Ellicott City - Ocean City - Ellicott City

December 24, 2024 Peace and Good, As you can see above, I spent some time at the friars' place in Ocean City. It was there for a week. It was very cold, but I love the peace and quiet there at this time of the year. Life here is Ellicott City has fallen into a good pattern. I help out at the Shrine with confessions and Masses (which includes celebrating Mass at St. Joseph Nursing Home about a half hour away from here). I have also led a few days of recollection for various groups. My next class is January 25 which is a replay of my workshop on the Book of Revelation. In the meantime, I want to get started on a series of magazine articles on the Penteteuch that I am writing for the friars' magazine in Kenya. I have been writing for them for a couple of years now. I am very happy that the winter solstice has arrived. I really suffer from the shorter days, and I can't wait to get out into the sun more as the days get longer. I finished some reading and listening: The American Civil War by Gary Gallaher This is a long course from the Teaching Company on the Civil War. The professor is fair in his evaluations and very informative, not only on battles but also on the politics and cultural dimensions of the battle. His side topics include slavery, the role of civilians (including African-Americans), trade, etc. The course is 48 lectures so listening to it is a bit of a commitment, but it is well worthwhile. Talleyrand by Charles River Editors This is a short outline of the life and career of this remarkable figure. He started out as a bishop, but then switched roles, serving first the French Revolution, then Napoleon, and then the kings who followed Napoleon. It seems as if his guiding principles were fame and money. Yet, he served his nation well in a very difficult era (even though he always made sure he got his cut of whatever profits were available). The Wine Dark Sea by Thomas Cahill This is the author of the famous book, “How the Irish Saved Civilization.” This volume is a study on the history, literature, and culture of ancient Greece from its earliest days up to the time that it encountered Rome and the Christian faith. Cahill’s books are often a bit irreverent, but not in a dirty way but mostly in a down to earth manner. He also has some interesting ideas about the influences upon Greek cities, poets and artists, etc. The Lost Gutenberg: the Astounding Story of One Book’s Five Hundred Odyssey by Margaret Leslie David This is the story of one of the Bibles printed by Gutenberg and how it was handed down from one owner to another, travelling from Germany to Great Britain to the US to Japan. It also deals with the process of printing in the days of Gutenberg, and also with scientific studies done on the book to try to discover its secrets (e.g. the chemistry of the ink used, the type of paper, the process of organizing printing, etc.). It is a good book, dealing well with a whole series of topics. Belle Boyd by Charles River Editors This is a short account of one of the most important Confederate spies during the Civil War. Boyd was a wild young woman who lived in the northern part of Virginia, an area which passed back and forth between the two sides. She did things which deserve the worst of punishments, but somehow she got away with most of what she did, only being exiled as a punishment. Mata Hari by Charles River Editors This is a short presentation of the life of Mata Hari, the famous exotic dancer who was executed by the French during World War I as a spy for the Germans. The author argues strongly that she was innocent and that her execution was a type of cover up to catch people’s attention during the disastrous battle of Verdun. A Small Town in Germany by John Le Carre This is a dramatic presentation about a German employee of the British embassy in West Germany who disappears. A tough investigator is sent to find out what happened and whether there was something very dangerous about it (e.g. defection to the East with secret documents). There are a series of twists and turns as is common in the writings of Le Carre. It was a very entertaining presentation. 100 Things the Simpsons Fans Should Know and Do Before they Die by Julia Prescott and Allie Goetz I have been a fan of the Simpsons since its beginning, although having been in Europe for so long I have not seen the past 13 years of it. This is a series of 100 short vignettes about the show, its writers, its characters, its message, etc. The 10 Biggest Civil War Blunders by Edward Bonekemper This is a good presentation of mistakes made by both the North and the South during the Civil War. It includes such mistakes as not following up on victories (over and over again a fault of the north), a plan to embargo cotton made by the South to force Great Britain enter the war, etc. Bonekemper is fair in his presentation and has very few visible axes to grind. Dickens and Twain: Capturing 19th Century Britain and America by Timothy Shutt. This is a Modern Scholar presentation. It speaks of the similarities and differences between Dickens and Twain who were more or less contemporaries. While Dickens was intimately involved in describing the horrors of modern England and the effects of the industrial revolution, Dickens comments on travel and society in a humorous manner. White Fire by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child This is a story of Agent Pendergast and Corrie, a young troubled woman who has gotten her life together and is attempting to build a career in law enforcement. She travels to a mountain resort in the West which has dangerous and evil secrets about the past and the way that these things were still incarnated in the present. 1941 by Andrew Nagorski Nagorski is the son of a Polish officer who fought in World War II. Thus, he has a special interest in presenting the story as best he can. He speaks of 1941 as the year that Hitler lost the war (even if its end did not come til 1945). Hitler overstepped himself in his invasion of Russia and then his declaration of war against the United States after Pearl Harbor. The book is very well written. Merry Christmas! fr. Jude