Written on 10:19 PM by Jack B.
The mighty river called the Hudson
Into the Bay the water flows
Carrying the ashes of ages
Whose exactly no one knows
Around the city life goes on
And the river flows on
Who could have seen the planes coming
On an ordinary day like any other
Victims counted by their connections
As father, mother, sister, son, daughter, brother
But now they are gone
And I know they're gone
People jumped from buildings
Faced between fire and the ground
Heroes were born that day
Where cowards could not be found
Still they are gone
And I know they're gone
Looking at the skyline
Imagine the lingering souls
Fate was their hunter
Hate dug the hole
To dust have they gone
And I know they're gone
Memories fade with the seasons
Until only the hurt remains
With it anger and solace
Nothing will be the same
But life must go on
And the river flows on
Posted in
memories,
my life,
poetry
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Written on 5:47 PM by Jack B.
But busy teaching and working on my thesis (never imagined it would take so much of my time).
Posted in
my life
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Written on 8:27 PM by Jack B.
I can't say I've been very busy these last several months (July went past in a blur) but I have been trying to work on several projects before I return to school/work next week:
*For one thing this is the end of this part of my college career (hopefully). Time to write my Master's Thesis and get the hell out after 8 years plus of university life. I'm sure I'll get my Ph.D one of these days if the circumstances allow but for now I've had enough.
*When the semester starts I'll also be TEACHING a college class for the first time. Me a college lecturer, imagine that. It'll be an introductory English 1 class probably populated with freshmen students but I'm very excited about it. It is certainly not something I ever saw myself doing when I dropped out of public school as a teenager.
*I also applied for a passport for the first time. It hasn't arrived in time for me to use before my vacation is over but I'm looking forward to putting it to use at my first opportunity. Perhaps an extended stay in Rome or London or Ireland or even Canada (passports are a must to go there now).
*So I've been doing a lot of sleeping and reading and studying (along with several shopping sprees for new clothes – something I haven't treated myself to in years) and am more than ready to put my brain back to work (and to get back to my blog as well)
Posted in
my life
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Written on 10:51 PM by Jack B.
My niece, Monica Grace. With a pedigree like that you can bet she's 100 % ALL AMERICAN!
On a more selfish note, ain't she a cutie? One of the great things about being an uncle is that I have none of the responsibility of a parent and yet I still get all the pictures!
Posted in
me,
my life
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Written on 9:36 PM by Jack B.
I can’t remember when I’ve been so occupied as I’ve been the last few months. Not busy, mind you, but occupied. My mind, my body, my life. Blogging has been almost non-existent, actual internet use rare. Extra responsibility at work + preparing for this coming semester has taken all my time and when I do go online...let’s just say I’m subscribed to almost 200 blogs on Bloglines and it just takes all my time to read them.
Each time I tell myself things will slow down...but they haven’t. I also still haven’t adjusted to it being 2007. 2006 went so smoothly I didn’t want it to end. By December of 07 I should have fufilled all the requirements for my Master’s. What then? Go for my Ph.D? Take some time off and travel to Europe? Settle down and finally grow up? So many decisions and I no longer can keep putting them off.
Alas, all my days are packed and the Spring semester starts this week. I’m taking a "Teaching College English Composition" course and will be a Teacher’s Assistant in an Undergrad class (ah, those were the days!). After years of avoiding T-E-A-C-H-I-N-G I’ve decided to see what it’s like. I’m hopeful I can get through this period without any disasters. My fingers are crossed.
Posted in
my life
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Written on 11:01 AM by Jack B.
My sisters were baptized and entered the Catholic Church this Easter Vigil. In addition the older of the two, the pregnant one, got married after Mass. Of course she was already married (since last year) but the first ceremony was (literally) a drive-by type in Las Vegas. This was the “religious” wedding.
Anyway, this Easter Vigil was a particularly long one - especially since they were getting baptized in a section of the Bronx (St. Brendan’s Parish) that I had never been in before. Took almost two hours to get up there to begin with so basically the whole preparing for the vigil thing was a day long event.
I was there, my parent were there as was my 86-year old Grandmother and my aunt (Mother’s sister), my older sister’s in-laws and some of their friends. Since my mother, grandmother and aunt are Jewish I wondered if they got bored or not and it didn’t help that it was unbearably hot inside the church. I was otherwise occupied with the little video camera trying to get footage of the baptisms, confirmations and weddding ceremony (I wasn’t that successful, I think).
It was a good turn-out, and the church was packed. St. Brendan’s is a largish modern building, built in the shape of a boat (i.e. for St. Brendan the Navigator) in a largely hispanic neighborhood although the parish itself is very integrated with large helping of Irish and Asian congregants. It’s interesting to go to a church you’ve never been in before and see what community life is like.
The service was conducted in both English and Spanish, with readings and hymns alternating in both languages. The church choir was very good. There were three priests and a deacon officiating - which in an age where priests are scarce is quite a feat. The Vigil Mass lasted over 3 hours so it took a lot of stamina, many others handled it better that I did. My sister Dee-Dee’s godparents were her in-laws, my sister Erica’s were her former boyfriend’s parents (who she has remained close to). At confirmation time (when they get their baptismal name) Erica got my father to be her sponsor (although getting him to go to church was a miracle in itself). The baptismal names they chose were Teresa (after St. Teresa of Avila) and Maria (after St. Maria Goretti). The main priest singled out two particular new Catholics - young African-American boys who attend the local Catholic school - who apparently decided on their own to convert to the Catholic Church. In a time when Cardinal Egan is preparing to close a bunch of Catholic schools, it was a good example of the evangelizing good (in addition to educational) that a Catholic education can produce. The Father also pointed out about three or four rows of young people (i.e. teenagers and 20somethings) who had been on Easter retreat the previous 3 days and would continue till Easter day itself, sleeping on the floor of the school auditorium, fasting and praying. They had apparently performed an out-door reinactment of Calvary on Good Friday as well as demonstrating (with signs) for pro-life causes (against the Iraq War, abortion, euthanasia, poverty). Got to admit I was impressed.
The wedding itself took all of 5 minutes (and another couple also said their vows). By that time everything was over it was 11:30 at night. Then we went to get pizza (hey, my sister was paying who am I to complain). No one noticed it at the time but pizza of course is made with leavened bread and this is Passover season, when leavened bread is a no-no. Oh, well there goes my fast. By the time I got home it was Easter Sunday already....and a few hours away from Easter Mass itself. Oh, well there goes my sleep.
I’m still not quite sure why my sisters converted. Neither has ever been particularly religious. My older sister married into a very Catholic Puerto Rican family that goes to Church every Sunday, and she’s expecting a baby girl, so that might have something to do with it. But the younger one converting was even more complexing to me. She actually traveled to the Bronx (where she does not live) to go to RCIA every Wednesday, which is very bizarre if you knew her and her fondness for clubbing or hanging out with her friends at pool halls and places like that. These two used to mock me unmercifully when we were younger and we first got EWTN and I would watch Mother Angelica and Father Pablo Straub (he of the giant crucifix while preaching) constantly. Not to mention my reading of the Bible, the writing of John Paul II and other Catholic books...and now...now they are more Catholics than me (i.e. I would rather watch Mass on TV than actually go to it). God truly does work in mysterious ways.
P.S. In case no one noticed the tie I was wearing in the picture above. Here's a close-up. Notice the praying hands holding a cross, surrounded by a big red heart. Yep, its a really tacky tie. I never wore it before although I've owned it literally for years. I mean, really, when would you get the opportunity to wear a tie like this? It was given to me by the younger of my sisters as either a birthday or Christmas present (I forget which). I think she meant it as a joke. The joke's on her - I finally have a reason to wear it - at her baptism. I was actually surprised by how much attention it got - the first thing my sisters said when they saw me was - "What are you wearing?"
P.S.S. Since Julie D. mentioned it in the comments, perhaps I should clarify that being raised in a mixed-religion household, my family celebrated both the Jewish and Christian/Catholic High Holy Days. So during Passover, my mother and sisters and I would try to avoid leavened bread and ate a lot of matzoh (which are really good and don't have a lot of calories). We weren't always too good at it but we tried. At the same time we went to church with my father (usually) during the Christian Holy Week. These days, I still try to observe the Passover fast but as mentioned above I'm not always successful.
Posted in
catholicism,
me,
my life
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