Thirsty

(A Tale of Flodden Field) Day set on Norham's castled steep, And Tweed's fair river, broad and deep, And Cheviot's mountains lone: The battled towers, the donjon keep, The loophole grates, where captives weep, The flanking walls that round it sweep, In yellow lustre shone. The warriors on the turrets high, Moving athwart the evening sky, Seemed forms of giant height: Their armour, as it caught the rays, Flashed back again the western blaze, In lines of dazzling light. Nought say I here of Sister Clare, Save this, that she was young and fair; As yet a novice unprofessed, Lovely and gentle, but distressed. She was betrothed to one now dead, Or worse, who had dishonoured fled. Her kinsmen bid her give her hand To one who loved her for her land: Herself, almost heart-broken now, Was bent to take the vestal vow, And shroud within Saint Hilda's gloom, Her blasted hopes and withered bloom. Lovely, and gentle, and distressed- These charms might tame

Just spent entirely too much time cleaning up the guts of this blog. I know it doesn't look terribly different from the outside, but I completely css'ified it to ease future maintenance. The most noticeable change is probably the fact that you can read comments right from the main page without going anywhere. I guess I was feeling a little non-geeky and wanted to reassert my geekiness. This had been on my to-do list anyway. Completely pointless comments would be thoroughly enjoyed. (pointful comments of course are welcome too) [Note: Best viewed with Firefox ] Update: wowsers. sorry about that folks, some stupid stuff in the page was causing browser lockups across the board. should be fixed. blogger's way of dealing with trackbacks is majorly bloated.

... Patrona de México y Emperatriz de las Américas Madre Santísima de Guadalupe. Madre de Jesús,    condúcenos hacia tu Divino Hijo por el camino del    Evangelio, para que nuestra vida sea el complimiento    generosa de la voluntad de Dios. Condúcenos a Jesús, que se nos manifiesta y se nos da en la    Palabra revelada y en el Pan de la Eucaristía. Danos una fe firme, una esperanza sobrenatural, una    caridad ardiente, y una fidelidad viva a nuestra vocación    de bautizados. Ayúdanos a ser agradecidos a Dios, exigentes con nosotros    mismos, y llenos de amor para con nuestros hermanos.    Amén. Today (what's left of it) was the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe . This is a huge day for the Hispanic culture, and that includes our very own Pilsen neighborhood in Chicago. My friend Fr. Jim Collins concelebrated a 5:00AM Mass for the occasion. The Mariachi band started at 4:30, and there was a free breakfast afterwards in St. Procopius ' school gymnasium. I've grown accu

There are people who suffer terrible distress, and they cannot tell anyone of it, and they go about full of suffering. But if you meet them with a kindly countenance, you may lighten their load with your joy. And it is no small thing to cheer another. - Martin Buber Live your life so that the fear of death can never enter your heart. When you arise in the morning, give thanks for the morning light. Give thanks for your life and strength. Give thanks for your food and for the joy of living. And if perchance you see no reason for giving thanks, rest assured the fault is in yourself. - Chief Tecumseh Once when I was in Victoria, I saw a very large house. They told me it was a bank, and that the white men place their money there to be taken care of, and that by and by they got it back, with interest. We are Indians, and we have no such bank; but when we have plenty of money or blankets, we give them away to other chiefs and people, and by and by they return them, and our hearts fe