Saint Patrick

Feastday: March 17
Patron Ireland
b. 387 d.461


St. Patrick of Ireland is one of the world's most popular saints.
Apostle of Ireland, born at Kilpatrick, near Dumbarton, in Scotland, in the year 387; died at Saul, Downpatrick, Ireland, 17 March, 461.

Along with St. Nicholas and St. Valentine, the secular world shares our love of these saints. This is also a day when everyone's Irish.

There are many legends and stories of St. Patrick, but this is his story.

Patrick was born around 385 in Scotland, probably Kilpatrick. His parents were Calpurnius and Conchessa, who were Romans living in Britian in charge of the colonies.

As a boy of fourteen or so, he was captured during a raiding party and taken to Ireland as a slave to herd and tend sheep. Ireland at this time was a land of Druids and pagans. He learned the language and practices of the people who held him.

During his captivity, he turned to God in prayer. He wrote

"The love of God and his fear grew in me more and more, as did the faith, and my soul was rosed, so that, in a single day, I have said as many as a hundred prayers and in the night, nearly the same." "I prayed in the woods and on the mountain, even before dawn. I felt no hurt from the snow or ice or rain."

Patrick's captivity lasted until he was twenty, when he escaped after having a dream from God in which he was told to leave Ireland by going to the coast. There he found some sailors who took him back to Britian, where he reunited with his family.

He had another dream in which the people of Ireland were calling out to him "We beg you, holy youth, to come and walk among us once more."

He began his studies for the priesthood. He was ordained by St. Germanus, the Bishop of Auxerre, whom he had studied under for years.

Later, Patrick was ordained a bishop, and was sent to take the Gospel to Ireland. He arrived in Ireland March 25, 433, at Slane. One legend says that he met a chieftain of one of the tribes, who tried to kill Patrick. Patrick converted Dichu (the chieftain) after he was unable to move his arm until he became friendly to Patrick.

Patrick began preaching the Gospel throughout Ireland, converting many. He and his disciples preached and converted thousands and began building churches all over the country. Kings, their families, and entire kingdoms converted to Christianity when hearing Patrick's message.

Patrick by now had many disciples, among them Beningnus, Auxilius, Iserninus, and Fiaac, (all later canonized as well).

Patrick preached and converted all of Ireland for 40 years. He worked many miracles and wrote of his love for God in Confessions. After years of living in poverty, traveling and enduring much suffering he died March 17, 461.

He died at Saul, where he had built the first church.
Why a shamrock?

Patrick used the shamrock to explain the Trinity, and has been associated with him and the Irish since that time.
In His Footsteps:

Patrick was a humble, pious, gentle man, whose love and total devotion to and trust in God should be a shining example to each of us. He feared nothing, not even death, so complete was his trust in God, and of the importance of his mission.

Our Old Man

Oldie b' goldie,
He's not moldie
Even though he's oldie
He's just b'goldie.

Meatless Fridays - Cheese Ravioli

ITALIAN CHEESE RAVIOLI

Prepare Pasta Dough ahead of time (or buy it in the freezer section at the grocery store).

Filling:

1 large carton ricotta
2 bunches spinach
1 handful fresh parsley, chopped
1 1/2 cups cheese
2 egg whites
salt and pepper, to taste

Method: Dough: Beat eggs well. Add hot water and oil. Add enough flour to dry up liquid. Turn out onto a floured board. Add more flour and knead for 10 minutes or until completely mixed. Dust with flour if necessary. (Use as little flour as possible). Place dough under an inverted bowl on board (so that it won't dry out) and allow it to rest for 1/2 an hour.

Method: (filling) Cook Spinach; squeeze out water and chop. Add other ingredients and blend together.

Method: (adding filling to dough) Roll out dough and cut in to whatever shape of ravioli you would like. Add a spoonful of filling and fold a piece of dough over the top.

Cooking: Place the ravioli in a pot of boiling water when they rise to the surface they are cooked.

the state of womanhood - the future according to the CDC

Documentation. I am not crazy. Girls are more promiscuous than ever before, and now - apparently - disease-ridden as well. 1 in 4 teenage girls has an STD.

I think this is remarkable. 25% of the 13 - 19 yr-old females you see walking around - that's 1 in 4 are infected with an STD.

That's a period of SEVEN years to contract an STD. And that's giving sexual activity a start date of age 13. Shudders.


Do the Math:

In a high school homeroom, there are 36 students.
52% of the population is female.
That means 19 students are female and 17 are male.
Of those 19 female students, 5 of them has an STD.
An STD - before the age of 20.

This is, of course, related to the previous posts on the state (and future) of womanhood today. It's tied to evolutionary theory (we are naught but animals, and animals copulate and procreate at will) and feminism (equal rights equals more sex).

Does this startle anyone else but me?

Life with Aspie

Holding these thoughts for later:

In response to this article on this blog, I wrote this. There's more to share, so I want to use my response to hold 'my place in my head' until later.

MSG Ain't So Bad After All

Discovered a century ago by a Japanese scientist, Kikunae Ikeda, MSG is a salty form of glutamic acid, itself a type of amino acid (the building blocks of protein). Glutamic acid occurs naturally in all those foods described as having an umami flavor: seaweed, mushrooms, cheese, soy sauce, ketchup. But, as the Japanese were quick to discover, you can also “free” the glutamic acid in the factory and turn it into a salty powder.

As Dr. Nuripa Chaudhari of the University of Miami told the New York Times, “Just like salt and sugar, it exists in nature, it tastes good at normal levels, but large amounts at high concentrations taste strange and aren’t that good for you.”

MSG IS A HORRIBLE, AWFUL, POISONOUS substance, especially for people with Asperger's Syndrome.

MSG can cause severe migraines and Grand Mal seizures, even in what would be considered 'insignificant' doses.

Soy protein isolayte and autolyzed yeast extract can cause the same reactions (severe migraines and seizures).

My hubby has Aspergers. We've been married 12 years. One of the first meals I cooked for him (Shake and Bake chicken) sent him to the hospital emergency room with a blinding migraine and a seizure. We didn't know about the MSG/Aspergers link at the time or his sensitivity to MSG. He had suffered for years, but no one made the link until that awful night.

Fortunately he still married me! And (under Hubby's tutelage) I have since learned to cook everything from scratch, with only whole foods ingredients. All the recipes you see on this site are not only "NYC Chef approved" but also "Aspie Approved" - which is sometimes the more difficult seal of approval to obtain!

Many times over the years we have been lied to by restaurants who "swear we don't use MSG." We know within 2 minutes of Hubby ingesting the food if we've been lied to. We have since stopped eating out because use of MSG has permeated the restaurant and the 'food stuffs' industry - sometime the "chef" (used loosely, it's usually a dishwasher who has worked his way up to the line, with no formal culinary training) has NO IDEA that MSG in in the dish - think, Applebee's or TGIF.

Perhaps you should rethink the "MSG ain't so bad" angle. Because, from someone who has first hand experience, it is. And should be banned by the FDA.
People with Aspergers can be extremely sensitive to MSG and other food additives (esp with yeast), and that certainly could contribute to 'meltdowns'.

As Hubby explains it, some foods create a

"painful yellow haze in which fire shoots from my [left] eye, my head and skin throb, and dealing with anything outside of me is beyond me."

We've found that by avoiding boxed and packaged foods, we've managed to eliminate episodes triggered by diet. We've also eliminated aspartame and artificial sweeteners, and now use local honey instead.

And as an aside, these situations have also triggered 'meltdowns': rapid changes in social environment, traveling, positive stress (ie, going to see family, celebrations, accomplishments, etc), not wanting to do something that was committed to previously (like a dentist appointment), being away from his dogs, low blood sugar, sudden or anticipated changes in daily schedule, and not being able to 'decompress'.

Decompression: Not being able to decompress is a big trigger. I would define "decompression" as time spent with self-selected stimulation (usually little to none). For example, we've found that whenever we return to the house after being gone (15 min, 1 hr, 6hrs, 2 days, whatever) - Hubby needs to decompress (rock in his chair, play video games, meditate, listen to music). Hubby decompresses about 4 times a day.

Physical Exercise is Key: Joint compressions - as much as you (and the person) can handle. Rocking chair or swinging on a swing, also good. Jumping on a trampoline. Judo.

I'm no medical expert, but I'm always happy to share what we've learned through the years.

Meatless Fridays - Catch Up!

Spinach and Mushroom Risotto
Serves 4


Ingredients:

1 cup Italian Arborio rice
3 + 3 T e. v. olive oil
2 medium onions, coarsely chopped
1 1/2 cups fresh mushrooms, sliced - shittake, porcini, or other variety
1 1/2 cups fresh spinach leaf, cleaned and de-stemmed
Fresh Basil and Thyme - to taste
2 cloves garlic, chopped and salted
1 cup dry white wine, chardonnay or pinot grigio
6 - 8 cups veggie stock, preferably homemade (or use Kitchen Basics brand)
1/2 cup pecorino Romano cheese
2 T butter
1/4 cup Fresh, finely diced, Italian Parsley
!/4 cup grated parmigiano-reggiano

Preparation:

In a large cast iron skillet or large non-stick skillet, heat 3 T olive oil to medium low.

Carmelize the onions, add the garlic, basil, and thyme; when garlic begins to brown, deglaze with the white wine and add a splash of veggie stock. Reduce. Add 1/4 stick of butter, and when the butter melts, add the mushrooms. Sautee mushrooms until soft and butter is absorbed. Deglaze again with white wine. Reduce.

Add the rest of the olive oil (approx 3 T) to the same pan and heat for 30 seconds, then add the Italian Arborio rice.

Toss the rice in the mire poiux a few times to coat it well with oil. This helps the rice to absorb the cooking juices slowly. It also helps create the silky texture that is risotto.

Now add a cup or two of the stock, stir a little, make sure the developing risotto is completely covered with juices and simmer over low heat. Let the risotto just simmer for a few minutes, until the liquid is absorbed and the liquid level is just below the top of the rice.

Add more stock. You don't have to stir this time but make sure the rice is completely covered again.

And just keep repeating this for about fifteen minutes or so. You are just about done now, so add the fresh spinach.

Let the level of the liquid in your risotto reduce by about half.

It's now time to taste for tenderness of the rice. If the rice is tender enough for your personal taste (we like it really tender with just a tiny bit of crispness), add the cheese and butter, stir them in thoroughly and let the risotto continue to cook until almost all of the liquid has been absorbed, then remove from heat.

Please let the dish stand for about 5-7 minutes so the flavors can marry a bit more. (LOL, a *bit* more married than before!)

Serve in bowls.

Top with grated Parmigiano-reggiano and freshly chopped Italian Parsley.

Enjoy!!!!

Nomenclature Freak

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 0 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

Since there's none of me, does this mean I can stop paying taxes?

Queen (of the Nerds)

Henri Nouwen daily meditation

Creating a Home Together

Many human relationships are like the interlocking fingers of two hands. Our loneliness makes us cling to each other, and this mutual clinging makes us suffer immensely because it does not take our loneliness away. But the harder we try, the more desperate we become. Many of these "interlocking" relationships fall apart because they become suffocating and oppressive. Human relationships are meant to be like two hands folded together. They can move away from each other while still touching with the fingertips. They can create space between themselves, a little tent, a home, a safe place to be.

True relationships among people point to God. They are like prayers in the world. Sometimes the hands that pray are fully touching, sometimes there is distance between them. They always move to and from each other, but they never lose touch. They keep praying to the One who brought them together.

Dodging Bullets and Seashells

or, On Promiscuity


Have you ever felt a blue-steeled barrel press perfect
circles into a thin-skinned temple,
like a lover's bruising kiss, only colder?

It's like balancing on a wire fifty feet above the
heads of children and clowns.

My fingers achingly curve into grained wood,
index finger teased by thin metal.
Each time my thumb arches backwards, half-cocked,
and spins the barrel before slamming it into place,
it won't always sound an empty click,
won't always whisper air across my eyebrow and behind my ear,
like your lingering touch.

I want to create some great metaphor from all this,
somehow relate this to the way it is now:
Me wrapped in my grandmother's faded wedding quilt,
a woman's voice of raw honey and whiskey pouring liquid through the speakers,
warming me more than the heater at my feet.

I dreamt again last night: drummed by bullets into
weightlessness, feeling myself warm and wet then
drifting above my body; a dream within a dream.
I woke, prodded by the lingering memory of
an old-wives tale that if you die in your dreams,
then you die in your sleep.

Yet I am not afraid to die.

What scares me is him replacing me so soon after goodbye.
They spoon, as we did, her soft breasts and stomach
pressed against his back.
She wakes at 2am to trace his hairline with her tongue,
their bodies silhouetted in a pale back-light of street lamps and passing cars.

I remember how easily his skin marked,
so that for hours after sex
his back bore red-welted testimony of my nails...
but all of that, unimportant now.

It's just the fact of her, the replacement of me,
and how I too will replace him,
how we all replace each other,
as our lives rise and fall like oceanic tides,
like periodic and regular waves we crash on each others' shores.

Crashing in and drifting out, the simple pull of the
moon leaving sand-rippled ridges and shallow pools
to evaporate and harden on our shores,
each replaced person a jagged-edged shell
for the next to dodge.



originally written Fall 1993
reworked March 7, 2008

ponder this:

"We are spiritual beings trapped in an earthly existence."