Whose Advent?
by Charles Moore

Though Advent (literally "arrival") has been observed for centuries as a time to contemplate Christ's birth, most people today acknowledge it only with a blank look. For the vast majority of us, December flies by in a flurry of activities, and what is called "the holiday season" turns out to be the most stressful time of the year.
It is also a time of contrasting emotions. We are eager, yet frazzled;sentimental, yet indifferent. One minute we glow at the thought of getting together with our family and friends; the next we feel utterly lonely. Our hope is mingled with dread, our anticipation with despair. We sense the deeper meanings of the season but grasp at them in vain; and in the end, all the bustle leaves us frustrated and drained. Advent begins this Sunday(today).
What does it mean to you?
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FYI: In the liturgical year, Advent is the four week period ending on December 25, Christmas Day. It was a time for penance and reflection. Advent actually opens the liturgical year, appropriately as a time of waiting for the coming of the savior. The prayers during this time reference the waiting of the Israelites with citations from the prophets such as Isaiah (Is 30:30) "People of Sion, behold the Lord shall come to save the nations."

Da Bronx

Here are some fun facts about my hometown and one of the coolest cities:

• The Bronx is the only part of NYC that is connected to the mainland of the United States.
• Bronx Community College is at the highest point in New York City.
• The Bronx won the 1997 Top 10 All America City Award
• The Bronx, named after Jonas Bronck, the area's 1st European settler, has an area of 43 sq.miles.
• HIP HOP & RAP music were born in The Bronx.
• The Yankee Stadium was built in 1923.
• The Bronx has more parkland than any other borough in New York City. More than 24% of the borough is covered with green growth including hundreds of original fruit trees that are found in neighborhood yards.Pelham Bay Park is the largest park in the Bronx.
• The figure of Abraham Lincoln in the Lincoln Memorial was carved by the Piccirillis brothers in their South Bronx studio/workshop in 1922
• The Bronx Zoo is 265 acres, and contains the largest, and most diverse collection of wildlife in the country. One of its most important mandates is the preservation and propagation of endangered species.
• The Grand Concourse was modeled after the Champs Elysees in Paris, France. It is undergoing restoration to return it to its status as the most beautiful boulevard in New York.
• Edgar Allen Poe occupied a cottage from 1846-1849. The cottage can be seen at Poe Park in the Kingsbridge/Fordham area
• George Washington stayed in and planned battles at the Van Cortlandt Mansion in Van Cortlandt Park... Battle of White Plains, 1781 and 1783

Walk the Line

Go see this movie!!!
Joaquin Phoenix played a very sexy,driven and tormented Johnny Cash. His unbelievable portrayal made me forget it was a movie.. I felt like I was living his hell.. Reese Witherspoon did a great job as Cash's soulmate. I love THIS MOVIE!!
It made me want to be a rockstar..or just pretend to be one..

in his time

"He is not deaf, he listens; more than that, he acts. He does not act in the same way whether we pray or not. Prayer exerts an influence upon God's action, even upon his existence.

That is what the word 'answer' means." "The fact that God yields to man's petitions, changing his intentions in response to man's prayer, is not a sign of weakness. He himself, in the glory of his majesty and power, has so willed it."
--Karl Barth

Lord please save me from your followers

So I've only seen bits of this show,but apparently this is what most of the world thinks when they think of people who profess to be followers of Christ.

click here

Read here for what some other folks think..

Hot "air" front coming in from the east

NEW YORK -The Weather Channel forecast: a high-pressure system of comedy.The cable channel will feature Lewis Black - known for his rants on Comedy Central's "The Daily Show" - in a handful of segments starting Wednesday night.


He's the first in what the Weather Channel hopes is a series of celebrity guests.
"We're going to try a few segments to spice things up a little bit," said Terry Connelly, the network's senior vice president and general manager.Black gets the chance to try out some of the network's forecasting maps and chat on camera with weathercaster Dave Schwartz. He also gets to deliver a few comic riffs on global warming and airport delays, Connelly said.Connelly quietly put out the word recently, asking celebrities to drop by if they're near the company's Atlanta headquarters. Black, a closet weather fan, was quick to reply.

The Weather Channel hopes occasional celebrity guests liven what's often a staid presentation. The network has begun experimenting with a weekend morning show that puts the weathercasters on couches instead of behind desks, and is considering a weekday show that Connelly called a cross between "The View" and Martha Stewart's daytime program.(it's on in the morning and they are way too happy too early)The Weather Channel does well in theratings when, say, there's a hurricane, but needs a boost for days of more sedate weather."Lewis Black on the Weather Channel is unpredictable," Connelly said, "and we're in the business of predictions."


DAVID BAUDER Associated Press

thanksgiving

There are so many things stressful about holidays... So take a break and relax-- click here and make sure you have your speakers turned on.. And don't forget to breathe

I know, I know ..here I go again

Tired of seeing these two yet?
Good, because with a new P.R. chieftain for Cruise, you're probably going to see a lot more of 'em.
pic by Chris Pizzello / Reuters



I'm not sure what it is.. but Tom Cruise is getting under my skin.. (if you haven't noticed)
Maybe it was the couch jumping .. I don't know but now after all his foolishness we are probably going to hear less about him (it's a good thing now I will do less bitching). He has recently dropped his sister LeAnne as his PR gal (she's supposedly going to do what she always wanted head up his "charity"). He's getting a real PR pro -Paul Bloch (his client list: anthony hopkins, bruce willis, john travolta(fellow scientologist).. ) By one account, he's tanked from being the 11th most-liked celebrity to No. 197, putting him in company with the likes of Tom Green and Pauly Shore (I love that guy-- I'm probably his only fan -I even own his movie Bio-Dome--just fabulous).

Sticking it to the man

A man who had a panic attack when he was glued to a toilet seat in a restroom at a Colorado HomeDepot has sued the store for negligence, saying staff ignored his cry for help.
Retired electrical engineer 57-year-old Bob Dougherty says he was stuck in the stall with his pants down for about 20 minutes and that two years after the 2003 halloween incident he was suffering from post-traumatic stress, which has triggered diabetes and heart complications.
"I have these nightmares every night where I am locked in this dark room, with no windows, no doors, no fresh air, no route for escape. I wake up in these cold sweats," Mr Dougherty said.
The company, Home Depot, could not immediately be reached for comment.
In a lawsuit filed last week, Mr Dougherty said he thought he was having a heart attack when he realised his buttocks and legs were stuck to the toilet seat in the Home Depot restroom in Louisville, Colorado. He explained his plight to an employee who came into the restroom but other Home Depot staffers thought it was a joke and he had to wait until someone else came in to summon help.
Mr Dougherty is claiming unspecified damages for help with medical and psychiatric bills, for humiliation and for the diabetes he said he has developed as a result of the stress.
"Home Depot not only ignored my plight, they refused my plight," he said.
Mr. Dougherty said he suspected the glue had been placed there as a prank by three teens seen earlier in the store.

It doesn't matter if you're black or white...Does It?

As the nation mourns the passing of civil rights hero Rosa Parks, a new study by economist Sylvia Ann Hewlett and Princeton professor Cornel West provides a sobering assessment of the barriers still facing people of color in the American workplace. As Hewlett tells The Christian Science Monitor,the face of prejudice has changed, but is still very real: "People wore it on their sleeve and enshrined it in law.


Today, it's much more subtle, but it's pervasive. Whether it's a tone of voice or hairstyle or accent, the cumulative impact can be brutal and can derail a career."
98 - Percentage of Fortune 500 CEOs who are white.
95 - Percentage of Fortune 500 top earners who are white.
40 - Percentage of minority women who feel excluded and constrained by the need to "act white."
More than a third - Portion of minority men who feel similarly limited by"style compliance."
One quarter - Portion of businesswomen who worry they're perceived as"affirmative action" employees.
Nearly a third - Portion of minority female executives who are concerned that their speaking style labels them as lacking leadership potential.
I found this article to be quite interesting and somewhat true. I've worked in both the Corporate and Non-Profit Sector. I often get "you are so articulate" people are shocked when they realize I have a brain and I don't listen to rap music, or any other stereotype that they may have heard or believe about people of different hues...I have found that I have to work harder to be noticed or even to get rid of the stereotypes. Prejudice is still around and we have to work together to make it disappear.

Read the full article :http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/1031/p13s01-wmgn.html

On a lighter note: I stumbled across this website that make fun of all of this http://www.blackpeopleloveus.com/

Shop girl

So I won free tickets to see the premiere of Shop girl with Claire Danes and Steve Martin.It is from Steve Martin's Novella of the same name. I won't tell you too much about it but I walked out of it thinking...
This movie was about love,loneliness and satisfaction with where you are in life.
The lead character,Mirabelle, is a shy 20-something artist from Vermont trying to make it in L.A. She is lonely and wants to make connections. She finds solace in a relationship and quickly finds out that happiness is something that no one can give to you.
I found this so intriguing because I think this is just like life... We are all looking for that someone who will take us and take care of us. We constantly try to find something that will make us truly happy. We put all our hope in one thing/person/idea and are broken when it isn't the way we wanted.
There were parts of the movie I felt were somewhat disconnected(steve martin's narrative),but overall it was a good flick.. I loved Jason Schwartzman(rushmore) in this film --he reminds me of a friend of mine.

Update:Library lofts

By CHRISTINE VENDELThe Kansas City Star

Sonia M. Galindo had been so unlike herself lately that her professors at Central Missouri State University urged her to take a leave of absence from classes this fall.
And her parents were concerned enough to pack their bags and begin driving from Fort Worth, Texas, to their daughter’s home in Warrensburg.

But before they arrived Friday morning, their 25-year-old daughter had been arrested after allegedly gunning down her ex-boyfriend in front of his downtown Kansas City loft.
Galindo’s parents then drove to Kansas City police headquarters and called attorney John A. Picerno. On Saturday, Picerno said his client recently had been suffering from serious mental problems, some stemming from medical problems, including a miscarriage. He said he planned several mental health evaluations for his client, who appeared in Jackson County Circuit Court on Saturday to face first-degree murder charges. Galindo stands accused of fatally shooting her former boyfriend, Alexander Gladkov, 23, at 8 a.m. Friday at 127 W. 10th St.
read more