Food and Miscellany Monday
Happy Sweet 16th to my eldest daughter, Abbie. If the rest of my daughters come out as well as she has, I'll be a lucky, lucky man. * * * * * * * Burger King is foraying into pizza. Sounds good, but 20 years too late. Back in high school, I used to eat two Whoppers in one sitting. Those days are gone . . . unless I've been drinking. * * * * * * * My son, Jack (14), has jumped into digital movie-making with both feet. He worked odd jobs for months, saved his allowance, and bought a slick laptop and good editing software. Here's one of his first creations. The guy who does all the talking is his cousin (and my godson). I wish the imagery weren't so, ummm, colorful and I find some of the language objectionable, but it's a good spoof on professional wrestling. Please venture over and take a look. It's probably worth recommending to your teenage acquaintances. * * * * * * * Pretty wild: All the soft drinks in the world, by market share, in chart form. * * * * * * * Spirituality for the MTV generation: The Way, the Furrow, the Forge: three books, one easy-to-hold volume, for only $17.95. I'd never read Escriva, but Francis Fernandez
cites him frequently, so I decided to give him a shot. So far, it's been great reading. The passages are all nuggets: thousands of passages, ranging in length from one line to half a page. Opus Dei has always made me a bit uncomfortable, especially after that spy dude, but Escriva is definitely worth reading. * * * * * * * Got 3.5 seconds to kill? Try saying the Jesus Prayer ("Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me, a sinner"). If you have an entire ten seconds to kill, say it three times. Salinger made the prayer somewhat popular in Franny and Zooey, but I wouldn't recommend JD as a spiritual guide. If you want to know more about the prayer, check out the books pictured below. Note: I don't recommend Lev Gillet's On the Invocation of the Name of Jesus. I liked his book The Jesus Prayer so much, I ordered it, but, although I don't remember details, I put it down, concluding that it was a below-par book meant to capitalize on the popularity of the first rather than offer much sustenance. My assessment is probably harsh and incorrect (for all I know, Gillet wrote Invocation first), but that's what I remember thinking years ago.
