In Josh’s World
Posting More Soon…
…but to hold you over in the meantime, I bring you my favorite track off the new Dylan album, Together Through Life. Something about the accordion line on “If You Ever Go to Houston” that I can’t get enough of. It was my constant inner-theme song last week. Enjoy. (And be sure to click on the “HQ” button.)
Gone Fishin’ Studying: The S.T.B. Exam
Looks like my weekend won’t include a few hours out on the lake here, in spite of the fact that it’ll finally be warm enough to enjoy a little fishing.
My S.T.B (Sacrae Theologiae Baccalaureus) examination looms in one week, and tonight’s study session made me realize how very far I have to go in a week. It’s managable, but still challenging.
A blurb on what the S.T.B. is, exactly:
S.T.B. (Sacrae Theologiae Baccalaureus) refers to the academic degree Bachelor of Sacred Theology.
The Bachelor of Sacred Theology is offered by a number of theological colleges. It is sometimes offered as a graduate degree, for students who have already completed a BA or other first degree. It can also be offered as an “ecclesiastical degree”, granted directly by church hierarchy after one has completed requirements in addition to those necessary for a civil degree, but which are required for ordination.
Within the Catholic Church, the STB is the first of three ecclesiastical degrees in theology (the second and third are the Licentiate of Sacred Theology and Doctor of Sacred Theology respectively), and as such is granted by pontifical faculties under the authority of the Holy See. It is awarded upon successful completion of the first cycle, a three-year course of studies that aims for a comprehensive competence in theology.
Despite its name, the STB is a graduate degree, at least in the US. While acceptance to an STB programme always requires at least two prior years’ undergraduate study of philosophy, as well as knowledge of Latin and Greek, in the United States a completed undergraduate degree is generally required for admission to an STB programme. Thus it is roughly equivalent academically to an MDiv (although the STB has a more academic focus while the MDiv has a more pastoral focus), and the two are sometimes granted together.
That just about sums it up.
Pray I get my act together and do well.
Happy Easter, Folks!
Truth be told, I took a little break from blogs for Lent. I wanted to focus on more basic things like getting healthy and catching up with my school work, which took a big hit due to rolling bouts with illness. I’m back and doing well, however.
I’m thinking of starting something new. Beginning this week, I’ll be posting daily reflections on the Mass readings.
I write these for myself most days anyway, so why not post them here?
Of course, I’ll also get back to posting essays and other meditations soon. I suspect at least one or two (apolitical, don’t worry) should stir up some controversy. Heh.
How I Spent Earth Hour
This post by Kathy Shaidle prompted me to inquire, “What was I doing at 8:30 last night during this whole Earth Hour deal?”
At exactly 8:30 PM, I left the family home after watching Villanova beat Pitt. I left the T.V. on, along with the three computers I’d used throughout the evening, just in case the dogs wanted to check their email while I was gone, or catch the post-game wrap-up. And just in case they wanted to drive to Best Buy to pick me up something, I left the back door open with the house’s heater going strong (just in case they decided to stay in). Oh, and the lights: I left three or four of those on, too. I then proceeded to drive a few blocks (chlorofluorocarbons! CO2!) to my sister’s house, where we turned on more lights and another television.
Is it wrong that in reviewing my evening, I feel nothing but loathing for those who suggest I should’ve done something differently?
In my defense (should I need to raise one), at least I’m more conscientious about power usage at school: you guys (or at least the good people of Joliet and Chicago) pick up that tab, and it’s bad stewardship to be wasteful. This has always been my approach to rectory living as well.
But this notion of universal stewardship in regard to power resonates not one iota in my apparently cold, blackened, cynical heart. Build another nuclear power plant. We have half a dozen right down the road, and I have yet to melt or transform into a fair-haired version of the Incredible Hulk.
In the end: I reject the growingly compulsory approach to the religion of environmentalism. I already have my savior, and it ain’t Mother Earth.
Time to go eat pizza and drink a couple beers with some visitors from the internship parish, which will no doubt increase my carbon footprint through the production and release of methane gas.
(Note: The picture above comes from an environmentalist website. A Google Images search for “hippies” yields this gem on the first page. Go figure.)
Does the Mullet Make the Man, or Does the Man Make the Mullet?
Outside of the occassional YouTube video post, I’ve been rather quiet over the past couple weeks. I know I still owe some of you emails, so thanks for your patience; I’ll be responding shortly.
So, what’s shakin’?
- A change in the weather means more illness. Nothing like the flu I caught near the end of February, though. Good riddance to that. If anyone has a spare “pair” of sinuses handy, send them my way.
- Last quarter is done. Good riddance to that also.
- The Kindle 2 is still awesome. Too bad I’ve been strapped for free reading time lately.
- I like my classes. This goes a long, long way.
- I thought about growing a mullet for diaconate ordination, and this became a kind of running joke amongst friends. Though I imagine I was the one most amused by it. I’d planned on furnishing the sidewalls with an alpha and an omega. A little something for the people in the pews. “All good things…”, however: the quasi-mullet met an unceremonious end about 24 hours after someone came up to me in the hallway and said, “Josh, if I give you $5, will you get a haircut?” Anyway, it’s simply too much effort to keep a quality mullet going nowadays, what with all that sleeping I prefer to do in the mornings
I haven’t had much time for the blogosphere lately. And frankly, I haven’t had the gumption. More on that later. But I can recommend two blogs my regulars might not be following, which always take a reasonable and educated look at faith, theology, philosophy, politics and culture. The first is Carl Olson’s Insight Scoop, and the second is the group-run Cosmos-Liturgy-Sex. Add ‘em to the rolls.
More a little later on.
St. Patrick’s Day Spirit!
My favorite of all the Irish protest songs, “Come Out Ye Black and Tans”:
And then there’s the brilliant “Arthur McBride” (1840), which I like to bring up in conversation when people get their panties in a bunch about how violent modern music is. The point is a valid one, but it’s not like all ballads of old were about unicorns and Skittles. Listen through to the end of this song to hear what I mean…
Even though Paul Brady’s version is better in some ways (the way Dylan invests himself in the phrasing is a lot better than Brady, which counts for a great deal), here’s the man himself, singing “Arthur McBride” in the early ’90′s… This is the version that got me interested in Irish folk music:
This is Why I Miss Student Newspapers
From Sean T. Johnston: Birthday song is very annoying
I always look over in pity at the poor sap who’s being clapped and sung at. I’m embarrassed because he’s embarrassed.
What’s almost as bad is when this happens in seminary. You hear a collective “ugh” before we sing and clap. The guy hates it, and the only person who enjoys it is the playfully mischievous guy who makes the news public knowledge, usually by screaming out to the entire refectory.
Check that. Maybe it’s worse in the seminary. At least at a restaurant, you end up with a cheap little dessert as a consolation prize.
Kudos to Johnston for being an apostle of common sense.
(H/T: My buddy Eddie)
More Thoughts on the Kindle 2
In my last post on Amazon’s newest book reading device, Greg and Ellyn raised a good point: using the Kindle eliminates the “feel” of reading a book. The experience just isn’t the same, and you’re left with something else.
Appropriately (and somewhat ironically), Stephen King adds his two cents on this in his short novella UR (only available on the Kindle), which is the first thing I purchased through the device. In this scene, a professor of English (Wesley) discusses the medium with a student (Henderson):
“Mr. Henderson, he said, there will always be books. Which means there will always be paper and binding. Books are real objects. Books are friends.”
“Yeah, but!” Henderson had replied, his sweet smile now becoming slightly shy.
“But?”
“They’re also ideas and emotions. You said so in your first class.”
“Well,” Wesley had said, “you’ve got me there. But books aren’t solely ideas. Books have a smell, for instance. One that gets better – more nostalgic – as the years go by. Does this gadget of yours have a smell?”
“Nope,” Henderson replied. “Not really. But when you turn the pages…here, with this button…they kind of flutter, like in a real book, and I can go to any page I want, and when it sleeps, it shows pictures of famous writers, and it holds a charge, and -”
“It’s a computer,” Wesley had said. “You’re reading from a computer.”
The Henderson kid had taken his Kindle back. “You say that like it’s a bad thing. It’s still ‘Paul Case.’”
Of course, Wesley and Ellyn are right. Electronic media eliminates the character, the feel of holding a real book. Some of my favorites are the ones I’ve had for years, the pages turned yellow with time. Just seeing a book sometimes leads me to recall where I read it, and what was going on in my life at the time. No doubt about it: books have a romantic quality to them.
At the same time, however, “curling up with a good book” isn’t always as romantic as it sounds. I often despise holding books, especially paperbacks. Paperbacks are worthless on a flat surface, and I do a ton of reading in bed. They’re often printed and bound cheaply, and the reader has to contort his or vision (or his or her hands) to catch the final words on a line.
In the end, I side with Henderson. I read for the ideas and the joy of a good story; the romanticism of the act is secondary, and not necessary. Thus, I’ve had little problem adapting to the Kindle this week.
Cruising the Internet?
Yep. I even wrote a “testing” blogpost from the Kindle. Pretty cool, given that I don’t have a nextgen phone with all the mobile Internet bells and whistles. Neither easy nor aesthetically pleasing, it gets the job done. Still, I doubt I’ll ever use the feature unless I’m stranded somewhere without Internet access for a significant period of time.
The Lighting Situation
If I had to point out one big problem with the Kindle, it would be in the continual need for a strong light source. Amazon should have added an optional backlight, even if it means decreased battery life. As it stands, readers must hug a lamp to read comfortably. Here’s to hoping that they incorporate this feature into the Kindle 3.
The Screen Size
Too small. I would’ve appreciated it more if Amazon had decided to make the overall size of the device equivalent to the cover of a hardback. This wouldn’t change the overall depth of the Kindle, and more display area would help produce a more traditional reading experience.
Battery Life
Excellent. I’ve been using it a ton this week, and am still at about 33% in terms of battery life. Like a laptop, the key to extending a charge is in turning off the Whispernet service.
Closing Remarks
Again, I reiterate what I’ve said previously: it’s a great device, especially for those who read a lot of books and are not particularly attached to the old school. But it is not without its faults, and I can see why some remain leery.
A (Long) Evening with the Kindle 2
It’s Christmas in February. Or at least it feels like it. I bought nearly everything G.K. Chesterton ever wrote for $0.80.
Amazon’s Kindle 2 – originally ordered by my father as a Christmas gift – finally arrived in the mail this week, and I spent all of last night working with the thing.
After seeing my Facebook status indicating that I was really enjoying my Kindle, a friend called with some questions about the device. For others out there who might be interested, I thought I’d share some general impressions.
How much does it cost to have a book delivered? How does delivery work?
Delivery costs nothing, and works through the cell phone system. It is in no way attached to Internet access, so if you can get a cellphone signal, you can buy a book.
You’re also under no obligation to pay for the delivery service. So, whereas people need service plans to access cell towers, you don’t need anything to make the Kindle work. Amazon picks up the tab.
Is it really that easy to order a book? And does it really take “just seconds” as Amazon claims? And what about sampling a book before you buy?
Ordering is about as easy as browsing Amazon.com, with search functions and basic browsing options available through the device itself. I’m big on fantasy and horror novels, and was pleased to see that browsing genres and sub-genres is extremely easy. If you prefer to browse and buy through Amazon.com on a computer of your choice, that option is also available and your purchase will by synced to the device.
Delivery takes under a minute, but I did hit a snag last night and one title took a little over two minutes to arrive.
On the issue of sampling, let me just say: it rules. What Amazon gives you for free to see if you’d be interested in a book is far more than I ever read while squatting in the aisles at Barnes & Noble. I spent about twenty minutes reading through a free sample of Max Brooks’ (son of Mel) World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War before I realized I had no interest in purchasing it. That’s great: it cuts down on impulse buying, and you aren’t stuck with something you won’t read just because you didn’t have a chance to look it over first..
Is it easy to read the screen?
For the most part, yes. The grayscale inkage is very clear, and I like how I can vary the size of the text to something extremely large or extremely small. This comes in handy if you read as much as I do: come 3 AM, eye strain takes its toll.
A negative here, though: you definitely require a good light source. With no backlight to provide illumination, the dark gray background doesn’t allow the text to stand out as well as black text against a normal sheet of white/cream paper. If you read in the dark as I often do, you’ll find yourself edging closer to a light source with the Kindle.
Pictures and covers?
Pretty impressive for black-and-white grayscale, with good DPI. However, I would never buy a book on the Kindle if I cared about the pictures.
Any free books? How are the books priced?
Thousands, when you consider all the free e-book sites out there. But Amazon even offers some through the Whispernet service, and I spent part of my Saturday morning enjoying Treasure Island again, at the cost of $0.00.
For the record, I abhor how publishing companies expect me to pay $30 for the latest Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, Neal Stephenson, George R.R. Martin, or a host of others I faithfully follow, and I hate how I’m almost always forced to pay 75% of the list price through Barnes and Noble or Amazon.com. I read the book, then it ends up sitting in my dad’s basement for ten years.
But with the Kindle? $9.99-13 for new titles. I read it, I always have access to it, and one book takes up as much space as 2,000. A paperback runs around $6-8, which is really no change over a book store.
Ultimately, I suspect that the Kindle 2 will pay for itself in a year since I will be more inclined to read newly released titles through the reader. The only danger is that publishers will force Amazon to drive up the cost, and if that happens, then one of my primary motivations for switching to e-book format is toast.
How many books can I store?
With 2 GB onboard memory, more than you need.
The trick here when answering this question: how many free e-books did you put onto the device, through the USB cable? This is key, because as far as everything you order from Amazon is concerned, if you download it and then delete it, you can always go back and download it again at no cost. It’s kinda like storing the item elsewhere.
Still, I am severely disappointed in Amazon’s decision to remove the SD card reader. This is the only thing the Kindle 1 has over the Kindle 2.
Final impressions
I love it. But I also fully acknowledge that a $350 e-book reader isn’t for everyone. If you read a lot, though – especially for fun – it just might be a gadget for you.
Somebody in My Family MUST Purchase This For Me
Words cannot describe how excited I am at the prospect of owning a Barrack Obama Chia pet.
My fascination with the Chia Pet is a) well-documented by the eye-rolls of family members, living and passed b) completely unexplainable. I suspect it has something to do with the ridiculous commercials, on top of the general absurdity of sprouting greenery on the top of things like Einstein and Scooby Doo.
BONUS! They made another Chia in honor of Obama:
For the record: not a fan. The cast resembles something between Lurch and John Henry Newman.
Mea Culpa, Mea Culpa…
Hi all. Remember me?
I’m winding down a hectic quarter, and I’ve been ill for the past month or so: the first half moderately, the second half severely. The flu seems to be making its way through our ranks, and it has hit us all hard.
I shall return, however, hopefully as things begin to settle down next week. If I owe you an email, I’ll get to it at first opportunity.
Until then, God bless!
What a Difference (the lack of) a Definite Article Makes
One of my professors (who also happens to be my spiritual director) has a post at the FIRST THINGS blog today, entitled “Liberal Creep.”
No, no one in particular, though I’m greatly amused by the title.
1926 Eucharistic Congress
I’m currently doing reasearch for our library on the 1927 Eucharistic Congress, held in Chicago. Below is a great summary of the event, with some great photographs. Also included is some neat video I’ve never seen anywhere else before.
Fun with the Obamicon Generator
The whole quasi-Commie creepiness aside, I’m rather enamored with the idea of creating my own silly Obama-esque posters. Here are a couple of the best as done by others, from the generator’s site (h/t: extreme Catholic):
Of course, I had to make my own, included after the break… Read the rest of this entry »