Tal vez sea el evitar la tentación de juntar palabras para hacer una obra. Dijo Claudel que no fueron las palabras las que hicierion la Odisea, sino al revés.
— Ernesto Sabato, “El principal problema del escritor”
Currently reading: El Escritor Y Sus Fantasmas by Ernesto Sabato 📚
More LatAm lit on the way: Ernesto Sabato, Adolfo Bioy Cesares, and Julio Cortázar (along with the complete short stories of Graham Greene).
Finished 2666, which I liked a lot. Started Como agua para chocolate and am enjoying it. Not entirely sure where to go next. I may go look at more stuff by Yoko Ogawa or John Crowley’s Aegypt books. Blake Couch’s Wayward Pines series is also coming highly recommended to me.
Mexico was nice, though the weather was a bit weird. The wind kept it cooler than expected. The hotel was lovely and the food was excellent. Looking forward to England and Scotland in a few weeks and it will be the longest vacation we’ve taken since…uh…maybe ever.
Wrapped up S2 of Severance and am thoroughly invested. Very interested to see where they go next and how they address a couple of large-ish unanswered questions related to Irving. I love, love, love the visual design of the show, especially the weird dissonance of the props: older cars and retro-tech on the desktops, but also iPhones and whatnot.
Otherwise, we’re slowly transitioning to summer-mode here. Hasn’t really gotten too warm yet, but all in good time.
The next few days are going to be crazy: travel for work, followed by one final weekend downtown for tribunal case sponsorship training and the lector installation mass for the cohort behind us, followed by quasi-business-but-mostly-fun travel to Mexico. A few weeks after that we have our real vacation set: England and Scotland by train.
Still feels weird to know that I’m done with school. It’s generally dominated my brain for the last 4-5 years and all at once, that’s it. Only a couple of us were able to make it to the graduation ceremony this past weekend, but the ones who went said they called out our names, so I guess it’s more or less official.
I’m in (I think) the final part of 2666. It’s been wonderful, bleak, and weird, all at the same time. I don’t know if there are any answers coming, but won’t be surprised either way. The chapter “The Part About The Crimes” was difficult, relentless reading. One bright spot was catching various references the author makes to other Mexican writers - Paz and Rulfo - who I’ve recently read.
Regarding the conclave and election of Pope Leo XIV: hooray! It was great fun to watch the announcement. Very excited to see what’s next.
The weather here has been characteristically spring-ish: warm, then cool, then warm again, then thunderstormy. Most of the pollen has thankfully cleared out and everything is lush and green. It’s not been hot yet, but I think we’re getting into the high 80s this week, which will be wonderful.
Currently reading: 2666 by Roberto Bolaño 📚
Currently reading: Treatise on the Love of God by Francis De Sales 📚
I just took the last exam of the last class of the last year of our formation and have completed all work required of our MA program. There’s one more session next month to cover best practices when working with the tribunal; otherwise, we’re done.
Deo gratias, alleluia, alleluia.
Coming up for a bit of air after some business travel directly on the heels of a A Very Busy Triduum. I was saddened, but not surprised, when the announcements about Pope Francis hit on Monday. When I saw the pictures of him after he left the hospital, it seemed very much like he intended to die at home rather than in a hospital bed. And other than being found face-down in a breviary (which is how I want to check out), is there a better way to go than on Easter Monday? The next few weeks will be interesting. I pray for the repose of the soul of our Holy Father, and for the cardinals preparing for the conclave. I pray also for our own bishop and the pastor of our parish.
I took a couple days off so that I could jump with both feet into the Easter liturgies and was able to serve on Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Vigil. It was exhausting, and I wasn’t even on the hook to come back for Masses throughout Easter Sunday. This will certainly not be the case next year, so I’ll probably plan on taking Monday off as well. It was exhausting, but profoundly moving, to be in the middle of every single bit of it. Probably never too soon to start practicing the Exultet, with apologies in advance to the rest of my family.
This weekend is the last class of our last academic year. If the instructor follows her usual pattern, the exam will post on Monday and I’ll probably do it on Tuesday, at which point I will have completed all necessary requirements. Once this is in the rear-view mirror, we have some travel planned - Mexico, for some work-related stuff which will also be fun, and the UK later this summer which is purely fun.
Reading: Azuela has stalled out a little bit. I took St. Gregory’s Book of Pastoral Rule with me for the trip, but spent the return flight watching Severance instead. Finally getting around to this and so far, so good. For upcoming travel, I have Roberto Bolaño’s 2666 (in English) on deck. After that, I have Como agua para chocolate in queue.
One of our catechumens comes to me before class last week and says “here, I got this for you,” and hands me a beautiful scapular.
My Lady, I can take a hint.
I carried it around for a few days waiting for a good moment with a priest, and was enrolled on Sunday after Mass in the vestry. I should probably go back and revisit some of the books on the Carmelites soon but for now, I just want to linger with her a bit longer in these final days of Lent.
Currently reading: Los de abajo by Mariano Azuela 📚 🇲🇽