Blankbaby

The happy couple

Ain't they cute?

Pope!

Do not anger the Iron Pope.

Great moments in IM: Scott is going to hell edition

Yes, that's me chatting with C.K. of Sample the Web and Netscape fame. Jealous?

New Story

Can be found at Attempted Novelist:

While the other kids were off playing doctor, or tag, Bryan was consecrating Triscuits and Pepsi. The body and blood of Christ never tasted so good.

How Fabian became my Confirmation Name

I was raised Roman Catholic and that means that one must participate in the various rituals of the Church, chiefly amongst them the Holy Sacraments. One of the Sacraments is Confirmation which is done when you're around 13 and it marks your transition into adulthood (at least in the Church) and according to some website, it signifies that you are a Soldier of Jesus Christ.

One of the first things a person who is to be confirmed must do is to choose a Saint's name that they would like to take as their confirmation name. Keep in mind that there are a lot of Saints, so this isn't an easy thing to do. Also, at least at my grammar school, you had to write a report detailing why you picked your Saint and present it to the class.

The graphic to the right represents the choice I faced, though I couldn't find a picture of St. Fabian so I used one of Nell Carter.

I was a strange boy (and I'm a strange man), so I wanted to pick something other than Michael or Peter (the old standbys for Catholic teenage boys everywhere). Luckily for me my mother was in possession of both a tattered book that listed many Saints and hands off approach to confirmation name management.

I quickly narrowed to field to Ambrose and Fabian (surely no one else in my class would pick either). Doing some research I found out that Ambrose was your classic martyr: elected to an office he didn't want (bishop) he cast off all his worldly possessions to be at one with his religion and was killed by a Roman emperor for his trouble. Pretty standard issue martyr.

St. Fabian, on the other hand, had a very interesting story. He was a young lay person (i.e. not a priest) and he had made a pilgrimage to Rome. When he got to Rome he noticed a large crowd and he joined in wanting to know what was happening. It turns out a new Pope was to be elected, but who was it to be? Like the Holy Spirit a Dove descended from the sky only to perch upon Young Fabian's head. He was elected Pope then and there and the rest, as they say, is ecumenical history.

How could I say not to some dude who was elected Pope because a bird landed on his head?

Ambrose, now with 2 gigs of RAM

Fun Scott fact: Ambrose was nearly my Confirmation name, but since I decided against it that left it available for my Powerbook.

Fun Scott fact II: My previous Powerbook's name was 'Timmy.'

Fun Scott fact III: My confirmation name: Fabian. Yes, I'm secure in my masculinity, and there a slight story behind the choice which I will write up post-haste because I know people are interested in the smallest bit of Scott trivia.

James Lileks on Star Trek

I love Star Trek, we all know this. I may, in fact, love it a little too much, but that is a topic for another day.

That is why I took great pleasure in reading this:

And that was what hung in the Smithsonian that day they opened the Star Trek exhibit. All the cast showed up, except for Bones. I met them all: press tour. On the way out I found myself standing next to James Doohan under the big model of the Enterprise, floating above in the hall. I walked up next to Scotty. We looked up.
"Ah, she's a beautiful thing, isn't it?" he said.
That she was.

Elisa introduced me to James Lileks, and I must say I read his site more out of a sense of 'well, she seems to like it,' than any real interest, but with this post he redeems himself, and I'm sure he cares what I think.

Pope Blankbaby I?

Like the priests say, 'I'm just putting it out there.'

UPDATE: It seems the Vactican decided to go with Vatican insider Joseph Ratzinger, henceforth to be known as Pope Benedict XVI.

But he is old, so the dream lives on!

Talk about holding a grudge

Pope, apologize!:

The formal request for reconciliation to the Vatican has come from an English-based sept and is signed by the "Council of Chaplains, for and on behalf of the acting Grand Master". The letter asks for "an apology from the Vatican for the persecution of our brothers of the Knights Templar and the torture and murder of our leadership, under Pope Clement V during the 14th century AD".

Death is result of debate about God

I disagree with alot of people, about a lot of things, but as the Vulcans believe, 'Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations' is what life is all about, and it is what makes a stronger. At least one person disagrees:

A Taylor police dispatcher took the call at precisely 12:44 p.m. on Oct. 18.

A 49-year-old man said he'd just blasted a man with a revolver and a shotgun because the man said he didn't believe in God.

The dispatcher said the alleged shooter told him he'd just shot "the devil himself" and was still armed and standing over the body of the 62-year-old victim "in case he moved."

"I want to make sure he's gone," the alleged shooter told the dispatcher.

The dispatcher asked the suspect how many times he shot the victim.

"Hopefully enough," was the suspect's chilling reply, according to the dispatcher.

How can people who supposedly believe in a higher power act in such a way. The world is a crazy place.