St. Teresa of Avila and My Creative Writing Assignment

Because I don't have much to write today, mainly because I'm on a time crunch due to a professor pushing up the due date from next Monday to tonight, I am sharing a homework assignment. Luckily, it is something Catholic related because, as I said, my goal this Lent was to focus on Catholic literature.

For my Creative Writing class, we had to take a poem, song, short story, play, etc. and change its genre; the theme for this week was genres. I took the opportunity to infuse my faith with my assignment. Yes, I am shameless but I don't care. lol. Anyway, I am sharing what I wrote, and it's word for word what I submitted.

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I took an excerpt from the autobiography of St. Teresa of Avila (Catholic nun and writer), which can be considered as a non-fictional autobiography. I turned it into a fictionalized drama.

Original:

“I went to great extremes in my vain anxiety about this, though I took not the slightest trouble about what I must do to live a truly honourable life. All that I was seriously concerned about was that I should not be lost altogether. My father and sister were very sorry about this friendship of mine and often reproved me for it. But, as they could not prevent my friend from coming over to the house, their efforts were of no avail, for when it came to doing anything wrong I was very clever. I am sometimes astonished at the harm which can be caused by bad company; if I had not experienced it I could not believe it. This is especially so when one is young, for it is then that the evil done is greatest. I wish parents would be warned by me and consider this very carefully. The result of my intercourse with this woman was to change me so much that I lost nearly all my soul‘s natural inclination to virtue, and was greatly influenced by her, and by another person who indulged in the same pastimes.” (The Life of Teresa of Jesus by Teresa of Avila)

My Version:

“I went to great extremes in my vain anxiety about this, though I took not the slightest trouble about what I must do to live a truly honorable life,” she explained to me as she took the seat next to mine.

There was a sadness in her eyes that had not faded over the years. I did not say anything, for fear of being disrespectful. I mean, how many times do you get to talk to a real life saint? Instead I kept listening.

“All that I was seriously concerned about was that I should not be lost altogether.“ She looked intently at me to see if I was still listening to her. I nodded, encouraging her to go on.

“My father and sister were very sorry about this friendship of mine and often reproved me for it. But, as they could not prevent my friend from coming over to the house, their efforts were of no avail, for when it came to doing anything wrong I was very clever.”

As she took a break to drink from the glass of water I had placed in front of her, my mind wandered off to a distant memory. Did she know that I had had a similar experience? Was this a lesson God was teach me through St. Teresa?

“I am sometimes astonished at the harm which can be caused by bad company; if I had not experienced it I could not believe it,” she continued as I snapped out of my own thoughts.

“This is especially so when one is young, for it is then that the evil done is greatest. I wish parents would be warned by me and consider this very carefully. The result of my intercourse with this woman was to change me so much that I lost nearly all my soul‘s natural inclination to virtue, and was greatly influenced by her, and by another person who indulged in the same pastimes.”

“Is that what’s happening to me?” I asked more afraid of the answer than anything else at that moment. “The friendship I have are keeping me from being good?”

She did not answer me. The classical music station that was set to turn on when my alarm went off did just that.

My eyes flew open, taking in the bright sunlight that was flooding into my room. It had just been a dream, though it was more real and relative than anything I could ever imagine myself.
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And there you have it. The professor said she wasn't going to criticize what we wrote so... yeah. If she does, I don't care. I will not back down from my beliefs... or my want of sharing those beliefs. Hey, when I say I'm sticking to something (like no Twitter - ugh, so hard!) then I do it. :D

Anyway, I am off to take a break (I've been sitting at the kitchen table for hours now) before I have to focus on my other classes.

Oh, by the way, I finished in time to go see Fr. Stan Fortuna perform at Catholic Underground but, unfortunately, my Humanities professor thought it would be fun to make us miss our Saturday night plans by making us attend an online class discussion. I will have to talk to him about that, and about how it's unfair that I could lose points on Saturday evenings/nights because he decides to hold "class discussions" on these days. I am NOT missing Sr. Tracey Dugas (and the rest of the Daughters of St. Paul)'s Discernment 101 session (second session) next Saturday because of this. I have Masses and important things to do than to sit home and discuss what I've already done and understood that week. /semi-rant. lol.

Okay, now I'm off to take a tea and cookies break before my online meeting in half an hour. :D

As always, thanks for reading and God Bless!



P.S./Edit: nevermind, the discussions on Saturdays are optional for extra credit. Great... I find this out too late. Oh well. :(

Homework; Fr. Stan Fortuna at Catholic Underground

No long post tonight since I am in a homework nightmare. Try as I might, I cannot focus on my readings thus I can't finish this darn homework or take the quizzes. This also means that I am very unlikely to go see Fr. Stan Fortuna at Catholic Underground L.A. tomorrow night. Since almost everything is due tomorrow night, it's going to take a miracle for me to finish on time. *sigh*

Anyway, just stopped by to let y'all know about Fr. Stan's gig at Catholic Underground tomorrow night. Starts at 8 p.m., if I'm not mistaken. Hope those of you who get to go have a great time. :D

Back to the beating my poor brain is getting. *groan* By the way, any tips y'all can give me are greatly appreciated. I have tried listening to music but it hasn't helped. Being completely silent will only drive me bonkers. I can't go out in the rain (and with my pain it's impossible) so any outdoor related tips are out. Thanks in advance!

Quick Note: Popple at Catholic Underground!

Just a quick note for y'all in Southern California. Tomorrow Popple is performing at the next Catholic Underground (L.A.) meeting. If you haven't heard of them, please check out their website... or simply go see them live! The event is taking place at St. Victor's Church in West Hollywood. I believe they start at 9 p.m. Hope to see some of you there. :D
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Quick Update from Homeworkland

Just a quick update because I am swamped with homework. Three days behind schedule will do that to you.

I've spent the past two days in bed. Well, two and a half. I even missed class on Wednesday due to my first migraine ever. The headache had been building up and not even two Advil tabs were helping. I slept most of Wednesday (due to throbbing headache that made me feel like crumbs) and maybe half of yesterday. I was up only long enough to take more Advil for pain (different sort of pain) and to watch movies with my guy. Haven't been able to eat today, I am literally forcing myself to eat, which is not good because I always feel worse when I don't eat. Ugh. I'll be fine... I'll be fine...

Anyway, due to my being bed for a few days, I am BEHIND on my homework. *groan* Luckily, if I start feeling better today, I will be able to knock out most of the work before bedtime. I'm a fast reader and an even faster writer, thank goodness for that. My goal is to finish everything in time to enjoy my road trip tomorrow, and possible trip to the CU meeting tomorrow. I hope I make it but, at this point, your guess is as good as mine as to whether I'll be able to make it.

I hope to write a blog in the near future -- when I don't have the homework monster breathing down my neck. I have something to say on the whole this with Nancy Pelosi, who apparently took NOTHING Papa Bene said to her to heart. Seriously, Pelosi, you FAIL at being a true Catholic and I don't know how you can call yourself a real one.

I also have something to say that hit closer to home -- a fellow student being called a "fascist b*****d" by a professor at a Los Angeles Community College. Why is this closer to home? Because I'm a student within the LACC right now. Granted, I'm not at the same campus where this particular situation happened, but the rules are applied to all the LACC campuses. This is going to affect me in a BIG way, as I am a Catholic who won't shy away from a "fight" with professors... especially in Philosophy courses. The outcome of this thing will either censor me or will allow me my right to the First Amendment (Freedom of Speech) without consequences. *sigh* I wish I had my acceptance/rejection letter from UBC already.

Alright, I'm going back to Homeworkland. Homeworkland, the place where a kid (or a student) can get the life sucked out of them. Yay. lol.

As always, thanks for reading and God Bless. :D
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Best Valentine's Day Ever!; Prayers for Baby John Paul.

I had the BEST Valentine's Day EVER yesterday. No, it was the BEST DAY I've had in a looong time. :D It started with me submitting my dream university application and ended up with the song "Falling in Love At a Coffee Shop" by Landon Pigg summing up my evening.

I bit the bullet and finally sent it (and paid for) the applications to my dream university. I thought it was entirely appropriate that I did on Valentine's Day, as a gift to myself. Now I just have to submit some transcripts, along with other paperwork, and hope and pray for the best. :D I am really, very excited about the whole thing. It definitely set the tone for the rest of the day, as well. :D

Originally, I was supposed to go to the Catholic Underground RED dance but had to cancel those plans on Friday because of some little problems I came across. I was also supposed to go apartment hunting with a good friend, but her roommate got in a car accident so the plans were scratched last minute. This is actually how my day started. I decided to do my applications while all of this happened, which is when things looked up for me. After my mom got out from work, we did some shopping (I really needed some things from Target).

I won't say much about the evening because I am determined to keep that as private as I can, but I will say that I truly believe the Lord had a hand in what happened. Me missing the dance, staying home, seeing someone and feeling the way I felt -- it all makes sense. And it makes me incredibly happy because not only did I fall in love BUT all of this is going to bring me closer to the Lord! :D Seriously, BEST DAY EVER! And all of this is still making me happy -- despite feeling physically crummy.

So, while I am still talking about love, let me just say that I still view Valentine's Day the same way I did prior to yesterday's events. I will share with you exactly what I wrote for my Speech class:

"It's funny that people often think it's a holiday made up by the card and chocolate industry when in fact it's originally a Christian feast day honoring the life of Saint Valentine. I won't go into a whole story on him, because as both a Catholic and Religious Studies major I could, but the gist is that when he was alive, St. Valentine would marry Christian couples... when it was against the law to do so. Ironically, it's St. Raphael Archangel, not St. Valentine, who is the patron saint of finding love. St. Valentine is the patron saint of those already married and/or have found their soul mates.

Personally, I don't buy into the whole cards-candy-flowers-hearts aspect of the day. I definitely do think the day's been exploited and used for profit, which is sad. If you truly love someone, you should be able to show it every day. If a guy, or girl, wants to show their significant other their affection in a special way, then all the power to them. I think it's sweet that they do that... especially if they're otherwise less affectionate throughout the year. If I were to choose to celebrate the day like most people (with cards and sweets), I'd probably include my family and friends as well. Who said that Valentine's Day is exclusively for lovers? Can't there be any familial and platonic love as well?"

I forgot to add that we should also thank God for bringing love in our lives. Think about it... even if you're single, you still have His love, along with your parents' and friends' love. And I would to add that I'm not as cynical as I sounded in what I wrote. Trust, I am a hopeless romantic. There was something that the professor wrote that triggered how I responded to his questions.

Oh, and here's a cute video about love and marriage... from a child's perspective.



Haha, ah, kids. :D And speaking of children...

I recently read an article about the parents of baby John Paul Hauser asking for prayers and the intercession of his namesake, the late Pope John Paul II. Baby JP was born with a rare disorder and the doctors aren't giving him a good prognostic. I urge you all to pray for this baby. I don't personally know the Hausers but I can't bear to think of a baby's life being taken from him without doing something about it. Prayer might not seem like much, but it's something we can all do for him. Please, Pope John Paul II, help baby JP beat the odds! For the prayer, please go to the article. It's located at the bottom.

Alright, that's all I have energy for at the moment. I am missing Mass (again...) because of how crummy I feel. I think I'm gonna go lie down a little and see if it doesn't help. :)

As always, thanks for reading and God Bless. :D
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Spring Semester!; RED Benefit Dance for Catholic Underground

Come on, Spring semester... hurray up! I am bored and I need some mental stimulation, even if it's me trying to cram knowledge into my brain before an exam. Luckily, I go back to school next Monday. The downside is that my first class, English, starts at 7:30 a.m.... which means I have to be up at 6:30 a.m. twice a week. *groan* I am used to going to sleep at 2-3 a.m. and waking up between 9 and 11 a.m. so this is going to be a challenge for me. Today was my first attempt at sleeping and getting up early. I went to sleep at midnight and woke up at 7:10 a.m. Granted, the only reason for this was because The Secret of Roan Inish (one of my favorite movies) was aired at 8 a.m... but it's a start. :D I'm so tired right now but I am making myself skip a nap so that I am hopefully tired by 10-11 p.m. tonight. By the way, if you think a 7:30 a.m. college class is nuts, I took a 6:30 a.m. English class my entire freshman year of college. The entire school year. Yes, seriously. If you don't believe me, I think they still offer the same class at Santa Monica College (my alma mater); you can go check it for yourself. lol.

Regardless of the time issues, I am actually looking forward to this semester -- mainly because it's my last semester of lower division classes. Technically, I'm done with lower division (except for 2 classes) and have enough credits to be a junior but since I'm at a junior college at the moment (because of financial aid issues I had with the Catholic college I'm at), I can't take upper division courses. I'm taking two Philosophy courses as my electives. My Spring schedule is as follows:
- English
- Philosophy: Ethics
- Philosophy of World Religions
- Speech: Critical Thinking (Persuasion and Argumentation)

Heavy load, isn't it? Glutton for punishment, anyone? lol. (Oh, and yes, I'm aware that they are in alphabetical order. Trust me, I had no idea that was the order my classes would be in. lol.) I need English and Speech so no way out of those. Just like there was no way out of Math and Science courses I've already taken. *shudders* lol. As for the Philosophy courses, well, I AM a Religious Studies major so these are good electives to take. I'm pretty sure my Ethics course will be required at my Catholic college... if I decide to continue attending it... so I'm good there. :D I am sure I will be taking part in some debates in my Ethics course. I fully intend to quote St. Thomas Aquinas, as well as Aristotle. Good thing I'm taking the Speech class that will prepare me for that, because I dislike arguing with a passion. Seriously. If I can avoid it, I will go out of my way to make sure it doesn't happen. Oh well, we'll see how it goes. I've already met one of my classmates when I went to purchase my textbooks. Fun. :D

Something I'm looking forward to more than school (yes, I'm well aware I'm weird for that)... the RED Benefit Dance for the Catholic Underground. It's being held on Valentine's Day at St. Victor's in West Hollywood. Modestia and Catholic in Film School blogger extraordinaire, Rebecca, will be one of the people attending it. I need to go dress shopping this weekend because, just like her, my only red dress is not suited for dancing. Although I am going stag to the dance, I still intend to dance and have fun. :D If you're in Southern California, especially the L.A. area, it would be a great alternative to all those crowded meat markets (a.k.a. clubs) on Valentine's Day. Just think about it... and remember that it's for a good cause. If you go, please make sure to say hi. You know, if you know who I am. If you don't, just ask around and I'm sure you'll eventually find me. lol. If you want more information on the event, please go to Catholic Underground (L.A.)'s website.

Alrighty, well, I should probably go do something productive -- like exercise, blech -- before it gets any later. That and I want to give you guys a break from my uber long posts. lol. :D

As always, thanks for reading and God Bless.
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