Homecoming 2007

Chris and Katherine, all dressed up for homecoming

Andrew and Kitty, ready for the big dance

Homecoming at Mount Pleasant High School is a big, big deal.
The Lumberjacks of Saginaw Arthur Hill surprised the Oilers with a 39-29 win at Community Memorial Stadium in the football game -- the Oilers' first loss of the season. (I guess I can accept an AHHS win; that's where I graduated.)
But the big deal is the homecoming dance. It's formal, it's fancy and it's crowded. Out of a school of about 1,200 students, the student council sells nearly a thousand tickets.
That's one heck of a budget, and a heck of a good time.

Down the Chippewa

Sometimes, I absolutely love my job.
The assignment: Do a feature story about fall and changing leaves. How to tell the story was up to me.
Sun photographer Lisa Yanick and I decided the best way to tell the story was to come up with a better kind of fall color tour: In a canoe.
Check out the video Lisa put together:



And the colors will just get more intense as the fall wears on.

All you wanted to know about angels

On this Michaelmas day, I am posting my lecture for this evening's St Michael's Conference Southwest Reunion (or as I like to call it, "Mini-Mike's") at St Francis in Dallas. Enjoy.

I believe in Angels, not because of that cheesy song, but because divine revelation (which we find in Catholic tradition, particularly in the Holy Bible) tells us that these spiritual beings exist as an invisible part of God’s created order.

The topic of angels has become increasingly popular in American culture. Much of the current popularity springs from interest in such things as New Age spirituality with its spirit guides and near death experiences. Our “post-modern” culture has begun to search for the spiritual dimensions of life which modern cultural materialism cannot provide. With so many new books on angels, how are we to tell fact from fiction? What do Scripture and Tradition have to say?

Let's go over some basic facts about angels. Angels are pure spirits created by God. It was God who created all things, both “visible and invisible,” as we say in the Nicene Creed. The angels were created in vast numbers by God and (it seems likely) before he made humans.

Contrary to popular belief, angels are not dead humans. That was part of the storyline of the movie It's a Wonderful Life and the television series Highway to Heaven. But that's not the way things really are; you don't become an angel when you die any more than you become a horse or a car or a tree. You remain who you were created to be: a human being. Likewise, angels are not pre-incarnate humans (that is, babies waiting to be born). Angels do not become humans and humans do not become angels.

The Bible tells us they were made without sex (neither male nor female) and so in Christian art they are often depicted as looking neither particularly male or female. Since they are neither male nor female it follows that they do not procreate; they are never born and they never die or cease to exist.

While they are beings of pure spirit and have no physical bodies, thus they are normally invisible, they can by God’s power assume a physical form in order to accomplish a particular mission. The angelic spirits are arranged in a hierarchy of form and function. While the angels are pure spirits of consciousness and will as is God, they are not omnipotent, omniscient, nor omnipresent like God.

That is important to remember because so often we hear these attributes—all present, all knowing, and even seemingly all powerful—being attributed to angels, even to Lucifer, the chief fallen angel. But he is nothing of the sort (no, the devil didn't make you do it) and neither is any other angel. The devil is not present everywhere, he does not know everything, and far from being all powerful, Satan is more like a beaten dog, and Michael, the standard bearer, is charged with keeping him at bay.

Yet, because of their nature, we should note that the angels do have abilities and virtues far beyond perhaps even the saints in heaven. Because they are not physical, it follows that they are not bound by physical limitations. For the faithful angels, their will is in total conformity with their faculty of reason. Thus, they are sinless. Of course, many of the angels fell from this high estate with the rebellion led by Lucifer, the most exalted of the angels. God made the angels free to choose to love or not love. And some of the angels did not choose wisely.

John Milton, in Book II of his epic poem Paradise Lost, presents a vivid portrait of this moment of rebellion. In his mind, Lucifer (through his own pride) became absorbed in self-love and conceived of Sin, his daughter, who burst forth from the left side of his head, a gory mess, the blood-soaked offspring of a vain mind. Looking at his daughter Sin, the devil lusted after her and raped her. She conceived and gave birth to her brother Death. In turn, Death lusted after his sister Sin, and violated her by his own incestuous rape. Now, she sits by the infernal gates and gives birth to the hounds of hell, who forever torment her by eating out her bowels.

I think Milton got it right. Could there ever be a more vivid depiction of the depravity of sinful self-love? Of course, the rebellion spawned by the jealousy and pride of Satan was defeated by the Archangel Michael and all the hosts of heaven (Rev 12:7-12). Unlike us, the fallen angels or demons, enjoy no possibility of redemption. The Revelation of St. John the Divine tells us that they were expelled from heaven and cast down to earth where they assault the brethren and do their best to thwart the will of God.

They know their time is short before the last judgment and that God will have the final victory. They also know that the power of God is always stronger that the forces of darkness. Through prayer, grace, and the intercession of angels, we have God’s protection against the crafts and assaults of the devil.

Many more angels remained faithful to God than rebelled against him. They serve their creator and carry out his good will toward humans. Angels are higher than us (closer to God) according to nature as beings of pure spirit. Thus, according to Hebrews 2:9, Christ was “made a little lower than the angels” when incarnated in human flesh. However, we are higher than the angels (closer to God) according to grace and our adoption as his children and temples of his Spirit. Therefore angels serve humankind as agents of Jesus’ salvation.

Angels also serve us as mediators and protectors. From Jesus’ allusion to angels in Matthew 18:10, we conclude that a guardian angel likely watches over each person, and elsewhere in the scriptures we are told that they guard the nations. But they also carry out God’s judgment upon nations (see 2 Kings 19).

Angels mediate prayers and graces. In Genesis, the patriarch Jacob saw a ladder or “stairway to heaven” with angels going up and down between heaven and earth (Gen 28:12; Jn 1:51). It seems likely that they are carrying things to and fro, or at least going back and forth with a purpose. Angels bring us assistance, protection, and grace from God. In St John’s Revelation, we also see that they take our prayers and offerings back up to God’s throne in heaven (Rev 8:3). At the end of earthly life, angels lead the holy souls into paradise, as they led the soul of the poor beggar Lazarus to Abraham’s bosom (Luke 16:22).

In the history of theology, these hosts of heaven were determined to be ordered in what we commonly call the “nine choirs of angels.” These are divided into three triads (that is, three groups of three).

The first angelic triad continually worships God in his immediate presence. These spirits consist of the exalted love of the fiery seraphim or "fires," the complete intuition of the cherubim or "mighty ones," and the perfect power of the ophanim or “thrones.” The primary function of their being is to be present in the heavenly court and to attend to the perpetual adoration and praise of the divine substance.

The second triad extends this divine praise and love to the creation. The spiritual dominions, princedoms, and powers execute the love, knowledge, and power of God relative to the general structure, order, and governance of the cosmos.

The last triad serves the divine love towards humans when the virtues, the angels, and the ruling archangels, come to serve and care for people on earth. Angels then truly become “messengers” of divine favor.

It was the Archangel Gabriel who gave the message of the Incarnation to the blessed Virgin Mary at the Annunciation. Two other archangels are mentioned in Scripture. As the prince of the Seraphim, the mighty St. Michael led the heavenly host in the battle against the rebelling spirits, casting them out of heaven. He delivers the message of Defeat to God’s enemies and Victory to us. St. Raphael the Archangel delivered Tobias’ wife from demonic obsession. You can find the story in the Book of Tobit in the Apocrypha. Raphael is also commonly associated with the angelic trembling of the healing waters in the pool of Bethesda (Jn 5:2-4). He delivers the message of healing and reconciliation.


Overall, the heavenly hierarchy moves from the freedom and might of contemplative adoration (by the seraphim, cherubim, and ophanim) through principled order and sovereignty (ruled by the dominions, princedoms, and powers) to active service toward others in a spirit of compassion and care (by the virtues, archangels, and angels).

The earthly life was designed to follow this cosmic harmony. We were created to enjoy complete and perfect goodness in returning thanks to the source of our happiness. Our worship must mirror heaven. The fullness of our being is to join in the heavenly chorus which forever sings: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty” (Rev 4:8).

Inspired by his love, we must care for the creation entrusted to us, and reach out to others in service. Like the angels of heaven, God wants us to minister to him at his altar and minister to out in the world as his messengers to creation.

Isaiah 6:1-8
In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the LORD sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphim: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts. Then flew one of the seraphim unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, “Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.” Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then said I, “Here am I; send me.”

Gucci Shades

As hard as I try, I can't seem to get over my love for the giant plastic framed shades. Everytime when I think I've found the perfect pair that would last me a lifetime, I find a new pair that is more perfect than the last. And the thing is, they're all basically huge shades with plastic frames!
So I am perfectly aware that this will probably not be the last time I utter this sentence, but I swear this time I've found the perfect giant plastic shades. Wandering aimlessly around the department store, I glanced over at the shades selection they just popped out from amongst the rows of oddly shaped new trendy shades that I doubt would look flattering on me. It was almost like in those cartoons when the character finally finds the item they've been looking for and the item just shines in the distant and music comes up and the world is perfect again. These Gucci shades are perfectly rounded and the nose support is just right that the bottom of the frames do not touch your cheeks (I have to admit, my current one does touch the cheek). And they look fabulous on. They are just brilliant in its simplicity and elegant shape. It comes in brown and black, but somehow I prefer the brown, thinking its more chic and not quite so dark. Plus, since I already have black plastic frames....brown plastic frames would be a variation. My current huge plastic framed shades are from Dior, and don't get me wrong, I still love it to bits. I especially love the Dior "D" on the side with the pretty flower detail on the edges. And it looks great. But I'm sure all of you will agree that they are very different from the Gucci pair......so it is a different kind of perfect. OR maybe the trend for huge plastic frames has evolved over seasons and I have not even noticed but just blindly followed to my liking. Wow, now even I am slightly confused with my logic. Whichever way, those Gucci are just soooo beautiful!
Incidentally, I would like to mention that I also tried on these pair from DVB, just because its from DVB and I wanted to see what they were like. The shape and design is actually quite nice. Only thing is, they are so black that I felt blind in it. I guess thats what celebs need for maximum coverage from the paparazzi?

Image Source: Otticanet

Sermons on God's love

Here are two of my sermons from September 19th at St Alban's. The first is the children's sermon (with the funny part about children being lost at Target) and the second is the adult sermon. Click on the title to listen.

"Lost and Found"

"The Intensity of God's Love"

More notes on (intermediate) Heaven

This past Monday, reviewing section 2 of Randy Alcorn's book Heaven, we came across the idea of the intermediate state. I was surprised that the strongly protestant evangelical Alcorn stumbled upon such a Catholic doctrine (but that tends to happen when you seriously study the bible). Several terms have been used to describe this, but the one that came to stick is "purgatory."

Randy dismisses the thought, saying "this is not purgatory" (page 9 in the Study Guide) but then goes on to basically describe the true doctrine. I think what he is really dismissing is the medieval misconception of what purgatory is--more of the idea that it is a temporary hell that everyone (except the most saintly and the martyrs) goes to and which one may get early release from after a few thousand years of prayer and good works.

Remember that the Temple in Jerusalem was made to resemble the cosmos of earth and heaven. The forecourt was a place of water (the lavar) and fire (the altar). The forecourt corresponds to purification. The inside holy place corresponds to illumination (the candelabra). The inner holy of holies corresponds to contemplation (darkness and divine presence). This fits the traditional threefold path: purification, illumination, contemplation. This intermediate state or period of purification is the "outer court" of heaven.

C.S. Lewis, an Anglican layman and spiritual writer, explained his Church's belief in the intermediate state this way:

"Our souls demand Purgatory, don't they? Would it not break the heart if God said to us, 'It is true, my son, that your breath smells and your rags drip with mud and slime, but we are charitable here and no one will upbraid you with these things, nor draw away from you. Enter into the joy'? Should we not reply, 'With submission, sir, and if there is no objection, I'd rather be cleaned first.' 'It may hurt, you know' - 'Even so, sir.'

I assume that the process of purification will normally involve suffering. Partly from tradition; partly because most real good that has been done me in this life has involved it. But I don't think the suffering is the purpose of the purgation. I can well believe that people neither much worse nor much better than I will suffer less than I or more. . . . The treatment given will be the one required, whether it hurts little or much.

My favorite image on this matter comes from the dentist's chair. I hope that when the tooth of life is drawn and I am 'coming round',' a voice will say, 'Rinse your mouth out with this.' This will be Purgatory. The rinsing may take longer than I can now imagine. The taste of this may be more fiery and astringent than my present sensibility could endure. But . . . it will [not] be disgusting and unhallowed." (The Business of Heaven, p. 121)

Also, the Episcopal Church's Teaching Series in the 50s addressed the subject of purgatory in the book Christian Living, by Stephen Bayne (Sometime Bishop of Olympia and first Secretary General of the Anglican Communion). On page 151-2 we read:

"We can conceive of few more frightening thoughts than that, at death, any possibility of growth or purification would be closed to us. We would hope that, by the time of our death, we had some real freedom and a soul to be saved; yet we can understand that there might still stretch before us at death a long time of learning how to live under new conditions in the presence of God. Probably most Christians share some such feeling about themselves; and it is for this reason that belief in a place or period of purification, a belief in purgatory, became almost universal among Christian people.

Our Church rejects what the Articles of Religion call "the Romish Doctrine" of purgatory, specifically the doctrine that living men and women can by their prayers and good works, influence God to shorten the purifying period either for themselves or for others. But a belief in purgatory, as such, has been widely held by Chris­tians, is quite permissible for Episcopalians, and indeed is included in our prayers as when, for example, in the Prayer for the Whole State of Christ's Church (in the Holy Communion), we pray that God will grant the dead "continual growth in His love and service" or, in the Burial Office, we pray for the departed that "increasing in knowledge and love of Thee, he may go from strength to strength." It would not be true to say that a doctrine of purgatory is specifically stated in our Anglican formularies, but it is perfectly true that such a belief is permissible and congruous with all else that we believe about God and His ways with us, and that it is expressed in our prayers."

All Christians agree that we won’t be sinning in heaven and that "nothing unclean shall enter" into heaven (Revelation 21:27). Sin and concupiscence are utterly incompatible our final glorification . Therefore, between the sinfulness of this life and the glories of heaven, we must be made pure. Between death and glory there is a period of purification and growth. Orthodox Jews to this day believe in the final purification, and for eleven months after the death of a loved one, they pray a prayer called the Mourner’s Kaddish for their loved one’s purification. Interestingly, one of the things that set the gnostics apart from the early Christians was that the gnostics denied any belief in an intermediate state.

As to the historic Christian doctrine, the Catechism of the Catholic Church states: "All who die in God’s grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven. The Church gives the name purgatory to this final purification of the elect, which is entirely different from the punishment of the damned" (CCC 1030–1).

Milan Fashion Week SS08 Wrapup II

Sorry this post is late! I spent the last many hours getting to Chicago (first time here!) and am now jet-lagged (slept too much on the planes.) Thank goodness for the new runway photos -this season's Milan shows are definitely more exciting than last season's shows!

Prada

Wow. After last season's collection of heavy artificial materials, this season's sheer, flowy clothes is a great change. The first thing I loved was the dark, moody makeup. The makeup theme -dark eyes and light lips -is made moody and not sexed-up. Miuccia shot for 'fantasy'. And it IS fantasy. Even if it's not dramatic fantasy like Dior haute couture or Alexander McQueen shows, the clothes here are Prada's signature, understated and not-for-everyone sort of fantasy.

See the silk dress on the right -it's amazing how Miuccia managed to combine those peacock-ish colours and still make the dress look pretty and not tacky.

I LOVE that dress on the right with the fairy print. It's so elegant and feminine with a cute, pretty edge.

It's so refreshing to see Prada's intellectual, artisitc clothes not looking like it's usual, boxy self. However, I'm not sure how good they'll look on the consumers or who would actually buy crazy coloured pants (like the one on the left.)

Alessandro Dell'Acqua

While Dell'Acqua's collections have never been as fashion-foward as Prada's, the clothes are always great to see how he mixes his new inspirations with last runway collections' trends.

OK, so the first few outfits of underwear are pretty bad, but I do really like his cocktail dresses. (I have a thing for these fake strapless dresses. They're just so much more practical, modest and comfortable than the usual strapless dress, don't you think?)

I'm not sure how commercial these Japanese-inspired skirts/ dresses will be, but do note the wasit-clinching trend. Ooh, and look at the dress on Du Juan (left,) doesn't it look like flowers are growing on her (and tastefully covering up her private parts?)

Marni

Marni is a brand that I see people wear around a lot. It's so distinctive you really can't miss it. Whenever I see Marni clothes in real life, I've always been so bombarded with the prints and crafty accessories that it didn't occur to me that Marni's clothes are now less nature-like than a few years ago until I read the reviews on the SS08 collections. And even though the crafty necklaces are still there, the clothes now really do seem more modern and wearable.

The dress on the left is one of my favourites from this Marni collection. It's artistic without being too over-the-top. And that dress on Lily Donaldson (right) -it actually looks somewhat classic and sleek, something that is not very Marni-like.

The patent leather bags and skirts are still there, but this time paired with brighter colours.

Perhaps it's an attempt to try out new silhouettes, but some of the clothes like the dress on the right was so different from Marni's usual clothes that I can't quite appreciate it on the Marni runway yet.

Image credit: www.style.com

The answer is . . . That remains to be seen.

The House of Bishops meeting in New Orleans considered its response to the Communion and issued a statement. What was asked of it? The Joint Standing Committee (JSC) for the Anglican Consultative Council and the Primates, in its press release, noted that the ECUSA bishops were asked to respond to specific requests.

The JSC wrote: The primates had requested clarification on the status of Resolution B033 of the 75th General Convention, and whether this did in fact reflect the request of the Windsor Report for a moratorium on the election and consecration of candidates for the episcopate who were living in a sexual relationship outside of Christian marriage.

The bishops responded by saying: We reconfirm that resolution B033 of General Convention 2006 (The Election Of Bishops) calls upon bishops with jurisdiction and Standing Committees "to exercise restraint by not consenting to the consecration of any candidate to the episcopate whose manner of life presents a challenge to the wider church and will lead to further strains on communion." Is this a clarification? It does quote the relevant passage of the resolution and tell us that it says so. Will anyone abide by it? That remains to be seen. As yet, it seems doubtful to me, given that several non-chaste homosexuals have been nominated for bishop since this resolution was first passed.

The JSC wrote: Secondly, the primates had asked that the Bishops, as the chief liturgical officers in their dioceses, should mutually undertake not to offer public liturgies for the blessing of same-sex unions.

The bishops responded by saying: We pledge as a body not to authorize public rites for the blessing of same-sex unions. It is a good and welcome statement, but is this a moratorium? Will, for example, Bishop Bruno of Los Angeles continue to split hairs by authorizing the clergy of his diocese to continue to bless same sex unions (as he has done himself) while at the same time not authorizing rites they use for same sex blessings? And will discipline be exercised against those who violate this "moratorium"? That remains to be seen.

The JSC wrote: Thirdly, the primates had offered suggestions for the sort of pastoral care which could be offered in a way which enabled interventions from other provinces to cease. I would add that one part that the JSC missed in connection with this issue is that the primates also insisted that the lawsuits against departing parishes should stop .

The bishops responded by saying: We commend our Presiding Bishop's plan for episcopal visitors. [and] We deplore incursions into our jurisdictions by uninvited bishops and call for them to end. Given that the presiding Bishop's plan (which is the warmed over version of her plan put forward right after her election) was not composed in consultation with those it is supposed to serve, nor even the ones who were to administer it, and given that it was already found unsatisfactory by both those it is supposed to serve as well as the primates, and given that the house has enthusiastically rejected the proposal of the primates for alternative oversight (which would enable uninvited intervention to stop) what is the point of the bishops' statements? That remains to be seen.

Of course, the bishops also felt the need to add things to their statement like: We are mindful that the Bishop of New Hampshire has not yet received an invitation to the conference. We also note that the Archbishop of Canterbury has expressed a desire to explore a way for him to participate. We share the Archbishop's desire and encourage our Presiding Bishop to offer our assistance as bishops in this endeavor. It is our fervent hope that a way can be found for his full participation.

What will be the impact of all this? That remains to be seen.

Update: I was taken aback that the secular press seemed unimpressed by the clarity (or lack thereof) in the bishops' clarifications for the Anglican Communion. Things did not seem so easy in "the Big Easy." Video of the press conference in New Orleans is here, with questions beginning at 9:15 minutes in.

Scripture is always relevant

Sometimes I am surprised how relevant a particular passage in the lectionary is on a specific day or occasion. The question is not so much whether scripture is relevant, but how should a relevant scripture apply to the situation at hand. Below is one of the Daily Office readings for today.

1 Corinthians 5:9—6:8
I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people—not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those outside. "Purge the evil person from among you."

When one of you has a grievance against another, does he dare go to law before the unrighteous instead of the saints? Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases? Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life! So if you have such cases, why do you lay them before those who have no standing in the church? I say this to your shame. Can it be that there is no one among you wise enough to settle a dispute between the brothers, but brother goes to law against brother, and that before unbelievers? To have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you. Why not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded? But you yourselves wrong and defraud—even your own brothers!

Milan Fashion Week SS08 Wrapup I

And we are off to Milan! Sigh, it seems just like yesterday I was walking along via Della Spiga, passing by the huge Armani building and breathing it all in. Anyways, back to the runway. Lets start with the most Italian of them all......

Gorgio Armani
Inspired by the languid sensual summers of Southern Italy, this collection had a much more relaxing and casual touch than Armani's usual sleek, sharp and sexy silhouette. And about time too! I was getting bored of using the same adjectives every season to describe Armani.
I am usually not one for gypsy looking shorts, but I am loving these. Armani upgrades them with the shiny material and the subtle tailoring, making them look feminine and elegant while still being very relaxing and comfortable. They appear to be very versatile too, looking great with equally relaxing looking tops, loose and fitted jackets. I want one of these next season!
Then there were the dresses. Or shorts integrated into looking like dresses (left and right above). He keeps with the theme by using these light flowing fabric further enhanced by its texturized print.
More into the evening, we have these creations. Armani's pairing of the sequence top with the flowing floral skirt is just genius.
Something a little more typical of Armani, the evening wear. I simply LOVE all of these, especially the gold one on the right that was the finale. Simply beautiful. Oh and it looks like I'm going to have to invest in light shawls next season too!

Burberry Prorsum
Christopher Bailey never ceases to amaze me with his collections that are always refreshing but still oh-so-Burberry. This season, the theme was the Luxury Warrior, I have no idea what the means but it looks to me that it involves feminine ruched up materials paired with rocker chic studded elements.
Personally I don't really like the look of these ruched up material. It looks like bunched up muscles....maybe I've been seeing too much Body Worlds.....But I DO like the whole long jacket over a dress and cinched together with a studded belt look. Very cool. And I LOVE the checkered patterns. Definitely more refreshing than the usual Burberry print.
Without the jacket, those studded belts look just as cool. I especially love the black bubble dress with the black blazer and belt underneath (right) look. Oh and I'm not too fond of that feathery looking pencil skirt (left), looks scary.....
More trenches. LOVE LOVE LOVE that updated trench (left). Looks soooo awesome. And middle outfit with the black trench and the big patent black bag looks soo chic as well. And the purple outfit (right) perfectly illustrates Bailey's mixing of lux materials.
More vibrantly there are these hot pink and blue looks. I especially love the sky blue on sapphire blue combo (middle). Its soo sharp. And that gray dress is just beeeeeeautiful.... so feminine and delicate with a bit of edge from that belt. Perhaps that is what Bailey means by luxury warrior?
Either way, one thing I'm sure you'll all agree with. Next season, the studded belt is THE accessory to have. And from the variety of ways Bailey has shown us how to wear it on this runway, I'd say its a prime investment!

Image Source: Elle.com

The Applefest crew

Kissy Missy is past president of the Mt. Pleasant Zonta Club, an organization of professional women. Each year, the big fundraiser for the club is Applefest, which takes place at the McIntosh Orchard west of town.
Well, Kissy Missy must have learned to "use her resources" somewhere, because she's pulled all of us into this thing. I designed the poster -- which looks pretty good, if I do say so myself. The apple art's original with me, as well as the design.
The kids have been involved as volunteers for several years, and this year, much of the Zonta contingent in the Mardi Gras parade looked suspiciously like, well, us.






Is this the new look of a Zonta lady?



















Robert and Andrew march down Main Street handing out Applefest fliers.

Kissy Missy sells, sells, sells the event to the crowd at Mardi Gras.

Zontian Monica Fox and Katherine cruise past the Broadway on Broadway.

Yes, I know the question -- Mardi Gras? In September? It's a downtown promotion, and a big one. No one seems to care that it's in the fall -- and that it's on Friday.

FW07 Trend: Blue Eye Shadows

The ballots are in. All the make-up houses agree. Blue is the shade this season.

As one of their new fall looks, Mac came out with this Blue Storm look.
Created with their new Matte² highly pigmented eye shadow, you can tell from the look above that the effect is very intense. This would be perfect for a dramatic look for a night out. Personally though this is a bit too much for my taste.

Laura Mercier also came out with a Stormy collection (I guess rain and wind is trendy this season). The ad is much more dramatic than the Mac, but the blues are still quite intense.
Their blue sky quad was actually what inspired this whole post. If you've been reading this blog for a while, then you will know that eye shadow quads are my weakness. Isn't this quad sooo pretty? After much admiration on the internet, I finally got around to trying it out the other day at the counter. Unfortunately it seems that blue really isn't my color. I tried, I really did. Usually when something looks nice, I can tell straight away. But this time when the sales lady tried it on me and I took a double take and had to cover my other eye in an attempt to find the beauty in it. The sales lady tried to help by adding eye liner and more of the darker shades for the more "full effect" saying that the blue takes some time to get used to, but no matter what she did/say and how much I tried, I still looked like I'd been punched. It is really too bad, I was fully prepared to buy it! The shades are just too blue! But the thing is, the sales lady looked perfectly fine with the blue shades on and she has a very similar skin tone as me. I don't know what went wrong there.
And then of course there is my darling Bobbi Brown with their limited edition metallics collection that comes in Midnight Metallics.
Isn't this palette so pretty too? I was torn between this and the Laura Mercier. But ultimately, I think this is the better blue palette around, because the two grey/silver blue colors are the perfect compliment to the dark blue, easily creating a whole smokey eye effect with a blue tinge.
Incidentally, I also love their Forest Metallics. The greens are just sooo rich and lustrous that it has blown away all my previous reservations about green eye shadows ever since my friend told me they looked slutty and I saw a middle aged lady wearing lime green eye shadow over her heavy powdered face and very red lipsticks, which really scared me. Those are lime green. But this is much richer and the effect is much classier and more elegant. I absolutely LOVE this palette. Hmm... so I guess at the end of the day, I just can't get away from Bobbi Brown.

Chanel also has an eye shadow quad with blue shades as well, though it is not new. HG has it and the effect looks great, all smokey blue eye with a very pretty sparkly undertone.

Image Source: Mac Cosmetics, Laura Mercier & Bobbi Brown

Oilers win at Atwood, in third statewide!

The Mount Pleasant Oiler Marching Band put on traditional band uniforms for the first time in three years, went to the Flushing Invitational at Atwood Stadium in Flint, and came back with a first-place trophy!

"Socially Numb," based on the music of Pink Floyd, still has some rough spots, of course. This was its first competitive performance. But the 50.2 the Oilers scored still was higher than the band earned last year with "Elemental Led" at the same event.
Other bands in the Michigan Competing Bands Association Flight III competed in two other competitions -- last weekend at Novi and this weekend at Brownstown. Defending state champion Ferndale is in first, with always-tight Dearborn Crestwood in second. The Oilers are third. The top 10 bands in the Flight earn a trip to Ford Field in November for the state finals.
The images are from the Oilers' home football game Friday against Saginaw Heritage. The football team, which entertains before and after halftime, is 5 and 0, ranked seventh in the state and the only undefeated team in the Saginaw Valley League.
Here are the Marching Band standings after this weekend:
Place Band Points Above Bubble
1 Ferndale 58.85 15.8
2 Crestwood 53.6 10.55
3 Mount Pleasant 50.2 7.15
4 Linden 49.95 6.9
5 Trenton 49.55 6.5
6 Chelsea 48.9 5.85
7 SCS Lake Shore 48.1 5.05
8 GibraltarCarlson 46.95 3.9
9 SCS South Lake 43.2 0.15
10 SCS Lakeview 43.05 0

London Fashion Week SS08 Wrapup III

London Fashion Week's finished. Now all the fashion people are in Milan, but here are a few more London collections. On Thursday, BG talked about how she liked the Matthew Williamson and Erdem collection. I'm going to blabber on a bit how I don't quite love some of the collections: (Please note that this is just my taste. I'm in no way saying these designers have no talent!)

House of Holland

So I've decided maybe I don't hate those neon-coloured, slogan Tees that much. They're just annoying. Before this collection, I didn't know exactly what to expect. Afterall, he couldn't possibly do endless collections of slogan Tees. And even though I knew I wasn't going to like it, it was more terrible than I expected. The clothes are just so colourful in a trashy way. I know House of Holland is all about being worn to parties, but why would one want to turn up to parties looking like that?

Louise Goldin

Louise Goldin is supposedly this runway season's new London designer to lookout for. Since a few of the online reviews seemed to have liked this collection, maybe it's just me who didn't really get the appeal of these clothes so I'm really not too impressed. Maybe it's because I'm too much of a realist and can't imagine wearing these clothes in real life. Oh well, what did you think of this new designer?

And to finish this post with a pretty collection: Giles
Such a pretty collection! Giles has really improved since he first started. A lot of the dresses from this collection felt very 'fancy tea party' to me.

The techo, tie-dyed looking silk dresses are so pretty -the blue, the purple, the swirl of colours. And look at the dress in the middle, it looks like a painting of purple clouds (together with the white-ish chiffon underneath.)

And finally, the artsy dresses. I love how Giles (for the middle dress) combined artsy, cutout pieces with the simple mid-sleeved dress on top. It's a totally wearable simple dress without looking boring!

Next week is Milan Fashion Week -can't wait to see the Prada collection!

Image credit: www.style.com

Synod in Baltimore

I returned yesterday from the annual synod of the Society of the Holy Cross at Mount Calvary Episcopal Church in Baltimore. It was great to see many old friends again and to meet some new ones. I loved the meditations by Canon Barry Swain, and it was nice to get the printed collection of earlier synod meditations that I was not present to hear.

It was an unexpected pleasure to be invited to serve as the Deacon of the Mass in the main service, a votive of the Holy Cross in which we instituted new members and in which the Master General, Fr David Holding, was the preacher. Thank you to the Rector of Mount Calvary, my old friend and classmate from Nashotah, Fr Jason Catania (the celebrant pictured above). Thank you also to my friend Fr Christopher Cantrell for the pictures. It was privilege to get to meet Adam of Anglo-Catholic Ruminations, who served as an acolyte in the synod Masses. The pictures (which you can click on to see a larger version) from the top are: the invitation to Communion, the elevation of the Host, and the chanting of the Gospel.

Recent ordinations to the priesthood

Two young deacons were recently ordained to the priesthood in the Diocese of Fort Worth. Congratulations to them, their families, and their parishes. The Rev'd Randall Foster was ordained on Holy Cross Day at St Vincent's Cathedral in Bedford (above). The Rev'd Charles Hough IV was ordained on the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary at St Mark's in Arlington (below).

Ember days fall this week, in which the church prays for ordained ministry and for the blessing of new ministers. Here are the collects for ember days from the Prayer Book:

I. For those to be ordained
Almighty God, the giver of all good gifts, in thy divine providence hast appointed various orders in thy Church: Give thy grace, we humbly beseech thee, to all who are now called to any office and ministry for thy people; and so fill them with the truth of thy doctrine and clothe them with holiness of life, that they may faithfully serve before thee, to the glory of thy great Name and for the benefit of thy holy Church; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

II. For the choice of fit persons for the ministry
O God, who didst lead thy holy apostles to ordain ministers in every place: Grant that thy Church, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, may choose suitable persons for the ministry of Word and Sacrament, and may uphold them in their work for the extension of thy kingdom; through him who is the Shepherd and Bishop of our souls, Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

III. For all Christians in their vocation
Almighty and everlasting God, by whose Spirit the whole body of thy faithful people is governed and sanctified: Receive our supplications and prayers, which we offer before thee for all members of thy holy Church, that in their vocation and ministry they may truly and devoutly serve thee; through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the same Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.