Now, now.

Now?

All the angels and saints, and you, my brothers and sisters?

Maybe later.

What you don't understand, SB, is that ponies come from a culture that would make it impossible for them to turn down the offer to include their pony friends, even if they actually didn't want that. Not extending the offer obviates that issue; it's a bit paternalistic, admittedly, but innocuously so.

Ben's down with the ponies.

"With all these ponies, there's got to be some manure in here somewhere."

Maybe later.

If you're good.

All the angels and saints, and you, my brothers and sisters?

Is that an invitation?

You misspelled "bruthaz and sistas," Cala.

The title of this post provoked a small tingle of lapsedness on the back of my neck.

That's the Holy Spirit licking you.

11: Likewise. That language takes me back to the days before the good Monsignor Gelineau accused me of heresy in high school.

"It has been four years since my last election."

They make drugs for that now, you know.

That would have been funny if you said "dlugs".

"Christ suffraged on the cross. So remember to vote this November."

I am embarrassed to admit that it took 11 to make me realize what I was looking at.

I was always intrigued by the fact that the J.D. Robb futuristic mystery series includes the touch that the Catholic Church in 2200 (or whenever) has returned to using Latin. I think the closest analogue for me was when I went to a wedding where the readings did not come from the version of the Bible that I know best (it must be the King James, right?) -- "now I see through a glass darkly" and all that, except it wasn't. The language seemed so pedestrian that I really did feel the loss of the majesty of the other version.

We thank thee for this bridgeplate that we are about to receive..

Standpipe! welcome back -- not that I'm actually here all that often myself.

I was always intrigued by the fact that the J.D. Robb futuristic mystery series includes the touch that the Catholic Church in 2200 (or whenever) has returned to using Latin.

JUST LIKE in A Canticle for Liebowitz!!! Fiat voluntas tua and all, but it seems mitey suspicious to me!

"mitey suspicious" means somewhere between "mighty suspicious" and "a mite suspicious", by the way.

Also, "Highly Suspicious" sucks.

9: Bigger party that way.

Ashamnu.

Also, "Highly Suspicious" sucks.

So much so that one has to say "Highly Interesting" to avoid a lawsuit. I think that shift happened after the FBI tried to pin an Atlanta bombing on the wrong guy.

I'd look it up but it's my birthday; I'm only semi-sentient after a great meal and an OD on chocolate brownies topped by chocolate ice cream, chocolate sauce, and whipped cream.

You're running against Kenneth Pinyan? Certainly, his past policies were failures, but I don't think that exclusion of additional pony friends was his problem.

after the FBI tried to pin an Atlanta bombing on the wrong guy.

I was curious as to what had become of Richard Jewell, and the poor bastard's already dead. Last year, at age 44.

26: Well at least he won't be bombing anyone now!

Happy birthday, greedy.

I don't get it. But I still want to vote for Standpipe.

20: Highly interestingly (whether as allusion or coincidence), this very pun not only describes but itself has a literary antecedent.

And by printing, 'Cheese digests all but itself. Mighty cheese,' they lost Bloom's pun, 'Mity cheese.'
--- from the intro to the Gabler edition of Ulysses, in reference to a bit from the Lestrygonians chapter.

Bloom's/Joyce's pun is predicated on our familiarity with that scourge and delight of the cheese-eating classes, the cheese-mite.

Cheese mites are considered vermin in the food service industry...The mites burrow tiny holes in the surface of the cheese and are sometimes intentionally introduced to flavor cheeses like Milbenkäse and aged Mimolette. Cheese that is infested with the mites can have a sweet, minty odor and will appear to be covered in a fine gray dust of the mites, their dander and excrement.
---- from Wikipedia

I have no point to make with this excerpt. I'm just throwing it out there.

Actually, no, I take that back - I have a truly wonderful joke to go with these ramblings but this comment box is too small to contain it.

Many of our favorite flavors come from spoiled food. I once had a bottle of ketchup that was amazingly tangy and delicious, for reasons that I did not immediately understand. Eventually I happened to look into the bottle, and noticed the (presumably dead) larvae at the bottom.

Note that I said "larvae" rather than "maggots", in order to make the story more acceptable.

Cheese that is infested with the mites can have a sweet, minty odor and will appear to be covered in a fine gray dust of the mites, their dander and excrement.

Cheese-eaters probably consider this a delicacy. God! What freaks!

11, 13: Seriously. It put my tiny mind on mass-reciting overdrive.

Frankly, the way people are indulging their carnal desires today instead of commenting, they can all go to hell as far as I'm concerned. A lot of Catholic theology is bullshit, but I like the sending people to hell part.

No carnality here, Emerson. Just wasting time and waiting for the romp.

Happy birthday, Biohazard!

Cheese that is infested with the mites can have a sweet, minty odor and will appear to be covered in a fine gray dust of the mites, their dander and excrement.

I'm sure M/tch could explain the chemical processes involved both here and in Emerson's disgusting ketchup example and how being grossed out by them, or not being grossed out and eating them, kept us alive on the veldt, but he is off at the organic farm hunting arugula and tomatoes. I suppose I should be gathering something. Wool? My wits?

36: Bullets.

Obviously, SK, M/tch is the one gathering. You should be hunting down a real man.

Ooh, that always charms the laydeez, w-lfs-n. Now go kick sand in some guy's face and you'll be teh hero.

I did throw out the ketchup after seeing the larvae, but only after I had thoroughly enjoyed several servings of the super-tangy ketchup. And often I ask: by not finishing the bottle, was I untrue to myself?

I was going to say that ketchup is an international sauce of Asian (Cantonese or Filipino) derivation made primarily of a native American vegetable, plus salt, vinegar, and garlic which are all intrinsically wonderful. So anyone who despises ketchup can kiss my ass.

I think this maggoty ketchup thing is carrying the decrepit old man thing a little too far, John.

B, probably your yuppy store is selling you some maggot-flavored artisanal product to you already without telling you.

for me maggot is sounding less disgusting than larvae, coz i won't look it up
i worked all morning, got nice results thankfully, so a bit happy
coz if i feel down can't comment, a very strange correlation
and i was feeling down coz had to work on Saturday morning

My yuppy store Trader Joe's? Although my goal for the day is to get down to the damn swap meet by noon, because TJ's produce sucks ass and I like the swap meet.

Now go kick sand in some guy's face and you'll be teh hero.

Just point me at the nearest 9.8lb weakling, and I'll be sure to.

Didn't w-lfs-n at some point make his own ketchup? The hoohole fails me.

What? No.

I think it was mayonnaise.

IYKWIM.

Right, yes, shit, I got up and got my shoes and bitch beat me to the joke.

It' good mayo, too; just ask eekbeat.

We all had a champagne toast to celebrate and everything.

50: it's going to be hilarious when she beats you up for that.

Actually I was cashiering at the farm, not gathering. Cashiering's manly, right? All that math and stuff??

That is, the farm.

Thanks honey!

Chickens are "smart in their own way". Yeah, sure.

I was going crazy trying to place where in the Mass the post title came from (I mean, I knew I was lapsed, but I was sure I still remembered it all), and stumbled upon an interesting essay:

A sin of omission is still a sin - and we are still responsible for the results.

What, then, makes us think that we are more responsible for the results of voting than for the results of not voting?

Oh, I know you all know this. But still

The Confetior. "I confess to almighty God, and to you my brothers and sisters…"

Many Roman Catholic churches replace it with the shorter Kyrie.

Before w-lfs-n strikes me dead. Confiteor.

31: This sort of thing is why I am a staunch advocate for refrigerating after opening. I don't care how spicy or pickly it is - left in the pantry, it's poison.

I'm the opposite. I don't refrigerate much except for animal products. So far, we're not dead.

Well, maybe "poison" is putting it a bit strongly. I know I'm not very rational about this and, in good Freudian fashion, blame my parents. Or, more precisely, my dad. He's like David Sedaris's father, who buys old cheap produce as a matter of principle and won't throw anything out. You visit for years running and there's the same pot of honey sitting there at the back of the kitchen cabinet. I can't explain exactly how refrigerating would help but I'm sure there's some connection.

re: 62

Honey contains a natural preservative [an enzyme]. It doesn't need to be refrigerated. Although it should be stored sealed away from bright light and high temperatures.

Wikipedia says it's not recommended to store it for more than about 3 years, though.

[plaintively] But it's got this whitish scum on it... And stalactites. You know, down the sides. But yes, probably not dangerous. Icky, though - you have to grant me that.