¡Bienvenido a casa, Señor Yoan Gustavo Hermida Gonzalo!

"Oh, but anyway, Toto, we're home. Home! And this is my room, and you're all here. And I'm not gonna leave here ever, ever again, because I love you all, and - oh, Auntie Em - there's no place like home!"
-- Dorothy Gale in Wizard of Oz
"Home — that blessed word, which opens to the human heart the most perfect glimpse of Heaven, and helps to carry it thither, as on an angel's wings."
-- Lydia M. Child
"This is my home, the country where my heart is;
Here are my hopes, my dreams, my holy shrine..."
-- Lloyd Stone

My favorite libertarian and exterminator of islamofascists and communists, Yoan Hermida, is back from his tour of duty in Operation Iraqi Freedom and is relaxing in New Jersey. Go check out his latest posts... Of course, you should have been doing this all along! GO NOW!

Stay cool and safe! Yoan, relax and enjoy! After Lent is up for me, my first task will be to drink a cerveza to your safe return!

Happy St. Patty's Day... Brilliant!

"Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig oraibh!"
(St. Patrick's Day blessing upon you!)

"Pionta Guinness, le do thoil!"
(A pint of Guinness, please!)

Here we go again Mick! Blessed be Bro'...

Lorica of Saint Patrick
I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through a belief in the Threeness,
Through confession of the Oneness
Of the Creator of creation.

I arise today
Through the strength of Christ's birth and His baptism,
Through the strength of His crucifixion and His burial,
Through the strength of His resurrection and His ascension,
Through the strength of His descent for the judgment of doom.

I arise today
Through the strength of the love of cherubim,
In obedience of angels,
In service of archangels,
In the hope of resurrection to meet with reward,
In the Prayers of patriarchs,
In preachings of the apostles,
In faiths of confessors,
In innocence of virgins,
In deeds of righteous men.

I arise today
Through the strength of heaven;
Light of the sun,
Splendor of fire,
Speed of lightning,
Swiftness of the wind,
Depth of the sea,
Stability of the earth,
Firmness of the rock.

I arise today
Through God's strength to pilot me;
God's might to uphold me,
God's wisdom to guide me,
God's eye to look before me,
God's ear to hear me,
God's word to speak for me,
God's hand to guard me,
God's way to lie before me,
God's shield to protect me,
God's hosts to save me
From snares of the devil,
From temptations of vices,
From every one who desires me ill,
Afar and anear,
Alone or in a multitude.

I summon today all these powers between me and evil,
Against every cruel merciless power that opposes my body and soul,
Against incantations of false prophets,
Against black laws of pagandom,
Against false laws of heretics,
Against craft of idolatry,
Against spells of women and smiths and wizards,
Against every knowledge that corrupts man's body and soul.
Christ shield me today
Against poison, against burning,
Against drowning, against wounding,
So that reward may come to me in abundance.

Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks of me,
Christ in the eye that sees me,
Christ in the ear that hears me.

I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through a belief in the Threeness,
Through a confession of the Oneness
Of the Creator of creation

St. Patrick (ca. 377)

Stay cool and Safe! Slainté!

An excellent surprise win!

"It's the sense of touch. In any real city, you walk, you know? You brush past people, people bump into you. In L.A., nobody touches you. We're always behind this metal and glass. I think we miss that touch so much, that we crash into each other, just so we can feel something."
-- Graham in Crash
"It's just black people demeaning other black people, using that word over and over. You ever hear white people callin' each other "honky" all the time? "Hey, honky, how's work?" "Not bad, cracker, we're diversifying!"
-- Anthony in Crash

For me, it was a disappointing movie year. Everyone and their brother had Brokeback Mountain winning the whole kit and kaboodle. I saw Walk the Line right before the Oscars and thought it was good. Nothing spectacular mind you, but a good biography with solid performances. Very entertaining, although don't ask me to comment on the actor they cast as Elvis. THAT was an abomination. I just can't go there :-P

Every year, the Prince Consort and I watch the Oscars with the Dowager Queen. We fill out our ballots and see who gets the most correct. It is a fun and mindless tradition.

I find that the Oscars always have at least one upset. I was hoping that it was going to be a win for Best Supporting Actor by Matt Dillon for his performance in Crash. I have loved Matt Dillon since seeing his first movie when I was all but a dewy 14 year old and he was 15. He played the sensitive, misunderstood badboy in Over the Edge. From then on, I happily drank the Dillon kool-aid and watched anything that he was in... but alas, Oscar was not to be his...

Fortunately, I was not be disappointed. Crash, shocking everyone who is drawing a breath in the entertainment world, won Best Picture. I absolutely loved this movie. It has a theme about racism, but delved into the grey areas. It really made you think. There were many stories and the way that they were interwoven was brilliant. You cared about every line that was cast and really were mesmerized to see how it would all be drawn together. It really showed how assumptions and how you think people really are may not be the truth. It is a mega parable teaching the simple story of "don't judge a book by it's cover".

I highly recommend it, so rush out and rent it. I will say that one can trust me. I don't like pretentious, elitist tripe that tries to make you believe you must love the movie so that you can say you know what true art is. That attitude is just a bunch of BS. I like the sophisticated and the dumb. Entertainment is entertainment! And you have my eternal pardon to bitch slap anyone who insists that The Unbearable Lightness of Being or Requiem for a Dream are the best movies ever made. They SUCK!

Stay cool and safe! And George Clooney, you are a much prettier piece of man candy when you don't take yourself so seriously! Lighten up hot stuff!

It's heeerrrreeee.....

"Even now, says the LORD,
return to me with your whole heart,
with fasting, and weeping, and mourning;
Rend your hearts, not your garments,
and return to the LORD, your God."
-- Joel 2:12-13
"What? Oh God, is it Lent again already?"
-- Imperius in Ladyhawke
"So what'd ya' give up for Lent?"
-- Patrick in The Brothers McMullen

Yup... it's that time again. Lent is upon us. As any good practicing Catholic knows, one is supposed to choose an appropriate sacrifice and quietly, penitently, dedicate one's self to keeping the promise. A perfect Catholic will not even mention what the sacrifice is, but will humbly bear it throughout this fair Lenten season.

Well... I figure, none of you really know me. You just see me as your devoted just, glorious Queen. Someone to be in awe in and not to get too close to. In light of that... I feel I can probably bitch and moan about what I am sacrificing. It will assist me in getting out all my whining and I really won't have crossed the line... Yeah, yeah, that's the ticket!

So... I have given up the booze. This is going to be a tough one... The Flame of Cheshire, the Chief, and I are devoting ourselves to an alcohol free Lent. This may seem like not a big deal, but I we will miss it greatly! It has helped us deal with insomnia, drama, and dry mouth. It is the perfect nectar of the Gods... oops... I mean God.

How will I go without my one nightly adult beverage? I usually choose from a Guinness, a Harp, a Bass or a nice wine. My current wine selection has been a sassy little Dienhard Green Label Riesling. Yummy! Nothing like relaxing with a soothing elixir. Ah, a Queen can dream. When I am pining during the next 40 days, I can just revisit this page and see my beloved Satan sauces.

I am also trying to be better about exercise. I really loathe it, but I have worked pretty hard with my trainer for the past two years. She has moved on to bigger and better things, but has been great in calling me weekly and checking up that I am doing the work twice a week as usual ... Okay, so I fibbed to her about the last two weeks, but with Lent being the dark specter above me, I think I can get back on track. I am also going to try to commit to 20 minutes a day on the exercise bike.

I am also trying to be better about my eating and going to Mass weekly. *SIGH* I am probably taking on too much, but I guess I always do! Ah, well... at least the ambition and thought is there, if not the discipline.

Wish me luck my children, since tomorrow is Friday, my usual day to booze it up! I am going to have to figure out something else to do to deal with the stress of dealing with the paranoid wackjobs at work. If you have any ideas, let me know!

Stay cool and safe!