♫26 Miles Across the Sea♫

Actually about 19½ miles at the closest point.

So while all you poor saps in the Midwest and East Coast were getting buried under snow and sleet, we were living it up in sunny Santa Catalina Island. The Murloc and I took a late anniversary/early birthday trip for three days. We were sure to leave food and water out for the boys so they were all taken care of.

To further rub it in, I thought I'd share some picture of our gorgeous visit.

Lenten Loopholes

The solution was so obvious. It's been staring me in the face for so long. I can't believe I didn't think of it sooner.

As is widely know, my Usual Lenten Prohibitions include video games. Alas and alack. I've long realized that I need to substantially cut back on vidjimagame time, so for extra penance this year, I haven't played any computer games since the start of Septuagesima tide, and won't even allow myself chess or crossword puzzles on my phone, nor Angry Birds on the tablet (not even during boring homilies at Mass! I know, penitential, right?). Hopefully, this will stick after Lent and lead to more meaningful use of my time, and not just The Biggest Video Game Binge in History come Easter.

But anyways, this leaves me with the problem of, y'know, not being able to play video games. What am I to do with all this time that I should be using doing something else?

Then it struck me.

What I give up for Lent every year:

• Playing video games.

What I do not give up, nor have ever given up, for Lent:

• Debugging video games.

So the solution, then, is obvious. Either a), get a job as a video game tester, or b) write my own video games, then debug them. Then, so long as the play can be justified as falling under the general category of "testing", it's all cool, right?

Randomemes

My day so far.

The joys of relearning OOP.

...and your shame tastes good with ketchup.

Friday Quicktakes (2/15/13)

...and I'm sick again. I think this is the sixth or seventh time in the last year. Can't tell if because of kids, I'm getting old, or I have AIDS.

I almost dodged this one. The Murloc got it first, which is unusual, and it looked like I was avoiding it. Then, well, something happened. It's a funny story, but... it's probably not suitable for sharing on the internet. Just think of the punchline to your favorite joke instead.

Hehe. Half a cat.

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True story.

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I came up with a good one today (well, yesterday, if you're reading this the day it goes live; who knows when if you're from farther in the future, in which case, greetings future human! Are you enjoying your flying car and personal jetpack?):

"Yo mama's so dumb she tried to defrag a solid state drive."

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Ah, EVE Online, that most interesting of MMOs, where an in game battle can cost nearly $25,000 real-world dollars. Eurogamer and Destructoid have the tale.

The battle destroyed 717 billion ISK worth of ships, and since in the game, you can purchase ISK with real-world money, and also convert your ISK to subscription time, this means there is a real dollar figure attached to virtual destruction.

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Shamus Young has been discussing Zombie Plans. Basically, what would you do in the event of a zombie apocalypse?

My zombie plan is really the same as my general apocalypse plan. I'm not thinking short term, like where to scrounge for guns, and what weapon is best against zombies. Most zombie stories only look at the days or weeks immediately following an outbreak. I'm thinking longer term. Like one, five, ten, or twenty years out. Where do you grow more food once the stocks of canned food have been used up? How do you preserve human knowledge through the collapse of civilization? Where do you go for support while rebuilding society? My answer is the same for any doomsday scenario: the abbey.

If you look back to the last time Western Civilization collapsed, it was the monasteries the preserved it, then built it back up. I figure, for the long haul, that's the place to be. St. Michael's is a half-day's walk from where I live, so accessible when the roads are clogged, or if cars are not available, and without any intermediate stopovers if we can only travel during the day. It's somewhat secluded, with access to education and the Sacraments. With a lot of strong, young men, it would be easily defensible. Open land around for hunting and farming.

So, you know, if the apocalypse happens tomorrow, you know where to find me.

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I close with this free-of-charge pro-tip: Never say "d as in dad" on the phone.

Lenten Offerings

Philosoraptor asks the question on all our minds

In Light of the World, Pope Benedict practically stated he'd resign under the right conditions, but that doesn't lessen the shock. It still seems so sudden. Why now? It's easy to feel abandoned. Like the job got too hard, so he decided to move on. But as the Anchoress points out, he's not giving up his burden so much as trading for one perhaps more suited for him:

He’s retiring to a monastery within the Vatican One does not “retire” into monasticism; a monastery is not an idyllic place of retreat, but a full-thrust into spiritual depths. It is where one goes to pray, do penance and — if one is particularly holy and willing — to engage in supernatural battle with things seen and unseen. 

This is grave stuff, indeed; a heavy task. My suspicion is that Benedict is not taking his leave of the papacy in order to play his piano and read his books. In the midst of the temporal Lent of 2013, he’s going to be immersing himself in the Long Lent that began for us in 2002, and is with us still. 

I suspect he will be doing penance for the church, and for the world — for those of us who cannot or will not do it, ourselves.

And so, where no pope in the last 600 years has seen the need or duty to step aside, Papa Ratzinger does so with quiet humility. What this says about him, or the last 600 years worth of popes, I do not know. Will it set a precedent? Unlikely. It's probably just Ratzinger being Ratzinger. He is unique in many ways. Through his own prayer and introspection, he concluded that there is now a better way for him to serve the Church.

I have previously written about how much Blessed John Paul the Great meant to me. Pope Benedict is similarly beloved by me, for altogether different reasons. JPG was the pope of my childhood; the charismatic figure who inspired love for the Church. B16 is the pope of my adulthood. The intellectual whose writings furthered my understanding of the Church. I know JPG was a great philosopher and theologian himself, but that's never how I knew him. But one of the first books I read in college was Ratzinger's Introduction to Christianity. And I've spent the last year or so reading Jesus of Nazareth (between 6 and 7 on Wednesday mornings, during my holy hour, which is why it's taking me so long). He's the writer that introduced me to spiritual, intellectual maturity.

And I'll always love him for Summorum Pontificum, which introduced me to the Latin Mass, which I have since fallen in love with.

Marc Barnes' has perhaps the best tribute, in a poetic style that is sublime even for him: "How unwitting the darkness that made his light shine brighter. He leaves as he came, with a humility that shocks the world."

Quick Takes Friday

Greetings from Santa Catalina Island!

I'd love to tell you about how awesome it is here, but I am, in fact, not here. Right now, It's Tuesday night and I'm at home writing this, but when this goes live, I will be away from it all. Since I am communicating with you from the past, I haven't yet taken any pictures to show you. But here's one that probably captures the setting.

Photodump

If you don't already, I highly recommend you follow our friend Britt Dietz' Moments Capture photography on Facebook. He does amazing aviation photography...