symbols are just that, representations of ideas, and the church created new "ideas" to affix to the traditional practices. It made the transition easier. Christmas is still the celebration of Christ's birth, Easter still the celebration of his Rebirth. Who gives a shit if wreaths originally celebrated X if they now clearly and definitely proclaim Y? A guy gives a ring to his ex wife. After a messy divorce, twenty years later he gives another engagement ring to the new love of his life. You're going to argue that ring is a mockery of his second wife because once upon a time it was a symbol of his adoration for a different woman? Hell no.

Two Visits

Before dinner Lisa and YaYa went to visit Lisa's stepmom, and I called my Dad and sister and visited my Mom in the hospital, bringing her a picture Junie drew, a coloring book YaYa picked out, and deviled eggs OJ made her for the holiday.

Man

Sigh. Smiley  is having a half hour hissy because Junie got a sketch book for Easter and he didn't. Nevermind that Lisa bought him a case for his DhS that was worth more than Junie's entire basket. Slap emotional instability + Kohn temper = quite the show.

the name of the Wind

Rachel L recommended this fantasy novel to me, and I finished it last night. It's very good (and has a Wisconsin author), but I can't claim to be enamored by the main character. He's a bit like Harry Potter's son, if Harry Potter mated with Melfoy and begat a pompous knob. He also seems to have an aversion to women. He meets them, they invite him into their bed chambers, he demurs; he has a hottie fawn over him, he spends six hours talking with her (!), and doesn't so much as reach for her hand. Either the author is a virgin or the character should just come of the closet already. Other than that crud, a fine novel.

My Thoughts - on Christmas and Easter being "pagan"

 Ack, usually this stuff only pops up on Facebook around Christmas, but I just saw a meme about how Easter (and the eggs, etc) is just a "pagan" holiday. Quoting my comment:

I've pointed this out for twenty years, and it never seems to sink in for people, but here goes: Duh, and who cares? Of course, when Christianity moved into new areas it was easier to incorporate the existing celebration practices into the new religion. Symbols are just that, representations of ideas, and the church created new "ideas" to affix to the traditional practices. It made the transition easier. Christmas is still the celebration of Christ's birth, Easter still the celebration of his Rebirth. Who gives a shit if wreaths originally celebrated X if they now clearly and definitely proclaim Y? A guy gives a ring to his ex wife. After a messy divorce, twenty years later he gives another (different) engagement ring to the new love of his life. You're going to argue that ring is a mockery of his second wife because once upon a time it was a symbol of his adoration for a different woman? Hell no.

Mother Angelica

 The recognizable founder of EWTN passed away on Easter. She was 92. 

Not the Reactions we Expected

Sigh. Smiley is having a half hour hissy because Junie got a sketch book for Easter and he didn't. Nevermind that Lisa bought him a case for his DS that was worth more than Junie's entire basket. 

My family's emotional instability + Lisa's family's temper = quite the show.

Thanks YaYa  for sacrificing her sketch book to appease her brother. I'll replace yours, thanks for your giving spirit.

One fit stopped, enterJunie drama....

Now Junie's appeased, enter OJ protests..... Good thing parents aren't voted on, I think they'd impeach us.

- Lisa

 A better "after" photo of Smiley's new black hair

Batman v Superman

 Very irritated by all the negativity towards Batman v Superman, especially as it seems to stem largely from people who *haven't seen the film* or just dog Affleck because it's what cool kids do.* Ben has always been underrated, and even if I felt otherwise, he was a superb Batman, giving proper credit to Bruce Wayne but not at the expense of the suit. Under his watch Wayne was more than just a mask for the bat, and he was dutifully unmerciful when wearing the cape. And the hoopla over the origin story? Criminy people, it was THREE minutes and necessary to foreshadow a pivotal scene later ("Martha"). Humans suck. *some people have seen it and blasted it, but they're people I don't care a whit about. If Patrick M or Thomas G give it a thumbs down on these points, then I'll concede there is another viable POV. They'll still be wrong, but I'll listen.

Smiley Dyes his Hair

After the eggs and before the movie, Smiley asked to dye his hair jet black, and we passed the task on to Lulu, our resident hair expert. I like the results, and so does he.

Easter Egg Dyeing

 As we've done since at least 1998 (starting with our niece and nephew) #TeamSlap dyed Easter Eggs on Good Friday. We do it from noon to three, although as the kids have gotten older it takes less and less time. We don't allow electronics or play during the hours Christ was on the cross, so this is a convenient way to hold their attention. My Godson TJ attended this year, and all the kids seemed to have fun, normal squabbles aside. Note the "Daddy Trump" egg YaYa made, drawing the scorn of the rabidly liberal Junie LOL

 Getting ready for Easter Vigil, the ONLY Mass I don't have to threaten violence to get the kids to attend. Holding a candle in a dark church and betting on whether someone's hairspray catches fire really seems to inspire their Faith.

Getting ready for Easter Vigil, the ONLY Mass I don't have to threaten violence to get the kids to attend. Holding a candle in a dark church and betting on whether someone's hairspray catches fire really seems to inspire their Faith.

Now and Then

 

Easter 2010, and Easter 2016. The days are long, but the years are short. #wistful

- YaYa

 

13 Hours: The Inside Story about What Really Happened in Benghazi

 A blow-by-blow account of what happened on the ground in Benghazi on September 11, 2012. It's pretty obvious there's no nefarious Washington conspiracy behind it, just a series of f'up's that led to the Ambassador's death. Clinton may have shifted blame away from Al-Qaeda and onto a You Tube video, but that's a sin AFTER the fact. Frankly, the action is so paltry it would barely qualify as a skirmish elsewhere, and it struggles to be book length without padding.

Time for a #revival of this fashion trend

 

 @ The Chancery in Mequon with YaYa. Taking a pause from driving in this storm

Gary Shandling and Joe Garagiola

 RIP Gary Shandling and Joe Garagiola

 I just spoke to the hospital and my Mom was admitted overnight. 

I spoke with my Mom at 2:30 am. Although hospitalized, it appears she'll be fine. I'll know more later. Meanwhile, with their apartment unlivable right now, my Dad and oldest sister are camped out at my niece's place.

A Follow up to the fire at my Parent's apartment building

I just spoke to the hospital and my Mom was admitted overnight.

I spoke with my Mom at 2:30 am. Although hospitalized, it appears she'll be fine. I'll know more later. Meanwhile, with their apartment unlivable right now, my Dad and oldest sister are camped out at my niece's place.

This isn't an original thought, but I'm tired of the cartoon tributes, sidewalk murals, and hashtag campaigns in the wake of terrorist attacks. It's sweet, it's genuine, but it's also impotent and doesn't change a damn thing. In the words of JFK, reason does not always appeal to unreasonable men. No matter what you do, say, think, or feel, if someone is willing to strap a bomb on their chest and kill random innocent strangers than your well wishes will do squat to change their mind. Tolerance only works when it's a two way street, and this is as one way as you can get. Quit sugarcoating what's going on, and respond in the only way that matters, and the only way that will END the threat: find the enemy, kill the enemy.

This morning's events (terror attackers in Belgium) sadly made me recall a very non-PC joke Pete Townsend made at The Who concert last night, one I'm not surprised didn't make the newspaper review. This was Pete Townsend speaking, of Amnesty International and all causes liberal. He was talking about how the band was still struggling to make it in America after success in Britain: "In '67 we were still trying to crack America . . . 'crack America'. That sounds a bit Moooslem, doesn't it?"