Hm. Maybe I should restrict the readership of the blog. It's unfortunate that this can't be done for individual posts. Putting up personal posts and photos seems risky to me, even if there are usually no names attached. And then there's the question of the internet companies and the government. No wonder some people I know avoid blogging or uploading photos or files online. (Or using email to transmit data--not financial information, but other important information nonetheless. Yes, we should return to using the phone or written correspondence, eschewing the conveninece of email.) I haven't become a paleolibertarian yet on the question of privacy--I need to think about the limits of government monitoring more, but surely acting with caution is justified.

Edit. Another option is to start another blog where I can restrict readership and post the personal stuff. I'll consider doing that. I had been relying upon a small readership to preserve privacy. I could turn off the search options, but there are some posts with information that I would like to make public on the Internet. As for using the blog as an opportunity to reflect and philosophize (in a rough way, without having to worry about proof-reading and revising--just getting thoughts down), it would be enough to inscribe them in a journal, except that I've become dependent upon typing in order to write. Writing with a pen or pencil is somewhat difficult now. (What would Wendell Berry or CB say about that?) And then there is the question of pride and vanity, which I should continually ask myself...

Well, I suppose there has been confirmation that the manager has a gf. Her car was still parked in front this morning, and then there are the other signs, some more readily supporting a certain conclusion than others. (Like two voices coming from the shower.) Eh well. Where's Dr. Laura when you need her to give someone the verbal smackdown? They're both adults, but they're also old enough to know better. But that's the way most people have a relationship these days, ignoring boundaries and being intimate without commitment. It's the new ethics: be 'nice,' and almost anything goes. (Although surprisingly enough, being 'nice' also goes hand in hand with paternalism. But in this case, it's not how it is said that matters, but the content that matters. It is similary to how 'niceness' can accompany a patronizing attitude.)

Sarge, remind me to tell you about the ladder.

Printers at the library are down. It's been somewhat of a wasted trip.

Edit: I'm now at the Saratoga library. It's my first time here since it was renovated. Of course there is a lot more space, and there are not too many people using the computers. I should come here more often, instead of going to Cupertino. The teen room at the Cupertino library is unwisely located next to the computer area, and the teens are allowed to study together (and talk), so it can be somewhat noisy there.

But if I go to Saratoga, I'd have to see the residents of Saratoga. It's been a while since I've driven around the town (wiki) or explored the hills to look at the nice big mansions. haha. (Eh. The two cell phone offenders I've noticed so far are Asian. Not good.) What are the local water supplies like? Would it be possible to buy a piece of land in Saratoga to farm and raise livestock? (And put in some wells and compost toilets?) I am guessing the zoning regulations for this affluent town are prohibitive. Would Los Gatos be any better? Whenever I drop by St. Basil's, I should take a walk around the downtown.

Earlier I had lunch over at Armadillo Willys since they still have the 1/2 off on burgers before 4 P.M. on Saturday (they replaced the 1/2 off burgers on Thursday nights with a Tex-Mex special deal). It was a reminder of how solitude can be conducive to meditation and prayer, even when other people are present. (How so? It's the anonymity and lack of other people to converse with.)

Psychological preparation for prayer is important... and being along reminds me of what needs to be done.

I was thinking of a metaphor for sin and grace. Grace is like the rain that fills up the well, from which we drink and nourish ourselves, and sin is the poison that we add to the well, making it unfit to drink from, and useless to the living things that depend upon it. The well would be the soul.

Well, one can take metaphors only so far.

Last night I was reading through a couple Orthodox blogs, and there were some posts on humility:
Fr. Stephen--Humility - The Only Path Forward in Orthodoxy
Benedict Seraphim--Thy Kingdom Come

I was thinking about that this afternoon, about how growth in charity requires humility.

Gas in Cupertino is somewhat expensive, compared to the two Valero stations that I passed on the way to the library. $0.04 difference/gallon may be insignificant. But one inevitably notices these differences when looking for cheap gas.

The oratory is getting a new rector in a couple of weeks. I've forgotten who the new rector will be. The latest bulletin has the info: Fr. Weiner is going to St. Francis de Sales Oratory (website) in St. Louis. Fr. Moreau, rector of St. Joseph's Oratory in Green Bay, Wisconsin, is replacing him.

St. Louis Catholic
Rome of the West (see the photos from the Farewell Mass for Archbishop Burke)
Archdiocese of St. Louis

There's this essay at the Our Mother of Perpetual Help Oratory website, Man and Woman. Typical of a traditionalist pov. I would disagree with the assertion that "the city is there for the interests of the home"--this same assertion can be found in John Finnis and others. (Even in certain Church documents perhaps.) Governing is for the sake of the home, but it is also for the sake of the political community at large, and there is a common good which goes beyond the good of the family. The family does not exist for itself, but for the community. (Which is not the same as the government or the "State.") As for the mentioning of the sex differences, complementarity and distinction of roles... the essay is limited by its length.


Byzantine, TX: New Patriarchal Vicar for Melkites