A Change of a Plan

I hate doing what I'm about to do because I feel like I do it so often - especially here. I don't fully think through the implications of my intentions, or either that I'm simply naive. Which is to say that I'm going to end what I just began, blogging through the Compendium. But let me explain why. It's not because I'm bored with it, but rather because the very next section is the center of many disagreements between Catholics and Protestants - between me and my friends and my family. And that was never my intention for this series. I thought I could do it without cheesing off anyone who read, but I'm simply not that confident in my ability to facilitate a discussion over Catholic theology.

I still plan on doing what I'm doing, but it will be a more private affair with a real live journal. The plan for this series was always for my growth in understanding my faith. The problem with posting that process here is twofold: First, it makes me look like I think I know something about something, which is not how I feel at all. (And is actually the opposite of my intention, which is to be a student.) Second, it makes for unnecessary controversy. As much as I would love to sit down, read and discuss the Compendium or the Catechism with friends and family, I don't intend to do so here where discussion can be so very difficult.

This decision doesn't mean questions about my faith won't come up here, of course, just that a series won't be devoted to it. It doesn't mean that I don't want controversy here - that's simply us thinking differently on an issue. It certainly doesn't mean that I won't occasionally get ornery and deliberately push people's buttons, because Hey! that's just fun.

Giving Up Giving Up

My giving up on this blog is officially over. It's become a habit, writing here. I write. It's what I do. It's how I breathe. It's how I think. And though it's not the only place I write, it has become a kind place for me. Certainly, this is not the proper setting for every exhalation.

I may, someday, buy an old manual typewriter and pound out my thoughts exhaustively, compiling reams of strange ideas about stranger things for my great-grandchildren to someday stumble upon and subsequently use to heat their homes. But until then, here I am.

That being said, rather sheepishly, my writing this month may certainly still be scarce regardless of my resolution to continue forward. I have some articles due at the end of this week, and then the next week will be spent in preparations for the holidays and finishing school with the girls.

Again, I thank you for your prayers. It's been a sorrowful time for our family, and a break was certainly needed from some of the things with which I normally busy myself. But the sun also rises, doesn't it. We are doing reasonably well. I haven't, as of yet, written through my grief. I probably will soon. I probably must.

"For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea" (Is 11,8).

I Share Because I Care

I'm not sure if you've noticed the "Sharing" widget in my sidebar. Most of you are probably familiar with this feature. But for those who aren't, it's a way for me to share interesting, funny, profound, and insightful posts - at least from my perspective - from other blogs or feeds that I read. I don't believe I've shared anything that I thought was ridiculous, but I suppose it could happen.

My blogroll is woefully inadequate and I don't really add to it - the blogs listed there are the blogs I began with and still read. (Some bloggers change names and addresses quite frequently. Not that I would name names. *Cough*Jared*Cough* So you may see some minor shuffling and rearranging. Maybe even an occasional deletion.) The Google Reader Sharing widget, on the other hand, allows me to give tastes of many of the blogs I read without creating a specific link to each and every one. The downside is that you don't get to see whether I read your blog unless I share a post of yours. The upside is that I'm really not all that important.

I hope you enjoy it. And if you enjoy certain blogs you think I would also enjoy, please share them with me.

Dear John

I've decided I need a break; I need time away from writing here. I will post about the kids occasionally or about that issue that's burning holes in the pockets of my brain. But as far as posting with any regularity - I'm shutting it down for a while. Maybe for the summer.

Go on. Get your box of tissues.

I'll be lurking, to be sure. But for now I need some distance from this place. I'm needed elsewhere.

But I'm still here, of course. And if you are dying for my groovy wisdom and sweet insights (or if you just want to chat), send me an e-mail. I read all my mail and answer it personally.

Peace.

Feed Me

I apologize to those of you subscribed to my blog's feed. I've been trying to label older posts (pre-labeling days with Blogger). I thought I'd figured a way to do so without the old posts dumping into my feed, but I was miserably wrong. So until I can find a way to do so, I'll be laying off any updates. Sorry for the trouble. And, uh, enjoy reading those old posts.

Yesterday and More Blog Keeping

Yesterday was a good day.

On to a different note, yesterday I tried updating some of my older blog posts by adding labels. I had no idea that when you add a label, or update a post in any manner, that it gets funneled into your feed. My apologies for stirring up the waters, as it were. I didn't mean to. I just want to label some old posts. Does anyone know how to do this without them being fed into your feed?

Blog Keeping

I'm afraid my blogroll is a bit unkept. Most of my browsing is now done via Google Reader through RSS subscriptions. Currently I keep track of 63 blogs through the great Google Reader. (Yes, I'm aware of how pathetic that sounds.) That's more than double what I list on my blogroll. I'm not sure when or how or if I will change my blogroll. Though it does seem a bit unfair to those of you I've only lately discovered.

Does anybody know of a way to sync the two?