Lessons Learned

Since being married a few weeks ago I've learned a few interesting things about my new husband.

1. He sometimes talks in his sleep. And hugs too.
2. He snores a little in his sleep, like me.
3. He owns a whole bunch of pairs of headphones, most of which are broken in some way.
4. He takes Mark 10:7 a bit too literally sometimes (i.e. he can be very clingy.)
5. He is the most patient man I've ever met.

What can I say? I'm still madly in love with him, faults, quirks, and all.

The Human Alarm Clock

Yesterday my lovely daughter woke me up with hysterical laughing. She walked all the way upstairs laughing. She paused in the hallway to laugh some more. Then she opened my door and proceeded to laugh even louder than before. Then she left the room, still laughing.

I never found out what was so funny. I'm guessing God wanted me to wake up with a smile.

Minecraft

I have spent a lot of spare time the last few months playing a computer game called Minecraft. I have heard it described as a Lego computer game with old graphics. It is a lot of fun if you like building and designing things. I am a fairly creative person so it really appeals to me.

I have put up some videos of my Minecraft experiences on Youtube. Feel free to watch and comment.

Celebrating Catholic Media Promotion Day

Today is Catholic Media Promotion Day. In honor of this, I am going to share some of my favorite Catholic resources on the internet.

Blogs:

Maria Johnson's blog is funny and thoughtful. She is a real person who likes to have fun and love God.

Sarah Reinhard's blog is full of country Catholic mom mayhem.

Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP, PhD's blog is a splash of Dominican goodness. I especially love his Coffee Cup Browsing posts.


Podcasts:

I was introduced to SQPN via the wonderful SaintCast. It's still a favorite of mine.

Catholic in a Small Town is funny and full of real life stuff, Catholic and otherwise.

Since I'm a Lay Dominican and love Scriptures I really really love The Word, which is a podcast of various Dominican family members preaching on the readings of the day.


Other Media: (My favorite Catholic YouTube channels)

EWTN

Irish Dominicans

Daniel Smrokowski


Random Catholic Things Online:

My adopted patron saint

Dominican Catholic News

Bizarre news and speculations


My own projects:

My art on Deviant Art

My Twitter

I am working, slowly, on a possible video game Catholic podcast. But I don't have a website for it yet. I was thinking of naming it either the Faith-Filled Gamer or the Joyful Gamer. Any thoughts or comments on that would be appreciated. In the meantime you can look at my Raptr profile.

Divine Office vs. Praystation Portable

It has been quite a while since my last post. I had all of my points written down for this post on a slip of paper on my desk. The day after my last post I lost the paper. I haven't found it yet. But in honor of Catholic Media Promotion Day I have decided to get courageous and write that planned post off the top of my head. Hopefully I can remember most of it.

Here are the two contenders:

Divine Office (to be abbreviated as DO) is an audio podcast of the Liturgy of the Hours that can be consumed either via their website, via iTunes or other podcatchers, or via their app.

Praystation Portable (to be abbreviated as PP) is an audio podcast of the Liturgy of the Hours that can be accessed either via the SQPN website or via iTunes or other podcatchers.

How they compare:

1. Cantors/Speakers: DO uses multiple speakers in their recordings, both male and female, while PP is cantored by one man only. Because of multiple speakers, the DO format features the back and forth reading between sides that one would experience if reciting the Hours in or with a community.
   
2. Songs: In DO hymns are sung, though sometimes not in a way that one can accompany it. In PP the song lyrics are read and never sung. Both podcasts include all of the verses for each song.
3. Time: The PP podcasts are the shorter of the two podcasts. The cantor speaks quickly and on occasion does not enunciate properly. One example would be the word Alleluia which often sounds like 'Aleuia.' In the DO podcast the entire pace is slower. Speaking is slower and there are longer pauses between sections. Words are usually enunciated very carefully.
4. Feast days: Both podcasts celebrate Feast days and memorials of saints. However optional memorials are not covered by either podcast. Therefore, if you want to celebrate the optional memorial of the Blessed Virgin on a Saturday, you're on your own.
5. Hours: Both podcasts include the day's major hours, with the exception of Daytime prayer which is not available in audio via DO.
6. Office of the Dead: Neither DO nor PP have an audio form of the office of the dead for one to say in honor of the deceased.

I know that I had more points written on my long-lost paper, but this is all I can remember for right now.

So which do I recommend?
Well, I guess it depends on what is important to you. If you want to make sure the recordings fit into a tight schedule then the shorter Praystation Portable is for you. If you want the podcast to mimic more closely the way the Hours are recited publicly then you want to choose Divine Office.

And which do I use?
I actually use both. I download Praystation Portable onto my iPod and often use it. But I also access Divine Office via their website when I am on my laptop.

Which do I prefer?
There is no clear winner for me. The Praystation Portable cantor speaks so fast that I cannot recite the Our Father aloud with him. And sometimes the emotive quality of the cantors in Divine Office just gets on my nerves. Ideally I would like a third choice, but none exists as of yet.

Helping Ribbons and Guidance

Imagine there's a book you've been longing to read. You've heard so much about it and are excited to begin the story inside. But when you open the cover and start to read you find yourself very confused. Apparently the book is not meant to be read on consecutive pages. For some reason the author has written some parts of the story on one page with the next part of the story some 50 pages later. The next part of the story can be found in the back of the book followed by a section in the beginning. While each part is labeled accurately you find it extremely difficult to figure out how to read such a seemingly disorganized mess. Surely no one would blame you for putting down the book, never to see it again.

This is how someone picking up and trying to pray the Liturgy of the Hours for the first time feels. Different parts of the prayer are on different pages. The prayers for certain feast days are in one part of the book while prayers for week days are in another. In other sections one can find special prayers to be used in Advent, Christmas, Lent, or Easter. There are also hymns, prayers for certain types of saints' feast days (Pastor, virgin, etc.,) and a small section with instructions. One's immediate reaction is to be overwhelmed.

Thankfully the book comes with a series of ribbons with which to mark the different sections of prayers. The ribbons are different colors, and one can use whichever color is wanted for each section.

A small guide for each version of the Office can be purchased which is also invaluable in keeping track of which sections of prayers are appropriate for which calendar day in the current year.

When I was learning to pray the Office, years ago, I found even these to be not enough. It took repetitive listening to others' methods of praying the Office to commit the system to memory. Unfortunately it took me quite some time to get the hang of it, especially since I did not meet up with others praying the Office more than monthly.

In recent years podcasts, apps, and websites have been introduced which can also be of help to those learning to pray the Divine Office. I sure wish these had existed when I was learning! In my next post I will compare two of the available podcasts of the Office that will hopefully help anyone who reads this and needs guidance in this area.

Happy new year!

I hope everyone has a truly blessed 2011.