This morning, it's the commando eudemon. Baby Tess (21 months) came into our bed and wasn't going back to sleep. I can't sleep much past 6:00, so I was itching to get up. My wife pulled Tess to her side, and I slid off the bed, grabbed my slippers, and army-crawled to the bedroom door. Thirty minutes later, my attacker remains eluded.
Was it my stealthy and agile moves that let me go away? Or the fact that I cravenly sacrificed my wife?
Busy weekend, again: Office party last night, child's birthday party in northern Indiana this afternoon, brunch tomorrow morning, Christmas party tomorrow evening. In my younger days, I used to refer to such frenzied, all-engrossing periods as "the genital clamp": "We have you right where it counts, Mr. Scheske. You do exactly as we say, or we twist." Under such circumstances, I have no choice but to assume the inner-directed disposition of the automaton: direct me to point A, and I go to point A; point B, and I go to point B. No questions. I just do it.
I'm more mature now, so I eschew such vulgar sayings (snicker).
From the Learn Something New Every Day Department: There are Catholic Copts. B16 received their patriarch, and it set off a small buzz in the blogosphere. I never knew there were Catholic Copts. Orthodox ones, yes, but I never knew about the Catholic ones. I guess they're a very small body.
I've always been fascinated by Copts. When they reunited with the Eastern Orthodox (late 1990s?), I cheered. They detached themselves from the Catholic Church after the Council of Chaledon (451), were treated poorly by their orthodox brethren, and lost great numbers to Islam in the seventh century (partly because the poor treatment by their orthodox brethren made them receptive to a different religion). Over 1,500 years later, they re-joined the "other lung of the Catholic Church." If JPII could've pulled off the coup of completely and finally healing the schism between Rome and Constantinople, the great majority of the world's Christians would've been back under the Roman banner. We'll see what transpires in the future.
Amusing article: The politically incorrect words of the year. Macaca, Global Warming Denier, and Herstory ("there are nearly 900,000 Google citations for 'Herstory,' all based on a mistaken assumption that 'history' is a sexist word").
Showing his neo-con colors (he doesn't often show anything else): "President Bush says he is happy for Mary Cheney, the openly gay daughter of Vice President Dick Cheney, who revealed earlier this month that she is pregnant. 'I think Mary is going to be a loving soul to her child,' Bush said in an interview with People magazine. 'And I'm happy for her.'"
I appreciate the President's dilemma, but if he disapproves (if he disapproves), the proper response is to say nothing at all. When asked, just say, "Dick Cheney is a friend. It wouldn't be appropriate for me to comment on this situation." That sends the appropriately-disapproving message while also respecting his friend's sensitivities.
New Mark Steyn book: America Alone. From Regnery. I gotta get it. I'm a little ashamed that I'm just now hearing about it (it came out almost three months ago). I typically read everything by and about Mark Steyn that I see. Great passage:
"By the next century, German will be spoken only at Hitler, Himmler, Goebbels and Goering's Monday night poker game in Hell. And long before the Maldive Islands are submerged by 'rising sea levels' every Spaniard and Italian will be six feet under. But sure, go ahead and worry about 'climate change.'"
Don't forget to tell friends and family about TDE. Just send a soft-sell email message to them, along with the link. Proposed text: "This guy has the best daily post on the Internet, plus an assortment of other stuff that confirms his status as a most-righteous dude. If you're not reading him, you're a moron." If that's not strong enough, go ahead and bolster it however you see fit.
Until next week, may your egg nog be strong.
