#A Ordinary 31 Friday

[duranduranofficial]

Prepare yourself for a night like no other 😈

Duran Duran invites you to DANSE MACABRE with them this Halloween at Madison Square Garden in New York City. It will be no ordinary show: a unique production featuring the hits alongside songs from the crypt on October 31st.

In addition to Halloween, Duran Duran has announced addtional showdates in the US.

OCT 21 | Allentown, PA | PPL Arena

OCT 23 | Verona, NY | Turning Stone Resort Casino

OCT 25 | Uncasville, CT | Mohegan Sun

OCT 26 | Atlantic City, NJ | The Borgata

OCT 28 | Baltimore, MD | CFG Bank Arena

OCT 31 | New York, NY | Madison Square Garden

NOV 02 | Manchester, NH | SNHU Arena

Artist VIP Pre Sale goes live on Wednesday, July 10 at 10 am est

Public On Sale goes live on Friday, July 12 at 10 am est 💀💀💀💀

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

THE RESULT OF THE DISNEY SURRENDER

TCinLA

Dec 16, 2024

The thing many people miss in looking at Hitler’s takeover of Germany is how fast it happened. Within 30 days of his acceptance of the Chancellorship on January 31, 1933, the Reichtag had passed the Enabling Act in the aftermath of the Reichstag Fire, which enabled Hitler to rule by decree. Before real resistance could be organized, it had been kneecapped.

Within weeks after that, trade unions and the Christian Democrat, the Socialist and the Communist parties had all been declared illegal. Hitler had wiped out his political opposition by mid April. The first prisoners arrived at Dachau concentration camp the first week of May - they were all political prisoners; any Jew among them was there for politics.

A similar speedy move against political opponents is building within the coming Trump administration.

For years, Trump has brought defamation suits against news organizations who have demonstrated their temerity in accurately reporting his crimes. All have been unsuccessful because the organizations he sued said on being served the papers for the suit, “See you in court.” Trump always dropped the suit when it got to the point he was going to have to sit for a deposition, because every lawyer who represented him knew he couldn’t survive a deposition; on the very few occasions where he did sit for a deposition, he was caught perjuring himself.

Until this past weekend. Until Disney - a company with a market cap of $200 billion - decided that $16 million was “the cost of doing business,” chump change, and settled a suit they had every likelihood of winning, a suit Trump was likely to drop this week after a judge ordered him last Friday to sit for a deposition no later than this coming Friday.

Disney isn’t in the news business. They own ABC and a few other “news” organizations, but those entities are not major revenue centers. Disney is in the business of running parks like Disney World and Disneyland, and they are not interested in being targeted again as they were by Governor DeSantis in Florida.

So they settled. As Josh Marshall put it today, the $16 million was their initiation fee for joining TrumpWorld.

Several legal commentators have recently written about the possibility that Disney settled because they were worried that if they did win with the New York Times v Sullivan defense - which they almost certainly would have - that Trump would appeal his loss to the Supreme Court, where two of “his” six judges have already expressed a willingness to return to Times v Sullivan with a view to overturning it and getting rid of the “actual malice” rule regarding public persons suing for defamation.

A return to “ordinary” defamation, where all a litigant needs to establish is that the defamatory statement made is false, with no reference to “actual malice,” would mean that news organizations would pull back from aggressive investigations of individuals like Trump. We would experience a sharp drop in press freedom to publish.

However, Disney’s surrender also creates a precedent that leaves an opening for politically-motivated defamation suits. The result of this is also that news organizations will be reluctant to aggressively pursue a story, since their corporate owners who are not in the news business and do not care about freedom of the press, may not choose to support the news organization they own in such a fight.

In other words, heads Trump wins and tails Trump wins.

The Disney surrender is almost as good as the Supreme Court overturning Times v Sullivan in intimidating news organizations.

Saturday night, Steve Bannon spoke at the Gala put on by the New York City Young Republicans. The Guardian reported what he said:

“We want retribution and we’re going to get retribution. You have to. It’s not personal, it’s not personal. They need to learn what populist, nationalist power is on the receiving end.

“I need investigations, trials and then incarceration. And I’m just talking about the media. Should the media be included in the vast criminal conspiracy against President Trump? Should Andrew Weissmann on MSNBC, and Rachel Maddow, and all of them?

“We want all your emails, all your text messages, everything you did. You colluded in a conspiracy with Merrick Garland, Nancy Pelosi, Lisa Monaco and Jack Smith.”

Rachel Maddow may be “The $100 million woman” of progressive media, but she and others not as well-situated as she is have to wonder if their corporate overlords will defend them against spurious conspiracy charges, as news organizations would have in the days before the billionaires’ takeover of mainstream media. In Maddow’s case, would whatever is left of MSNBC - after the company was put in Brian Roberts’ “SpinCo” and separated from Comcast-Universal - have the resources to be able to do so? Would the Intergalactic Widgetmaker that purchases the “SpinCo” be willing to invest their resources in her defense? Would ABC risk having Trump’s FCC commissioners pull its broadcast license for defending Jake Tapper?

And after they’re finished ripping apart the major media, what happens to Meidas Network?

I am not advocating surrender. It will take awhile for them to work their way down to That’s Another Fine Mess, and in the meantime their corruption and incompetence in all else they try to do will be working against them. We of the new “alternative media” will likely survive by being the small mammals who stay out of the meadow where the big dinosaurs stomp.

I am pointing out that despite their corruption and incompetence, their inabilities to work and play well with others that will tie them in knots of their own making, there is a lot of chaos MAGA can create while they ultimately tear themselves apart.

And that chaos will only be strengthened by the willingness of billionaires like Bezos and Zuckerberg - who have bigger fish to fry than defending the free flow of information, and for whom a million dollar initiation fee to pay off Trump is couch change - and the corporations like Disney - to bend their knee to Trump the dictator. Their examples will encourage others to take the road of least resistance.

Trump has told us he intends to be a “dictator on day one.” He’s preparing to do exactly that right out in front of us, and the news media isn’t too likely to pay even as much attention as they have so far to what’s going to come.

[TCinLA]

[myremnantarmy]

𝐅𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝟗, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒 𝐆𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐥

Friday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

Mk 7:31-37

Jesus left the district of Tyre

and went by way of Sidon to the Sea of Galilee,

into the district of the Decapolis.

And people brought to him a deaf man who had a speech impediment

and begged him to lay his hand on him.

He took him off by himself away from the crowd.

He put his finger into the man's ears

and, spitting, touched his tongue;

then he looked up to heaven and groaned, and said to him,

"Ephphatha!" (that is, "Be opened!")

And immediately the man's ears were opened,

his speech impediment was removed,

and he spoke plainly.

He ordered them not to tell anyone.

But the more he ordered them not to,

the more they proclaimed it.

They were exceedingly astonished and they said,

"He has done all things well.

He makes the deaf hear and the mute speak."

[roman-catholic-mass-readings]

26th July >> Mass Readings (Except USA)

Saint Joachim and Saint Anne, parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary 

on

Friday, Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time.

Friday, Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time

(Liturgical Colour: White. Year: B(II))

(Readings for the feria (Friday))

(There is a choice today between the readings for the ferial day (Friday) and those for the memorial. The ferial readings are recommended unless pastoral reasons suggest otherwise)

First Reading Jeremiah 3:14-17 Come back, my disloyal children.

Come back, disloyal children – it is the Lord who speaks – for I alone am your Master. I will take one from a town, two from a clan, and bring you to Zion. I will give you shepherds after my own heart, and these shall feed you on knowledge and discretion. And when you have increased and become many in the land, then – it is the Lord who speaks – no one will ever say again: Where is the ark of the covenant of the Lord? There will be no thought of it, no memory of it, no regret for it, no making of another. When that time comes, Jerusalem shall be called: The Throne of the Lord; all the nations will gather there in the name of the Lord and will no longer follow the dictates of their own stubborn hearts.

The Word of the Lord

R/ Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm Jeremiah 31:10-13

R/ The Lord will guard us as a shepherd guards his flock.

O nations, hear the word of the Lord, proclaim it to the far-off coasts. Say: ‘He who scattered Israel will gather him and guard him as a shepherd guards his flock.’

R/ The Lord will guard us as a shepherd guards his flock.

For the Lord has ransomed Jacob, has saved him from an overpowering hand. They will come and shout for joy on Mount Zion, they will stream to the blessings of the Lord.

R/ The Lord will guard us as a shepherd guards his flock.

Then the young girls will rejoice and dance, the men, young and old, will be glad. I will turn their mourning into joy, I will console them, give gladness for grief.

R/ The Lord will guard us as a shepherd guards his flock.

Gospel Acclamation James 1:21

Alleluia, alleluia! Accept and submit to the word which has been planted in you and can save your souls. Alleluia!

Or: cf. Luke 8:15

Alleluia, alleluia! Blessed are those who, with a noble and generous heart, take the word of God to themselves and yield a harvest through their perseverance. Alleluia!

Gospel Matthew 13:18-23 The man who hears the word and understands it yields a rich harvest.

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘You are to hear the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom without understanding, the evil one comes and carries off what was sown in his heart: this is the man who received the seed on the edge of the path. The one who received it on patches of rock is the man who hears the word and welcomes it at once with joy. But he has no root in him, he does not last; let some trial come, or some persecution on account of the word, and he falls away at once. The one who received the seed in thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this world and the lure of riches choke the word and so he produces nothing. And the one who received the seed in rich soil is the man who hears the word and understands it; he is the one who yields a harvest and produces now a hundredfold, now sixty, now thirty.’

The Gospel of the Lord

R/ Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

------------------------------

Saint Joachim and Saint Anne, parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary 

(Liturgical Colour: White. Year: B(II))

(Readings for the memorial)

(There is a choice today between the readings for the ferial day (Friday) and those for the memorial. The ferial readings are recommended unless pastoral reasons suggest otherwise)

First Reading Ecclesiasticus 44:1,10-15 Their name lives on for all generations.

Let us praise illustrious men, our ancestors in their successive generations. Here is a list of generous men whose good works have not been forgotten. In their descendants there remains a rich inheritance born of them. Their descendants stand by the covenants and, thanks to them, so do their children’s children. Their offspring will last for ever, their glory will not fade. Their bodies have been buried in peace, and their name lives on for all generations. The peoples will proclaim their wisdom, the assembly will celebrate their praises.

The Word of the Lord

R/ Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm Psalm 131(132):11,13-14,17-18

R/ The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David.

The Lord swore an oath to David; he will not go back on this word: ‘A son, the fruit of your body, will I set upon your throne.’

R/ The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David.

For the Lord has chosen Zion; he has desired it for his dwelling: ‘This is my resting-place for ever; here have I chosen to live.

R/ The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David.

‘There David’s stock will flower; I will prepare a lamp for my anointed. I will cover his enemies with shame but on him my crown shall shine.’

R/ The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David.

Gospel Acclamation cf. Luke 2:25

Alleluia, alleluia! They looked forward to Israel’s comforting and the Holy Spirit rested upon them. Alleluia!

Gospel Matthew 13:16-17 Prophets and holy men longed to hear what you hear.

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Happy are your eyes because they see, your ears because they hear! I tell you solemnly, many prophets and holy men longed to see what you see, and never saw it; to hear what you hear, and never heard it.’

The Gospel of the Lord

R/ Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

[scriveyner]

chase forever down 2/31

chase forever down | 2/31 | bungou stray dogs | 👿🐯 | #smarch 🔞| ~3100 words

It took almost a full week for the bruise to fade on its own, which in normal circumstances would have allowed Atsushi all sorts of time to sort through everything that had happened. Of course, he had to turn up to work on Monday only to find out that Dazai had fucked off to parts unknown again, attempt to track him down, get shot at by a bounty (?) hunter (??) who apparently wanted Atsushi’s pelt (???) for some goddamn unknowable reason; and then Dazai had the straight nerve to show back up to work on Friday all perky like Atsushi hadn’t been put through the wringer this week by him, specifically.

Continue on AO3 or:

“I think, perhaps, it would be best if you laid low for a few days, Atsushi,” Kunikida said as he stood by his desk, glancing over Atsushi’s report. His other hand currently had all his weight on it, pinning Dazai’s head to the desk. “Although the bounty hunter is in custody now, and we’ve cleared everything with the government, these things have a way of escalating out of nowhere.”

“Lay low?” Atsushi repeated, because he never thought he could be considered to have a high profile in the first place, pictures of him in the paper notwithstanding.

“He means don’t tear up the streets causing a scene and fighting anyone in particular,” Dazai sang, face smooshed.

Well, laying low would give him time to do a little research in peace, although as far as he could tell there wasn’t any sort of handbook for the situation he was in. To be fair, he hadn’t checked the library to see if “So Your Mortal Enemy/Occasional Partner is a Secret Vampire” had a waiting list.

Anyway, he was fairly certain that vampires weren’t real in the first place, but that made the fact that Akutagawa-goddamn-Ryuunosuke sucked a hickey into his neck even more bizarre.

Atsushi was tempted to ask Dazai about vampires, but still remembered the absolute roasting he got about Godzilla, and kept his mouth shut.

Hey, he’d been in a giant flying whale and been witness to a member of the Port Mafia clocking an entire ability dragon full-on in the face with a skyscraper; a giant radioactive lizard popping up out of the ocean seemed like a fairly ordinary Thursday.

He’d also jerked off in front of Akutagawa-The-Possible-Vampire, and why the fuck did that just pop into his brain out of nowhere. Atsushi adjusted his courier bag, focused gamely on a cold shower, and started on his way home.

It was brilliantly sunny, the sky that perfect shade of blue with the occasional thin cloud on the horizon. It was the sort of afternoon that chased away all thoughts of despair and darkness, and it lifted his mood immensely. He decided to stop by the local shop and get some fresh vegetables, make a nice big meal, and maybe catch up on some of that sleep he’d been missing after the chaos of the past week. No more thoughts about the weirdness in his life, or the fact that thinking about Akutagawa’s eyes made him hornier than shit.

God dammit, he did it again.

Atsushi sighed, added alone time in the bathroom before Kyouka got home to the mental checklist, and headed to the grocer.

=====

Atsushi was deciding between two packages of meat when he saw a flash of red out of the corner of his eye that drew his attention. He glanced over to see a Rashomon head pluck a similar package out of the cooler beside him and withdraw back. Atsushi followed the Rashomon tendril to its origin, staring at Akutagawa dressed in his usual civilian clothes, dark shades and all, as he walked right past Atsushi without acknowledging him once, shopping basket in hand.

His stomach did a little flip and he snarled mentally at certain body parts to fucking behave as he left his basket on the floor and hurried after Akutagawa. “Hey!”

Akutagawa paused and glanced back over his shoulder at Atsushi, eyes shadowed completely by the glasses. “You,” Atsushi jabbed his finger at Akutagawa. “You’re a vampire!”

There was a long, long pause.

Atsushi became increasingly aware that they were in the middle of a crowded supermarket, and other customers were giving them both a significant side-eye as they passed. Akutagawa turned fully around, staring down Atsushi all the while.

“You’re an idiot,” Akutagawa said and turned to leave.

Honestly, Atsushi had expected this reveal to be a little more melodramatic than it was. It was the middle of the day, they were now outside the supermarket that was several blocks away from his place of work, and he had been the exact opposite of geared up for this confrontation.

He’d been buying dinner, for god’s sake.

Akutagawa stood in the shadow of the building, leaned back against the alley wall and arms folded as he watched Atsushi pace in front of him. He’d been remarkably accommodating in allowing Atsushi to drag him out of the building, he’d fully expected a fight, but Akutagawa simply loudly expressed his opinion of Atsushi’s mental prowess to anyone in shouting distance.

So, Akutagawa in daylight. This was already a point against the Vampire Theory, as it was still broad fucking daylight—lurking in the shadows of the building notwithstanding, as Akutagawa was a lurker by nature—and he had yet to even sizzle, never mind burst into flames.

Atsushi rubbed the spot on his neck where the mostly faded bruise still sat. “You’re a vampire,” he reiterated, with less dramatic flair, and once again Akutagawa made a noise of derision, staring at Atsushi over the rims of the dark, not-quite-sunglasses he usually wore in a small attempt to mask his identity.

A point for the “Definitely a Vampire” column, those mysterious dark glasses. He only wore them during the day, too, that Atsushi had seen…protection against the sunlight? But he was out in the sun. And he’d seen Akutagawa in daylight many, many times, all without the benefit of the dark glasses. Well. Point still sitting in the Vampire column, pending approval.

“Idiot,” Akutagawa sniffed. “Remind me why I’m entertaining your nonsense again today?”

“You are a vampire,” Atsushi insisted again, stopping in his tracks, arms folded. “You attacked me out of the blue! Don’t laugh. And you bit me.”

“Do you actually believe vampires are real, weretiger? You pulled me from my errands to make me listen to you ramble like a madman about fiction.”

“I’m not rambling!”

Akutagawa arched a brow, and Atsushi turned on his heel to pace again. “You bit me and sucked my blood!”

“Are you certain you didn’t just hit your head?”

“I have a bruise!”

Akutagawa appeared unimpressed, as Atsushi turned and yanked his collar down, displaying the now-faded, yellowish splotch on his neck. “I have no interest in your sexual conquests as such, weretiger. Are we through?”

“No, we are not through. Explain to me why your eyes turned red, and why you bit me, if you’re not a vampire.”

Akutagawa tilted his head. Looking over his glasses at Atsushi, Atsushi could see his eyes glimmering slightly in the shadows, that same reddish hue. Then Akutagawa said in that same tone that had haunted his dreams for the past week, “we are through here.”

Atsushi stared at him in response, and Akutagawa pushed his glasses back up his nose, straightening as if preparing to leave. “And where do you think you’re going?” Atsushi asked, angrily, and Akutagawa paused, a clear look of confusion crossing his features. “Did you not hear me? We aren’t done.”

The weird, vocal modulation in Akutagawa’s voice sent a frisson of electricity down Atsushi’s spine, pulling something tight in his gut again, but he suppressed the shiver. Akutagawa stared at him strangely, and said, “we’re done.”

“And that,” Atsushi waved his hand at Akutagawa. “That weird voice thing. That’s a vampire thing too, isn’t it? Some kind of,” he wobbled his hand slightly, “Jedi mind trick type thing? I can tell what you’re doing now, so it doesn’t work. And you are,” holy shit, Akutagawa really was, he wasn’t making this up in his head, “a vampire!”

Akutagawa was flat-out staring at him now, like he was a puzzle that Akutagawa couldn’t solve. “Why doesn’t it work on you?”

Atsushi took two large steps back, suddenly struck by the fact that Akutagawa was a goddamn real vampire and he didn’t know what he was supposed to do now, because they were out in daylight and vampires were supposed to catch on fire.

Well, at least this meant he didn’t have to worry about pulling his punches going forward.

Akutagawa seemed to realize what his reaction meant all at once. “I am not—” he began, a snarl in his voice, but Atsushi’s voice overrode his.

“I can’t believe you’re a goddamn shit-sucking vampire.” He’d made it to the other wall of the alley, his back flush to the brick, and was eying his exit route. “How long has this been going on? Does anyone else know? Have you killed anyone? Okay, that was a stupid question, but have you killed anyone as a vampire—?”

“SHUT UP,” Akutagawa roared, his voice crackling with energy.

Atsushi winced at the volume but was otherwise undeterred. “I will not—!”

Well, he still moved faster than Rashomon.

Atsushi bounced off the side of the building, kicking the Rashomon tendril away. Akutagawa seemed to move faster than his own ability again, catching Atsushi by the shoulder in mid-air and turning him, landing on top of him hard enough that the concrete beneath them cracked. Atsushi hurled him off, twisting, and Rashomon caught up, wrapping around his leg before he could properly defend and then they were both airborne, Atsushi winged around like a fish on a line and was unable to gain any real purchase.

He dangled by his ankle, five stories up, while Akutagawa stood crouched on the concrete lip that ringed the building just below the roof. “If I were a vampire, idiot weretiger, do you really think I would be wandering around in broad daylight?”

Oh, he better not be able to read minds, too. Atsushi bent double, trying to get at the single tendril of Rashomon around his ankle with his claws. “Maybe if you didn’t try to mess with my mind!”

The tendril shook him violently enough that he lost progress and hung for a second, head spinning. “You keep coming to the most ridiculous conclusions.”

“I wouldn’t have to come to ridiculous conclusions if you didn’t fucking lie to me!”

Akutagawa hauled him up enough so that they were eye to eye, although Atsushi was well out of swiping range for the moment. “When have I lied to you?”

Atsushi stared at him, then pointed with one tiger claw. “You. Are. A. VAMPIRE.”

He doubled up and got both his hands around the Rashomon tendril, shredding the ability in his claws. Before Atsushi could even begin to consider how he was going to handle the five-story drop, several more Rashomon tendrils shot out at him and Atsushi swung around, caught on a broad one with the pad of his foot, and used it to launch himself at Akutagawa.

Akutagawa stood up to face him, eyes a brilliant, glowing red behind his glasses. “STOP,” he roared, and Atsushi felt the word vibrate in his muscles and bone but didn’t even hesitate, spring-boarding off a Rashomon tendril and catching Akutagawa by the front of his dark coat, flipping them both up over and onto the roof properly.

Akutagawa landed on his feed, sliding on the rough pitch, and Atsushi landed in a crouch with bared teeth. “I’m going to bite you, see how much you like it!”

They stared at each other, chests heaving in near unison, the unearthly red glow finally starting to fade from Akutagawa’s eyes. “No, really, why the fuck doesn’t that work on you, anymore?”

“Your weird voice thing?” Atsushi swiped the back of his hand over his cheek, smearing the blood from where Rashomon just nicked him coming up over the edge of the roof. Akutagawa’s expression froze, eyes locked on Atsushi’s face, and Atsushi pointed at him, victorious. “Ha! Vampire!”

Akutagawa tilted his head back and stared at the sky for a second, while dragging his hand down his face, and then he finally gave up. “Fine,” he said, sounding thoroughly harassed.

Atsushi rose from his crouch, giving Akutagawa a wary look. “Fine?”

“You win, weretiger. I am a vampire. Are you happy?”

Atsushi blinked at him, not expecting capitulation in any form. “Uh.”

“No one was meant to know. Especially not you.” Akutagawa stalked forward, eyes glimmering like they were going to change colors but stayed that nebulous shade of gray. Atsushi took a step back and realized suddenly he had nowhere else to go when the back of his leg hit the edge of the roof and he stopped dead, eyes wide.

“What’s the matter?” Akutagawa asked, stopping just in front of him. “Now you’re scared of me?”

“I’m not scared of you,” Atsushi said because he wasn’t, but his body seemed to think otherwise. Akutagawa’s hand darted out, catching his chin, and turned Atsushi’s head.

“Since you’re in the know, now,” he breathed and licked the blood from Atsushi’s cheek.

Atsushi froze in place. Akutagawa’s tongue felt like lightning, warm and sharp, and he gulped air, limbs trembling. Just like that, he was hard. No, no no no no no, he thought desperately, as Akutagawa swiped his thumb over the area of the cut, but by now the flesh had already sealed over the wound.

“I hate how fucking good you taste,” Akutagawa rumbled, face still too close. “It’s not normal.”

There was something about his voice now that was resonating to Atsushi’s core. It didn’t sound any different than normal, and it certainly wasn’t that weird tone he had been trying on him earlier, but Atsushi’s breath went short and his head went fuzzy.

The corner of Akutagawa’s mouth turned up into a smirk. “Ah. There it is.”

Atsushi swallowed hard and shook his head free of Akutagawa’s hand, and Akutagawa drew back. He pushed the palm of his hand over his cheek but it came away dry, and he looked back at Akutagawa, who was now, once again, at a safe distance. “Is that it?”

The question seemed to perplex Akutagawa. “What?”

“So, you’re a vampire and you’re going to, what, lick my cheek? What the fuck did you do to me?” Atsushi shifted his stance angrily, resisting the urge to shove his hands down his pants this time. “Don’t start what you can’t fucking finish.” He tilted his jaw back and bared his throat challengingly, and Akutagawa’s eyes glimmered again.

“You don’t know what you’re offering,” he said, softly, and Atsushi spread his hands.

“How many people have you killed like this?”

The question seemed to amuse him. Rashomon rippled across his shoulders, a faint red glimmer in the sunlight, and Akutagawa tilted his head, looking at Atsushi again through his dark shades. “Fear not, weretiger. I have kept true to our accords. Yours is the only blood I intend to spill…if I feel often enough, I never have to take a life.”

Akutagawa on him, teeth bared under the moonlight flitted through Atsushi’s mind unbidden. “And what happens if you don’t feed often enough?”

The look on Akutagawa’s face told him enough, and he jerked his chin again. “Fine. Don’t feed on anyone else. Don’t harm anyone else. You have me, you want to spill my blood? You can have it.”

Akutagawa looked away, hand clenched over his mouth and breathing hard. “What’s the matter?” Atsushi challenged. “I thought you said my blood tasted good—?”

He wasn’t fast enough to see Akutagawa move, but there was suddenly a hand on his shoulder and the other on his face, tilting his head away as Akutagawa’s fangs sank into his neck, atop the previous, yellowed bruise. Atsushi gasped and staggered, but Akutagawa caught him as he collapsed, lowering him far gentler, sitting him back against the concrete lip that bordered the edge of the roof.

Akutagawa’s mouth was still on his skin, and he shifted, knee pressed between Atsushi’s spread legs. There was no way he couldn’t feel how hard Atsushi was, or the wet spot that was beginning to appear on the front of his pants and Atsushi panted, everything gone in a haze of pleasure. He was so warm, and light-headed, and when Akutagawa finally, finally lifted his mouth his breath felt like fire on Atsushi’s skin.

“You’ll be mine,” he breathed, tongue brushing over the torn flesh, Atsushi’s skin knitting whole, “and only mine?”

“Oh, fuck,” Atsushi whimpered, so hard he could think of nothing but touch. Akutagawa rumbled and pressed his knee into Atsushi’s crotch, watching him choke. Then he seemed to take pity on him, shifting enough that he was kneeling between Atsushi’s spread legs, fingers pulling at the waist of his trousers. Atsushi gazed at him blearily, and Akutagawa slipped his hand down the front of Atsushi’s pants.

Oh. Oh, Akutagawa’s hand was on his cock right now.

Atsushi’s head went back, eyes unfocused as Akutagawa palmed his trapped erection, fingers curling around his girth. He rubbed his thumb over its leaking head but made no effort to free him from his pants to bother with stroking him properly. “Just a little taste,” he murmured. “Don’t want to reward you too handsomely for being a stubborn little shit, weretiger.”

Panting aloud, Atsushi clung to his coat, held tilted back, and came anyway.

Akutagawa yanked his hand out of Atsushi’s messed pants and stared at him as Atsushi slumped back against the concrete, breathing hard. He ended up wiping his hand clean on Atsushi’s untucked shirt, and then plucked Atsushi’s phone out of his pocket while Atsushi lay, blissed out, in place.

“If I text you,” Akutagawa said, typing something into Atsushi’s phone, “you will show up.”

He was doing the weird voice thing again, it sank into Atsushi’s bones and simmered there. Atsushi moaned, and Akutagawa dropped his phone in his lap. Then he stood, dusted off his knees, and inclined his head in a small bow. “Thank you for the meal.”

That said, Akutagawa stepped up over the lip of the roof, next to Atsushi’s head, and vanished over the side. Atsushi exhaled a small laugh, pushed his hand back through his hair, and looked down at his mess, all over his clothing.

Fuck, what had he just gotten himself into?

<< Chapter 1 || Chapter 3 >>

[frmartinshomiliesandreflections]

9th February >> Fr. Martin's Reflections / Homilies on Today's Mass Readings (Inc. Mark 7:31-37) for Friday, Fifth Week in Ordinary Time: ‘He has done all things well'.

Friday, Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

Gospel (Except USA) Mark 7:31-37 'He makes the deaf hear and the dumb speak'.

Returning from the district of Tyre, Jesus went by way of Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, right through the Decapolis region. And they brought him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech; and they asked him to lay his hand on him. He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, put his fingers into the man’s ears and touched his tongue with spittle. Then looking up to heaven he sighed; and he said to him, ‘Ephphatha’, that is, ‘Be opened.’ And his ears were opened, and the ligament of his tongue was loosened and he spoke clearly. And Jesus ordered them to tell no one about it, but the more he insisted, the more widely they published it. Their admiration was unbounded. ‘He has done all things well,’ they said ‘he makes the deaf hear and the dumb speak.’

Gospel (USA) Mark 7:31-37 He makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.

Jesus left the district of Tyre and went by way of Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, into the district of the Decapolis. And people brought to him a deaf man who had a speech impediment and begged him to lay his hand on him. He took him off by himself away from the crowd. He put his finger into the man’s ears and, spitting, touched his tongue; then he looked up to heaven and groaned, and said to him, “Ephphatha!” (that is, “Be opened!”) And immediately the man’s ears were opened, his speech impediment was removed, and he spoke plainly. He ordered them not to tell anyone. But the more he ordered them not to, the more they proclaimed it. They were exceedingly astonished and they said, “He has done all things well. He makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”

Reflections (8)

(i) Friday, Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

The story of Jesus healing the deaf and dumb man in today’s gospel reading has made its way into the Rite of Baptism. After the child has been baptized, anointed with the oil of chrism and clothed with the baptismal robe, and after the godfather lights the baptismal candle from the Paschal Candle, the priest says a prayer over the child, ‘The Lord Jesus made the deaf hear and the dumb speak. May he soon touch your ears to receive his word, and your mouth to proclaim his faith, to the praise and glory of God the Father’. This prayer gives us a sense of one of the ways that this miracle story has come to be interpreted in the life of the church. Jesus’ opening of the man’s ears suggests our need for the Lord to open our ears more fully to really listen to his word. Of all the many ways to pray, the prayer of listening doesn’t always come easy to us. We have much to say to the Lord, and we can struggle to listen to what the Lord may be trying to say to us through his word. We all need our ears to be opened so that we can hear the Lord’s word more clearly. When Jesus opened the ears of the man in the gospel reading, he began to speak clearly. Good hearing can make for good speaking. That is true in our relationship with each other, and with the Lord. The more we listen to the word of the Lord, the more our speech is likely to reflect the speech of the Lord. In the language of the baptism rite, the more we receive the Lord’s word, the more we will be able to proclaim our faith in him, in all we say. Today’s gospel reading invites us to ask, ‘How well do we listen to the Lord speaking to us through his word, or through others?’ and ‘How well does our speech reflect and express the Lord’s way of speaking?’ We can all adapt the prayer of the Baptismal Liturgy to ourselves, ‘May the Lord touch our ears to receive his word, and our mouth to proclaim his faith, to the praise and glory of God the Father’.

And/Or

(ii) Friday, Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

The gospels often describe people bringing someone to Jesus. In particular, people bring those who cannot make their way to Jesus themselves. We are given a picture of people looking out for each other, especially for those who have some form of impediment or disability. We have a good example of that in today’s gospel reading. People brought to Jesus a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech and they begged Jesus to lay his hands on the man. They lead him to Jesus and then they intercede with Jesus on his behalf because he cannot speak for himself. The people who brought the man to Jesus portray one element of our own baptismal calling. We are all called to bring each other to Jesus, and, like the people in the gospel reading, to intercede for each other with the Lord, to pray for each other, especially for those who, for whatever reason, cannot pray for themselves. The Lord draws us to himself in and through each other. He needs us if he is to do his life-giving work, just as he needed people to bring the deaf man who couldn’t speak to him. Each of us is an important labourer in the Lord’s field. The Lord is dependent on every one of us.

And/Or

(iii) Friday, Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

At a certain point in his gospel, Mark presents Jesus as ministry to pagans, to those beyond the boundaries of Judaism. This morning’s gospel reading is taken from that section of Mark’s gospel. Jesus is in the Decapolis region, a region mostly populated by non-Jews and, there, he heals a pagan man who is both deaf and also has a speech impediment. At the end of the gospel reading, the people of that region say, ‘He has done all things well; he makes the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak’. Jesus only directly healed the man’s hearing, but once his hearing was healed, he lost his speech impediment. The gospel reading suggests that hearing is more fundamental than speaking. If our hearing is right, our speaking will be right. There is a very real sense in which listening is prior to speaking. We need to listen carefully before we speak. If we fail to listen, the words we speak may not be the right words. On the road to Emmaus, Jesus first listened to the story of the two disciples; only then did he tell a story of his own that shed new light on their story. As in all else, so in this matter of giving priority to listening over speaking, Jesus is our teacher. In the gospel reading people declare of Jesus, ‘he has done all things well’. His doing all things well was rooted in his attentive listening to God and to others, his attentiveness to all of life.

And/Or

(iv) Friday, Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

We can sometimes take our senses for granted, the fact that we can see, hear, and speak. A friend of mine suddenly lost his sense of hearing some years ago and the impact of that loss on him at the time was enormous. It is only when we lose one of our senses or someone close to us loses one of their senses that we begin to realize how precious those gifts are. Because they are such wonderful gifts we need to keep asking ourselves, ‘How am I using these gifts of hearing, sight, speech?’ In the gospel reading this morning a deaf man is brought to Jesus with an impediment in his speech. There can be a link between the two; the inability to hear can affect how people speak. Jesus first opened the man’s ears, and then he could speak clearly. For us who have the gifts of both hearing and speech, it is nevertheless true to say that the quality of our speaking is in some way related to the quality of our hearing. The better we are at listening, the better we may be at speaking. We need to listen to each other if we are to speak well to each other. More fundamentally, we need to listen to the word of the Lord if we are to speak the word of the Lord. It is only in listening to him that he can speak through us.

And/Or

(v) Friday, Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

In today’s gospel reading Jesus heals a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech. I am always struck by the fact that his speech impediment was healed after his ears were opened. His hearing returned first and then he could speak. There is a reminder to us there, perhaps, that hearing can be more important than speaking. Good speaking comes from good listening. That is true of our relationship with each other. We need to listen to each other before we know what to say to each other. It is also true of our relationship with the Lord. We need to listen to his word before we can proclaim that word. Attentiveness to the Lord comes before bearing witness to him by what we say and do. In the gospel reading people declare of Jesus, ‘he has done all things well’. His doing all things well was rooted in his attentive listening to God and to others, his attentiveness to all of life. There is a sense in which we are all a little bit like that man in the gospel reading who was brought to Jesus. We all need our ears to be opened that bit more so that we can speak well and, like Jesus, do all things well.

And/Or

(vi) Friday, Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

In the gospel reading, when Jesus was asked by people to heal a deaf man who had a speech impediment, he listened to their request and he responded to it. After Jesus healed the man, he asked those same people not to tell others about what he had done. However, the people who had brought the deaf and dumb man to Jesus did not listen to Jesus’ request. In fact, the more Jesus insisted that they say nothing to anyone about what he did, the more widely they published it. Even though Jesus listened to their request, they did not listen to his request. The man whom the people brought to Jesus did not listen because he could not listen; he was deaf. Yet, we know from our experience of ourselves and of others, that good hearing does not always make for good listening. Our failure to listen can often have an impact on what we say and how we say it. It is striking that when Jesus restored the deaf man’s hearing, he was able to speak clearly for the first time. His hearing and speaking were closely associated. Listening and speaking are also closely associated. The more we truly listen to someone, the more likely it is that the words we speak to them will build them up and bring them life.

And/Or

(vii) Friday, Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

There is a lovely prayer of blessing over the ears and mouth of the child during the liturgy of baptism. It is prayed shortly after the pouring of water on the child’s head, ‘The Lord made the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak. May he soon touch your ears to receive his word, and your mouth to proclaim his faith, to the praise and glory of God the Father’. The Lord did indeed make the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak. In today’s gospel reading, he made someone who was both deaf and dumb to hear and to speak. The prayer over the child at baptism reminds us that we all need the Lord’s help to hear and to speak, even if, unlike the man in the gospel reading, we are blessed with the gift of hearing and speech. We need the Lord’s help to truly listen to his word to us, and to courageously proclaim our faith in him. The fact that it was only after Jesus enabled the man to hear that he began to speak clearly suggests that good speaking presupposes good hearing. In many respects, hearing is more important than speaking. As it has been said, perhaps that is why the Lord gave us two ears and one mouth. We need to listen twice as much as we speak. If we listen well we are more likely to speak a word that builds up and enlightens. If we listen well to the Lord’s word to us, we are more likely to speak in the way that the Lord would want us to speak.

And/Or

(viii) Friday, Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

After Jesus heals the deaf man with an impediment in his speech, he calls on his friends who brought him to tell no one about this work of healing. Of course, the friends of the man couldn’t contain themselves and they published it widely. As a result, people remarked of Jesus, ‘He has done all things well’. Jesus is often portrayed in Mark’s gospel telling people not to broadcast some healing work he had just done. We might wonder why. Surely, God’s good work done through Jesus needs to be publicly proclaimed. Perhaps, Jesus didn’t want people following him for the wrong reasons, thinking that he was a just a miracle worker and always wanting him to do more of the same. There is so much more to Jesus than a miracle worker. When he hung from the cross he seemed anything but a miracle worker. Yet, the love that moved Jesus to respond to the sick and broken with compassion was the same love that led Jesus to the cross. He was crucified because he had come to reveal God’s fatherly and motherly love for all, especially for those whom the religious leaders of the time considered sinners. The Lord’s love did not discriminate. What discriminated was how people responded to his love that knew no boundaries. Some found such a love unsettling. We follow Jesus, our Lord, in response to his love for us. His love will not always work miracles in our lives. Sometimes we will find ourselves on the cross with him. At such times, his love for us isn’t any less, even though we may be tempted to think so. His love is always at work in a life giving way in our lives, until eventually it will bring us to a sharing in God’s life of love in eternity.

Fr. Martin Hogan.

[sunuism]

Cigarettes, a poem

Today I bought a pack of cigarettes for the first time With a shaking voice, I asked for a packet of Marlboro Red I know nothing about cigarettes so I had to google the name I went into the kiosk and bought a bottle of water, a pack of cigarettes and a lighter I sat behind the common building of the dormitory, hidden away from passing eyes And then I tried to light one.

I couldn't get the lighter to work There was also wind so the flame kept going out My thumbs were sore when I finally saw smoke at the end of the cigarette I sucked in the smoke And I coughed and coughed I know the smell of cigarettes well The suffocating, bitter smell of burning tobacco I sucked it into my lungs, desperate to feel something I took a puff, coughed, took a sip of water, took another puff But it didn't get better

When I was in secondary school I went for a walk with my friend She had gotten her hands on what she claimed was a joint She lit it, and smoked a little She asked if I wanted to try and I said yes But nothing happened. It was probably just an ordinary cigarette, but at that time I didn't cough. "You have to suck the smoke all the way into your lungs, and then breathe out." I did as instructed and didn't cough.

On such a March afternoon, I was sitting there My nose ran together with my eyes. The smoke was so disgusting But I was determined to get used to it I gradually became more and more dizzy It felt a bit like being drunk and not having control over my body After a few more puffs I was close to falling over The smoke rose into the air and mingled with the gray clouds in the sky I leaned back until I was lying down The whole world spun before my eyes

When I was in high school, I always saw my classmates smoking in the school yard You weren't allowed to, but everyone did it anyway Smoking was a status symbol that said "I am part of the class." No one ever offered me cigarettes I didn't care at the time, there were more important things in life, I was convinced During recess, I sat in the corner of the classroom and read a book

I coughed a little again I was nauseous I sat up again The cigarette long gone, only half burnt down I pulled a tissue out of my tote bag and blew my nose For a while I sat there and stared ahead and thught about how people can stand it Lump in the throat, stomach rumbling, head spinning I picked up my phone, which had been by my side the whole time 18:03 Friday March 31, no new notifications

A year ago I started a new education I watched as they all went out and smoked during the break If only I smoked, then I had an excuse to talk to them "Do you want to go out for a smoke?" "No thank you." They don't all smoke, but those who don't join for fun I can't bring myself to ask if I can join

The taste of smoke stuck in my throat as I trudged slowly, swaying towards my building When I got back up to my room I tried to throw up Even though my stomach was empty I laid down on the bathroom floor, lay there and gasped for air again And wondered how others do this With shaking hands I grabbed my phone that was in front of me 18:36, no new notifications And I stifled a scream

[gwendolynlerman]

Deutschribing Germany

Public holidays

Public holidays can be set by the federal government or the Länder. Only the Day of German Unity is set by federal law; the rest of them, even those celebrated all over Germany, are made holidays by state legislation. As a result, there are between ten and thirteen (in Bavaria), depending on the state. Most states have either ten or eleven public holidays.

The nine holidays observed nationwide are the following: 

January 1 - Neujahrstag (New Year’s Day)

Karfreitag (Good Friday)

Ostermontag (Easter Monday)

May 1 - Tag der Arbeit (Labor Day)

Christi Himmelfahrt (Ascension Day): it commemorates the ascension of Jesus into Heaven and takes place 39 days after Easter Sunday.

Pfingstmontag (Whit Monday): it celebrates the descent of the Holy Spirit and marks the resumption of ordinary time. It takes place fifty days after Easter.

October 3 - Tag der Deutschen Einheit (German Unity Day): this holiday commemorates German reunification in 1990.

December 25 - Weihnachtstag (Christmas Day)

December 26 - Zweiter Weihnachtsfeiertag (Boxing Day)

Public holidays observed in only some states include:

January 6 - Heilige Drei Könige (Epiphany) - Baden-Württemberg (BW), Bavaria (BY), and Saxony-Anhalt (ST): it celebrates the visit of the Three Wise Men after the birth of Christ. Groups of children dressed as the Three Wise Men known as Sternsinger (star singers) go from door to door to sing, ask for donations for worthy causes, and perform the traditional house blessing by marking the year over the door with chalk.

The numbers indicate the year, while the letters mean either the names of the Three Wise Men (Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar) or the Latin phrase Christus mansionem benedicat (May Christ bless this house).

March 8 - Frauentag (Women’s Day) - Berlin (BE) and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (MV)

Fronleichnam (Corpus Christi) - BW, BY, Hesse (HE), North Rhine-Westphalia (NW), Rhineland-Palatinate (RP), and Saarland (SL): it celebrates the Eucharist, that is, the body and blood of Christ embodied in sacramental bread and wine. It takes place sixty days after Easter Sunday.

August 15 - Mariä Himmelfahrt (Assumption of Mary) - BY and SL: this holiday celebrates Virgin’s Mary ascension into Heaven after her death.

September 20 - Weltkindertag (World Children’s Day) - Thuringia (TH)

October 31 - Reformationstag (Reformation Day) - Brandenburg (BB), Bremen (HB), Hamburg (HH), MV, Lower Saxony (NI), Saxony (SN), ST, Schleswig-Holstein (SH), and TH: it celebrates the onset of the reformation, as Martin Luther nailed his Ninety-five Theses on this day.

November 1 - Allerheiligen (All Saints’ Day) - BW, BY, NW, RP, and SL: this holiday commemorates all Christian saints.

Buß- und Bettag (Repentance and Prayer Day) - SN: it falls on the second Wednesday before the First Sunday in Advent.

While Father’s Day has a fixed date (Ascension Day), Mother’s Day takes place on the second Sunday of May. Furthermore, there is another unofficial holiday, Rosenmontag (“rose Monday”), which takes place on the Monday before Ash Wednesday. It is a de facto holiday in Catholic western and southern Germany, and especially celebrated in Carnival strongholds such as Aachen, Bonn, Cologne, Düsseldorf, and Mainz.

Some public holidays (Good Friday, All Saints, and Prayer and Repentance Day) are quiet days (stille Tage), which means that public dancing, live music at inns, and noisy activities around the house, such as playing loud music, vacuuming, and construction with electric tools, are prohibited.

Holidays that always fall on Sunday are not determined by law but are quiet days: Volkstrauertag (Memorial Day), which takes place two Sundays before the first day of Advent and commemorates people who died in armed conflicts, both military and civilian, and Totensonntag (Sunday of the Dead), which is the Protestant equivalent of All Souls’ Day that commemorates the faithfully departed and falls on the last Sunday of the liturgical year in the Evangelical Church.

Some days that are not designated as public holidays are quiet days in certain states, such as Ash Wednesday, Holy Thursday, Holy Saturday, All Souls’ Day, and Christmas Eve (beginning in the afternoon).

[towerblockers]

Lunchtime Tragedy: Man Falls from Clifftop Picnic Spot in Terrey Hills

In what was supposed to be a serene Friday lunch outing, a man experienced a fatal fall from the Duckholes Trail picnic area in Terrey Hills, located about 30km north of Sydney’s bustling CBD. The incident, which unfolded around 12:31 PM, turned an ordinary day into one of sorrow and emergency response. Local emergency services were alerted and quickly arrived at the scene, but despite their…

[wherevermybiketakesme]

The Last 27 Days

There's a concept that James Clear introduced in Atomic Habits: Never Miss Twice. It's basically the ability to acknowledge a mistake and find ways to get back on track to avoid making that same mistake twice.

One mistake is just an outlier. Two mistakes is the beginning of a pattern.

While I was able to ride every day again after missing a day, I sadly failed to get back on track with the daily journal. I'm not going to find any excuse. If this has turned into a pattern, then this is me breaking it. I'll try to post two entries in two days and hope shit sticks around this time.

I actually had a little something jotted down about the day I arrived in Yogyakarta two weeks ago, just before the start of Mangewu Mangatus. I thought that it was too good to be kept as a draft, might as well share it here:

The Last 40 Days I arrived in Yogyakarta on Friday at four in the morning. After unloading my bike from the bus, I set the course to Nao's. Tasha's already there earlier. It was still dark when I first rolled on the big Jogja ring road. The air was warm and there were already people starting to go about their day. I turned at an intersection and in front of me a lone woman rode her bicycle at this early hour.

I love seeing how the people of Jogja and the neighboring towns and cities use bikes as a viable means of transportation. The corners of the city are lined with alternative passageways for bicycle, giving you access to the every day conduct of the common people in their houses. Beyond this, there's character and personality in the ordinary flow of lives in Jogja: in the way the food tastes, in the inconspicuous coffee places in the maze of alleys or residential complex, in the street murals, in the late night angkringan tents, in how pleasant it is to hear Yogyakartans speak. Maybe that's why I always find excuses to go back.

I arrived at Nao's at the first light of the day. It was only 5AM. After spending a little time with a friendly neighborhood orange cat, I phoned Tasha. Shortly after, she appeared at the door in blue pajamas. With that, the day that's full of conversations and connections began, popping in places at the heart of Jogja with good food, good coffee, and good company. I interacted with more people and spoke more words on this single day than I usually do in a week. Don't get me wrong, I loved it. But it came at the cost of my entire social bandwidth, leaving me tired and drained by the end of the day. I didn't mind because, come the weekend, I'd fill my cup again.

***

That was the day before the race. The next day I lined up at the start line with the other 30+ riders. Suffice to say the race was another good adventure in the book. Thanks to the parcour segments, I got to see new places in Central Java such as Kedung Ombo (Tasha said it looks like some place in Switzerland), Telomoyo, and Mangunan (the hardest part of the ride). Not to mention crossing the raging flow of Kali Bening in the dark, on a narrow hanging bridge, praying for dear life. Some places we rode through were familiar to me as they were part of the courses of audax Yogyakarta of four years past. The weather was unfriendly, but it's November. We sucked it up and brushed it off. On Sunday afternoon, we crossed the finish line, just a little before the downpour started, greeted by friends. Wahoo showed that we were 200m short of elevation gain but after we made adjustments in Strava, we came down to the final stats of 503km with 5300m of climbing, clocked at 31 hours. Not too shabby, all things considered.

I headed back to Bandung the very next day on the first bus home. And so began an uneventful fortnight. At least on a macro level, we've now caught up to the present.

Being away from posting daily dispatches has made me realize how much I miss writing about the subtle and obscure details of moments in the day. For example, over the past couple of days, it has been misty at an altitude of 900 masl. Above that, you can see how the basin of this ancient lake city is engulfed in thick fog, while Malabar and the rows of mountains to the south stand clearly visible through the crisp, clean air, along with the perfectly pointy peak of Cikuray, just slightly behind Papandayan. Turn your head westward and you'll see Gede Pangrango, blue in the distance.

And then the rare-to-come-by-these-days late afternoon I spent outside, admiring flowers in bloom and some patches of blue sky.

It's hard to stay mad amidst this beauty offered up every day for free.

Glad to be back posting again. Until tomorrow.

Bandung, December 5, 2024

[charlottejacksonfineart]

JAMES DRAKE: Tongue-Cut Sparrows

August 30 - September 28, 2024

Opening Reception for the Artist: Friday, August 30th, 5-7 PM

Gallery Talk: Saturday, August 1st, 3 PM

Artist James Drake, poet Jimmy Santiago Baca, and David Chickey

Radius Book Signing in the gallery on August 30 and 31

In stark black and white, a woman stands with one hand folded purposely over another. Another woman, face dappled in shadow, looks upward with longing at something we, as viewers, cannot see. A flock of ghostly black sparrows are ringed by an elaborate, old-fashioned frame design. Elsewhere hands flex and flare into a gesture of wings.

Photographs. Drawings. Video. Text. James Drake’s Tongue-Cut Sparrows is a massive undertaking, bringing together an astonishing range of arts media, created and developed over the course of 30 years (and still ongoing). As with so much of Drake’s work, this series has its origins in the borderlands of El Paso, where he lived and worked for decades. The project was sparked in 1994 by curiosity over witnessing a group of people (mostly women) gathered outside of the El Paso County Jail, moving, gesturing, and signing up toward the prison. He asked a friend about what was happening and discovered that these were family, friends, and lovers of prisoners, using an invented language of signs and gestures to communicate to their loved ones over distance, and without having to submit to the timetables, strictures, limitations, and scrutiny of official prison visits.

He was able to negotiate an introduction to the group, and slowly gain their trust. Drake has an amazing ability (as witnessed in other of his ongoing projects) to connect and enter into the cultural context of another, to investigate and find common ground. As an artist, he found his subjects were often more willing to let him in and share with him – curious about his work and perspective. Over the course of two years, Drake met with members of this community, asking questions, learning about the language, taking photos and video, and eventually collaborating with them. While the usual communications that these women make are about ordinary sorts of subjects, (How are the kids? When is my lawyer coming? I miss you. I love you.), Drake asked them if they’d be willing to translate and sign texts by famous authors. Drake brought in many favorites, from Shakespeare, Lorca and Machado to contemporary authors like Cormac McCarthy and Jimmy Santiago Baca. The subjects chose works that resonated with them, often in Spanish and English versions. Drake captured some of these gestural performances on video. 

The title of the project originally comes from a Japanese folktale in which a sparrow is rescued and befriended by an older couple. A jealous woman cuts the tongue of the sparrow, leaving it injured, unable to speak, and forced back into the woodland. The old man eventually finds his sparrow friend along with a whole community of magical sparrows, who are so grateful for his intervention that they offer him a reward for his kindness.

There is a Hokusai painting of the folktale, Shita-kiri Suzume (literally translated to Tongue-Cut Sparrow), showing an open-mouthed sparrow flying above a pair of sheers. Almost invisible is the tiny brown crescent of the sparrow’s tongue, floating between the two. To be “tongue-cut” is a violent and shocking image, a powerful metaphor for disenfranchisement and the prejudices and economics that so often silence individuals and communities. The ingenious and creative language developed by the group Drake encountered (and echoed by the existence of other groups all over the world, who sign in their own invented languages to loved ones in prison) is a remarkable response to silencing.

Through the years exhibitions of works from Tongue-Cut Sparrows have occurred all over the world, from the Venice Biennale in 2009 to the Albright Knox in 2011 and galleries in New York, Texas, and elsewhere. Following this exhibition at Charlotte Jackson Fine Art in Santa Fe, there are multiple more exhibitions planned, including for SITE Santa Fe in 2026 and a collaborative performance piece at Carnegie Hall in October of this year.

Drake’s unique and diverse assemblage of art (artifacts?), in many media, drops us into the middle of a dialogue, a story. We are in the position of the outsider – like a prison guard at the El Paso jail, or a random passerby on the sidewalk – witnessing a language for which we don’t have the knowledge of grammar or syntax, let alone vocabulary. With Drake’s work we are presented with a symbolic and metaphoric expression, articulating itself in multiple forms, numerous media, or perhaps more accurately – in multiple gestures. Painting, video, photography, poetry. Each is a part of a whole message: a love letter, a documentary, an essay of social anthropology, a novel. We are invited into this unknown, yet deeply human and familiar world, to translate for ourselves a deep and multifaceted story.

- Michaela Kahn, Ph.D.

left: James Drake, Tongue-Cut Sparrows X, 2018, charcoal on paper, 71 x 52 inches right: James Drake, Tongue-Cut Sparrows XI, 2018, charcoal on paper, 71 x 52 inches

[catolinewsdailyreadings]

Friday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Readings of Friday, July 26, 2024

Reading 1

JER 3:14-17

Return, rebellious children, says the LORD, for I am your Master; I will take you, one from a city, two from a clan, and bring you to Zion. I will appoint over you shepherds after my own heart, who will shepherd you wisely and prudently. When you multiply and become fruitful in the land, says the LORD, They will in those days no longer say, “The ark of the covenant of the LORD!” They will no longer think of it, or remember it,  or miss it, or make another.

At that time they will call Jerusalem the LORD’s throne; there all nations will be gathered together to honor the name of the LORD at Jerusalem, and they will walk no longer in their hardhearted wickedness.

Responsorial Psalm

JER 31

R. The Lord will guard us as a shepherd guards his flock.

Hear the word of the LORD, O nations, proclaim it on distant isles, and say: He who scattered Israel, now gathers them together, he guards them as a shepherd his flock.  R. The Lord will guard us as a shepherd guards his flock.

The LORD shall ransom Jacob, he shall redeem him from the hand of his conqueror. Shouting, they shall mount the heights of Zion, they shall come streaming to the LORD’s blessings: The grain, the wine, and the oil, the sheep and the oxen. R. The Lord will guard us as a shepherd guards his flock.

Then the virgins shall make merry and dance, and young men and old as well. I will turn their mourning into joy, I will console and gladden them after their sorrows. R. The Lord will guard us as a shepherd guards his flock.

Gospel

MT 13:18-23

Jesus said to his disciples: "Hear the parable of the sower. The seed sown on the path is the one who hears the word of the Kingdom without understanding it, and the Evil One comes and steals away what was sown in his heart. The seed sown on rocky ground is the one who hears the word and receives it at once with joy. But he has no root and lasts only for a time. When some tribulation or persecution comes because of the word, he immediately falls away. The seed sown among thorns is the one who hears the word, but then worldly anxiety and the lure of riches choke the word and it bears no fruit. But the seed sown on rich soil is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold."

[ongolecharles]

DAILY SCRIPTURE READINGS (DSR) 📚 Group, Fri July 26th, 2024 ... Friday of The Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time, Year B/Memorial of Saints Joachim and Anne, Parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Reading 1 

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JER 3:14-17

Return, rebellious children, says the LORD,

for I am your Master;

I will take you, one from a city, two from a clan,

and bring you to Zion.

I will appoint over you shepherds after my own heart,

who will shepherd you wisely and prudently.

When you multiply and become fruitful in the land,

says the LORD,

They will in those days no longer say,

“The ark of the covenant of the LORD!”

They will no longer think of it, or remember it, 

or miss it, or make another.

At that time they will call Jerusalem the LORD’s throne;

there all nations will be gathered together

to honor the name of the LORD at Jerusalem,

and they will walk no longer in their hardhearted wickedness.

Responsorial Psalm 

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JER 31:10, 11-12ABCD, 13

R. (see 10d) The Lord will guard us as a shepherd guards his flock.

Hear the word of the LORD, O nations,

proclaim it on distant isles, and say:

He who scattered Israel, now gathers them together,

he guards them as a shepherd his flock. 

R. The Lord will guard us as a shepherd guards his flock.

The LORD shall ransom Jacob,

he shall redeem him from the hand of his conqueror.

Shouting, they shall mount the heights of Zion,

they shall come streaming to the LORD’s blessings:

The grain, the wine, and the oil,

the sheep and the oxen.

R. The Lord will guard us as a shepherd guards his flock.

Then the virgins shall make merry and dance,

and young men and old as well.

I will turn their mourning into joy,

I will console and gladden them after their sorrows.

R. The Lord will guard us as a shepherd guards his flock.

Alleluia 

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LK 8:15

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Blessed are they who have kept the word with a generous heart

and yield a harvest through perseverance.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel 

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MT 13:18-23

Jesus said to his disciples:

“Hear the parable of the sower.

The seed sown on the path is the one who hears the word of the Kingdom

without understanding it,

and the Evil One comes and steals away

what was sown in his heart.

The seed sown on rocky ground

is the one who hears the word and receives it at once with joy.

But he has no root and lasts only for a time.

When some tribulation or persecution comes because of the word,

he immediately falls away.

The seed sown among thorns is the one who hears the word,

but then worldly anxiety and the lure of riches choke the word

and it bears no fruit.

But the seed sown on rich soil

is the one who hears the word and understands it,

who indeed bears fruit and yields a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.”

***

FOCUS AND LITURGY OF THE WORD

In viewing our world today, I often marvel at the depth of our amazing God’s love.  His patience is so far beyond anything I could ever imagine.  I genuinely want to be obedient to my Lord and Savior.  Yet, as hard as I try , it just seems that sinful thoughts, words and actions continue to find a way back into my life.  I certainly do not deserve agape love and grace,  but that is what I continue to receive from my loving God.  I truly do not understand how the God of the universe could possibly care about a sinner like me, but I see His hand at work every single day in the little challenges that I am constantly facing.  These unmistakable “miracles from God” simply take my breath away.

So this little glimpse into my life seems to fit precisely into what God has for us all in today’s messages.  The prophet Jeremiah certainly was aware of his people’s propensity to sin, to rebel against the Lord.  In our first Reading, we find our loving Father bringing His people back to their promised land.  They obviously did not deserve it, but God showered them with His love right when, where and how they needed it.  Not only did He promise to appoint wise shepherd leaders to guide them, but He also promised to make them fruitful.  Jeremiah’s reference to the Lord’s throne in Jerusalem points to the promise of  a New Jerusalem described in the 21st  & 22nd chapters of Revelation – a world where hardhearted wickedness no longer exists.  An eternal promise of hope, something far better than anything I could possibly imagine.

The Responsorial Psalm further reinforces this promise of our loving God carefully shepherding the Jewish people back to their homeland.  God knows about their suffering and is fulfilling His promise of His loving presence in their lives.  He once again meets their specific needs, even though they do not deserve such amazing GRACE. 

The Alleluia from the Gospel of Luke adds to this picture the concept of a glorious harvest produced through perseverance.  That unwavering commitment enables us to maintain our focus upon our God and Savior - no matter the trials we will face as we seek to be a part of His harvest. 

In today’s Gospel found in the 13th chapter of Matthew, Jesus is addressing a large crowd.  He began with the parable of the Sower.   This profound story addresses the challenges we face in our struggle to maintain our focus upon our Savior.  Jesus knows how easy it is for us to allow the world’s ways to displace our commitment to God.  He understands that we likely will not even recognize the forces working against our faith. First off, we must ask ourselves if we have ears to hear and eyes to see.  Are we able to recognize those forces working against our faith?  We all desire a life filled with the “good soil” - a life that points to Jesus, but to achieve that goal we will need a deep seeded commitment to God.  It is only through an unwavering faith that we  are able to pursue and embrace God’s direction for our life.  Jesus knows all about our weaknesses.  His concern lies with the condition of our heart.  To be Sowers for Christ, we must first understand and guard against the challenges to our faith.  To become the good soil that Christ can use we must be able to recognize and effectively explain our own sanctification journey.  This parable points out that we will not always be successful; the seeds He sows through us will not always produce the results we can see.   We must continue sowing.  We are called not to just hear and understand, but also to bear fruit.  Jesus is asking us to not only be part of the planting, but also to be part of the joyous harvest.  It is only through His agape love that He can orchestrate such a harvest through us.

Let's pray ...

Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for your truly incredible love and seemingly endless patience.  You care about each of us and shower us with your GRACE.  Give us your eyes to see and ears to hear the cries of this world.  Use each of us as we reach out and touch the lives of those you have placed within our small personal world.  Help us to be more like you each and every moment of our lives.  In the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ. Amen

***

SAINT OF THE DAY

Saints Joachim and Anne

(c. 1st century)

Saints Joachim and Anne’s Story

In the Scriptures, Matthew and Luke furnish a legal family history of Jesus, tracing ancestry to show that Jesus is the culmination of great promises. Not only is his mother’s family neglected, we also know nothing factual about them except that they existed. Even the names “Joachim” and “Anne” come from a legendary source written more than a century after Jesus died.

The heroism and holiness of these people however, is inferred from the whole family atmosphere around Mary in the Scriptures. Whether we rely on the legends about Mary’s childhood or make guesses from the information in the Bible, we see in her a fulfillment of many generations of prayerful persons, herself steeped in the religious traditions of her people.

The strong character of Mary in making decisions, her continuous practice of prayer, her devotion to the laws of her faith, her steadiness at moments of crisis, and her devotion to her relatives—all indicate a close-knit, loving family that looked forward to the next generation even while retaining the best of the past.

Joachim and Anne—whether these are their real names or not—represent that entire quiet series of generations who faithfully perform their duties, practice their faith, and establish an atmosphere for the coming of the Messiah, but remain obscure.

Reflection

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This is the “feast of grandparents.” It reminds grandparents of their responsibility to establish a tone for generations to come: They must make the traditions live and offer them as a promise to little children. But the feast has a message for the younger generation as well. It reminds the young that older people’s greater perspective, depth of experience, and appreciation of life’s profound rhythms are all part of a wisdom not to be taken lightly or ignored.

Saints Joachim and Anne are the Patron Saints of:

Grandparents

Saint Anne is the Patron Saint of:

Mothers

Women in Labor

***

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[templevirgin]

Daily Reading: Friday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time

Matthew 5:27-32

Jesus said to his disciples: “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you, everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one of your members than to have your whole body thrown into Gehenna. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one of your members than to have your whole body go into Gehenna. It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife must give her a bill of divorce.’ But I say to you, whoever divorces his wife (unless the marriage is unlawful) causes her to commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.”

Introductory Prayer: Lord Jesus, today I will contemplate your love in action. You continually go out of your way to make your presence felt in my life, and I am very grateful. Thank you, Lord, for another day; it is another opportunity to deepen my love and friendship with you.

Petition: A clean heart create for me, God; renew within me a steadfast spirit. (Ps 51:12)

Reflections

1. Guard Your Eyes: Concerning purity of heart, Jesus takes this demand for purity a step further than the Old Testament. He teaches that to even look at a woman with lust in your heart, seeing her as merely an object to satisfy your lustful desires, is seriously sinful. Jesus does not say that it is sinful to simply recognize a woman as beautiful, or by extension, a woman recognizing a man as handsome. It is when we see the other as an object and have impure thoughts about them that we give in to sin. In other words, the temptation itself is not a sin; it is when we accept that temptation into our heart and give it a home by willfully playing with it in our mind that we step over the line. Lord Jesus, it’s so easy to grant myself concessions in this area, but with your aid I will be firm in my resolve to guard my senses, remembering an adage from the computer age: “Garbage in, garbage out!”

2. If It Puts Your Soul in Danger, It’s Got to Go: Christ’s call to holy purity, like every other virtue, is eminently positive. “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Mt 22:37). Purity is a consequence of the love that prompts us to commit to Christ our soul and body, our faculties and senses. Jesus uses the images of “right eye” and “right hand” to refer to that which we value most. He is telling us that if that which we value most in life has become a stumbling block in our relationship with the Lord, then, simply put, it’s got to go. It is far better to lose a possession or a position or to break off a relationship than to risk the eternal salvation of our soul. We must be prepared to fight for righteousness with all of our strength, being ready to eliminate whatever could clearly lead us to offend the Lord.

3. And the Two Shall Become One: Jesus re-established the principle of the absolute indissolubility of marriage, a principle that has been unhesitatingly taught by the Church from the very beginning. Pope Pius XI reminded us in Casti Connubii (December 31, 1930) about the immutable and inviolable truth that “matrimony was not instituted or re-established by men, but by God… Consequently, those laws can in no way be subject to human wills or to any contrary pact made even by the contracting parties. This is the teaching of Sacred Scripture; it is the constant and universal Tradition of the Church.” Marriage endures until death though the love may last forever. What God has joined together, let nothing separate. Am I living my marriage as a covenant? Do I treat my spouse with respect and affection? Do I dedicate my heart, time, and energy to cultivating our love, so it will endure and flourish?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, I want to live with purity, and I know that this requires a strong will and a constant effort in this world that encourages instant gratification of the senses. Give me the strength in particular to guard my eyes and control my imagination. Help me to be exquisitely faithful to my spouse.

Resolution: I will promote the virtue of purity in my personal life and set a good example for others by incorporating into my lifestyle the time-tested ascetical methods that the Church has proposed to us down through the ages: frequent confession and Communion; devotion to Our Lady; a spirit of prayer and mortification; guarding of the senses; flight from occasions of sin; and striving to avoid idleness by always being engaged in doing useful things.

[roman-catholic-mass-readings]

26th July >> Mass Readings (USA)

Saint Joachim and Saint Anne, parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary 

on

Friday, Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time.

Friday, Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time

(Liturgical Colour: White. Year: B(II))

(Readings for the feria (Friday))

(There is a choice today between the readings for the ferial day (Friday) and those for the memorial. The ferial readings are recommended unless pastoral reasons suggest otherwise)

First Reading Jeremiah 3:14-17 I will appoint over you shepherds after my own heart; all nations will be gathered together at Jerusalem.

Return, rebellious children, says the LORD, for I am your Master; I will take you, one from a city, two from a clan, and bring you to Zion. I will appoint over you shepherds after my own heart, who will shepherd you wisely and prudently. When you multiply and become fruitful in the land, says the LORD, They will in those days no longer say, “The ark of the covenant of the LORD!” They will no longer think of it, or remember it, or miss it, or make another.

At that time they will call Jerusalem the LORD’s throne; there all nations will be gathered together to honor the name of the LORD at Jerusalem, and they will walk no longer in their hardhearted wickedness.

The Word of the Lord

R/ Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm Jeremiah 31:10, 11-12abcd, 13

R/ The Lord will guard us as a shepherd guards his flock.

Hear the word of the LORD, O nations, proclaim it on distant isles, and say: He who scattered Israel, now gathers them together, he guards them as a shepherd his flock.

R/ The Lord will guard us as a shepherd guards his flock.

The LORD shall ransom Jacob, he shall redeem him from the hand of his conqueror. Shouting, they shall mount the heights of Zion, they shall come streaming to the LORD’s blessings: The grain, the wine, and the oil, the sheep and the oxen.

R/ The Lord will guard us as a shepherd guards his flock.

Then the virgins shall make merry and dance, and young men and old as well. I will turn their mourning into joy, I will console and gladden them after their sorrows.

R/ The Lord will guard us as a shepherd guards his flock.

Gospel Acclamation cf. Luke 8:15

Alleluia, alleluia. Blessed are they who have kept the word with a generous heart and yield a harvest through perseverance. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel Matthew 13:18-23 The one who hears the word and understands it will bear much fruit.

Jesus said to his disciples: “Hear the parable of the sower. The seed sown on the path is the one who hears the word of the Kingdom without understanding it, and the Evil One comes and steals away what was sown in his heart. The seed sown on rocky ground is the one who hears the word and receives it at once with joy. But he has no root and lasts only for a time. When some tribulation or persecution comes because of the word, he immediately falls away. The seed sown among thorns is the one who hears the word, but then worldly anxiety and the lure of riches choke the word and it bears no fruit. But the seed sown on rich soil is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.”

The Gospel of the Lord

R/ Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

------------------------------

Saint Joachim and Saint Anne, parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary 

(Liturgical Colour: White. Year: B(II))

(Readings for the memorial)

(There is a choice today between the readings for the ferial day (Friday) and those for the memorial. The ferial readings are recommended unless pastoral reasons suggest otherwise)

First reading Sirach 44:1, 10-15 Their name lives on and on.

Now will I praise those godly men, our ancestors, each in his own time: These were godly men whose virtues have not been forgotten; Their wealth remains in their families, their heritage with their descendants; Through God’s covenant with them their family endures, their posterity for their sake.

And for all time their progeny will endure, their glory will never be blotted out; Their bodies are peacefully laid away, but their name lives on and on. At gatherings their wisdom is retold, and the assembly proclaims their praise.

The Word of the Lord

R/ Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm Psalm 132:11, 13-14, 17-18

R/ God will give him the throne of David, his father.

The LORD swore to David a firm promise from which he will not withdraw: “Your own offspring I will set upon your throne.”

R/ God will give him the throne of David, his father.

For the LORD has chosen Zion; he prefers her for his dwelling. “Zion is my resting place forever; in her will I dwell, for I prefer her.”

R/ God will give him the throne of David, his father.

“In her will I make a horn to sprout forth for David; I will place a lamp for my anointed. His enemies I will clothe with shame, but upon him my crown shall shine.”

R/ God will give him the throne of David, his father.

Gospel Acclamation cf. Luke 2:25c

Alleluia, alleluia. They yearned for the comforting of Israel, and the Holy Spirit rested upon them. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel Matthew 13:16-17 Many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see.

Jesus said to his disciples: “Blessed are your eyes, because they see, and your ears, because they hear. Amen, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.”

The Gospel of the Lord

R/ Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

[secureinstyle]

Weekly Style Recap & Gratitude - May 28 - 31, 2024

Tech, book, outfits, gratitude, it's all here. NEW BLOG POST! Weekly Style Recap & Gratitude: May 28 - 31, 2024.

Happy Friday! It’s finally almost at the end of a short week, which always seem to last longer than an ordinary work week, wouldn’t you agree? Next week will be a VERY short week for me, as I will be attending the RVASec security conference on Tuesday and Wednesday. I wasn’t able to attend last year, so I’m looking forward to getting back out there, as I had been attending it since 2021. I always…