Blue Lions' Den

Time to Pretend: by Braden Pace

2010-03-24T09:24:00.002-05:00

While growing up in a small town left me with not much to do, so I had to use my imagination a lot. I was always using my imagination in everything I did. I loved going outside to my basketball goal and pretending that I was playing in the state championship game. With my team down by one point with only a few seconds remaining, the ball was in my hands. I drove towards the goal, pulled up from fifteen feet, and shot the ball. Swish. I had just won the state tournament. Or well at least I won it in my imagination.

Everyone uses their imagination for different things. I have used mine for just about everything you can use it for. Even now I still use my imagination to help me figure things out. I always daydream about my life in the future or I might daydream about what I am going to do this weekend. Daydreaming and pretending are good for people because it gives them ideas that they can work towards.

I use my imagination to daydream about how my life will hopefully play out. By daydreaming it has allowed me to imagine how my life will play out both career wise and religion wise. I will daydream about becoming a pilot and because of those daydreams I now have the drive to work towards my dream and become the pilot that I want to be.

Newsies

2010-03-21T11:34:00.000-05:00

So I was listening to my favorite Disney live action musical about turn of the 20th Century newsboys going on strike, Newsies, the other day and was inspired to completely change my blog topic this week. Newsies has often been a beacon of light in troubled times for me, the inspiring singing and dancing, the defiant story of the little guy taking on the man, Christian Bale and the guy who played Doogie Howser’s friend paling about New York. And, this is a big and, Bill Pullman is in the film. What more can a person want from a film? Nary a thing I say.

As I was being inspired to both “Seize the Day” and to “Carry the Banner” I wondered, how on earth is Newsies is connected to BU 102? Over the course of this semester we have looked back at our past, surveyed our present, and begun planning for our future. We have rowed across the Atlantic with Tori Murden McClure and developed a recipe for courage with Harry Potter at Hogwarts. We have learned about Brescia’s Ursuline heritage and participated in a StrengthsQuest workshop. We have colored with crayons and written blogs for the interweb.

Our topics of discussion have been random at times, and at times very personal. The main lesson I want to leave you with, as we approach our last class time together, is to take what you have learned and act. Everything we have done this semester and last will be for not if you succumb to fear and do nothing. Each of you possesses a unique set of gifts and has begun to articulate these gifts for yourself. Use these gifts. Be courageous like Tori or Harry Potter. Follow Kierkegaard’s advice and take that leap to faith. Act. Be. Do. Seize the day, whether you fight for an oppressed group or you counsel a friend, take what you have learned into the world leave it a better place. I expect no less of the Blue Lion’s Den.

Journal Prompt: How do you see yourself living your Strengths and the Brescia Difference throughout the rest of the undergraduate experience? Be specific, list actions you will take to make this happen. Dream big and act boldly.

Josh Clary Recommends:
Alka-Seltzer

For most of the past week I was laid up on my couch, victim of a terrible cold. I did try to find some fun in the midst of it all, and one such pleasure was every 4 hours taking an Alka-Seltzer and watching the fizzyness. Hey, when you’re sick, it’s the little things that make a big difference. Enjoy this 1950s commercial for Alka-Seltzer (the antacid, not the cold medicine, but you get the idea):

MST3K Clip of the Week:
The Devil Doll

William Sylvester, of 2001: A Space Odyssey fame, “stars” in this film about an evil ventriloquist (is there any other kind?) who takes the souls of people and transfers them into his puppets. The “Great Vorelli” argues with Hugo, his puppet, about eating ham in a riveting scene. There are lots of rotary phone scenes and awkward staring at puppets. Best line: “You think he likes ham? Wait ‘til you see me like ham!”

That’s it for this week, peace out,

Shoeless Josh

Here it is, your clip of the week:

Time to Pretend

2010-03-14T16:41:00.000-05:00

When I was a kid, I liked to pretend a lot, to make believe, if you will. An active imagination is the enemy of boredom, and I used mine. I can’t really recall what all I pretended, except for two games we played at Miss Jane’s, the woman who baby-sat me. We would play Batman and I was always Commissioner Gordon. You have no idea have much it sucks to play Gordon. All you do is light the Bar signal and then you tell Batman what is up. That’s it. You’re done. It totally blew.

The other game is going to sound weird, especially to anyone who wasn’t alive when this event occurred, and I doubt you were. We would play baby Jessica, the girl who fell into the well and got stuck somewhere in Texas I think. We would take the dining room chairs and place them backs facing each other in a circle. Then, we would place a blanket over them and we had our well. Someone would throw a baby doll in the well and we would then reenact the rescue which we had seen many times on TV. Lame, maybe. Odd, yes. But we were using our imaginations, we were pretending.

Fast forward to today, and I still pretend a lot. Most of my wondering involves my future: where will I be in 5 years? How will my life change when I am married? These are the types of scenarios I envision and play out in my head when I lie in bed at night.

Pretending and thinking about my future can be a good thing but it can distract us from where we are the present. Daydreaming can lead us to action, though. We have to plan and work to see those plans through. Similar to when we talked about courage in class, we must prepare and then act. I dream and plan a lot, but when I have been faced with the most difficult decisions in my life, I just make a decision, taking that leap to faith. Reflection can only be halted by a leap.
The video to “Time to Pretend” by MGMT is kind of weird, but focus on the lyrics, which are provided below.

“Time to Pretend” by MGMT

I'm feeling rough, I'm feeling raw, I'm in the prime of my life.
Let's make some music, make some money, find some models for wives.
I'll move to Paris, shoot some heroin, and fuck with the stars.
You man the island and the cocaine and the elegant cars.

This is our decision, to live fast and die young.
We've got the vision, now let's have some fun.
Yeah, it's overwhelming, but what else can we do.
Get jobs in offices, and wake up for the morning commute.

Forget about our mothers and our friends
We're fated to pretend
To pretend
We're fated to pretend
To pretend

I'll miss the playgrounds and the animals and digging up worms
I'll miss the comfort of my mother and the weight of the world
I'll miss my sister, miss my father, miss my dog and my home
Yeah, I'll miss the boredom and the freedom and the time spent alone.

There's really nothing, nothing we can do
Love must be forgotten, life can always start up anew.
The models will have children, we'll get a divorce
We'll find some more models, everything must run it's course.

We'll choke on our vomit and that will be the end
We were fated to pretend
To pretend
We're fated to pretend
To pretend

Yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah

Journal Prompt: Describe a time in your life when you recall pretending. When do you find yourself pretending in your life today? Did this daydreaming lead leap to faith?

Josh Clary Recommends:
Rocking out to NPR

Classical music, news, old timey radio shows, what’s not to love? Perhaps the nagging during pledge week, but other than that, NPR rules.

MST3K Clip of the Week:

The Horror of Party Beach

A 1950’s beach party goes horribly, horribly wrong when monsters from the sea begin a killing spree. The monsters are essentially look like the Cookie Monster with hot dogs in his mouth. Their one weakness is sodium, which is discovered by Ulabell, the maid, who has hair like Dilbert’s Boss’ hair. Best line (Tie): “I’m begging to agree with the Taliban militia that dancing should be banned,” and “I don’t like slumber parties now that I’m in my forties.”

That’s it for this week, peace out,

Shoeless Josh

Here it is, your clip of the week:

The first trailer I’ve ever seen for a book, and what a trailer it is:

Misfits- by: Charley Nolte

2010-02-24T10:23:00.000-06:00

Ive never really felt like a misfit before. Usually i get along well with everyone and I'm okay with the people around me. But this past summer that changed for me in a way. For a graduation present last year i got to fly to Boston for a week and stay up there. It was a huge city with lots of people from all around there. Anytime i would talk or anything everyone around me would make fun of my accent. Someone would ask me something and i would answer them and as soon as i started talking they'd be like oh my gosh, and they'd motion for all their friends to come over. And then they'd ask me to say all kinds of words and phrases and i just kinda felt weird.

If the situation was reversed and i was in their shoes then it would
have been different. I wouldn't have put them on the spot like that. And if i wanted my friends to hear something i would ask then one that was talking in the different accent if it was okay. I would just try and make them feel comfortable and them not feel nervous.

Overkill- by: Jordan Welch

2010-02-24T08:02:00.003-06:00

An obsession of mine is keeping things organized. I hate when things are messy! Whether it be my room or something for school, I can’t stand for things to be unorganized. I guess this is a good thing most of the time. It only gets bad when I stay up after I want to go to bed because I feel something isn’t neat enough. Also, there have been many times when I stop in the middle of what I’m doing because I hate how something looks, or I’ll noticed my clothes or shoes aren’t in the right place, or maybe my homework is in the wrong folder. It’s become an obsession, but kind of one that I’m glad to have. It keeps me from getting in trouble with my work, because it’s never lost or in the wrong place. The only downside is I get side-tracked or lose sleep sometimes because I don’t like things to be out of place. I know that I get it from my mother who stops frequently to pick up crumbs off the floor, or a piece of lint. She can’t stand for things to be dirty or out of place either. One day, we both went on a cleaning binge and cleaned the entire day because we felt that everything was totally disorganized. From every room and every closet, everything was moved and put into its’ rightful place. Like I said, sometimes it can be good and sometimes it can be bad, but it’s something I have to deal with, and it’s called OCD. Ha-ha!

Overkill- by Kristin Miller

2010-02-23T15:59:00.000-06:00

At a young age, I always wanted to be “great” at something. I yearned to be the best at something, to receive awards and be recognized for my achievements. Realizing that I was athletically challenged in sports, I turned to academics to find my greatness. But I learned that being the best at something often means you have to give up another part of your life.

In my freshman year of high school when I finished with a 4.0 GPA, I knew that academics could be that thing at which I was great. Here I used my Achiever strength to help me accomplish my goals and stay dedicated to the task at hand. Junior and senior year, I began taking AP classes that my school offered and continued to put forth the effort needed to achieve my desired grades. It took a great deal of stamina, but I felt like I had actually accomplished something “great” last year when I was finally on the stage at graduation giving my valedictorian speech. It was a surreal moment of satisfaction, the culmination of 4 years of hard work. I used my Discipline strength to coordinate my schedules and extra-curricular activities to be able to accomplish everything I wanted.

I love to learn anything, which is emphasized by my Learner and Input strengths. I am not really an “expert” in any subject, but I can carry on a conversation about many different topics and am well-versed in common sense knowledge. Perhaps this is one of the reasons that I aspire to become a teacher, so that I will always be learning and growing at the fountain of knowledge.

While academics are a high priority in my life, I need to remember that there are other things that are more important. Knowledge is nothing without experiences to accompany it. Sometimes I tend to be so caught up in my work and school activities that I forget to take time to slow down and appreciate the simple blessings along the way. It’s OK for my nose to be buried in the books, but I just need to remember to let my eyes take in the world around me.

Overkill

2010-02-21T11:32:00.000-06:00

Following the StrengthsQuest workshop on Friday, I spent a good deal of time reflecting upon how my strengths are manifest in my life. For the most part, this was pretty easy, especially with Input. Folks who have Input as a strength crave knowledge and they collect and archive all sorts of information. I have kept every book from college, every paper I have written, every notebook since I have been in college. I have no clue what I might do with all of this, but I cannot stand the idea of parting with all of it. A piece of me would die if I did.

My fiancé can attest all too well that I collect information: I have a freakish ability to remember people and how I know them. Not being from Owensboro, she doesn’t know as many people as she does back home in Waddy. So when she comes here, and we go to Target (which we always do) we play a game called “How Many People Does Josh Know.” I count the people I know but I have to be able to remember how I met them: I had homeroom with that guy in middle school, that woman goes to Blessed Mother Church, that kid is a friend’s second cousin’s roommate’s stepchild, that sort of thing. I am very good at this game. Stephanie hates the game (mostly because I totally dominate).

So why does all of this matter? Before we get there, watch the following Scrubs (the best TV show ever, but that’s for another blog) and read the lyrics to the song:

“Overkill” by Colin Hay
I can't get to sleep
I think about the implications
Of diving in too deep
And possibly the complications

Especially at night
I worry over situations
I know I'll be alright
Perhaps it's just imagination

Day after day it reappears
Night after night my heartbeat shows the fear
Ghosts appear and fade away

Alone between the sheets
Only brings exasperation
It's time to walk the streets
Smell the desperation

At least there's pretty lights
And though there's little variation
It nullifies the night from overkill

Day after day it reappears
Night after night my heartbeat shows the fear
Ghosts appear and fade away
Come back another day

I can't get to sleep
I think about the implications
Of diving in too deep
And possibly the complications

Especially at night
I worry over situations
I know I'll be alright
It's just overkill

Day after day it reappears
Night after night my heartbeat shows the fear
Ghosts appear and fade away
Ghosts appear and fade away
Ghosts appear and fade away

I can tend to obsess over events and people in m life. I think this stems from my Input strength: I crave knowledge and collect ideas and people, and then I use my Maximizer strength to obsess over this information and use to its greatest ability. I worry, constantly. I am never satisfied with the work I’ve done. Whenever anyone tells me that I have done a good job, I don’t believe them. It’s as if my mind has created this conspiracy not to believe people when they compliment me.

I often focus on what is wrong with my performance at work or in class, on what’s wrong with my relationships with coworkers or friends, on what’s wrong with just about everything. I hate this about myself, but it has been very hard to change my thought process. StrengthsQuest has provide me a tool to begin the process of shifting my outlook on life and myself. I am far from being where I want to be, but I have a toolkit to help me out.

Will I obsess over this, yes, absolutely I will. Is this a good thing? It can be if I channel these energies towards a positive transformative power in my life. Obsession can lead to overkill. Acting, taking what Kierkegaard called a leap to faith, is the remedy. Acting, especially using my strengths, will dispel that obsession, that worry, that fear. I just need the courage to act.

Journal Prompt: Where is their overkill in your life? What is something you obsess and fret about? How can you make a positive change in regards to this issue?

Josh Clary Recommends:

Chad Vader
Chad Vader is Darth Vader’s loser younger brother. Chad is the Day Shift Manager at Empire Grocery. Chad has about 1/16th the Jedi powers of his brother. Hilarity ensues.

MST3K Clip of the Week:

Prince of Space
Prince of Space is probably my favorite of the Japanese imports on MST3K, barely edging out Gamera vs Gerioun. The story is basic, alien chicken people led by the Phantom Krankor try to take a Japanese fuel secret (Japanese vehicles have been getting great gas mileage for decades). The Prince of Space (whose greatest power is choosing incompetent enemies), disguised as a simple boot black, emerges to save the Earth and defeat the proud chicken people aliens, in the words of Crow T. Robot “And a noble civilization dies out…. sometimes. This loser civilization, however, will not be missed.”

That’s it for this week, peace out,

Shoeless Josh

Here it is, your clip of the week:

Jon Tesh+Orchestra+Pirate Blouse= umm, well, I guess heaven, or hell, depending upon how you look at it:

Decisions- by Sara Clark

2010-02-16T15:07:00.000-06:00

Decisions are sometimes hard to make but people make them every day. They have to. That’s the way life is. In my 8th grade year, I had to make a decision. This decision changed my whole perspective of myself. I had to decide whether or not to tell my best friend of seven years that I no longer wanted to be her friend. Our friendship had slowly gone from trust, laughter, and love to secrecy, abusiveness, and outright lies. Somewhere down the line, she stopped trusting me and started lying to me about everything. And I was tired of it. Being her friend was exhausting and it hurt knowing she was lying to my face and she actually thought me dumb enough to believe her. So I decided to end it. And from afar, I saw my decision slowly ruining her life.

I had always thought that I was generous and selfless, perhaps to a fault. But this decision showed me that I was wrong. It showed me that my generosity and selflessness only goes so far. In some cases, I can be very selfish, hateful, and heartless. I was ashamed to realize this about myself but did not mean I could change it. Part of me is sad to say I am still like that. The other part is glad. Sometimes you have to be hard; you have to be cold, to get through life. Otherwise, you’ll be pushed around and used all your life.

For the most part, I believe I made the right decision. Like I said, it showed me that I wasn’t as nice as I always thought. I work on trying to not be that person to often and I am usually the nice, quiet girl people can talk to when they need it. Not to mention, that decision got rid of the friend and made my life a lot easier. :)

My Mistakes Were Made for You

2010-02-14T17:09:00.001-06:00

“My Mistakes Were Made for You”

Writing this on Valentine’s Day, I thought about making some grand gesture or homage to love. Fear not, I will stay away from the hyperbole that accompanies this day. Don’t get me wrong, I am not the person who hates V-Day because it is a commercial, made up holiday; and I agree that every day should be devoted to love. If this day can give people an excuse to profess love or rekindle their relationships, I have no problem with that. I just don’t see the day as being any more special than Arbor Day, but with candy and flowers. By the way, I say we give candy for Arbor Day, why not?

What I do want to write about are mistakes. We all make mistakes, sometimes for lousy reasons and sometimes because we truly believe we are right. The former are easy to recognize, when you do the wrong thing for the wrongs reasons, it is pretty easy to recognize and own those mistakes. When we do the wrong thing, for the right reasons, ah, therein lays the rub. It’s hard to own those mistakes and we often don’t even recognize them.

Okay, here’ some context: think about A Pearl. Tori often fights to protect Lamar, which we can pretty easily justify. She’s protecting her brother, no biggie. What really happens, though, when Tori gets into these fights? As we see later, she uses these struggles to build up her defenses and doesn’t open herself easily to opportunities and relationships. Growing older and wiser, with the support of her teachers, she eases these defenses, but there is still an edge present with Tori, she isn’t quite there yet.

Was Tori’s decision a mistake? She did, short term protect Lamar and herself. Long term, what sort of mark does she leave upon herself? Or does that even matter? I see in Tori, a woman who became defensive and closed because she convinced herself she was defensive and closed, that she was beyond taking help. It’s a form of dangerous, self-destructive spiritual arrogance that can lead down a very slippery slope. Tori, doesn’t go down that slope. Why?

The why are her friends. Tori gets the support and extra help from teachers, and that confidence inspires her to courageous acts (more on this in class this week). She slowly begins to understand that she cannot achieve her goals alone, even when she is seemingly alone in the middle of the ocean.

So our mistakes, as we see in Tori, can be both right and wrong, and then right again (your head hurt yet?) Never lose sight of the why we make mistakes and what they teach us about ourselves. There is far, far more to be learned in a mistake than in a success. We just have to recognize them and accept them. It takes Tori a great while to do this, so don’t feel bad if you’re not there yet. I know I’m not.

Watch the following video before journaling, and check out the lyrics that go along with:

My Mistakes Were Made For You , by the Last Shadow Puppets:
As subtle as an earthquake I know,
My mistakes were made for you.
And in the back-room of a bad dream she came,
And whisked me away, enthused

And it's as solid as a rock, rolling down a hill
The fact is that it probably will, hit something
On the hazardous terrain
And we're just following the flock, round and in-between
Before we're smashed to smithereens, like they were
And we scrambled from the blame
and it's the fame that put words in her mouth, she couldn't help but spit them out.
Innocence and arrogance entwined
In the filthiest of minds

She was spitting on her birthday, and now
A face in the crowd, she's not
I suspect that now forever, the shape, she came to escape
Is forgot.

And it's a lot to ask her not to sting, and give her less than everything
Around your guilty conscience she will wind

And we're just following the flock, round and in-between
Before we're smashed to smithereens, like they were
And we scrambled from the blame
and it's the fame that put words in her mouth, she couldn't help but spit them out,
Around your guilty conscience she will wind.
And it's a lot to ask her not to sting, and give her less than everything,
Innocence and arrogance entwined

Journal Prompt: The telling line of the lyrics to “My Mistakes Were Made for You” is the last line, which Alex Turner leaves lingering at the end, haunting the listener, “innocence and arrogance entwined.” Is that not the nature of mistakes and faulty decisions summed up in three words? I struggled with your topic, and the topic I had would have worked had you all showed up for class last week (A- HEM) so I’ll save it for next week. Write about a decision you have made that you truly learned something about yourself (think bigger than, I didn’t do my assignment and I learned to turn assignments in).

Josh Clary Recommends:
Them Crooked Vultures

The super band of Them Crooked Vultures John Paul Jones (Led Zepplin), Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters, Nirvana), and Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age) simply rock. Very hardnosed rocking.

MST3K Clip of the Week:

The Pumaman

One of my very favorites. It is the story of a whiny paleontologist who is the son of an Aztec god and his beefy Aztec (Vadino, not to be confused with an onion) sidekick. Our hero has the power of the Puma, which includes flying at odd angels. It also includes wearing slacks.

That’s it for this week, peace out,

Shoeless Josh

Here it is, your clip of the week:

Living Life One Day at a Time- by William Thomas

2010-02-11T15:04:00.000-06:00

In my opinion living your life one day at a time is important. Between school, work, racing, family, and a girlfriend, life gets crazy. You have to remember that time to your self is very important. No matter how many things you have to do, if you don’t take time to enjoy life and experience other things you will wear yourself out.

My day consist of a 6 am alarm, an 8am class followed by another class every hour until I work until 10pm. So when I get moments of relaxation I have to take them and enjoy every minute of it. When I was still in high school and not working I did not take advantage of that. I was always doing something, which don’t get me wrong I did enjoy it, but I do regret not taking time to just chill and focus on school.

When I do get my days off work or school I enjoy working on my race car. It is my favorite thing to do. When I am in the shop and working on my car it is so relaxing. I guess the best advice I would give is just to live and love life and enjoy those special moments when you can just chill out and watch some TV or maybe just go for a drive. You never know what life has in store for you so while you’re here living it enjoy it and make it special for you and everyone around you.

Groundhog Day or How to Live Life One Day at a Time

2010-02-05T11:02:00.000-06:00

One of my guilty pleasure movies is Groundhog Day. The 1993 Harold Ramis film stars Bill Murray and tells the story of a TV weatherman, Phil Connors, reliving the same day over and over again, but the day happens to be Groundhog Day in Punxsutawney, PA. Phil relives the day, but to everyone else, the day is new, as if it never happened.

Phil has a difficult time dealing with his predicament, being stuck in this time loop. He tries in vain to woo his producer, Rita, through the days. He robs a bank. He seduces women. He kidnaps Punxsutawney Phil in attempt to break the cycle (they crash and die in a fiery wreck). Phil commits suicide. He steps in front of a moving bus. Every time, we wakes up on Feb. 2 to Sunny and Cher, trapped in his cycle.

After getting advice from Rita, he turns his trapped life into a vehicle for good. He learns all the townspeople and what tragedies will happen that day, and prevents them. He learns to play the piano, well. Eventually, Phil gains an understanding of the human condition and this makes his loved and appreciated in the town, on that day. This sets him free, though he and Rita decide to live Punxsutawney, renting to start out. The movie never says how long Phil is trapped, never aging, living the day over and over again, but the director suggests it is nearly ten years.

Imagine, ten years living the same day. No one else knows it, but you carry this terrible secret. You would have, as Phil does, ultimate knowledge of that one day, everything that happens. How would you use that knowledge? How would that knowledge affect you?

We are moving into a different phase of our journey this semester. We have been discussing our pasts, and reading about Tori’s past in A Peral. We now look at our present. Phil gives us an extreme example of knowing our present. He is trapped by it. He dreads it. Knowing his present becomes a curse, until Rita gives him advice that he should use his situation for good. The present, then, becomes a blessing.

We, too, can be trapped by our present, much as we can be trapped by our past. How often do we overlook others in our day to day busyness and work? Do we take an opportunity to have coffee with a friend, or a stranger, and learn something about them? Do our present fears keep us from daring to learn something new, like say, to play the piano? Our present fears, worries, or busyness can keep us from helping others or really getting to know ourselves. Our present can be a trap of work or it can be a new day, opening a fresh new world.

Journal Prompt: How can you live better, one day at a time? When you get those free moments in your life, what do you do? If you don’t, how can you change your daily routine to make time for the here and now?

Josh Clary Recommends

A People’s History of the United States by: Howard Zinn

Howard Zinn, the leftist author and historian, passed away last week. Zinn’s masterpiece A People’s History reshaped the arc of American history, telling the story from the perspective of women, slaves, Native Americans, and other repressed groups. Though the works is biased and is not complete in telling, it does provide a different view, a necessary view. Somewhere between the glorious stories of American history and the history Zinn presents, is the truth. The search for this truth is real story. Oh, plus almost every AP US History class in the world has to read the book, so that counts for something.

MST3K Clip of the Week:

The Deadly Mantis

A great 1950’s monster movie about a giant praying mantis that attacks Washington, D.C.. The jabs about the older scientist at the beginning are hysterical. There are some good one liners towards the end, something about a mantis and pants, well, just watch:

That’s it for this week, peace out,

Shoeless Josh

Here it is, your clip of the week:

Angela's Children or the Island of Misfit Toys

2010-01-29T09:10:00.001-06:00

So far this semester, we have talked a great deal about our past (and Lost). For the most part we have looked internally, to our own story. While this is all well and good, we are a part of our world, no apart from our world. We live in a context of community, specifically the community of Brescia University.

This week we have celebrated the Feast of St. Angela Merici, founder of the Ursuline sisters. Much like we have done with our personal introspection this semester, we must too engage in community introspection. How are we living the mission of this community? How are we living the legacy of St. Angela?

The one Ursuline charism that has long held a place in my heart is meeting people where they are. Angela Merici was a woman of her times. She was pragmatic before people knew what pragmatism was. She looked around at her world and acted. Angela saw the limited options for women to obtain education, and thus, a future, and did something about it. It would have been easy to sit back and let people come to her, but she went to them. Angela believed in people power and took power to the people, especially the uneducated women of her world. She met them where they were and joined them on their life’s journey.

This special characteristic embodies everything I love about Brescia and the Ursuline Sisters. Now, let me say this: the Ursulines are a valuable and cherished group of women. They can sometimes get a bad reputation for being radical (they aren’t) or for being odd (who isn’t). Anyone who labels the sisters as such is drastically oversimplifying and grouping together an entire group of women based on the actions of a few. On the whole, the Ursulines you will meet at Brescia and the Mount are good women who faithfully live their vocation according to how they interpret God’s call. What more can you ask?

Back to the topic at hand: meeting people where they are. As I meet more Brescia alumni, and take their story into account with my own tale, and the burgeoning tale I see in each of you, I have come to a conclusion: Brescia is a place for misfits. Disclaimer: My lunch table as a student was called “the Island of Misfit Toys.” And yes, we made a sign. There are some odd people here (myself chief among them).

We have some alumni who are just a little odd.

We have faculty who are a little odd.

We have students who are a little odd,

And I love this about Brescia. I love the Island of Misfit Toys.

Everyone has a place at the table here. I don’t mean to say that everyone is totally bizarre (some are) or that everyone is fully accepting of everyone (there are always some bad apples) but the prevailing atmosphere of this community is acceptance. This is what we mean we say Brescia has Respect for the Sacred.

If you need a helping hand, you will get one.

If you need someone to talk to, there is always a friendly ear.

If you need someone to love you and respect you for just being you, well, we do that, too.

What could be more Ursuline than that?

Journal Prompt of the Week: Write about a time you felt like a misfit? What emotions did you feel? Think of a time you treated someone like a misfit. Put yourself in their shoes, meet them where they were: what would you do differently?

Josh Clary Recommends:

J.D. Salinger

As I was writing this blog, I received an IM (I know, I know, I’m like a middle school girl with instant messaging, but it’s the best way to talk to friends while you’re in the office. Not that I would do that or anything) informing me that J.D. Salinger passed away at age 91. If you take Bart while at Brescia, you most assuredly read something by Salinger, but just in case here is a link with the Salinger’s stories published in the New Yorker. Also, here is the NY Times obituary of the author.

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin
SSLYBY are easily my favorite indie band of the past 3-4 years. I discovered them while I was in seminary and have been a fan ever since. The boys hail from Springfield, MO and are still relatively low key, playing mostly colleges like Brescia and small clubs. Provided is “Anne Elephant” one of their better songs (no video, just the music, but hey, that’s what it’s all about anyway):

MST3K Clip of the Week:
The Russo-Finnish co-production of Jack Frost is certainly on my Mt. Rushmore of favorite MST3K episodes. Plot points include: knitting a sock, a pig sleigh, a dwarf with a mushroom hat, a walking house, and well, you just have to watch:

That’s it for this week, peace out,

Shoeless Josh

Here it is, your clip of the week:

If you’ve seen There Will be Blood this is even funnier.

"I Don't Wanna Grow Up" or "How I Changed My Mind and Decided to Write a Blog About "Lost" and Our Past"

2010-01-22T11:49:00.000-06:00

Okay, so I decided to change my mind with this week’s topic and go a different direction for a number of reasons, not the least of which is “I am the instructor and can change my mind whenever I want.” I knew this teaching thing would be fun. My initial blog began with an old Toys ‘R US video and reminisced all nice about being a kid and how we should retain some semblance of childlike curiosity and fun (we should). After stepping back and reflecting, this approach would have been too shallow. We have come too far. We must go deeper (we should).

You may have heard me mention in class that I am fan of Lost. This is no secret. (Note: if anyone wants to get together to watch the first episode of the last season, let me know and we’ll set something up.) Despite the polar bears in the jungle, smoke monsters, time traveling, island moving, sci-fi stuff, Lost, is a show about people; their stories, their backgrounds, and what Lost scholars hope for, their redemption. Below is an 8:15 video (there is significance to everything on Lost, especially numbers) catching you up on the plot. Go ahead, watch it. I’ll wait.

Okay, done. I’m serious, watch it. If you don’t, nothing else I share with you will make any sense at all. So go back and watch the video.

Okay, now we’re ready to move forward. I am of the opinion that Lost really is a show about redemption, about accepting our past, about telling our past to EFF off and live life freely. The characters on Lost constantly struggle with the bad they’ve done (Sawyer and his conning people, Kate with killing her abusive dad, Sayid with torturing and killing lots of people) and the bad that’s been done to them (Locke having his fake-father con him out of a kidney, Sun having her father employ Jin as a thug, Hurley being cursed by winning the Lottery). The one exception is Jack, who struggles with who he is as opposed to what he has done. So what, we have a bunch of people on a wacky island who issues with their past? What does this have to do with us?

When we colored in class on Wednesday, what were you thinking about? Did memories of home, of fun times come to mind? I hope they did. I hope there weren’t bad memories, as this certainly was not my intention. The point of this is that we always carry our past with us. We cannot run away from it (Kate), we cannot kill it (Sayid), we cannot con our way out of it (Sawyer). We can look at our past as a path that led us to where we are now, but does not tell us where we are to go into the future (Locke). We can be consumed with our past and find ways to reject who we are and we are to become (Jack). The past is always there: what happened happened.
Our past does not dictate who are to become. It has a large part in showing where we are in our lives and how we got there, but it does not dictate our future. We can escape and we do that by accepting our past, using our strengths to develop our talents, and by relying on our friends to get us through the tough times. We do not move forward on our own, we do so together.

For me, I fall into the Locke camp (of having a past of things done to me). With my father passing away this summer and the sometimes sordid history with him, it is easy to turn my back and run (like Kate). At times, I do this. We have to in order to cope. I know I can’t keep doing this, and I know I am not defined by my relationship with my dad. His actions are not mine, yet they are a part of who I am, to a certain extent. It is difficult at times and I am still finding my way in life, but I know what I can and cannot do. I cannot live my life to redeem another’s; I must live my life for me and those I love. This requires a leap of faith more often than I would like, but I leap anyway. Locke would be proud of that at least.

Journal Prompt of the Week: How has your past shaped who you are today? Recall an incident from your childhood which sheds light on who you are today or why you believe something about yourself?

Josh Clary Recommends:

Jay Leno Bashing: My love for David Letterman (yes he cheated on his wife and is a scumbag for that, but the man is still funny. This whole blog was about escaping the past, so give me break with Dave) is well known. Thus, I am enjoying the beating the eternally not-funny Jay Leno is taking over the whole taking Conan’s job thing. Check out Dave’s stinging remarks on the whole issue (I think Conan is being robbed by Jay):

Vampire Weekend: I loved their previous album Vampire Weekend but haven’t heard the new one, yet. All of their sounds the same, but it sounds good, so who cares. Enjoy:

MST3K Clip of the Week: Best of the Mike Era (a bunch of one-liners, good one-liners)

That’s it for this week, peace out,

Shoeless Josh

Here it is, your clip of the week:

Welcome Back- Julie Reynods

2010-01-19T08:42:00.000-06:00

As promised, your super-duper PE, Julie, will start off the guest blogging this semester. Below is her journal/blog (jlog? j-log? blournal?). For the remaining weeks, each of you will post once in a random order.

For those of you who follow the Blue Lions' Den but are not aware, each of the students in BU 102-03 will take a spin at this blogging thing throughout the course of the semester. Follow along and learn more about this special group of students.

-Shoeless Josh

Without further ado, heeeeeeeere's Julie!

While I'm at school, I often miss my family. I was really happy to be home for a month and have a break from school, but boy, being home for a month is too long for me! I missed having my own room, doing what I pleased (not that I'm wild, but still), and being with my friends. Last year I missed my high school friends, but now that I'm a sophomore and I live with some great people, they've become like family.

I enjoyed spending time with old friends while I was home, but spending a night with the Psych Ward girls and Vicki Tinsley was the most fun I've had in a long time. We played a game called “Things” and before long, we were way out of hand. One person picks a card from the deck and reads it. The cards say stuff like “Things you shouldn't put on the table,” “Things you shouldn't say in group therapy,” and “Things you shouldn't title a children's book.” After the card is read, everyone writes down one thing and gives it to the reader, who reads them all and everyone guesses who wrote what. You can imagine the things a group of college kids came up with.

One of the things I wrote down for “Things you should say in group therapy” was “tell the therapist you gave them VD.” When Vicki's friend was rereading what people wrote, I took a sip of Dr. Pepper and started to laugh, but I managed to not choke or spit out my drink. That is, until he pointed at me and shouted in an accusatory tone “YOU gave the therapist VD!!” I lost it, spit my drink back into my cup, and nearly fell out of my chair.

Now, this year has had it's ups and downs. Living with people, you're bound to step on some toes and get on people's nerves. But whenever one of us has been really down, we're always there for each other. We cry together, laugh together, grow together. It's beautiful. I came to this city alone and now I belong to a family. Sometimes I long for my biological family, but I love this new family I've found and I wouldn't give it up for anything.

Welcome Back

2010-01-13T18:21:00.001-06:00

Welcome Back, To That Place You Used to Know

I know I said it before, but welcome back! My first days at St. Meinrad I was so sick of hearing “Welcome!” and I know the monks and seminarians meant well, but sometimes it can be overwhelming. I just wanted to be there, meet people, and move on. Now the tables have turned. It is my jealous pleasure to welcome you. I understand why they constantly welcomed me; it was to make me be in the present.

At times in our lives such as the beginning, as we are in now, we look to the future. In the words of Yoda (Empire Strikes Back Yoda, not stupid digital Yoda), “All his life has he looked away. To the future, the horizon. Never his mind on where he was! What he was doing!” Yoda, of course, is speaking to Luke in this instance. I forced my mom, sister and fiancé to watch Empire on Christmas Day over the break, and those lines have been with me since. (Seriously, how great is Stephanie that she let me watch Star Wars on Christmas? Disclaimer: Stephanie regularly reads this blog.)

I find myself guilty of Yoda’s charge of immaturity. I must unlearn what I have learned. Do or do not; there is no try. How much time do I spend thinking and planning my future? Dreams and plans are well and good, necessary for our success. When these plans and dreams interfere with where we are now, when we take for granted the friendships and relationships we have in the present, we jeopardize those dreams and future. We are people of the past; we are people of the present; and we are a people of the future. The fully integrated person lives in all three times, and none at the same time. When I met someone who successfully does this, I’ll let you know. In the meanwhile, we strive for this integration. This is our journey.

This semester, our task is to begin to look around. Using A Pearl in the Storm as our guide, we will look to our past experiences, explore our current strengths, and plan for the future. I cannot claim to know all the answers to questions you will encounter on our journey; in fact, I will probably pose more questions than I do answers, and that’s okay. We are not about answers this semester, we are about the journey.

So again, welcome back.

Journal Prompt of the Week: How are you feeling as you start a new semester? Look around you this week. Enjoy the people you encounter. Laugh. Share a pizza. Write about someone or something you are glad is back in your life now that classes have begun again.

Josh Clary Recommends:

Mystery Science Theatre 3000: My favorite show. Ever. Period. So it’s just a guy and two puppets making fun of bad movies, but this show has done more to shape my sense of humor than any other. Stephanie has to poke me at movies because I riff the film, making snide comments and jokes. I can’t help it. I share with you the best MST3K short ever: Gumby.

I have a feeling posting MST3K clips may become a weekly feature. You can thank me later.

That’s it for this week, peace out,

Shoeless Josh

Here it is, your Halloween clip of the week:

The Five Lives of Me

2009-10-28T17:37:00.000-05:00

The Five Lives of Me

In our last class of the semester (tear), we discussed careers and vocations. Next semester, I hope to build on the idea of vocation a bit more, especially in terms of Brescia’s mission and values. For now let’s focus on career.

I enjoyed your thoughts in class, though we had some group fixation on being animals. Let’s do the Five Lives Exercise again, but this time with a clearer focus. So no animals this time and I want you to be as specific as possible (instead of being a teacher, what would you teach? Where? To whom? )

So here are, in no particular order, The Five Lives of Me:

1. Painter

I have some mad skills painting walls. Thanks the training I received from the one and only Ed Simon, I cut trim and cut between the butt cheeks of gnat. It’s true. I can use a roller without laying plastic on the floor, too. Epoxy, oil based, latex, I can use them all. I actually enjoy it, too. For a while a buddy of mine and I thought about starting a painting business. We pale in comparison to his dad, Phil Higdon, but with his additional training, we would have been good.

What I cannot do is paint a picture? I cannot fathom creating something like this, from a blank screen. I just cannot. The spatial vision, the skill, and the creativity are lost on me. One of my lives would have been spent in art school, Paris of course. My StrengthsQuest skill I would use the most would be my Learner. I would have to learn and develop the skills to create great technical and inspiring art.

2. Historian at Oxford

As I have mentioned, I like history. So okay, I have a nerdish fetish for history. Sue me (not really, please). To be classically trained as on Oxford historian would be the life for me. Days spent reading through the letters of historically important people. Finding new insights into the way great women and men thought. Specifically, I would study the rise of Communism in Russia. The great questions with this topic have been tackled to be sure, but how and why did the common person take to such a radical idea? This intrigues me to no end. The Strength I would use in this life would be the Input, a craving to collect any and all kinds of information.

3. Shortstop of the Cincinnati Reds

In my closet at home, I have the Tops (that’s a baseball card brand) series of every card (and thus every player) from 1989 to 2002. That’s a lot of baseball cards. I used to set up one of those you make when you are a kid, you know with the sheet draped over four chairs in a circle. I would hide out there and organize my baseball cards by team. Then I would mix them up and do it again (okay, I didn’t have many friends as a kid). What I wanted more than anything else was the play short for the Reds, just like Barry Larkin. My athletic abilities, had other things to so say, like, “You are profoundly uncoordinated and cannot play baseball well.” I tried, but it just didn’t happen. In this life I would play short and maybe lead to Reds to a World Series, be Derek Jeter in a Red uniform. In this life I would use my Strength of Competition to drive myself to victory.

4. Priest

Having engaged in a call to the priesthood, I have a basic understanding of what this career would mean. But not really. That sense of call has never left me and though I know in this life I am not called to priesthood, I think I would be in another. Leading the life would be a challenge for me, but isn’t that the point? Living my life for others would be a noble calling. I think I would use my Strength of Maximizing most in this life, inspiring the best in people through homilies and sermons. Every priest has something they do well. Some are good homilists while other are good confessors or good counselors. I would be a good homilist.

5. Different Job Every Year

I would set a goal in one job, achieve it, and move on to something else. I am thinking careers like being a truck driver, a garbage man, a janitor, a carpenter, be a longshoreman. Those types of jobs. Learn something, set a goal, hit it, and move on to something else. The Strength I would use in this life would be Achiever and Leaner, to a lesser extent. For whatever reason, I’ve just always had it in my head that it would be cool to do this.

Journal Prompt of the Week: If you had five lives to live, how would you live each of those lives? “Suspend your disbelief” and use your imagination. Let your fantasies, your secret wishes come true. Write about five lives, noting key features of each, especially on which of your Strengths you would most use.

Josh Clary Recommends:

Red Velvet Cake: is devil’s food chocolate for crying out loud! With crème cheese icing, now that takes the cake.

They Might Be Giants: the original band obsession for me. I fell in love with them after the “Istanbul” video on Tiny Toons. I have every CD, all 11. Quirky, weird, and there is an educational song on each disc. Check out “Particle Man”, “Birdhouse in Your Soul”, “Meet James Ensor”, and “The Sun is a Mass of Incandescent Gas.”

That’s it for this week, peace out,

Shoeless Josh

Here it is, your Halloween clip of the week:

Comfort Movie

2009-10-07T18:29:00.001-05:00

Comfort Movie

Whenever I feel down and out, or feel like having a good cry, I turn to my favorite comfort movie: the Kevin Costner film Field of Dreams. No, it’s not the best movie in the world. Heck it’s not even the best baseball movie ever (The Natural). But for me, the movie has a central significance: baseball and dads.

Brief synopsis: Guy hears voice. Builds baseball field in his corn field. Disgraced dead ball players’ (the 1919 Chicago White Sox) ghosts play baseball on the field. Not everyone can see them, but guy charges admission anyway. James Earl Jones talks about baseball. The End.

I haven’t watched the film since this summer, though. It hurts too much. On July 25, 2009, my father passed away. Dad was in a car accident almost five years ago (my junior year at Brescia) and was left an incomplete quadriplegic (he has very limited use of his arms). He fought infections and sicknesses year round and deep down, I knew he wouldn’t live too terribly long following the accident. This summer an infection got a hold of him and wouldn’t let go. He couldn’t talk and wasn’t conscious for most of the week he was in the hospital so I didn’t really get to say good-bye.

Now, I’m not the first person to have had an estranged relationship with their father, but we had unresolved issues. Dad had served time in prison following the accident and we never really go to work out all the emotions, all the hurts that his incarceration entailed. I was so mad at him but I also pitied him. No one should be in that position. Dad is a superhero and can do no wrong. Well, I saw my dad fall from kryptonite. No one should see that fall. But I did.

I may be a baseball sentimentalist (guilty) and maybe sports (watching, you actually think I am any good at playing sports?) has played too large of a role in my life, but the best memories I have of my father are playing catch in front of our first house. I was 5 or so, but I still remember. I can still smell the leather of my mitt. I remember oiling it and placing under my mattress to break it in. Once I got older and could catch and throw a bit harder, we would go out back and play catch. Wouldn’t say a word. Just the sounds. SMACK. SMACK. SMACK. SMACK. There’s not much prettier than the sound of the ball really popping.

After the accident, there were no more games of catch. The one pastime I had with dad, playing catch, was gone. We would watch games, but he was always tired, couldn’t make it through a full game. It wasn’t the same. I was the adult now and he was the child. Our roles were reversed. No one should experience that.

In the last scene of Field of Dreams, Costner’s character (Ray Kinsella) asks the catcher if he wants to play catch. Ray soon learns that the catcher is his father, a former minor leaguer who loved Shoeless Joe Jackson. He has that final catch with his dad.

I can’t watch that movie, yet. I don’t believe I could make it through that scene. It looms over me. I know one day I will have to watch the movie and watch Ray have that catch with his dad. But I’m not there yet. My hurt is still too new, too raw. I know what my turning point is of when I am really ready to move past, and it’s watching Field of Dreams. One day it will be a comfort movie, and God willing, maybe I’ll have a son and we will go out back and have a catch.

Journal Prompt of the Week: What is your comfort movie? What film evokes a childhood memory? What film holds a special place in your heart? Why?

Josh Clary Recommends:

•Grilled Cheese and Chili: the best combo for fall days. Get the best in town at the Dipper. A vanilla malt makes the meal complete.

•Jim Gaffigan: one of the best comics out there. Fantastic on everyday topics such as bacon, hot pockets, and camping.

That’s it for this week, peace out,

Shoeless Josh

Here it is, your clip of the week:

The Autumn Wind

2009-09-30T16:19:00.001-05:00

The Autumn Wind

Before reading on, take a moment and listen to these haunting words about the autumn wind:

Okay, so “The Autumn Wind” (as read by NFL Films John Facenda) is actually the battle hymn of the Oakland Raiders. Once, the Raiders were a feared bunch of nasty football players. Now they are fat and lazy. Either way the poem is a stirring hymn about autumn (or football, whichever you prefer).

Autumn is a time of transition, not summer and not quite winter either. It is a harbinger of the cold and bleakness which awaits us and a stark reminder of the frolicking fun of summer past. Autumn is the harvest season, a time to reap the rewards of the earth. Corn stalks and hay bales enter of consciousness. In many early civilizations the harvest season was a time of celebration but also a reminder of finishing the work of preparing for the bitter cold of winter. Autumn is never an either/or discussion; it is always a both/and.

The chill of the autumn wind is a bringer of change to a college campus. Fewer students will be hanging out in the Quad. Papers and exams can no longer be put off, the dreaded deadline of midterms has moved from the horizon into the forefront of our minds. Like that boisterous pirate, deadlines can ruin our best plans for fun and relaxation. We must discipline ourselves, buckle down or we, too, will be conquered by that autumn wind and the responsibility it brings with it.

Not that this is a bad thing. Nay, deadlines feed our work ethics and push us to excel, if we let them. The autumn is a time to work, a time to begin our studies in earnest and fully embrace our challenges. Release from that pressure will come, with winter and the Holiday break. It is closer than you or I want to admit, but it’s quickly approaching. Use this time wisely: do work and make time to have a little fun along the way.

Journal Prompt of the Week: What pressures are you feeling at this point in your college career? How has the change in season affected you, if at all? Environments play a large part on our disposition, so how do you handle the changing of the season and the pressures of mid-terms? What steps do you need to take to be successful?

Josh Clary Recommends:

•Fruit Flavored Tootsie Rolls: A great fruit snack and a fantastic dance.

•Atmosphere: Great combination of indie rock and hip-hop. Infectious beats and rhythms coupled with all too real lyrics paint a vivid picture of life. Rapper Sean Daley’s (Slug) downtrodden characters have an introspective tone; listen to what he has to say.

•Studying Outside: Read outside while you can. Enjoy it!

That’s it for this week, peace out,

Shoeless Josh

P.S. This blog now appears on a Google search. I feel like we have made our impact on the world.

Here it is, your clip of the week (which includes a good life lesson):

Defying Gravity

2009-09-23T20:54:00.001-05:00

On Sunday, while some of you were prancing about in puddles, I was in Nashville watching Wicked. Go ahead, be jealous. I’ll allow it, but just this once.

Wicked, is the story of Oz before Dorothy, especially concerning the Wicked Witch of the East (Elphaba) and Glinda the Good Witch. The two are roommates in boarding school and are classic example of the Odd Couple. Despite their differences they become fast friends. But they each make some very important choices which cause them to travel separate paths. Each path leads each Witch to becoming, ultimately, both good and wicked. I’ll let you guess which one ends up good and which one ends up wicked.

At its core, Wicked is a morality tale: are people born wicked? Is wickedness thrust upon them? Are people intrinsically good and at some point in their lives fall from grace? Is goodness always good or can it be pretentious? Can people change for the better? For the worse?

On top of that Wicked is a superb show. The acting and singing was inspired; I’ve never experienced anything like it. In my book, it’s the best musical this side of Newsies. If you want to listen to some the songs, click here. I highly recommend “Defying Gravity.”

Recall Fr. Larry’s talk today in class, we discussed morality and the foundations for moral behavior. To summarize quickly:

•People have intrinsic value just by being. You and I have value and did not a thing to earn it.

•Virtue exists in the middle of two diametrically opposing extremes: Courage is the virtue between cowardice and foolhardiness; honesty is the virtue between lying and being bluntly honest, etc, etc.

•A norm is an articulated value; think ‘Thou shalt not commit adultery’ articulates faithfulness.

We also discussed moral decisions are about making right and wrong choices. Morality lives in the grey areas of life; very few choices are clear and cut. Going back to Wicked, there are several moral choices Elphaba (the Wicked Witch) makes in the course of her development. Some are righteous choices to care for the innocent, some are rage filled choices fueled by anger and betrayal. Mistakes are made and in her attempt to fix them, Elphaba only makes them worse. She sets a course of going it alone and renounces her good nature since no good results from her choices. Ruined by circumstance and poor luck, Elphaba is branded as wicked.

Meanwhile, the outwardly good Glinda makes small choice after small choice which tarnishes her good image, but not publicly. She never loses that public polish of good. But those privy to her story know she ultimately let’s her friend suffer for the sake of being popular and liked.

Remember what Fr. Larry said about compulsive liars. They didn’t always lie, but one time they did. And then they told another. And another. And another. It became easier and easier to lie, almost second nature. At some point lying becomes part of who that person is. Moral choices (virtues or vices) are habits which can either fully develop our good character or lead us to wickedness. Every choice we make holds our character in tension, pulling us one way or another. Virtue is practiced. But its source is intrinsic within us.

Journal Prompt for the Week: What do you think, are people born wicked or is wickedness thrust upon them? This question is a common motif in film, theatre, and literature. As Father said, in the extremes of life is where drama and comedy reside. Write about that story you enjoy most which delves into this question (Think back to The Great Gatsby from that first meeting during Orientation) and what did that story teach you?

Josh Clary Recommends:

•Sour Wild berry Gummy Lifesavers: long name but perfect candy, my favorite by far. Where can you go wrong? If only they made Sour Wild berry Gummy Bears. That would be off the hook.

•Asparagus: Reconsider this most misunderstood vegetable. Wrap in back and bake for a delicious appetizer. Steamed but butter, mmmm. The fresher the better, avoid the canned stuff. You want a good crunch. Oh, and you will pee really really yellow. This is always kinda cool.

•Cage the Elephant: Kentucky born and bred, these boys are part Arctic Monkeys and part Beck. Sweet. This song seemed most appropriate for today’s post:

That’s it for this week. Peace out,

Shoeless Josh

Here it is, your video of the week:

Plus, as promised the video of Larry Melman in a bear costume:

No Regard for the Constancy

2009-09-17T09:52:00.002-05:00

No Regard for the Constancy

So I have a confession to make about this week’s post: the title, and thus the subject, is a result of a major guffaw on my part. I have mentioned before my love of The Last Shadow Puppets on this very blog. As I was cruising around in the Josh-Mobile one day, jamming to the lads from Sheffield, I had what I thought was an epiphany. In the song “Calm Like You” there was a line I thought went:

Oh, he was young, in the frost
With no regard for the constancy
Of feelings in the moment they were felt

Pretty good stuff, huh? I thought so to and I was inspired with my topic this week. Turns out I had the lyrics wrong, as they actually read:

Oh, he was young, in the frost
No regard for the cost
Of saying feelings
In the moment they were felt

Opps.

Either way, some pretty good songwriting in my book. I just felt I had to share that caveat and prove to you that, yes, I screw up (other than my handwriting, and spelling, and my basketball skills, and well, you get the idea).

We talked a lot about strengths today and the topic has been on my mind a great deal. So we have these reports that very neatly tell us who we are and what we do well. Hooray! So now what? Recognizing and acknowledging our strengths is only the first step, albeit an important step. We have to start figuring out or recognizing how we use these strengths on a daily basis.

Think about your everyday routine. When do you wake up? Do you take a shower next? Eat breakfast? Class? Facebook? Work? To give you an idea of what I am talking about, enjoy this running diary of a day in my life. Think about the constancy in your life. What always happens? Are you using your strengths in these everyday tasks or assignments? Is there value in constancy? If so, what?

6:00am : Wake-up. Immediately turn snooze on. Return to dreamland

6:08: Damn that alarm. Get up for good this time. Grudgingly.

6:10: Shower. Almost fall in the shower, cry out like a little girl.Take solace in the fact that I live alone and no one heard that.

6:50: After dressing and shaving, cook breakfast.

6:51: Retrieve Pop-Tarts from toaster

7:00 Walk to work

7:15: Check Facebook

7:30-8:00:Read Owensboro newspaper. Sigh at how much it sucks. Read New York Times,Boston Globe, and LA Times. Opine for a real newspaper again.

8:00: Coffee time!

8-9:30: Catch up on email, send out notes (congrats, sympathy notes, etc). Check Facebook approximately 900 times

9:30-10:45:Staff meeting. Sit back and listen. Throw out ideas when they pertinent, but for the most part take in the ideas.

10:45-11:Dance party!!!

11-11:50:BU 101. Spend the 50 minutes inspiring a generation of young people to use their Strengths and love Brescia as I do. In some cultures this is called “brainwashing” or “indoctrination” but here we call it a required credit.

Noon- 1pm:Lunch at the homestead. I really need a name for my apartment. If you have any ideas let me know.

1-3:30: Check email, read a few blogs, update Fantasy Football team, check Facebook approximately 730 times. Oh, and write proposals for Alumni events and assess my goals. (That last sentence was inserted by my editor in hopes of keeping my job.)

3:30-4:30:Check in with fellow staff members, finish proposal. Check Facebook 300 times(see its going down, I swear!)

4:30: Go to class. Grab dinner at Subway along the way.

5:30- 8:00:Sit in class. Discuss the college student. Take some notes. Leave with approximately 10,000 pages to read for next week. And 50 pages to write.

8:30: Arrive home. Drink bourbon. Talk to my lovely, wonderful, unbelievably beautiful fiancé on the phone. Drink more bourbon. (Ha!)

9:30-11:30:Read for class. Get bored. Play Lego Indiana Jones on PlayStation. Read some more. Get bored again. Read something else I want to read. Go to bed.

Remember what Marcus Buckingham said in the video we watched: that less than 20% of people use their strengths more than once a day at work. Where do I fit based on my day? I’d say I’m close to two times a day. Once, when I read the newspapers (Input) and then when I worked on goals and assessment (Achiever). Well, maybe three when I taught class (Maximizer). So three times. But see all that happens in a day when I didn’t use my strengths. Most of the day, really.

And that’s okay. You won’t use your strengths all the time. Not everything you do will give you life and energize you. And that’s okay. The point is to not get bogged down with the constancy of life because we all have it; the point is to focus on those tasks where you use your strengths and make the most of them. When you do that for the one, or two, or three tasks a day, slowly that will use your strengths four or five or six times a day. It doesn’t happen at once. We develop and grow into the fullest version of ourselves’ in increments. Use the constancy to find those increments and maximize those moments into growing moments.

Journal Prompt of the Week: Look at your day. Find the constancy in your life. Try to find a moment when you can use your strengths. Is it at lunch, listening to a friend who needs to vent? Is it in class, taking in information? Is it on the practice field, working as a part of a team?

Josh Clary Recommends:
• McSweeny’s: Fabulous website devoted to writing and creative, humorous writing. Take for example this piece, about the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’s college application essay. Or this piece about Bon Jovi. I check it daily and am never disappointed.

• Vintage David Letterman clips: The Dave of today is not the Dave of yesterday, he just isn’t. Still funny, absolutely, but not like he used to be. My favorite late night host, Dave has some really great stuff out there here are my top 5 Letterman clips, in no order, really:

5. Dave Works the Drive-Thru at McDonald’s:

4. Dave interviews a perplexing Joaquin Phoenix

3. Dave visits the GE Building when GE bought NBC

2. 55-gallon water balloon dropped on tourists

1. Larry Melman Greets Travelers at the Bus Terminal

That’s it for this week, (sorry no clip of the week, don’t the 5 Letterman videos count?)

Peace Out,
Josh

Thursday Mornings

2009-09-10T13:55:00.002-05:00

Thursday mornings were library mornings. Breakfast would always be the same on Thursdays. A crusty bagel smothered in butter and garnished with grape jelly. A cool bowl of generic Raisin Bran; the raisins tasting like old shoe, but they were supposed to be healthy. One glass of apple juice followed an equivalent glass of milk. And a cup of cheap coffee, black.

Nourished, I would head for the library. It didn’t matter if I had work to do or not. That’s not why I went to the library on Thursdays. Maggie was the reason I went.

On a cold, rainy, March Thursday, I lumbered up the arching staircase to the library. My heart beat faster as I reached the lobby. Sweaty palmed, I opened the door and quickly surveyed the room. The search came up empty. I took off my bright blue coat and woolen cap but I still felt warm.

I examined the new books, varied as always: Hegelian Metaphysics, Enron and the New Testament, Management for Dummies, Terrorism in the 21st Century. I didn’t care about the books but I had to kill time somehow. I couldn’t rush to my destination; I couldn’t draw attention to myself. Pretending to look interested, I hurriedly examined a volume of Richard Rorty. Time crept by as I read the dust jacket, the words blurred by genuine disinterest. Finally, I bounded downstairs.

On Thursdays, Maggie had to dust books. She would pull each one from its home, dust it with a dingy rag, and place it back. This cold, rainy, March Thursday was no exception. Knowing what she would be doing, I had only to find where she was. I strolled through the basement level my eyes crisscrossing the aisles. Row by row passed with no sign of her. My heart beat faster in anticipation. As I closed in on the penultimate aisle, the beating became pounding. I was warm again. What if she wasn’t there? She had to be; it was Thursday. Surely she couldn't have forgotten about me?

And there she was, sitting cross-legged on the floor between stacks about economics. Her dishwater blonde hair was pulled behind her head and held together with a yellow pencil. She was wearing a prune colored sweater, the same sweater she wore to the Christmas party a few months earlier.

“Hey there, darlin,” she said in a smooth Southern drawl. I got goose bumps every time she said that. Her chestnut eyes danced when she spoke. She flashed a toothy grin and chuckled as I responded with a hearty, “Yo.”

I plopped down on the grimy floor. The tile was cool to touch, but I was warm. Rolling up my sleeves, I picked up a book about British economics in 1848 and began to read aloud. “You’re a dork,” she chided, throwing her dusty rag at me. Undeterred, I read louder. “SHHH!!” she cautioned, “Quiet. Do you want someone to find us?” She knew the answer.

“Some people just don’t appreciate good writing when they hear it,” I teased. I was growing warmer still. We sat on the floor, the dust rag long forgotten, and talked like we did every Thursday. Idle gossip quickly melted into the state of our lives. Excitedly I rambled on about the upcoming campaign and election. Maggie was distracted, though. When our eyes met, hers darted away.

“What’s wrong?” I inquired.

“Nothing,” she lied. Her eyes never let her lie; they gave away too much. I told her this, and she conceded, “I’m thinking about going home next semester.” My heart fell into my stomach. I was hot now, smoldering with grief. I took off my long sleeve shirt.

Maggie smiled slyly at me and said, “It is hot down here, isn’t it,” and she slowly took off her sweater, exposing a black KISS t-shirt. My heart began to pound in my chest. I couldn’t help but stare at her breasts, veiled within a shirt two sizes too small.

“What about Thursdays?” I asked turning away, my voice shaking as I spoke.

“You’re such a dork,” she said, smiling and leaning closer to me. “I’m gonna miss Thursdays. You’re so fun to be with.” Her eyes danced again and she sat up and moved closer to me. Our eyes were locked and we were centimeters away from kissing when I made a decision.

As I walked away from the library, that cold, rainy March Thursday, I thought that sometimes the actions we don’t take define us. Some dreams never die, I learned, and neither do decisions that cost us once in a lifetime opportunities.

This Josh Clary original can be found in the 2005 issue of Open 24 Hours, Brescia University’s creative writing magazine (get a free 2009 copy in the bookstore)

Journal Prompt of the Week: Sometimes the simplest addition is subtraction. When have you gained more by not acting? When has no acting changed a relationship, for better or worse? And here’s the kicker, if you could go back would you act?

Josh Clary Recommends:

• The Wire: I just started watching the HBO series, The Wire, last week on Netflix. I have never been this hooked on a TV show since Lost, and this is better (like, I don’t know, actually having a workable plot). A gritty police drama set in West Baltimore, the show personifies a failing city and police force, as well as showing the inside of a drug ring. Well acted and better written. Check out this scene: (Warning: contains foul language, it is HBO after all)

• Clicky Pens: Why bother with screw top pens? Seriously?

• Fantasy Football: Want to pretend you have your own team? Want to gloat and lord your “excellence” over your friends? Want an easy betting system? You get all three here. The season starts tonight and I am already excited for next year’s draft: carousing (and drinking) with friends and giving each other ten kinds of crap after every pick: priceless.

That’s it for this week.
Peace,
Shoeless Josh

Here it is, your clip of the week:

Assumptions

2009-09-02T15:54:00.001-05:00

On Tuesday I began classes again for the semester. I just transferred from Indiana State to Western Kentucky, mainly to save money (I get one class free because I work at Brescia). Only 6 of us in the class, I was to make snap judgments. I felt like I was smarter than everyone else (a big time fault of mine). I have had some master’s courses before, so I have a leg up there. This, along with my enormous ego, led me to proclaim myself the brain child and dominate the class discussion.

Yes, I am that guy.

I try not to be, honest. Sometimes I just can’t help myself. Now, do I think my classmates are idiots? Absolutely not. I applaud them for wanting to further their education and study student affairs. With time my initial judgment will pass and I will learn a great deal from my classmates.

The thing with making assumptions is that you can push aside someone who may be the person you need: whether it’s a potential new best friend, a classmate to help you understand the material, or the love of your life, you never know who you just gave up on. And the scary thing, you have no idea if that person just gave up on you.

Journal Prompt of the Week: Write about a time you made an assumption about a person and it turned out to be totally wrong. What did you learn about that person that changed your mind? What did you learn about making assumptions? Has anyone ever made a wrong assumption about you? How did that feel?

Josh Clary Recommends:

• Reading James Carroll’s Boston Globe columns: Author and historian James Carroll writes a weekly op-ed for the Boston Globe. A former Roman Catholic priest, Carroll often weaves his faith into this commentary on the day, especially foreign policy. His father worked at the Pentagon so Carroll’s life is deeply intertwined with American military-political history. His book House of War: the Pentagon and the Disastrous Rise of American Power is an excellent read about the rise and prominence the Department of Defense plays in our government. This blogger once met Carroll, as he was a guest speaker at Brescia (Carroll is a friend of former Dean of Students Erik Krauss). Carroll’s views of the Catholic Church, though insightful, are to be taken with a critical mind; he seems to make connections that may not exist and leaps with abandon from thought to though. Insightful, yes; the truth, no.

To read his columns, and subscribe to the Globe, for free, click here.

• The Cold War Kids: the band I knew about before everybody else. This quartet from So Cal sound nothing like you think a quartet from So Cal would sound. Crafty lyrics, melancholy overtones, and an old sound create a unique storm of sound and soul. I want to just sip on a gin and let the night melt around me when I listen to this band.

• A DVD of Cool Runnings: the inspiration story of the first Jamaican bobsled team, Starring the impeccable John Candy, former sprinters learn to become bobsledders. Hilarity ensues.

That’s it for the week.
Peace,
Shoeless Josh

Here it is, your clip of the week:

Nostalgia

2009-08-26T16:01:00.007-05:00

My favorite TV show is Mad Men. The drama is set in a fictional 1960s ad agency, Sterling Cooper. Don Draper, the protagonist, is the head of the creative department. Stylish and crisp, the show is superbly written and expertly filmed. Irony oozes from the screen and the symbolism is both poignant and forceful. Even the silence conveys something. Looking has never been so moving.

I cannot begin to explain how much I wish I was Don Draper (except the lying about my identity and the womanizing, everything else is cool). The fedora is cool. His hair is cool. That he drinks scotch during the work day is cool. That he smokes is cool. And every now and then, Don will make a pitch that transcends his time and reaches my life. I wish I could embed this video, but AMC has put a restriction on it, but I can link it YouTube. Before reading further, watch this scene from the last episode of Season 1 of Mad Men.

Nostalgia, as Don explains, is more than memory. It is a twinge of the heart. Memories exist in our mind; nostalgia takes root in our heart. Sometimes nostalgia is pleasant: a checkerboard blanket reminding us of family picnics; a ball glove brings back memories of tossing a baseball with dad; a stuffed animal puts us right back in bed, our mother tucking us in for the night. All of these are good memories, good nostalgia because these are twinges of the heart.

Sometimes nostalgia can be painful: a beer can reminding us that maybe dad drank a little too much; the old phone mom used to gossip on, ignoring her kids; a memento or picture of the girl you took to prom, but later broke your heart. The twinge of pain can be as potent as pleasure, more so, even.

In the scene from Mad Men, Don finishes his presentation by telling his clients that nostalgia (fueled by their project, the slide projector) has the power to take us home again, to a place where we know we are loved. In impressive pitch to be sure, but more impressive is the poignancy of sentiment: for better or worse, nostalgia takes us home.

An item in my office that brings back powerful memories for me is an old Owensboro Catholic football helmet. Last Friday I went to McLean County for the Aces first game of the season, (Megan was there, too) a 42-41 win for the Green and Gold. Cheering and screaming at the game with my high school buddies brings back memories of road trips we took to watch football games. Since Brescia doesn’t have football, we traveled to OCHS games as if it were our college team. That helmet, often unnoticed and ignored, is a reminder of those times. Not the games necessarily, but of the friends and the times we shared. My friends were my family, brothers more than friends; family more than those whose blood I share. That helmet produces a twinge for me; it produces nostalgia.

Journal prompt of the week: Describe an item (a picture, a toy, hat, whatever) that holds a value of nostalgia for you. What does the item invoke? Where does the item take you? What memories are conjured by the item? How have you experienced nostalgia in your life?

New Feature to the Blue Lion’s Den: Josh Clary Recommends

Having discovered that I have what amounts to complete control over your lives, at least when we are in class, I decided to put that power to good use. Each week I will try to recommend random things, blogs, and ideas, whatever, all in order to make your life fuller and an attempt to brainwash you into liking what I like. Recommendations only, you don’t have to follow them, but who knows you might enjoy something new.

· Heladao Mexicano: these tasty ice cream bars (I’ve only found them at Wal-Mart) are the perfect blend of ice cream and fruit. Don’t be scared of the coconut, it’s better than the strawberry.

· Poetry by Billy Collins: the 2001 US Poet Laureate, Collins’ work first got me into poetry. Crafty phraseology and terse syntax create a real feel to his poems, yet the symbolism shines through. Read “Nostalgia” and you get an idea of his tremendous ability.

· The Last Shadow Puppets: Absolutely brilliant band. Alex Turner, front man of the Arctic Monkeys, formed this two-man group as a side project. Soulful, haunting, and energetic. These English lads are real deal. Check out the title track off their album The Age of the Understatement:

· Lying in the grass: whether it’s a sunny day or a cool night, lying in the grass relaxes and soothes the spirit. Take a few minutes one day and treat yourself to some alone time in a park and just do nothing in particular.

Shoeless Josh

That’s it for this week, and here it is, your YouTube (okay, it’s Hulu) clip of the week:

Heart Home

2009-08-19T16:41:00.006-05:00

Tuesday, Sr. Alicia shared with us her heart home in the Villa at Mount St. Joseph. This place was intimately tied to her vocation and works as nurse. In the chapel in the Villa she prayed for and with the sisters she served every day. It was a place for her to focus on why she does what she.

All too often we can get focused on what we have to do: class, research papers, practice, work, volunteering, activities, etc. We go, go, go. There are thousand and one things to do in a day and at best we have time for ten. Our lives are pervaded with business.

But not our heart home.

In this place we are calm. In this place deadlines don’t own us. In this place we can be at peace with ourselves, at peace with our lives.

My heart home is a place I haven’t been to in some time: the Monte Cassino shrine at St. Meinrad.

Following my senior year at Brescia I enrolled in seminary at St. Meinrad School of Theology in St. Meinrad, IN. During my entire time at Brescia I knew I was going to seminary; I wasn’t as sure if I was going to be a priest. I had to go to find out, and since I am here you can see my path did not lay in priesthood. Being at Meinrad, though, provided me ample opportunity for reflection and to develop an awareness of quiet.

The Monte Cassino shrine sits on top of a hill just north of the Archabbey at St. Meinrad, about a mile away. The narrow, winding road takes a sharp incline to the summit. Every day I ran to the shrine to pray. I would trod up the hill and pretty much pass out once I got to the top, but I always made it there. Eventually I was able to run the entire mile uphill and I was never prouder of my physical condition. My spiritual condition was never better either as I spent a half hour or so at the shrine praying and resting.

The shrine has an incredible history as well. In 1871 the villagers of St. Meinrad prayed a novena to Our Lady of Monte Cassino to spare the village from the smallpox epidemic sweeping the area. Every year since then, the monks and seminarians have made a pilgrimage to the shrine in October, praying the rosary on their way up the hill.

More than history, the shrine is my heart home. It is a place where I prayed to God for guidance during my time in seminary. The weighty decision of whether to leave or continue my formation was made at Monte Cassino. It is a place where I could be at peace with myself and just listen. With all the distractions I had, and still have, I wish I was near the shrine so I could just listen again.

Actually, I will make a pact with you: I will visit my heart home in the next month, if you promise to go to your place, too. Whether it is at home, at a park, or perhaps you’ve found a heart home here at Brescia, go to that place. Go there and have peace. Listen. Be. Don’t write or listen to music. Just be. Take some time for you and place your heart where it longs to be: home.

Your journal prompt for the week is to describe your heart home. Think about that place you go when you need to be alone, where you think about the important things. Maybe it's a place; maybe it's doing something, like running or fishing. Write about that place where you find peace with yourself.

-Shoeless Josh

And here it is, your YouTube clip of the week (with our theme of Heart, okay it’s the band Heart, but close enough):

Welcome to the Lions' Den

2009-08-12T10:06:00.016-05:00

Allow myself to introduce, myself. My name is Joshua Clary and I am your instructor for BU 101-03 for the fall of 2009. Chances are you have already met me. In fact, I know you have. Congratulations on having met me! You were so nice and/or smart. I think this class is going to be super awesome. Here are some reasons:

1. You are in it!
2. We have a cool nickname.
3. I may or may not bring candy to class.
4. You will learn about Brescia University and yourself.
5. Julie Reynolds, you Peer Educator, rocks.

Wow. Those are some good reasons to be excited. So is this.

Throughout this, your freshmen year, we will laugh, cry, and eat s’mores together. We will complete a few service projects, listen to some guest speakers, and generally be the awesome people that I know we are. Good times, good times.

This blog, The Blue Lion’s Den, is your course for information for this class. Your weekly journal prompts will be posted here; I will have a new poll every week; and I will post links to cool YouTube videos of smoking monkeys.

You are required to check this blog every week, if nothing else for your journal prompt. I will use this blog as my journal so you can see what I expect of you. I will discuss this more in depth in our first class and in my first journal post. You may comment on my journal as well. We could even have a guest journaler or two.

Check back every Wednesday after 7pm for new posts and cool stuff. If you have any links the class might enjoy, pass them along and I’ll see what I can do.

-Shoeless Josh

And here it is, your YouTube clip of the week: