May 12 of 12
7:00AM The Unibomber Shack
My tiny one room house was called this as a joke the day I moved in. Somehow, it has never lived it down. There are a lot of photos of people in bed looking at their alarm clocks so instead, here is what the shack looks like when I first wake up. If you're thinking to yourself, "hey, that's really cute!" Notice two things. First, you can see all the way through it. Second, have a look at the next picture and see how ghetto my lifestyle really is...
7:02AM Yes. it really is that small.
It's so small people don't realize that it's a dwelling and so they lean against it and drink beer at 4 in the morning sometimes. That's an alley running behind it and there are skid marks where cars have run into the shack. Plus I have 4 dumpsters! But I've gotten attached to the place and everyone who visits says they wish they had a shack too.
8:00AM Cats in the bathroom.
I don't know why this is, but there is no greater thrill for my cats than my bathroom after I have just gotten out of the shower. The minute I turn off the water they run in and wait for their chance to hang around in the bathtub. And then once the bathtub is no longer interesting they continue to hang around playing with the bathmat, bringing toys in there, and sitting on the toilet.
10:30AM Ludicrous Lighting
This is what it looks like when I photograph rosaries. Inside the cube there is a foam core stage that the rosaries are arranged on for photography. One side is blue fabric and the other is white. It was actually difficult to take this picture because the light is so bright that the camera freaks out. I can spend hours with my head stuck inside that little box as it can take up to half an hour to pose and photograph a single rosary.
4:50PM "Clouds" behind the steeple
Okay, this was supposed to be a picture of the cool cloud formation behind the St. John's steeple before Mass, but the sky turned out completely white. I like going to Mass on Fridays because it is chanted in Latin. Unfortunately though, this Friday, it wasn't. (It probably had something to do with the semester ending.)
4:55PM The interior of St. Johns Chapel
I really like the way the inside of St. Johns looks. It's ornate without looking over done. The altar used to be an old style Latin Mass high altar but it was changed to work with the new Novus Ordo mass. All of the marble taken from the original high altar was reused elsewhere in the sanctuary.
5:25PM Not Yet Body and Blood
The "Gifts" waiting on their tiny table to be taken up to the altar. Every thing has a funny Latin name in the Mass. Though the wine is in a "flask", the host wafers are in a "ciborium" and the napkin the priest spreads out to catch any crumbs is called a "corporal". Later on, I helped distribute the Precious Blood to the congregation as a "Eucharistic Minister" and I had a different napkin for catching any spills called a "purificator". (It looks like I've been caught taking pictures, but that guy actually spends more time looking behind him during mass than in front of him. I have no clue why.)
5:30PM Washing hands
I wanted to take a picture during Mass, but not during a time where anything important was going on so I chose this moment where Monsignuer Swetland is washing his hands in preparation to consecrate the gifts. He's wearing red because it's a feast day for the martyrs Nereus and Achilleus. We got some sad news the other day that Monsigneur is leaving at the end of June. This is one of his last Masses at St. Johns.
6:00PM The Divine Office for Many
After Mass a small group of us stayed and prayed the Evening Liturgy together. Here Sacristan Mary holds a stack of the chapel's prayer books.
6:20PM Prayers to the Blessed Virgin
The website I administrate is saying goodbye to one of its members tonight. It's always tough on the site staff and membership when this happens, not to mention for the person leaving. I lit this novena candle and said a rosary that the site would move on in this difficult time and that the member would find happiness in her life. Our candle is the one on the right.
7:00 My Car
WIth all the church stuff taken care of, it's time to go to fencing at "The Point", Urbana-Champaign's local fencing club. My car is well equipped in case of emergency. I've got a tiny St. Christopher statue from Elwing, a St. Benedict Exocism medal (in case of possession), some holy water (in case of baptism), and an iPod.
8:10 L U N G E !
It's a good thing he's stepping into my kind of whimpy lunge there. Fencing practice at The Point is always fun. There were only eight of us fencing tonight so we did a round robin thing and fenced each other twice on two different strips.
BONUS PHOTO
Here is my 13th "bonus" self portrait photo. Me in my dorky white outfit (which is even whiter than normal because I just washed it). I don't quite know what's going on with my hair. It looked fine before I took my mask on and off a couple of times. Don't make fun of it though or I'll poke you with my pointy stick! :-D
posted by Saint Kurt at 9:16 PM
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