The Garden Gnome ~ Persona Non Grata

Some of you may not be familiar with my other blog. Yes, like a lot of you one blog just didn't seem like enough. This is probably one of the 10 signs you are addicted to blogging. Right up there with how you scribble down blog ideas when you're in a conversation and you sleep with a notebook a foot away from your head, just in case. Anyway, I wanted you to get a taste of what happens over on Define Inspiration; exploits in cooking, exercise, gardening and various other rants.

The Garden Gnome ~ Persona Non Grata

Perhaps, you are as behind the times as I am and are just now asking the question, “What is the deal with garden gnomes?” Let me say up front that I am solidly against too much yard art. An occasional tasteful piece is acceptable, but peppering the yard with tchotchke yard trinkets is just plain tacky. 

Now that I’ve offended you, let me say that I am having a hard time adhering to my own stand on this issue. The problem manifested itself after I did some research on the “life and times” of the garden gnome and because recently, I have come across a plethora of hilarious pieces of yard art that I haven't been able to resist. Yes, I too am a tacky yard art owner. 

As such, I thought I should become more knowledgeable about these decorative fine artworks. I visited the website Mental Floss to become educated on the history of the garden gnome and came across the following report.

At the risk of accidentally sounding biblical, we regret to report that gnomes have been banished from the garden. To be a bit more specific, gnome figurines, those whimsical, pointy-hatted denizens of home gardens and front lawns, have been banished from gardens entering England's famed Royal Horticultural Society Chelsea Flower Show.

No!?

You won't believe the rest of this story. It has the makings of a good mystery novel with villains, victims, theft, kidnappings, death and more!

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Turn a Quote into a Masterpiece

Boy, have I missed having the time to play on the Internet! As many of you know, my school schedule is the major interrupter of my blogging schedule. Honestly, it interrupts everything and I recommend you avoid this subject with my husband, my friends and my family! But school break = blogging, and you're reading this post, so now you all know I'm taking the summer off. Yippee!  

After catching up on 10 loads (I'm not kidding about that quantity) of laundry, I rewarded myself with some Internet surfing time. In my ventures, I came across a quote generator and after frittering away more time playing with this amazing creation than the 10 loads took to wash, dry, fold and put away,(this is only a slight exaggeration) I decided to share it with all of you. Why should I be the only one to waste time I could be mopping, dusting and pulling weeds, with an activity that I can only categorize as bringing unexplained joy.

If you've got a favorite quote, you can visit recitethis.com and turn it into a graphic for display on websites and blogs. If you don't have a favorite quote, you can pick from a big library of phrases. Generated images are low resolution (about 2" wide at 300 dpi, standard print res) but they're amply sized for the web.

Here's what a quote generator can do:

 

 

Have fun creating and sharing!

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Grace Breaks into our Lives

On this stupendous Mother's Day morning, before taking off to teach my wonderful little 1st graders and attend Mass, I popped onto Father Barron's website to see what was new and I found this amazing video.

The video tells the story of Pier Giorgio Frassati, but really, it's a video about the choices we face and whether we allow grace into our lives, or shut it out.  

Pier Giorgio Frassati: A commentary by Fr. Barron

  

Happy Mother's Day!

The Grace Prayer

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
and the love of God,
and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit
be with us all,
now and evermore. 

Amen.

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Benedict XVI~Wouldn't Know Gucci from Smoochi

Yes, I know … everyone is thinking about, talking about and writing about Pope Benedict XVI’s retirement, now, even me. I think much of the hoopla surrounding his departure has been hashed and rehashed at this point, but there’s one thing I must add—maybe two.

I have to say that I reported correctly in January of 2011 information about Pope Benedict XVI’s red shoes. Okay, it wasn’t exactly cutting edge information at the time, but in my defense, I only began writing this blog then, and of course, I eventually got around to the Pope’s red shoes. 

Anyone who knows anything from following the Pope since the day the conclave elected him in 2005 knows he began wearing red shoes shortly afterward. Esquire magazine described Pope Benedict XVI as “The Accessorizer of the Year,” a label suggesting that he was the best dressed man of the year because of his unique accessorizing—his red shoes in particular. Amid the recent reports about Pope Benedict XVI, rumor of the origin of these red shoes is being speculated AGAIN, and the idea that his shoes were Prada or Gucci have most likely hit the news waves for the last time. Years ago Marjorie Weeke, a former official at the Vatican's Social Communications office put this idea to rest, "He wouldn't know Gucci from Smoochi," she said.

With Pope Benedict's recent departure, many of these globally important (wink, wink) details are resurfacing. I’ve read more articles rehashing his attire than social media posts about celebrities at the Grammys. Everything from the length of his cassock (too short for some and too long for others),  to how a black sweater was inappropriately seen poking out from under his robe when he came out on the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica to give his first blessing minutes after his election on April 19. (What? Popes can’t get cold?)

But getting back to Pope Benedict’s red shoes, which  receive more attention than any of these other fancy papal attire issues. We all know from thousands of articles, tweets, blog posts, etc. that life for the first pope to retire in several hundred years is changing. And among those highly reported changes is the casting off of his red shoes.  Kinda sad if you ask me. But then again, we all know how particular Vatican tradition is regarding who wears what and why! 

I wonder if we’ll have this much discussion about the new pope's dressing habits? We all know that the chance for an American pope is pretty slim. But could you imagine if it were Cardinal Dolan? He compares himself to batman because of his fashion choices. Wouldn’t that be fun?

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Father Barron's Hobbit Review

I always find Father Barron’s book and movie commentary fascinating as well as thought provoking, and his comments on The Hobbit are no exception. He points out that J.R.R. Tolkien was Catholic (something I never knew) and the story is full of religious themes. (Something I feel like I should have noticed, but didn’t). One of those themes is how we win the fight against evil with simple acts of kindness. (Something I believe wholeheartedly!) He tells us that simple acts of kindness are a key component in God’s divine plan.

A few days ago—as some readers may remember—I encountered evil right here in the form of blog comments. I’m not talking about spam or negative and controversial comments, but truly evil commentary that has no place on my blog or anywhere else for that matter. My first reaction was to fight back with kindness.

Father Barron explains that the character Gollum in both The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings is an example of this kindness theme. In his review, he talks about how the nasty little wicked figure, Gollum, could have been killed a number of times if it weren’t for the kindness of the other characters—an important fact at the climax of Lord of the Rings just as they are about to destroy the ring. (Now, granted, in my book, killing or not killing—even a nasty wicked little someone—is a bit more complicated than a simple act of kindness.) Nevertheless, the point is that Frodo gives in to the evil and ultimately the malicious Gollum’s appearance results in evil being defeated. If Gollum were killed earlier, good wouldn’t have triumphed in the end.

Anyway, Father Barron’s commentary on The Hobbit is full of interesting ideas and concepts to contemplate.   See for yourself in this short video, but I warn you, you might just become a Father Barron junkie—I am!

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Meeting Father Barron

Yesterday was a great day, an exciting day, and if you’re familiar with Rev. Robert Barron, the Catholic priest and theologian, you’ll understand my enthusiasm. I was lucky enough to meet Father Barron while he was here in Salt Lake City speaking at a convention of cathedral people. I’m not sure exactly who cathedral people are or what they do, but I was thrilled they decided to meet here in Salt Lake City, and that they invited Father Barron to attend their convention as a keynote speaker.

I’ve be a Father Barron fan for years, I came across one of his YouTube videos while surfing the Internet looking for information on science and religion (needed to convince my 15 year-old that you can believe in both). One thing led to another, which led me to his website, which led me to his 10 part Catholicism series and now my parish is planning to present his magnificent series to our parishioner’s in the upcoming Year of Faith. Today, I was able to see and hear him in person at the Cathedral Ministry Conference.

He was as remarkable in person as I had hoped he would be.

I admire his vast knowledge, his infectious enthusiasm, his commitment to the church and to evangelization, but mostly I admire his speaking skills. Why? Because you can have all of the earlier mentioned qualities, but if you aren’t a great speaker the message gets lost in translation. Father Barron is a great speaker and his message comes across loud and clear.

Catholicism: It's Your Story 

Visit Father Barron's website. You might be surprised by what you find there, but you won't be disappointed!

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