Psychics and Pineapples, A Review of Psych: Cross-posting with The Catholic Geeks

C'mon Son! Here's the review!

The Play that Goes Wrong performing at The Royal Variety Performance 2015

I laughed so hard at this.

Instant classic in my book.

Well, This Has Happened - Allergies!

It was been over a year since I published anything with my last post about a new project I was about to begin. As we can all see that did not happen. I wanted to start on a sewing project using the pattern shown previously. But I was too big for the largest size in the pattern and I shelved it for another time. Then Life, as it normally does, got busy.

Earlier this year I spent Lent focused on improving my prayer life and examining the state of my health. I asked myself if I was taking care of my physical and spiritual self. The answer - I can do better.

Cue going to my Doctor!! Who, by the way, is a wonderful, wonderful lady!

For quite sometime (High School was when I first really noticed it) I have had swallowing problems. It was hard to get food down; meats, breads, pies, fruit - it was annoying because some days I did not know if my lunch would go all the way down or decided to about face and greet my mouth again. About six years ago, to fix this problem, I had to go in for an upper endoscopy with dilation surgery. An out-patient procedure that took only the morning and I slept for the rest of the day. Everything was fine; food was going down without a problem, I didn't have to worry about choking in front of people and having to explain what was wrong.

However, it was not to last. Slowly over the years and before I realized it, the swallowing problems returned. Not with a vengeance, mind you, just returned. So with this returned problem my doctor referred me again to have the same procedure again.

It was pretty much the same as before, but this time they found something. I don't know if it was there before and it wasn't as noticeable or it has developed since. Maybe both.

I have Eosinophilic Esophagitis or EoE, which is the fancy term for a build up of white blood cells in the lining of the esophagus in reaction to acid reflex, food or allergens which stiffens it causing difficulty swallowing.To be on the safe side, since the EoE could be from something that I'm eating, it was decided that I should go visit an allergist.

I did and one skin test later I have allergies!!!

Granted I knew I had some environmental and seasonal allergies (I always sensed during the first blooming of Spring), and I suspected almonds since I would get that weird itchy sensation in the back of my throat when I ate them. So with environmental I am pretty much allergic to EVERYTHING that grows where I live. (to quote my nurse - "You're allergic to all the things!")I even had to get some special bedding because I 'scored' rather high for dust-mites.

And I do have a issues with food - with eight different food items.

I am allergic to pecans and oat grain. I have sensitivity to wheat, almonds, soy, corn, shrimp, and cod.

Going into the skin test I knew I would have at least one or two food allergies, but I was not expecting eight. What makes it even more "interesting" is the combination of everything. No, really - it's interesting. 

Since then I have researched what foods I can and cannot have, especially at different restaurants. I am no stranger to reading the ingredient lists when food shopping due to my younger brother being allergic to egg. So with that habit firmly established I just have to included my own newly discovered allergies. I have to count the location of where my food sensitives fall in the ingredient list; as long they are not the first four items I should be good since it is such a small amount. While I do not have a problem with gluten, I am getting gluten-free bread. I did take a look at darker bread like rye and pumpernickel, but there is still a decent amount of wheat in them. But I do have to be careful with gluten-free bread is that sometimes the alternative flour used is almond and/or soy. That is a problem I run into a lot - if something doesn't have wheat, it may have almond or soy as an alternative.


Soy and corn annoying me to no end!!!They are in practically everything that is processed as an emulsifier most of the time. While I am told that when corn and soy are processed into the lecithin or syrup the allergen is taken out. But I am working on significantly reducing my intake of them just to be on the safe side.

The thing that bums me out the most is that it will interfere with my baking. I love to bake! It's the way I de-stress  and I love to bake for other people. I also enjoy baking old family recipes. 

My mother has an old, nearly falling apart small black binder containing family recipes written down by my great-grandmother. I have so much fun with them! Many of them do not have instructions, just the ingredients and the amounts for each. Sometimes there will be maybe one sentence that's a special note. It makes a bit of sense for me why that is since at the time many mothers already knew 'how' to make something and the variation came in 'what' was put in.

When I bake one of these recipes, its a bit of a fun mystery to solve to figure out the 'how'. Now, not only do I have to figure out the 'how', I also have to figure out what non-wheat/almond/soy flour will work best.

Now I begin my journey relearning what I can and cannot eat. Hold on tight - it's gonna be a bumpy ride!!

A Clue!!

A preview of what's to come.

Cue the maniacal laughter and lighting flashes!

A Cross Posting from 'The Catholic Geeks'

My response to 'Christmas is Pagan'.

The Roots of Christmas: From Pagan or Not From Pagan

I wish I was making this up.

Line Rider - Mountain King

This is great!

Newspaper Articles for Digital Curation VI

These scans were procured at the Middle Georgia Archives from their microfilm collection.

These articles are on the St Joseph Catholic Church in downtown Macon, GA from the Macon Telegraph.

Please do not reuse without citing.

Newspaper Articles for Digital Curation V

These scans were procured at the Middle Georgia Archives from their microfilm collection.

These articles are on the First Baptist Church in downtown Macon, GA from the Macon Telegraph.

Please do not reuse without citing.

Newspaper Articles for Digital Curation IV

These scans were procured at the Middle Georgia Archives from their microfilm collection.

These articles are on the First Presbyterian Church in downtown Macon, GA from the Macon Telegraph.

Please do not reuse without citing.

Newspaper Articles for Digital Curation III

These scans were procured at the Middle Georgia Archives from their microfilm collection.

These articles are on the Mulberry Methodist Church in downtown Macon, GA from the Macon Telegraph.

Please do not reuse without citing.

Newspaper Articles for Digital Curation II

These scans were procured at the Middle Georgia Archives from their microfilm collection.

These articles are on the Jewish Temple in downtown Macon, GA from the Macon Telegraph.
Please do not reuse without citing.

Newspaper Articles for Digital Curation

As with the pictures I am posting scans of historic newspapers for my digital collection for class. These scans were procured at the Middle Georgia Archives from their microfilm collection.

These articles are on the two Baptist churches in downtown Macon, GA from the Macon Telegraph. Please do not reuse without citing.

Pictures for Digital Curation, Part II

Another batch of pictures.

Mulberry Street Methodist 

Mulberry Street Methodist, sign

First Presbyterian Church

Temple Beth Israel

Temple Beth Israel, front door

Pictures for Digital Curation

For my final project for my Digital Curation class I have to create a digital collection. I have decided that I will do a collection on the religious buildings in Macon, Georgia. This was inspired by the quote:

"If you go to Atlanta, the first question people ask you is, 'What's your business?' In Macon they ask, 'Where do you go to church?' In Augusta they ask your grandmother's maiden name. But in Savannah the first question people ask you is 'What would you like to drink?'" -- Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt.

So this post is a place holder for all the pictures I have taken for my collection. (© O. Bushey 2017)

First Baptist Church of Christ

St Joseph Catholic Chruch

St Joseph Outdoor altar

High Street Unitarian Universalist Church

First Baptist Church

St Joseph, High Altar

St Joseph, Organ and Rose Window

Darth Vader plays the gurdy.

The things I find on the internet.

Random Quotes

"Baloney is flattery laid on so thick it cannot be true, and blarney is flattery so thin we love it." --Ven. Fulton Sheen

"The object of opening the mind, as of opening the mouth, is to shut it again on something solid." -- G. K. Chesterton, author

"Punctuality is the virtue of the bored." -- Evelyn Waugh, author

“Every once in a while you just have to decide to do something very crazy and very right--just to dare yourself to live. I don't mean doing something stupid and destructive--just something fun and good and beautiful.”  -- Regina Doman, author

Reaction to My Upcoming Last Semester

St Gemma Galgani, ora pro me

I have reached the final semester for graduate school and I approach it with mixed emotions. Relief that it is almost done, wonder at what will happen next, excited, to name a few. But I am struck with a strange sense of . . . quite honestly I don't know. It's a weird sensation in the pit of my gut that gnawing at my subconscious pushing me towards melancholy.

Tonight was the first night for one of my classes. Something was said that left me hollow and uneasy. I know in my line of occupation that there are not many who have similar beliefs or opinions as me. (Life in general feels like that) But I knew that before I hit 'submit' on my application to school. I am not saying I regret going and getting my Masters in this field - I am very glad I have. But I was face tonight with an unexpected reminder to be mortuum mundo and alive to what is good and just.

Maybe this all means that I will need a lot of prayers this up coming semester.

The Fantastic Masculinity of Newt Scamander

Interesting

Random Quotes

“Have you ever noticed this - that people never answer what you say? They answer what you mean - or what they think you mean” -- Father Brown,  The Invisible Man by G. K. Chesterton

“What punishments of God are not gifts?” -- J.R.R. Tolkien

"Coffee has given me unrealistic expectations of productivity." -- Unknown

Love Has Labels

It's been awhile since I posted any of my Youth Group talks. What follows is a rough transcript of it.

If you ever seen the ad campaign ‘Love has No Label’ put out by the Ad Council about diversity and inclusion, I’m here to tell you that is completely wrong.

It has three.

English is a beautiful expressive language that unfortunately our modern lazy usage has heap multiple meanings into one word as is the case with ‘love’.

Book cover of encyclical

Pope Emeritus, Benedict XVI (who just had his 90^th birthday) described love best in his encyclical, Deus Cartias Est (God is Love). A awe-inspiring title when you really think about it – God is Love. So, to explain the three labels of love Greek, one of the languages of the Bible, is used.

We have philia: this is a mutual love between friends. So when I tell Lauren and Natalie (note: these lovely ladies work with the youth group)  I love them, which I do, it is philia love.

Next, we have eros: this it is an ascending, possessive love which seeks to receive from another. This is a physical love, or a physical manifestation of love, expressed between husband and wife.

Then we have agape: this is a descending love, oblative love in which one gives oneself to another. This is a selfless love seeking out what is good for another for the sake of the other.

If eros and philia love are concerned primarily with our relationships with others than agape is concerned primarily with our relationship with God as well as each other’s relationship with God. Think about it – in the Greek translation of the New Testament agape is the most often used word for love. This reflects the distinctive aspect of Christian understanding of love. Agape is, essentially, Christian love, which should be shared with everyone no matter how we feel - love isn't just about feelings. God commanded us to love our neighbors and enemies, not to like them.

Agape requires truth to be able to express it. We must know what is right and wrong, what is good, and what is bad for us as humans. Without truth, love becomes nothing more than mere sentiment – it is empty/ no substance. It becomes distorted because it no longer bears any weight.

The hardest part about agape is that it requires us to correct our neighbor when they stumble. We have a great example of this from the Bible in Galatians where St Paul corrects St Peter when he is behaving badly. There is also St Catherine of Siena who went to Pope Gregory XI and said that the Papacy must return to Rome (the popes had been living in Avignon, France – the pope must live in Rome because he is the Bishop of Rome). Can you imagine going to the Pope and telling him - 'Hey you got to straighten up your act'? I be terrified! These actions of St. Paul and St. Catherine are not done out of malice but because both St Paul and St Catherine wanted St Peter and Pope Gregory to be better people. It’s the same as when our parents correct us, they want us to be better.

Agape, Christian love, must be placed be placed above philia and eros, even when people hate us for it.

I will end with a quote from P. Benedict from another of his encyclicals Caritas in Veritate (Charity in Truth) : “To love someone is to desire that persons good and to take effective steps to secure it.”

On a fun note, when ever I had to say agape, I pointed to the youth director, Lauren, who would say it like Dory in Finding Nemo would say 'escape'. The kids love it and it was a good youth meeting!