Seven Quick Takes # 16

---1---

I seemed to have gone into overblogging mode in the past week and a half... I mean, five blogs in ten days? That's a lot. Of course, I could say I was making up for the previous three weeks of blogging just once. But really, it was because I got so much feedback, interest and shares from my Marriage post (including a job offer and two offers to be set up with single men), that I began to feel like a Blogging Goddess, who needed to start a Facebook page for the blog, and then churn out blog posts for my adoring audience. You did know that INTJ's tend to arrogance, right? In case I forget, I have my sister to remind me.

---2---

Anyway, I realize that a blog is just a blog. You know, a place for someone with an internet connection and an opinion to spout off. It's okay, life will return to normal this week, because I have so many things going in real life, that blogging will have to take a back seat. But i can't promise I won't blog about them once they're over.

---3---

Blogging a lot is not really difficult for me, because my mind ALWAYS has something to blog about, but I don't always make time to sort out my thoughts and make them pretty and presentable and funny. But when I do, oh, the joy. Jennifer recently wrote about it as a way of de-cluttering her mind. Unfortunately, once I get into hyper-blogging mode, I can't seem to stop. A few nights ago I couldn't sleep because my mind would take every thought and try to turn it into a blog post. I would firmly tell it to shut up, but the next moment I would be at it again.

---4---

I've also been dreaming a lot about my blog posts, including marriage, being set up by my friends, and meeting the love of my life (who turned out to be my first crush). Interspersed with those dreams were other very significant dream themes like the night I sat bolt upright in my bed, freaking out, because the DAMN RHINOCEROS WAS RIPPING THROUGH ALL THE BOOKS IN THE BOOKSHELF. At least I wasn't dreaming about mice, like one of my commenters.

---5---

I've also been obsessing about personality types. Along with my sister, and my room mate. In the middle of a conversation about someone, suddenly I stop, and go, "I..... S..... T or F, do you think? It's hard to know... But definitely J!" I've also started seeing connections between myself and different people. People who I used to think were extremely similar to me tun out be INTJs too. Some people are very similar to me, except for one ofe the four letters, and it's interesting to see how that plays out in our attitudes and personalities.

---6---

I've been refreshed and impressed by the way many of the Catholic bloggers have been responding to Pope Francis' words. They are not just rushing to interpret it according to their own inclination, nor are they dismissing his words as his personal (and not very enlightened) opinion. Plenty of people have taken his words the wrong way- the media and the uber-traditionalists getting together for a change and acting like he just dismissed Catholic moral teaching, and dissed Pope Benedict.

(via catholicmemes.com )

“I remember, when I used go to Germany in the 1980s and ’90s, that I was asked to give interviews and I always knew the questions in advance. They concerned the ordination of women, contraception, abortion and other such constantly recurring problems. If we let ourselves be drawn into these discussions, the Church is then identified with certain commandments or prohibitions; we give the impression that we are moralists with a few somewhat antiquated convictions, and not even a hint of the true greatness of the faith appears. I therefore consider it essential always to highlight the greatness of our faith – a commitment from which we must not allow such situations to divert us. ” – Address of his Holiness Benedict XVI – Thursday, 9 November 2006 #HermeneuticOfContinuity

But many bloggers are humbly listening to what he's really saying, and what he's calling for- a change of focus and a change in our methods. The love and mercy of Jesus first, which open the hearts of people to see that His moral laws are expressions of His love and mercy too.

Here are a few of the articles I liked:
The Mission of Pope Francis S.J. by Michelle Arnold, Catholic Answers
Pope Francis Has Unsettled Me by Matthew Archbold
A Tale of Two Popes by Calah Alexander

---7---

I love how Simcha Fisher pushes the limits. The title of one of her recent blog posts in the National Catholic Register was 'Can We Spell "Evangelization" without an "f" and a "u"?' She's definitely taught me a lot about chilling out and being less uptight. (I still try to watch my language though.) And the article itself is quite the thought-provoker.

Over and out. Drop by Jen's, because you know, she's the hostess.

A Tale of a Mouse in da House

There comes a time in every woman's existence where she looks deep into herself, searches her soul and asks:

'Which is worse- a live mouse or a dead mouse?'

It all started about ten days ago when something large shot across the kitchen floor and disappeared under a cupboard. I leaped back screaming and hoping against hope that our house lizards had just gotten larger and quicker. Yes, a strange hope, to be sure, but compared to the alternative, the only hope one could cling to. I followed this up by ignoring what had just happened and hoping that by not thinking about it, the problem would cease to be. Anyway, I live on the second floor of an apartment building, and we all know that mice can't scale walls, right? Right?

A few days later my mother ignored my strong denial vibes, and confirmed the existence of a mouse. In the house. In MY house. Running around in the kitchen. Feasting on leftovers. Making a home in the dishes that we cook in. Leaving droppings in random places. BLEAAARGHHHH! (If that doesn't translate, please insert your preferred expression of strong disgust.)

Still, even though I had to face the fact of the mouse's existence, I didn't feel the need to ACT on that knowledge. Until a few days later when the kitchen started smelling. Bad. Still, Indian-style-shoulders-shrugging-what-to-do-life-sucks-so let's-ignore-it, I didn't react.

Until Monday morning, when my mum peered into my room, and said "The kitchen smells. We need to find the source of the smell."

Overcoming my initial reaction of saying "Go for it!" and firmly shutting my room door, I correctly interpreted my mum's statement as a cry for help. A few similar experiences from living away from home helped me remember what the correct response was: Jump up, ready to do battle, with the words "Do you need some moral support?" (A small part of me was hoping moral support was all that was needed, by which I mean standing in the background and screaming- I excel at that.)

Unfortunately, my mum's usual partner in pest hunts, my dad, was sick, so I manfully (!) straightened my shoulders and strode into battle. We first sniffed around a lot, and came to the conclusion that yes, the smell stench definitely was reminiscent of rotting flesh, and it definitely seemed to be coming from in or behind the oven/ cooking range. We convinced my dad to come out and pry the (huge and heavy and tightly jammed into place) oven out of its place, which he did and then retired back to bed with his book. Then we peered in and around all the crevices of the oven. Nothing.

By that time we had reinforcements of the moral support variety- the lady who cooks for us, and her daughter-in-law (who comes to keep her saas company) arrived and got into the spirit of the thing, sniffing around, and very confidently pointing out the corner of the oven where the stench was worst.

I then took on the role of my dad and awesome-at-emergencies sister (who was at work), and unscrewed the back of the oven, while my mum held the flashlight. We gingerly poked around the back with a screwdriver and a knife once it was opened, while I kept my body poised to jump back three feet if in fact I actually did discover something. This was when I faced that ultimate question: Did I WANT to find a mouse? And if so, would I prefer a live mouse jumping out at me in a bouncy joie-de-vivre ENFP manner? Or a dead mouse which would overpower me with the disgusting sight of its rotting flesh and sickly stench, which would of course be 100 times worse once I could SEE the body?

Both my mother and I were disgusted and a little scared, but tried to hide our fear so as not to annoy the other. But then my mum took a quick break from The Hunt. She returned in a few minutes to let us know that she had called her ladies to ask them to pray. Yup, it had reached that level of seriousness. Christian ladies were now storming heaven for the end of the Evil Mouse Stench.

You do want to know how this ended, right?

Well, we did NOT find the body. We would have to take apart the oven into little bits to get further in, and I doubted my ability to put it back together. So we finally gave up... until, the next morning when my mum conceived of Her Ultimate Deadly Mouse Killing Plan: It consisted of three steps:

1. Switch on the oven.
2. Bake mouse.
3. Hope that mouse disappears.

Her plan was carried out, and the inhabitants of our home almost threw up when we realized that the strange and disgusting smell wafting through our home was Baked Mouse.

We were doubtful about how exactly baking the mouse would make things better, but when we replaced the word 'baked' with 'incinerated', we all felt much more hopeful and logical.

Two days later, the smell has almost gone. All that is left of the mouse is a charred heap of ashes in some corner of the oven. (Please don't disillusion me if that's not how it works.)

The End. (Please, Jesus.)

How To Successfully Set Up Your Friends

I once fancied myself a matchmaker. Unfortunately, my attempts ended very unsuccessfully, so take the 'successfully' part of my blog post title with a large tablespoon of salt. Still, I have theories, and opinions about everything, and set-ups are no exception. Plus to try to combat my 'lone wolf' personality, I even asked for the input of other single girls, especially since their experience in such matters was wider than mine. So here is the expert advice of some random single girls with a laptop and an Internet connection. Heed it well.

 1. Subtlety subtlety subtlety. I'm serious. Just because setting up two friends sounds like a great idea in your head, doesn't mean you need to discuss everything in your head with both your friends. Also the following method would not go down well with people like me:

Acquaintance from church, cornering me: Do you want to get married?

Me: No.

Since she was female and married, I assumed it wasn't a marriage proposal. I did want to get married. But since she asked me point blank, my answer was a flat “No.” What I really meant was “Not like that, thank you very much.” Which brings me to my next point-

 2. Don’t tell the girl. I am much more likely to be awkward and not myself with a guy if I know that both he and presumably you, and maybe others are all aware that a ‘set-up’ is taking place. Talk about extremely awkward social situations. And mystery- and romance-killers. If both the guy and the girl are aware that the other is looking for a marriage partner, and they have been selected as suitable for each other by a friend... well, why not just do the whole arranged marriage thing and suck out all potential for romance? It’s just a practical ‘arrangement’. I said I didn't have a problem with arranged marriages, but my prejudices are showing through. Okay, that may work for some, but not for me.

3. Tell the guy. Yeah, yeah, call me sexist, whatever. I think the guy is the one who should be pursuing, taking the initiative in the relationship. I think that men and women were designed differently, and men become the best version of themselves when they fight passivity and the fear of rejection, and actively seek out the woman. And I think women need to be romanced and pursued, that a woman who knows she’s worth fighting for, is the happiest, most at-peace woman. However much people blame that on socially imposed roles, in practice it seems to make for happier, more fulfilled men and women.

 4. Arrange a casual meeting in a group setting. Movies don’t really work, because you don’t have much of a chance to get to know anyone while watching a movie. Plus there’s the whole awkwardness of trying to get the right people to sit next to each other, without breaking the subtlety rule. Not easy. A trek could work. (P.S. Friends who went on a trek with me last month, I promise I wasn't setting anyone up.) Or perhaps an outreach a group can do together. The focus isn't on each other then, but you can definitely learn a lot about a person by the way they tackle work, deal with uncomfortable situations, and love the weak. Ooh, game nights are a great way to get to know people and have fun, but preferably there shouldn't be TOO many people. Activities and group settings provide the necessary buffer, so it’s easier to be yourself. I feel sure it would work better than two strangers sitting face to face in a coffee shop and trying to get to know each other.

 5. If the couple are from different cities, arrange a trip (with a suitably subtle reason) to the girl’s city. However much the Internet has helped us to meet and connect with new people or old friends, nothing can replace the authenticity of a face to face, physical meeting. Facebook and email can be a very tricky way to get to know someone, because even if they’re being honest, they are still only showing one facet of themselves, and obviously presenting their best side. It takes a special skill to be completely yourself online. (I strive for it on this blog.) Meeting physically can be a very accurate indicator of whether ANYTHING is possible, or not. I remember texting and chatting with a potential love interest for a while years ago, but as soon as we began to physically hang out, it became obvious to me that there was nothing there.

 6. Make it easy for it to amicably not work out. Don’t make it a big fat deal until both the guy and the girl have actually met and been attracted to each other. Like someone reminded me, you only need to find ONE right guy. Which implies that there are plenty of nice guys, who aren't the right guy. You can meet them, like them, and decide that you would never want to pursue anything romantic with them... and that’s okay. If you follow Rule No. 1, it’ll be much easier for it to end easily, without unnecessary awkwardness. (Avoiding awkward social situation is my most absolute law.)

 7. Give the guy the girl’s email address only after checking with the girl. If there is absolutely no way to casually and subtly introduce the couple in real life, because they live too far apart, but you still feel very sure that they would hit it off, shed the subtlety, and talk openly to both sides about the other. An introduction of some sort is essential. You notice I say email address, and not phone number. That’s because I cannot conceive of a worse form of torture for myself than to have to get to know someone by talking on the phone. It’s like physically blinding myself and going to an art museum. I’m sure there is much to know and appreciate, I just CAN’T do it without the necessary senses. Okay, that was a totally random analogy. (And for some people, it’s exactly the opposite- they would much prefer phone calls to emails or letters.)

 8. Check the basics before even starting with the set up. Everybody has a list of non-negotiables. It’s not really a ‘Wait till you meet this person, and you’ll forget your list!’ Respect that they have some things that are important to them, and not even the nicest guy is going to change that. If your friend wants to marry a guy who loves Jesus and His Church (i.e. if your friend is me, or my sister, or my roommate, or most of my singles group girls), then hey, that’s it. No agnostics, so atheists, no Hindus, no Protestants... no matter how awesome. (No offence to you agnostics, atheists, Hindus or Protestants, we know there are plenty of awesome yous out there.) I know, I know, we've already been told we’re being too picky, setting the bar too high, not giving a chance to some perfectly nice guys. And I know that some mixed-faith marriages have worked. But my desire to walk in the same direction with the same priorities with a potential future spouse and father of my children is a bigger deal for me than the possibility of never getting married. Also, if you’re introducing people from different states or countries, you probably need to check that at least one of them is willing to move. Practical details, but important ones.

Alright, go forth and set up your friends! (If it’s successful, I take complete credit, and demand a wedding invitation!)

6 Reasons You Should Do the Myers-Brigg Personality Test

So you have no idea what I'm talking about? Clink the link and do the test!

Do the test!

I first read about the personality types when I was reading a blog by a woman named Elizabeth Esther, and she would be all 'Oh, how ENFPs love a good party! I love flitting around, be-bopping in and out of conversations, laughing uproariously, yammering on about a million subjects. I always feel like I’m my very best self during a party. I sparkle. I shine. I make happiness. I connect! I leave a party feeling energized!' and I was like "Wow, I REALLY don't identify with that."

I eventually did the test myself, and found out that I am an INTJ. And my life became awesome!

Here's why you should do it too-

1. You get a major insight into your own personality, and realize that maybe you're not alone, maybe there IS a reason why you do the things you do, and think the way you think, that's God really does make people differently, that we're not all cut out of the same mold... and that's okay! "Imagine a giant chess board where the pieces are constantly moving, trying out new tactics, always directed by an unseen hand – this is what the INTJ’s imagination is like." OHMYGOSH YES, that is EXACTLY what my brain is like, all. the. time. Even though I don't play chess.

Reading my personality description was fun because the descriptions tend to be written in very upbeat, positive words, and I was able to see myself with a bunch of strengths that come with my personality, and then as an extra, things I need to work on. So the name for INTJs isn't 'Narrow-Minded Bossy Loner' but 'The Scientist' or 'The Strategist' or 'The Mastermind'.

2. You get to read aloud descriptions of yourself to your friends, and see them gasp with amazement at how your personality has affected so many of your relationship issues of the past.

Me: "INTJ personalities also often shoulder the burden of making important decisions without consulting their peers."
Anyone who works with me: "Oh really? Behold how surprised I am by this piece of imformation."

Me:  "INTJ personalities loathe inefficiency and imperfection, trying very hard to iron out all the flaws and analyze all possibilities – if left unchecked, this trait can easily become a weakness, slowing down their work quite significantly and frustrating people around the INTJ."
People around this INTJ: This is why I'm so frustrated around you!

Me: "It is quite unlikely that the INTJ will enjoy physical manifestations of feelings (hugs, touches etc.), even with close friends."
My ENFP sister and INFP roommate: "Awwww" (climbing onto my bed and giving me a big big) (Not really)

3.  Personality Type Theme Songs: Jennifer Fulwiler sparked this recent obsession with personality types when she asked readers in her last Quick Takes what their personality theme song would be. I excitedly scrolled down to find out what the INTJs' offerings were, and was hysterically amused by the options they offered.

• 'Mother Knows Best' from Tangled- that's what it's like in this head. It is BOSSY up in here.
• As an INTJ, I would more likely to write my own song rather than being constrained by something already written…(It’s a curse, really.)
• INTJ-  I’d have to go with “The Impossible Dream” for my personality song: idealistic defiance, the desire to do great things, and fierce independence taking the form of a devotion to higher laws supplanting mere conventions.
• INTJ here—wait, music? Who has time for that when you can be listening to podcasts and absorbing/integrating information? Heh : )
• I thought good and hard, and I think my theme song might be “We Will Rock You” by Queen. I don’t even like it that much, but I think it basically lists the INTJ traits set to music… 
• INTJ… no lyrics here though. Just Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyries.
• I’m an INTJ, and I was going to agree with the earlier comment suggesting we write our own song because no song in existence is likely to be truly accurate. (Gotta come up with the perfect solution, right?) But then I saw GeekLady’s vote for Ride of the Valkyries, re-listened to it, and laughed out loud. It’s perfect. All far-reaching and all-encompassing and marching relentlessly forward and mastermindy.

4.  Hanging out with other 'N' types (introspective, iNtuitive thinkers, yes I'm talking to you, R and J) and gleefully guessing the personality types of ALL our friends, family members, romantic interests, people we've had issues with, and people who we've worked closely with. We actually spent three hours last night talking about this stuff. For the 'S' types who thinks introspectors (yes, I made up a word)  are overly analytical, obsessive idiots, this exercise would not be fun.

5. It really does help you to look at people with traits you find annoying in a new light. They just think differently, process information differently, have different strengths and weaknesses, and can complement you if you let them. There is not just one right way to look at the world.

6. These pictures:

Disclaimer: Fun and helpful as all this is, don't let your personality type box you in, or stop you from deciding how you want to live. You can develop different parts of your personality, and grow in the areas where you might be weak. As an INTJ, I need to work on being sensitive, and expressing affection, and also not making my 'natural self-confidence' an excuse for arrogance. The negative and sometimes insensitive or hurtful parts of our personality can be redeemed by grace.

Simcha Fisher writes an interesting post called 'The Unlabeled Life': "None of these (labels) can describe a person in his entirety, and none should limit what we can expect out of ourselves."

A 27 Year Old Atypical Indian Girl's Thoughts on Marriage (The Post You Were Waiting For)

Mandatory wedding picture for any blog post about marriage

Okay, not all my thoughts, because that would be indiscreet, and this is after all my third blog (yes, blog, not blog post) and never let it be said I don't learn from my mistakes.

Also, since my ADD has not decreased, this will of course continue in my usual style of random thoughts, strung together by nothing, and masquerading as a blog post.

In urban India, 27 is pretty much your last chance for people to consider you marriageable (at least if you're a girl.) After that, you've moved to the Desperate and I Wonder What's Wrong With Her shelf. Also, in India, marriage is not considered an option, or a good thing that happens if it happens. In fact, 'if it happens', is just not an acceptable phrase. One MAKES it happen. You're of marriageable age? Then get married, beta! Of course I come from the Great Land of Arranged Marriages, or Glorified Set-Ups, whichever degree of control or involvement your family exerts.

Now this social system has pretty much been totally mixed up by the strange world that I live in. I come from a family that not only hasn't had arranged marriages in generations (which is very uncommon even in Catholic families in India), but has not the least idea HOW to arrange a marriage. I am not exactly opposed to arranged marriages. In fact, I am a supporter of arranged marriages... for other people. So a 'love marriage' is pretty much my only option. Millions of girls all over India turn green with envy at that statement, because guess what? Most of them don't have that option at all. In fact, plenty of them have been hunted down, along with their husbands, and even killed for the sin of choosing their own husband. So, I promise I'm not complaining about my lot in life.

But back to MY problems, because it's all about me. And I'm not complaining, just explaining. So I'm 27 and single. One of the reasons is that we don't have a good social system in place to meet eligible men. Where do you go? Pubs? Most likely you're not going to meet the kind of guys you want to marry at pubs. Well, you might, I won't. And anyway, what constitutes eligible? The bare essentials- similar goals, similar beliefs, similar worldview. For people who know me, you know that that already narrows things down a good bit- apart from faith, even my cultural background is very unusual.

You may notice I am approaching all this from a very practical viewpoint, not because I don't believe in the importance of 'being in love', but because I don't think emotional attachment isn't enough to make a marriage work in the long run. You need to be heading in the same direction. You need to have the same foundation that you are going to build your life on.

But... I'm a Christian! Doesn't that mean I should just trust God to take care of it? I do believe in God's plan for my life, but I also believe He respects free will. You would know that if you watched Bruce Almighty (the one theological fact that they got right). And that means the pool of possible eligible men can get significantly smaller by men making bad choices. You choose to ignore God's plan for your life, live a hedonistic lifestyle, and exchange marriage and commitment for instant gratification? Fine, that's your choice. Free will, baby. But guess what? That affects not just you, but that awesome Catholic girl who would have been your wife and the mother of your children. (Yes, I did just call myself awesome. Definitely gonna be picked as the patron saint of humility.) Just because desiring marriage is a good and holy and natural desire, doesn't mean that it will be fulfilled.

Fact: It's a fallen world.

We're all going to suffer one way or another because of that. For me, and for many other Christian and Catholic girls, that means the strong possibility of doing everything 'right', and not receiving the earthly reward that we hope for.

The good news is: that doesn't mean we're doomed to a life of loneliness and cats. Life is GOOD, single or married. And since we're made for heaven anyway, we get to see whether God alone IS enough. (Spoiler: He is.) I have it on the best authority (read: married people) that marriage DOESN'T satisfy every desire of your heart, and solve all your problems. I know, whaaat? Married life has its own burdens (never being alone EVER again), as does single life (no cute squishy babies of your own). Married life has its own rewards (sex and babies) as does single life (full nights of sleep and independence).

Independence!

I'd like to say that the reason I've been thinking so much about marriage is because my cousin just got married last week, and a good friend is getting married this week, but that would be a lie, because I think about marriage even when I have absolutely no excuse to.

Funny and very true story: An sweet, simple, older woman from my church was asking whether I'm planning to get married, and my mum asked her to pray for me to find the right person. I met her a couple of weeks after the conversation, and she gave me a VERY meaningful look and asks, "Any good news, beta?" Lol! I said, "Yeah, Auntie. The new programme we started at church is going very well." "No, no, any OTHER good news?" Me, giving up "No, Auntie." "Don't worry," she said, consolingly, "It will happen." I met her a few months later again at the steps of the church when my cousin was about to get married. I was in a hurry, but she stopped me and asked "Any good news?" I cheerfully answered, "Yes! Jesus Christ!" and rushed off. Heh. And it's true!

Any marriage thoughts or opinions? Go for it!

Did You Know...

... that people who consider themselves faithful Catholics can be seriously nuts? 

Okay, maybe you do already, and you have my sympathy. I was so happy to find thoughtful, funny, balanced orthodox Catholics (orthodox as in faithful to the Magisterium) in the Catholic blogging world (especially Simcha Fisher, Jennifer Fulwiler, etc), that I didn't even realize that there could be another way to approach 'traditional Catholicism'. Then a friend posted an article on Facebook about an Indian Cardinal commenting on the many rapes in India showing the spiritual and moral decline in India, and some person wrote a rambling comment about how back in his day, young people would drop to their knees in the gravel for a priest's blessing, and nowadays girls at Mass are shamelessly holding their cell phone in one hand and their boyfriend's hand in the other, and why are the priests not coming out and slapping their faces and forcing some respect?

Yeah.

I also read the comments on Jimmy Akin's article 'What should we make of Pope Francis bowing when greeting people?', and all I can say is "You people are nuts." There were allegations that Pope Benedict was forced out of office, that Pope Francis' election was invalid, that his secret agenda is the pushing of the 'gay lobby', that spontaneity is a sin, that the Pope should not act humble because HE IS THE POPE, that the Catholic Church is going to the dogs, and much more!

What do I take from this?

Moral of the story: Stay away from Catholic comboxes! And when you're reacting to anything possibly controversial, KEEP CALM AND BE CHARITABLE!

...that a good way to spend an hour or two is on visiting the 'Humans of New York' FB page or website?

Really. It's fascinating to get a glimpse into people's lives and stories. With those beautiful pictures and extracts of conversations that make you think, or laugh, or cry, and mostly empathize, it's totally worth doing.

Moral of the story (?): Everyone has a story, and is worth knowing and loving, even if you can't believe the same things they do. Even if they don't live in New York.

... that Steve Gershom is Simcha Fisher's brother in real life, and his real name is Joseph Prever? 

Well, if you read Catholic blogs at all, it would be very strange if you didn't. And if you don't read Catholic blogs, you're probably like 'Steve who? Simcha who?' It was pretty exciting to me and people like me though... I jumped up and excited told my room mate "Guess what??" and she assumed someone we knew was engaged or dating. It was almost as exciting though. I kept wanting to bring up the news in dinner conversations with my family, but restrained myself since they would be the one saying "Steve who? Simcha who?" I did get to share the news with my good friend and fellow blog-addict, T, over Skype, and was amply rewarded by her squeals of excitement and "No waay!'s.

Anyway, read his Letter to the World. Apart from all the food for thought his blog offers, I was excited to see how much his face looks like the his profile caricature.

And the moral of THAT is: Bloggers can be family too.

And that's all the brilliant blogging I can handle this week.