For Fun: Skateboarding Priest #Catholic

A Hungarian priest uses a skateboard to make a point. I just wish I understood Hungarian! Obviously the kids are delighted by his moves. I know I laughed!

Dear Robert Stacy McCain: You Need to Become "The Old Spice Guy" to Get @Alyssa_Milano to Notice You

I've been reading Robert Stacy McCain's blog, The Other McCain, for awhile now. If you are a regular reader, also, you'll notice that he has been doing everything possible (well, almost) in order to be noticed by the Real Celebrity Queen of Tweets, Alyssa Milano.

Milano has made herself a Twitter favorite because 1) it's obviously her who is doing the "tweeting" 2) she's a huge baseball fan, which pretty much makes her just about every guy's fantasy: a gorgeous woman who can tell the difference between a forkball and a slider and 3) she actually talks to her fans and recommends them.

So R.S. McCain has been on an ever-intensifying mission to get Alyssa Milano to notice him. Except someone else finally beat him to it. And the dude's only wearing a towel.

Introducing... "The Old Spice Guy"

Old Spice has hit a Grand Slam with their "Old Spice Guy" whose videos have gone viral on the Internet. Not only are the commercials funny, The Old Spice Guy has even responded personally to those who've tweeted about him. Including Alyssa Milano, who actually received a bouquet of flowers and declaration of love from the sensual shower stud.

So, the lesson? Perhaps you best be setting up a video cam in your bathroom, Stacy; and don a nice white towel. Maybe that can increase your traffic and help you pay off your daughter's wedding. You never know... it could happen!

Nothing Makes Me Happier Than New Creative Software

Yes, I suppose I'm "kinda sorta" a geek. One year, my husband gave me an 80 GB secondary hard drive for a birthday present and I was thrilled. (It would seem creating tons of digital scrapbooking 12x12 pages has a way of filling up disk storage.) I love pretty much anything digital. Since technically (ha) I'm not a "native" of tech (I didn't grow up with it like most of the "millennials" of Generation Y), I still find all of it fascinating; especially when it deals with creativity tools.

So yesterday, I received my graphic studio software. (No, not Adobe Illustrator. Someday...) It will allow me to create animated web banners among other things. Eventually I'll post some of my creations here. I seriously want to use whatever skill set I have to promote Catholicism on the web. I've offered to create blog banners for a few people and some have taken me up on it. I need to also find some good Catholic stock photos.

I always have projects going on, many times, more than I really can handle. One of them will be to increase my ScrapShot Magazine website and create an honest-to-goodness electronic magazine. (If my dad is reading this, I'm sure he's 'tsk-tsking,' "Where will you find time to do this?") Well, I don't have children, so that should explain quite a lot.

Maybe my computer is my "child." I sure do spend enough money and time on it. ;-)

I Know You Want to Work Off That Thanksgiving Dinner But...

Please go easy on yourself.

Ever Have One of Those Days?

Where you wish you could just ram your car into the inconsiderate lame-hole who boxed you in?

Alright, Fr. Leo! You 'Seared' the Iron Chef Competition!

No, I haven't been hiding in a cave, although the thought is tempting. Thanks to everyone who sent in a mountain of email asking if I was still alive. (kidding) But you know your blog is neglected when your own father asks, "So, anything I should read on your blog?" Sniff. I lost the interest of me own papa!

Well, he is still a newlywed, so I'm sure he has more interesting pursuits now than checking up on his daughter's blog...

So, of course it's been a busy week and I'm trying to catch up on emails, etc. I'm also creating a Shutterfly book for a friend, which hopefully, after it's done, will be something she will cherish.

Do you know about Fr. Leo? He's a very fun and totally engaging priest who has his own food show, "Grace Before Meals." I love watching him cook and the lucky folks who happen to be nearby to taste his yummy creations. I didn't realize how serious he was about cooking until I read this article. Yep. Fr. Leo went against Iron Chef Bobby Flay - and won! Holy Fajita!!

The writer of the article caught some funny lines, such as:

Father Patalinghug pulled out his rosary during the judging. “Do you want one?” he asked Flay.

“What number are you on?” Flay replied.

“I lost count,” the priest admitted.

Fun times. It's good to hear about a priest bringing joy to others through cooking. Go, Fr. Leo!

Fun Monday: What's Your Favorite Movie?

I happened to see this article on the Inside Catholic site, "The Fifty Best Catholic Movies of All Time." Really? So I checked them out.

Some surprised me. I guess I was expecting movies that were specifically reflecting the Catholic faith. A few do, but most don't. I still love "The Scarlet and The Black" with Gregory Peck playing the role of Monsignor Hugh O'Flaherty. It was a great movie and shed light on what the Vatican was doing during World War II.

Of course I love "Going My Way." Who can resist Barry Fitzgerald? We've watched "The Quiet Man" more than once or ten times, too.

Quality, modern entertainment is tougher to come by, which is why my husband and I often rent older movies, especially any with Jimmy Stewart in them. I'm saddened by how often faith gets bashed in films. You'd think with the box office smash of "The Passion of the Christ" (and the subsequent failures of anti-American, anti-Christian films) Hollywood would get a clue.

So what are some of your favorites? We can share and perhaps get something better on our movie night list than the latest lame offering from La-La Land.

Light Happy Thoughts

I've nothing heavy-duty for today. Both my husband and I had the day off and we've been relaxing, for the most part. A good chunk of my morning was taken with computer "catch-up" with Windows updates. (I hadn't updated in quite a while and the process took about three hours to complete.)

Then I played around with doing a screencast, which I'll be working on over the next few days. I love audio/visual stuff!

Tomorrow we have a family picnic, which I'm looking forward to. I need to cut up lots of strawberries and some angel food cake for a trifle I'll be bringing for dessert tomorrow. I'll try to remember to take some photos. I love trifles! They're a perfect summertime treat with all of their cakey-creamy-fruity goodness.

I wish you a wonderful Fourth of July and hope you and your family share good food, fun, and enjoy the freedom that was won by our forefathers. :-)

Anyone Else a Fan of Fr. Roderick's "Daily Breakfast?"

Well, as most of you know, I recently bought an iPhone and have been power-using the heck out of it. I downloaded hundreds of podcasts, mostly Fr. Roderick's "Daily Breakfast" podcast and also the archive of Audio Sancto.

I don't want to be disrespectful toward the priesthood, but... Fr. Roderick is just as cute as a button! His energy is contagious, his joy, abundant, and his passion for his vocation - undeniable. I can't not smile every time I hear his voice!

So, if you have an iPod, MP3 player, or iPhone, I'd highly recommend his series, "The Daily Breakfast." The production is excellent. Just listen to it for the witty sound bites, alone. (I love hearing Marge Simpson murmur, "Those Catholics, are a peculiar people!")

Share with me some of your favorite Catholic podcasts. I'm now listening to them during my drive-time, and when I'm doing mundane tasks. Very fun!

A Poll: "Holy Families Just Don't Happen" Teaching

As I've mentioned before, I think the Audio Sancto Sermons Series is a tremendous resource for the Catholic community. The recorded homilies are some of the best Biblical and doctrinal teachings I have ever heard. (And I've heard a great deal. I'm the type who would buy entire teaching series on cassette tapes from non-Catholic churches and play them in my car, "boombox", or on a Sony Walkman.)

So, my father and I recently listened to the teaching, "Holy Families Just Don't Happen." We had a very lively discussion afterward. I won't reveal our opinions, but instead, would like your opinion. Please listen to the recording and after, vote in the poll that is in the sidebar at the top of the page. We're also interested in your comments, so please use the combox for this entry as the place to share your thoughts.

There's a free lunch riding on this. We both are laughing about this but are very curious about what others think about the message.

The recording runs about 30 minutes. You can subscribe to Audio Sancto through iTunes and download these recordings to an iPod, iPhone or MP3 player. I downloaded the entire archive PLUS this year's recordings. 338 homilies! Hot dog! This will be my #1 choice of listening fare for my trips both to and from Cincinnati, and beyond!

Here is the link to the audio file:

Holy Families Don't Just Happen

Thanks! We'll be counting the first 100 votes, if we can get that many!

The "I'm Charmed By Your Blog" Award!

Angela M. at Where Angels Go has given me an award. Thanks, Angela! Angela was my first online Catholic friend. We 'met' on a Catholic message board (was that Catholic Online Forum, Angela?) and she immediately "charmed" me by welcoming me to the Catholic online community and commenting on my blog. (First commenter, too!) Plus, she is the one who prays for the patron saints of folks. I was so fascinated with it and very grateful when she prayed for a patron saint for me. It opened the door toward learning more about the saints, so I am truly grateful to her.

As for the award, here’s the rules:

“These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award.”

I am awarding:

Infused Knowledge

Catholic Family Vignettes

The Simple Woman

Adrienne's Catholic Corner

Daily Donna-Marie

Chris & Co.

The Recovering Dissident Catholic

One Woman's Thoughts: Laura Lowder

I'm fixing dinner now but will let these folks know, soon!

Disney Loves Me - They REALLY Love Me!!

What fun! Feel free to send this either to yourself or someone special! I loved hearing Goofy say my name! (And having my own special ride entrance...wow... awesome!)

Heehee...

On Twitter Etiquette and Why I Think People Are Hooked On Twitter

A rather raunchy video is making the rounds right now, "Twitter Ruined My Life!" An enterprising young man has used this video to both poke fun at Twitter users while increasing his own followers. His message though, isn't too far from the mark. Twitter has become a social phenomenon and I'm right there in that crazy bunch of social butterflies. With one exception.

I'm "twittering" as part of my job.

Which has led to a whole slew of questions for a girl who loves communication and anything that helps people connect. However, Twitter has genuinely perplexed me on several levels. Let me first explain my very short history with Twitter, so these thoughts are not from a "I'll-die-if-I-can't-Twitter-about-this" person.

I joined Twitter about three weeks ago. For those of you unfamiliar with Twitter, it is a "micro-blogging" platform. You join and can then interact with the hundreds of thousands users through their website (and other applications, like TweetDeck, if you'd like) and your interaction is based solely on typing a response to the question, "What Are You Doing?" And the response, by the way, has to be 140 characters or less.

So for an example, here's a very full "tweet" (what messages are called):

Drinking coffee while blogging. As a marketing tool, Twitter has some advantages. I've met people I'd otherwise wouldn't have met for work

Those three sentences together equal exactly 140 characters, also called a "Twoosh" by some because I nailed my thoughts within that very tight limit.

When I first came onto Twitter, I didn't know anyone except my boss. Then I started to "follow" a few people on my Gmail account. On Twitter, you "follow" people and sometimes they "follow" you back. The whole "Follower" concept is extremely clever and adds to the addiction. I'll explain.

As a "newbie," you really don't know anyone so you try to pay attention to a huge amount of chatter. It's almost impossible to pick out who will interest you and who's worth following. There are all sorts of people involved with Twitter. Young, old, rich, poor, working, unemployed, etc., etc. Some people do "tweet" about ordinary things ("Ugh. Snow.") while some have used Twitter in a very creative way such as writing mini-stories within the narrow parameter of 140 characters or less.

So, if you're like me, you start looking for help. Guy Kawasaki was my first stop since he's a big guru in the world of start-ups (he was with Apple back in the beginning) and has leveraged Twitter to market his new site, Alltop. My boss is a huge fan of Guy. Guy is actually a rarity on Twitter. He has over 30,000 followers but yet... he's a genuinely nice guy. He'll even respond every once in a while to a direct message. That's pretty breathtaking when you realize he has thousands of people pinging him day and night.

One of the first helpful pieces I read was this: How to Use Twitter as a Twool (ha...cute title)

Now, that entry is if you want to use it for business, which is why I'm there. Kawasaki mentions a few places in the entry to find the "movers and shakers" in Twitterland. The "Twitterati" if you will. So, I dutifully check out the spots and started to follow the big names. The theory is this: if you add big names, many times they have an "auto-follow" feature that will add your name to their list, thereby growing your own list of followers. On the surface, this sounded great until I realized I really didn't want to be following some guy who talks about wine all the time because as much as I enjoy a glass, I'm not really an aficionado.

I quickly added anyone who was a marketing or communication person. I also began the search for people in the technology field, since this is now my field, also. I've always loved technology, so finding them and at times engaging them has been enjoyable.

But plodding through Twitterland in Search of Meaning has been an adventure. I'll add more later to this entry, which will probably be pretty long by the time I'm done. And no, I'm not going to "tweet" about it. ;-)

Part II

Regarding "followers":

1) They are following you because you seem interesting
2) They are following you because you're connected
3) They are following you because of some other reason such as you're a woman. Or a brand name and they want the latest news.

It would seem that Twitter brings out the high-school mentality all over again but with a brand new shiny face. People are followed or unfollowed at times simply because they're following boring people. Or they don't have as many followers and so, must be boring themselves. (Note: it's a good practice to check to see the followers of someone who just started to follow you before you decided to follow them back. Case in point: A Muslim started to follow me. When I checked his profile, I saw that about 99% of his "tweets were from a Muslim author talking about Islam. When I checked who was following him, I discovered that about 90% of them were women. I had a hunch that these women just absentmindedly added him to their follower list without checking. Personally, I got the creeps and hence, did not follow him back.)

It ends up being a twisted conglomeration of logic to determine whether someone you most likely will never meet should really have that much bearing on how you see yourself. Which brings me to part of my title: why are people so hooked on Twitter?

Here's my take. People are hooked on Twitter because ultimately, people want to have a conversation. And perhaps more importantly, people want to feel they matter. When I first came to Twitter, I was amazed by the tiny blurts of what someone was doing at the moment. I remember saying to my husband, "I don't need an audience for my life." That might seem disingenuous since I have a blog, but my blog is specifically about my journey back to Catholicism. It's more a compilation of thoughts than what I'm doing from day to day since I really don't think too many people would be interested in what I had for breakfast. My only concession is "The Simple Woman's Daybook" on Mondays and my own "The Perfect Day" daybook I'll do from time to time. As I writer, I am conscientious of saying something interesting. Otherwise, no one would bother to read this thing except my beloved father. (Hi, Dad!)

But back to Twitter. I believe people are putting their words out there in hopes of having someone respond. Logging on to Twitter as a new member and trying to think of something interesting to say is akin to walking into a crowded stadium during an exciting game and yelling, "Hey! I just had THE best martini in the hot club, Shakers!" Other than getting shoved around, no one would care. Twitter is a constant hunt for people who care.

Now for my next point - etiquette. Or as I call it, "Twittequette." There are few no-no's. For instance:

1) Don't curse. Especially if you're a business person unless you work for yourself and are stoking the "Bad-Boy-Early-Steve-Jobs" image. There are a lot of smart-alecs on Twitter. Cursing is a part of their image.

2) If using for business, don't speak negatively about a client. It's very stupid and risky. Not only is there a good chance it will get back to the client, it will make you look foolish by broadcasting your ignorance.

3) Don't "tweet" about really stupid things such as your bathroom habits or descriptions of any other bodily functions. Yuck.

There may be more but those are the ones that immediately come to mind. Now for my #1 "To Do" for Twitter.

Be polite.

That's it, really. I have a huge bugaboo with people in our society who have lost their manners. Maybe they never had them. Maybe they weren't raised with manners. But it's tough to think that even in our broken school system, somewhere along the way a child wasn't taught to say "please" and "thank you."

When I joined Twitter, I started to pick up on the fact that if you had 30,000 followers and many of them sent a message to you with the "@" sign, there was a good chance you weren't going to be able to respond. But direct messages? I think that is a little different. You can't send a direct message to someone unless they're following you. I've sent many direct messages with just comments. I don't expect an acknowledgement, although it is nice when it happens.

What is frustrating is when you have sent a direct message to someone with a link, and they don't respond at all. Everyone who is into these social media applications and/or texting, know that THX, TNX, TX, or THKS means "thanks." It doesn't take too long to type those letters. It's especially nice to say thank you to people who took the trouble to find a web page that would possibly interest you, copy the address, and then shorten it to a link so it could be sent to you.

Little things, but they can mean alot.

This past weekend, I spent way too much time on Twitter. I was still trying to figure it out, and yes, got caught up with it. I went to bed on Friday night and Saturday morning, I was able to quickly scan the "tweets" that occurred when I was sleeping in a little under an hour. At that time, I was following around 143 people. The beauty of Twitter is that those "tweets" are so short and many times, people type even less than 140 characters.

Granted, someone who has even 1,000 followers probably would have taken longer to scan the "tweets." But if they had any direct messages, it would have been a little less and if they were given a link, a quick click to see it would let them see if it was a good referral or not. Even if it wasn't, someone took the time to send it and a quick "THX!" would be nice.

So, that's my rant about Twitter and how really, I don't feel many people are connecting with each other at all. My husband reminded me that it is a micro-blogging platform, which means that I shouldn't care whether anyone responds to me or not. But it's turned into a strange "instant messaging" medium as far as I'm concerned. And people will continue to hunt for others who will respond to them and even better, follow them.

I Tweet for work but I Plurk for my Catholic faith. So if you'd like to add me as a Plurk buddy, I'm "CatholicProdigalDaughter." Plurk feels much more "homey" to me and I've felt as though I've had an actual conversation with someone. It's a different application and to me, much more social.

Twitter to me has become a place to connect with people in an industry and getting news. I am convinced of its power in those arenas. But if you want friends, I'd suggest getting offline and joining a cycling group. Or a book club. Because really, there is still nothing online socially that beats a good face-to-face conversation. :-)

Yes, I'm On Twitter

As you can see from the left, I added a Twitter gadget to my blog. Yes, I'm finally on Twitter but still wondering if this is going to be a good thing or not. I've heard how people have become addicted to it. I like the Facebook updates and usually check in with my friends page as soon as I log in.

Twitter...well, I don't have a cell phone. (Not yet, at any rate.) So I wasn't sure why I should add it to my life. Then Donna-Marie sent me an email saying she is now on Twitter. I know a few others who use it, including my boss. So, I've decided to try it.

Add me and I'll add you, if you're doing it!

With All Due Respect to My Darlin' Hubby: I Love Zo!

If you are a conservative and also a Christian, and you don't know about Zo, you're in for a treat! I have just fallen for this guy and finally subscribed to his videos. What spirit! You made my day, Zo! (And your expression when you mentioned Sarah Palin just cracked me up. You're a riot!)My thanks to Laura for introducing me to him. :-)

Back Home

Whew! What a whirlwind weekend! We left on Friday to travel to Durham, North Carolina and it took about 9 hours to reach our destination. (Which wasn't too bad since a straight drive would have taken about 8 hours.) We left yesterday after the wedding to drive back (starting at the oh-so-wonderful hour of 5:30 PM.) and after missing one of our turns, (and thus adding an extra hour to our drivetime just for fun...) we arrived home at 3:45 AM this morning.

The wedding was wonderful, although it was outdoors and the air was slightly humid and hot. Northern NC had received a huge amount of rain and we thought it would have brought in cooler weather. Well, not so much. And my outfit was a long sleeved number. I was definitely overdressed for both the location and the weather!

I still can't believe my stepson is married! He has a wonderful gal for a wife and I know she'll help keep him on the straight and narrow! It was great to meet our daughter-in-law's extended family. (How strange to think "daughter-in-law" now...!) Dustin's fellow Army buds were in the wedding and they were great to meet, too. I could tell they all have fun together and enjoy great supportive relationships.

One thing I discovered was McDonald's "McCafe" drinks really did help keep me awake! Okay. I think it's safe to say I'm hooked on the flavored lattes! I had a Vanilla Latte on the way down, then a Caramel Latte and a Vanilla Latte on the way back to Columbus. For around $3 for a large, they give Starbuck's a serious run for their money. (I used to be a Starbuck's barista and know the same sized drink would run well over $5.) All I cared about was having some espresso to keep me awake. My husband is one of those types who won't let me fall asleep because as he says, "you have to keep me awake!" So I needed some extra help. Thank God for McDonald's!

I'll be working on creating a scrapbook for the new couple, part of our gift to them. Mickey took some great photos and they had another photographer also at the wedding. (I'll be using Mickey's photos, only.) I'll be busy with that project for awhile!

I've determined that my husband's traveling style and mine are so different. Me: Let's blaze through the speed limit by going 5 miles over. My husband: Let's be extra careful not to be pulled over by a psycho cop and go exactly the speed limit. Maybe even less.

Arrrggghhh!! If I had gotten out of the car and pushed it at times, we would have gone faster!

God love my husband, though. He puts up with a lot of harping at times from yours truly...

Going to a Wedding!

My stepson is getting married tomorrow in Durham, NC, so I'll be away for a few days. If you're a new visitor, check out the tabs on the left to read some older posts. I'll be back soon and with plenty of photos!

Thanks to everyone who reads and comments. It really means a lot to me, but more than anything, connecting with other Catholics is my greatest joy. God bless all of you richly!

Hey! I Won Something!

Ha! Angela M. of Where Angels Go, has awarded me the "I Love Your Blog" button as long as I answer the questions below with one word, as all awardees must do.

Egads. One word? How on earth can an Italian answer anything with one word?!! However, I will give it my best, so here goes. Oh, and those I nominate - scroll down and follow the directions on the bottom of the post:

1. Where is your cell phone? extinct
2. Where is your significant other? bed
3. Your hair color? Silver
4. Your mother? Heaven
5. Your father? Ohio
6. Your favorite thing? Rosary
7. Your dream last night? lost
8. Your dream/goal? writing
9. The room you're in? office
10. Your hobby? scrapbooking
11. Your fear? boredom
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Hawaii
13. Where were you last night? work
14. What you're not? humorless
15. One of your wish-list items? PagePlus
16. Where you grew up? Cincinnati
17. The last thing you did? Drank
18. What are you wearing? cotton
19. Your TV? Off
20 Your pet? none
21. Your computer? workhorse
22. Your mood? happy
23. Missing someone? Mom
24. Your car? black
25. Something you're not wearing? shoes
26. Favorite store? Michaels
27. Your summer? excellent
28. Love someone? hubby
29. Your favorite color? blue
30. When is the last time you laughed? today
31. Last time you cried? today

Now, for you recipients of this award, here's the deal:



* Display your award.

* Link back to the person who gave you the award.

* Nominate at least 7 other blogs.

* Put links to those blogs on yours.

* Leave a message on the blogs of the people you've nominated.

* Enjoy your award!


I award:


Kimberly at Catholic Family Vignettes
Carolina Cannonball at The Crescat
Stephanie at The Digital Hairshirt
Rachel Gray at Infused Knowledge
Cathy of Alex at The Recovering Dissident Catholic
Chris at Chris & Co.
Jeff Miller at The Curt Jester (Although I highly doubt he'll play. I don't think I've ever seen him respond to a meme but I could be wrong. He may like the button, though...)

Have fun trying to squeeze your life into one word!

Ahoy There, Matey!

It's International Talk Like A Pirate Day!

Every year, when this comes around, it makes me laugh. It's just plain silly fun to have a day designated to talk like B-rated old flicks showing pirates talking with a weird British accent.

So, have some fun and check out this article to discover how it started and what made it popular.

Now go out there and shiver someone's timbers!

Pandora & Music

I think it's interesting that Facebook has a Pandora application. It's fun to look at the musical choices of others. I have thought Pandora has had a unique take on Internet radio for awhile, now.

What's strange is when I hear groups re-produce music from the 80's. In the latest I just heard, INXS re-recorded their "Need You Tonight" with a sharp electronica/house edge. It sounded fresh but a little weird since I remembered it well when it first came out.

I like to listen to high energy music sometimes when I'm creating a digital layout or doing something design-like on my computer. Anything "danceable" is good for me. :-)

Anyone want to share some of their favorite groups? Since the Internet has spawned so many indies, it is tough to keep up with everyone. I don't even try so I may discover some new favorites from what you recommend.