David Ancell / Monday, January 25, 2010 / Comments(0)
I have, in the last three and a half years, become a big fan of my Macintosh computer. I have both an iMac and a MacBook Pro, and I have found them much better than my old Windows machines because I’ve spent less time having to fix them. Multitasking works so much better as well.
However, that’s not to say that there isn’t room for improvement. I’m a long way away from a new MacBook and quite a while away from a new iMac, but I really hope that future Mac updates incorporate Cnet’s requested changes. The iMac already has the more powerful processors, but the card reader, Blu Ray drive, and especially the HDMI output would be very welcome. This is especially true since Macs are significantly more expensive than Windows PCs. My sister got a 64-bit laptop with Blu-ray and HDMI output for less than the price of the least expensive MacBook.
Category: Posts imported from Danger! Falling Brainwaves, Technology
David Ancell / Friday, January 08, 2010 / Comment(1)
Despite not getting to blog much, I haven’t lived under a cave when it comes to following what is happening in the Church. With that being said, I just can’t wait for the new translation of the Mass and wish they would implement it right away. The language is just so much better than what we have now.
Unfortunately, I am well aware that not everyone shares my enthusiasm. There’s a campaign going on named What If We Just Said Wait that is gathering signatures on a petition. It makes no sense to me; we have been waiting for years. By the way, you can sign a counter-petition here. The donation is optional; your signature will have been recorded as soon as you leave the petition page.
Truthfully, there probably will be some kind of backlash of varying degrees when this is promulgated. One argument, which I believe to be a very poor one, is that the new translation doesn’t reflect the way we normally speak. My own view on this argument can be found on this post from 2005. And to think, the waiting had been going on for years at the time of this post.
However, the real problem that we are likely to encounter is simply ignorance of what the Mass really is and, for that matter, an ignorance of worship in general. In his last encyclical, Pope John Paul II mentioned that abuses occurred in which the Eucharist is celebrated as though it were merely a “fraternal banquet” (see paragraph 10 in this link).Vatican II called for liturgical instruction (see paragraphs 14 and 19 on this link) to enable the faithful to participate fully in the Mass, but this has never been realized. I have found that it is more difficult to find solid cathechetical material on liturgy than on any other topic. I recommend Jeffrey Pinyan’s Praying the Mass.
Our worship is not a matter of our own expression. It is a response to the command of Christ to “Do this in memory of me.” There is something in particular that we are a part of when we are at Mass. This must be brought forth in the words we use. If we do not convey the proper, accurate meaning to what we are doing, then we are not doing what Christ commanded but are doing something else. Unfortunately, in our world today, the “Dictatorship of Relativism,” spoken by Cardinal Ratzinger not long before he became Pope Benedict XVI, has taken hold of our worship just as it has morality. By providing us with a more literal translation, the Church is helping us to better understand what we are doing. The reason it may be shocking to people is because we never were taught the truth about what we were doing in the first place.
In fact, where is the needed catechesis now? The backlash regarding the new translation could easily be lessened by solid catechesis by people whose hearts and minds are with the Church. I hope we are seeing it soon.
Category: Posts imported from Danger! Falling Brainwaves, Uncategorized
David Ancell / Thursday, January 07, 2010 / Comments(0)
At one time, I was a fairly regular blogger. Now, if there is still anyone left reading, they hardly hear from me anymore. Life is much different for me these days. In most aspects, it has changed for the better by far. More on that later.
Before too much time goes by, I am hoping to rewrite my entire web page and even do some more blogging. Right now, everything is running on an application that I built myself. I probably will not have time to have a site like that again, and any blog that I have is most likely to be a WordPress blog. Whether I can keep my archives up remains to be seen. It’s little matter to me because there are many things that I still believe strongly but would say differently today.
You may know that I got married on August 8, 2009 to a wonderful woman. Because of this, I have moved to North Carolina. Married life is going very well. We went to Hawaii for our honeymoon and have since made other trips. We flew back to my parents’ home in Missouri for Thanksgiving, and we took a big road trip back there for Christmas, including a trip back to Memphis to see my friends there.
My work schedule is something else. I took a third shift job in a hospital to get to this area. I work seven nights in a row and then have the next week off. This means that, for one week, I can do almost nothing but work and sleep. The next week I’m free, but I’m having to readjust to human hours. It has given us lots of travel time, but it’s pretty hard to have every other week as a zombie.
Anyway, hopefully I can be around occasionally. Married life is worth the sacrifice, but I still hope to do something on the site.
Category: Posts imported from Danger! Falling Brainwaves, Uncategorized
David Ancell / Friday, May 15, 2009 / Comments(0)
Now that the web site is online for our wedding, we’ve added a blog. Actually, we are calling it our journal. Take a look at this:
http://www.davidandyana.com/journal/
I decided to use WordPress instead of writing my own software on this site. It’s a great tool. Maybe I should have used it on this blog. You may have heard, but I wrote my own blog software for this site (as well as my own content management). I guess, as she often says, my fiancee is keeping me busy.
Category: Posts imported from Danger! Falling Brainwaves, Uncategorized
David Ancell / Monday, May 04, 2009 / Comments(0)
Last week, I finally finished the web site for our wedding. You can find it at this address:
http://www.davidandyana.com
Category: Posts imported from Danger! Falling Brainwaves, Uncategorized
David Ancell / Monday, April 27, 2009 / Comments(0)
Somehow, I have the feeling that I won’t be doing regular blogging much anymore. I’d like to, but I just can’t find the time to save my life. Much has happened . . .
Last month, I proposed to my girlfriend right in front of the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Hanceville, Alabama. She said yes, and we will be married on August 8th of this year in Dayton, Ohio. We are both very excited, and we are very busy because we have a lot to do between now and then.
In fact, it’s as I’m getting ready to write the wedding web page that I realized that I needed some updating here. Pretty soon, I plan to do our wedding web site. I’ll post here when it is done. My blog I know contains many things that I would not say today in the same way. The posts are still here for now, but maybe some changes are in order.
Category: Posts imported from Danger! Falling Brainwaves, Uncategorized
David Ancell / Wednesday, January 28, 2009 / Comments(0)
I must admit that I wondered why Benedict XVI lifted the excommunication against the Society of St. Pius X. I just read this article from Catholic Culture that explains it very well. This is not a Vatican endorsement of their views. Take a look at this statement:
A handful of liberal theologians have been admonished by the Vatican in the years since Lefebvrite split, but unlike the SSPX, the liberals have not been excommunicated.
Many traditionalists have charged that it was unfair for the SSPX bishops to be excommunicated while the liberals have not been. There was an important distinction; the Archbishop Lefebvre ordained bishops without legitimate permission to do so. This was clearly defined under canon law. However, I think the traditionalists have a point in that their dissent was not tolerated while the liberals can still say they are Catholic. The move to lift the excommunication, if anything, will, I guess, put all dissent on an equal footing.
Let’s pray for the conversion of all dissenters, whatever their viewpoint.
Category: Posts imported from Danger! Falling Brainwaves, Uncategorized
David Ancell / Monday, January 05, 2009 / Comments(0)
I know it has been a long time since I have written. I am not sure how much of my story my readers know, but I can honestly say that I do not know how I would ever be Catholic without my grandmother. She passed away on December 31st at the age of 88.
She had suffered from chronic pain for many years, but she always did her best to play with the grandkids when we were little. She took me to church a number of times in my pre-teen and teenage years. She also baked the best chocolate chip cookies I have ever eaten. I will really miss her, but I know she is in God’s hands. A week ago, my aunt, my cousin, my girlfriend, and I were with her as she received both Anointing of the Sick and Viaticum. I had never seen this before, and it was beautiful.
Please pray for her soul and for my family.
Category: Posts imported from Danger! Falling Brainwaves, Uncategorized
David Ancell / Thursday, July 17, 2008 / Comments(0)
In case you didn’t know, I am still alive. I’m just having a bit of trouble finding time to blog.
If you haven’t heard, I took a new job last February. I am now working hospital, and I’m enjoying it. It’s not perfect, but it’s much better than what I had. I hadn’t felt like I was going anywhere in my old job, and almost everyone whom I knew seemed to know it. I had been so specialized that I really didn’t think I could do anything else. However, I am doing quite well in a hospital job.
I am working every other weekend, and when I don’t work, I go see my girlfriend in Ohio. I love her! As long as I had waited, I’m amazed that God would bring such a wonderful woman into my life.
I joined another local parish as well. Of course, I’m still Catholic. I had been working in RCIA in this parish for a long time because they let me teach, and I thought it was time I joined.
Things are going well. Maybe soon I can post a thing or two, but time is a bit limited.
Category: Posts imported from Danger! Falling Brainwaves, Uncategorized
David Ancell / Thursday, March 20, 2008 / Comments(0)
If you’ve been reading this blog or have stumbled upon it, I guess you have noticed that it has been a while since I’ve posted. I haven’t given up, but I’m not doing a lot on this. There are a couple of things that have been going on.
For one thing, I have a girlfriend. I was on my way home from meeting her for the first time when I had this accident that I wrote about. We met on Ave Maria Singles. After the wreck, it took a while before I could visit her again, and then, after the next visit, I ended up on crutches. However, at the beginning of February, I asked her for a courtship, and she said yes. I am so happy to have her in my life.
I also have a new job. I decided I needed another kind of pharmacy experience from what I have, so I took a job in a local hospital. So far, it has been very good. I am learning to make IV admixtures. I will be learning more things in the future.
Anyway, please do feel free to drop me a line. I may take a while to answer, but I will do my best to get back to you.
Category: Posts imported from Danger! Falling Brainwaves, Uncategorized