Facebook, "Social-Networking", Etc

Greetings, Lector!

If you are up-to-date with things technological and hip, you will be wondering why I have left Facebook (again). Well, my reasons were many; allow me to depart from our normally easy and conversational style to shoot off a few bullet points:

*It wastes my time
*It tends to be used in excedingly vain ways
*"Social Networking" is obnoxious

So, if any of you 'miss' your old 'friend', I suggest you try contacting me via one of the myriad other more traditional options -- though I highly commend to you actual, physical letters.

Yours,

Auctor

MCHS Band Video

I posted a link to a Tribune article about my high school band, but here's a video that's pretty much the same as the article. Enjoy!

 

Autumn Leaves

For some reason we're actually experiencing something like 'fall' here in Big D this year, much to my delight! Yesterday, after some doctor-related activities up in Denton, we spent the afternoon walking around the lovely Denton, TX down-town. The air was really fresh and clear. The breeze had a hint of coolness but the sun was still very warm. It was probably 65-ish in the shade and 70+ in the sun.

The historic town-center features a pretty good used book store, which we probably spent at least an hour in. In addition to a few antique-stores, some restaurants, coffee houses, a candy shoppe and several other unique stores, there is a series of general-store 'malls'. These are comprised of booths filled with junk sold at a premium, but trust me they're not likely to run out anytime soon.

Getting back to this post's foliage focus, I've noticed more and more trees this year turning color and losing their leaves. There is one in particular on my way to work that I love walking past every day, monitoring its autumnal transformation. In fact, its not on my fastest route, but I take it anyways, the observation worth the extra 45 seconds (approximately a 15% increase in my commute time). It started changing slowly but is into a bright yellow already. The odd thing about Texas trees is that several of the tree varieties don't ever change colors, they just lose their leaves (seemingly) at random at various times throughout the year.

Sowell on the 'Costs' of Health Care

Clear, concise insight -- as always.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

Catholic Social Thought

I spent much of this morning compiling a single word document with all the key Magisterial documents regarding social teaching, namely:

*Leo XIII’s Rerum Novarum
*Pius XI’s Quadragesimo Anno
*John XXIII’s Mater et Magistra
*John XXIII’s Pacem in Terris
*Paul VI’s Populorum Progressio
*Paul VI’s Octogesima Adveniens
*John Paul II’s Laborem Exercens
*John Paul II’s Sollicitudo Rei Socialis
*John Paul II’s Centesimus Annus
*Benedict XVI’s Caritas in Veritate

If anyone is interested in a readily printable collection of these texts (taken from the Vatican website), I'd be happy to email you the pdf file. Just let me know.

I have only read snippets of a few of these so far, but hope to spend the coming months dedicating my studies to these ten texts, and the works a few guides.

Cheers!

Marching Band

Most of you know that I was in marching band in high school, but here's a link to a neat story in the Chicago Tribune about what made (and continues to make) our band special.