I've always bitterly despised both the telephone & noise in general anyway but over the course of the past several years cell phone users have become an absolutely unbearably ignorant arrogant bunch of characters.   They have absolutely no respect whatsoever for the simple fact that there are some people who do not want to hear all their loud harsh~sounding ring tones blasting through the air.   Besides that these characters always feel free to air all their dirty personal laundry in public, to yell at the top of their lungs, & otherwise to engage in all sorts of bizarre deranged histrionics in other people's company.  One of the oddest things about this insane phenomenon is that even in church & libraries they simply refuse to take the hint.   Once upon a time churches & libraries could be counted on to serve as places in which rude boorish anti~social conduct was always forbidden.   Now they are the worst places of all.  I used to go to the Copaigue Memorial Library in Copaigue, New York.   People there were rude & boorish in general.  Once someone got his hands on a cell phone, though, there was no end to how much babbling went on.  Now I go to the Wyoming Free Library in Wyoming, Pa.   People's conduct in general is quite a bit better but they're entirely too loud & when one of them gets his hands on a cell phone his anti~social side goes plum crazy.  The people at O.L. P. H. in Lindenhurst, New York were generally smitten with cell phones & even the best of them, on a phone, could always make my blood boil.  The people at St. Joseph's in Wyoming, & Our Lady of Sorrows in West Wyoming are about the same.  I understand that I happen to be a bit more sensitive to these kinds of annoyance than other people.  What I can't understand though, is why no one has managed to come up with a code of conduct requiring these characters to behave with at least a bit of respect for other people.

Tags: anti~social, cell phones, ignorant, lindenhurst new york, loud, noise, pa., wyoming
Current Location: United States, Pennsylvania, Duryea
Current Mood: chipper

It's a little-known fact, but the Catholic Church venerates the heroic
figures of the Old Testament as saints, as well as those since the time of
Jesus; and today is the feast of "Saint" Elijah the Prophet.  Carmelites
esteem Elijah as their father in spirit, and even at times in the past as
their founder.  Here is the second reading from the Carmelite Office of
Readings for the feast:


*From a Homily of Pope St. Gregory on the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel*

In divine contemplation the spirit is often abstracted to such a degree
that it is already granted the joy of partaking a little, in image as it
were, of that eternal freedom which 'eye has not seen nor ear heard;' but
then, hampered by the weight of its own mortality, it falls back into the
depths and is held captive in penalty for its sins.  It has glimpsed the
delights of true freedom and longs to escape from its captivity but, since
it cannot, it keeps its gaze fixed upon the imprisoning doors.  This is why,
when the Jews had been freed from slavery to Egypt, each of them stood
adoring in the doorway of his tent when God spoke and the pillar of cloud
was visible.

Wherever we direct our mental gaze, there we may be said to stand.  That
is why Elijah said:  'The Lord lives, in whose sight I stand.'  He did
indeed stand before God, for his heart was intent on God.  That the Jews
gazed at the pillar of cloud and stood at the doors of their tents in
adoration, has this meaning:  when the human mind perceives these high and
heavenly things -- albeit in image -- the elevation of its thought has
already lifted it free from the limits of its bodily habitation; and
although it is denied sight of the divine substance, it humble adores Him
whose power it can already see by spiritual illumination.

This is why Elijah is described as standing at the mouth of his cave
and veiling his face when he heard the voice of the Lord speaking to him;
for as soon as the voice of heavenly understanding enters the mind through
the grace of contemplation, the whole man is no longer within the cave, for
his soul is no longer taken up with matters of the flesh:  intent on leaving
the bounds of martality, he stands at the cave's mouth.

But if a man stands at the mouth of the cave and hears the word of God
with the heart's ear, he must veil his face. For when heavenly grace leads
us to the understanding of higher things, the rarer the heights to which
we are raised, the more we should abase ourselves in our own estimation by
humility:  we must not try to know 'more than is fitting; we must know as it
befits us to know.'  Otherwise, through over-familiarity with the invisible,
we risk going astray; and we might perhaps look for material light in what
is immaterial. For to cover the face while listening with the ear means
hearing with our mind the voice of Him who is within us, yet averting the
eyes of the heart from every bodily appearance.  If we do this, there will
be no risk of our spirit interpreting as something corporeal that which is
everywhere in its entirety and everywhere uncircumscribed.

Beloved brothers, we have already learned through our Redeemer's
death, resurrection and ascension into heaven, what the joys of eternity
mean, and we know that our fellow-citizens we have known.  While our feet
stand within
the walls of His holy Church, let us keep our hearts facing towards
the freedom of our heavenly fatherland.  We are still encumbered, it is
true, by the many cares of this corruptible life.  If then we cannot leave
the cave completely, let us at least stand at its mouth, and go out whenever
we are granted the favor of doing so by the grace of our Redeemer Who lives
and reigns with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, world
without end.  Amen.

Summer progresses.  Lately the weather has been quite rainy.  It's terribly odd seeing little green borders of nicely growing grass all around the edges of otherwise parched lawns.   As annoying as the heat may sometimes turn out to be I'd never trade it in for all the bitter cold, snow & ice of the winter months.  Pa. is a land of meteorological extremes.   On top of everything else there are very steep mountains all over the place.  The only thing I don't like about the warm months is that no matter how hard I've tried I've never been able to get my air conditioner, in my car, to work.  When I took it to the AA in Exeter a while ago, they got it only slightly improved.  That stinks because I still risk heat stroke all summer.   Winter is such an entirely intense symbol for me.  It represents, in my head, the part of life where nothing ever seems to work out.   The sun is down most of the time.  Life is just dark & miserable.  Winter represents an absolute imprisonment in starkest contrast to summer's absolute freedom.  All the churches around here take advantage of the warm weather to have their annual feasts to raise money.  It's a very nice time for one & all.   The Pittston Tomato Festival will even get under way next months.   Other than the crowds, traffic congestion & occasional sunburn.  I so like the summer much better than the winter.

Tags: cold, hot, summer, sunburn, tomato
Current Location: United States, Pennsylvania, Lake Winola
Current Mood: confused

I am so sick & tired of lousy service, long lines & all the other troubles that go with being in public places these days.   This morning I went to the Price Chopper at the Midway on Wyoming Avenue in Wyoming .   All I wanted were stamps, a money order & the Citizen's Voice.  I could only get stamps & the money order because they didn't have the Citizen's Voice.  When I went to the CVS in their parking lot, they had the paper but no salesman was available behind the counter to ring up the sale.  I was then forced to stoop to going to the Unimart on Wyoming Avenue, where those characters from India run the show.  I can't stand going there because they rooked me out of a dollar once.   Of course, on top of everything else there's the never~ending problem of cell phones.  Every place one goes these days he's absolutely swamped with cell phones.  Anti~social creeps feel free to ramble on at the very top of their lungs no matter who else may be offended.   I know I've pointed this out many times before but I can't possibly complain about it enough.  There doesn't seem to be any end in sight to all the arrogance.   We've become a  crude vulgar world.  Most people most probably mean  quite well but the behavior is still so horribly annoying.   

Tags: aggravation, anti-social, cell phones, rude
Current Location: United States, New York, Rochester
Current Mood: chipper

Tags: family, food, newspaper, uncle
Current Location: United States, New York, Rochester
Current Mood: cheerful

went for pizza/miniature golf last night

today is the Feast of Our Lady of MT. CARMEL. ave regina decor carmeli

happy birthday to Java from North Tonawanda!