Audaces Fortuna Iuvat — Fortune Favors the Bold

For the past three years I have been in New Mexico about this time every summer. Now I’m not even near New Mexico. Listening to music like the Tobasco Donkeys et. al. creates a longing yearround for those open desert plains, aspen hills, long hikes, and of course the best tasting water; that which is hard fought and deserved after a day of wandering.

I miss it. It truly is a call of the wild. Solitude and the thrill of nature beckon like an unspeakable force which croons longingly for the soul. How can I not give in?

Liz Lange is making a designer diaper for Pampers… What is the world coming to when diapers are “designer apparel”? I’m reminded of Dumb and Dumber when the guys are wiping their tears up with 100 dollar bills. Basically, that is where we are going. Money has become so devalued and materialism so valued that we’ll pay anything for anything.

O give me Hebrews 13:5 “Let your life be free from love of money but be content with what you have.”

This oil spill has me wishing superheroes truly existed. If so, this would avert the greatest environmental crisis in United States history. Instead, we’re left with the Gulf, which will soon be a black tarry catastrophe.

Behold the bread of angels, sent
For pilgrims in their banishment,
The bread of God’s true children meant,
That may not unto dogs be given.

These words are taken from the beautiful hymn of St. Thomas Aquinas, Lauda Sion Salvatorem.

Whenever we go to New Orleans my family takes the liberty of eating as much as possible as quick as possible as many times as possible. Breakfast. Beignets. Lunch. Snoballs.Dinner. Beignets. Snoballs. Repeat. I think as Americans we force ourselves to stuff ourselves at any opportunity. Obesity and Gluttony have become a part of our society. We drive around all day and then sit in front of the TV and rarely exercise. Houston is the fattest city in America reportedly and we probably do a good job representing.

Whatever happened to self-restraint?

Philosophically, I think it is difficult for a journalist to be an innovative conservative journalist. The very essence of journalism reeks of progressivity. Conservatism banks on the status-quo being sufficient. That which is the status-quo is hardly scintillating and newsworthy. Thus, the media seems to be increasingly left-wing, and theoretically that makes sense.

–Edmund Burke

Vampire depictions these days always seem to point towards sensuality. These vampires are uber steamy, uber sexed and uber scandalous. It seems that immortality and life of epicureanism go hand in hand. If one is to live forever then one must surely lead a life devoted to exploring every possible particular good, because inveritably there is no ultimate good. Sorry Augustine, your younger days would have won out.

With Memorial Day tomorrow its got me remembering my recent visit to DC and all the war memorials. I felt that they all were very insightful visits, but understandably it was the Vietnam memorial that spoke to me the most through its silence. Seeing that wall of black granite standing surrounded by the throngs of somber sightseers evoked emotions of earnest empathy. Like lightening. These men, and women too, died so that freedom may reign. What sacrifice have I made? What sacrifice have I made.

Tomorrow, I enlist.

Dime de qué te alabas, y te diré de qué padeces.

Translation:

Tell me what you boast about and I’ll tell you what you lack.