It's the not-so-great pumpkin, Charlie Brown!

Today Wendy from the Sauk County Corporation Counsel's office called. When I answered the phone, she identified herself and asked if I were wearing a costume.

"Well," I said, "I'm not wearing a tie."

Apparently quite a few people do wear costumes to work. I saw it at Wal-Mart and in some of the shops around the square. In fact, at lunch there was a table with several middle-aged ladies dressed as witches, cheerfully eating with several other women dressed normally. (Normally? That doesn't sound polite, somehow. And when did women younger than I am become middle-aged?)

It reminded me of my favorite Halloween costume story. Back in 1987, I was the new novice master for the Carmelites (the guy in charge of the students during their intensive second year of training), and as such, a fairly big fish in a pretty small pond. I happened to be in DC for a meeting at Halloween, and Steve Payne and I decided to go over to Georgetown after dinner to see the crowds. I had some kit I had found at Walgreen's to make myself up like a cat. (See the photo for an idea of how this worked.) It required no costume or mask, just the face and whatever you chose to wear. I just followed the simple directions about how to do it, and it turned out remarkably well. Anyway, I had my cat face, put on a letter jacket and jeans and went downstairs to wait for Steve. He is always late, so I wandered into the television room and sat down in the back.

One of the older priests came in without seeing me, went to the television, fooled around and then turned and caught sight of me. I hadn't said a word. At the time, one of the postulants (guys in their first year who would be coming the next year to the novitiate under my direction) was named Richard Clark. A great guy, and we were then about the same build, hair color and so on. Fr. Regis assumed I was Richard, and snarled, "I'm going to tell the novice master," hoping to strike fear into his heart. In the old days, the person who was novice master was highly respected, considered one of the most exmplary of priests and somewhat feared as being a strict disciplinarian.

"I am the novice master," I replied.

Regis nearly hit the floor.

Deep in the heart

From the Houston Chronicle online:

Oct. 29, 2007, 12:49PM
State report says Texas has too many reports

AUSTIN — The Texas State Library and Archives Commission is declaring there are too many state reports.

It says so in a 668-page report.

The project took 18 months and included the commission's small team canvassing more than 170 agencies, and public colleges and universities, checking on all the reports they are assigned to do.

In the past, the state regularly compiled a list of about 400 reports that agencies were required by the Legislature to produce. But the commission found more than 1,600, and state records administrator Michael Heskett is pretty sure his team hasn't found them all.

Heskett's initial findings indicate more than 400 report requirements are obsolete, duplicative or not needed as frequently as currently required.

If you want to read the whole story, click on the Houston Chronicle above.

Having spent many years as part of a religious bureaucracy, as a part of the legal bureaucracy now, I can assure you that the proper response to this finding is to establish a new commission and have it file its interim report in time for the next session of the legislature with a final report to be completed in time for the following session.

Seriously.

Just watch.

(See, I do keep up with the Texas news.)

Latter Days

When I left the office today, I saw a couple of guys walking along the sidewalk at the traffic light and knew they were Mormon missionaries. Sure enough, when I went by I could see their name tags: Elder N-----.

When I was still in Chicago, I often wound up riding the bus with a couple of young Mormon missionaries who caught the bus to Hyde Park at the same place I did when I got off the Red Line. One of them was quite outgoing and friendly, but his partner not so much. The friendly one wound up sitting next to me the first time I noticed them. I was reading John Boswell's Same-Sex Unions in Pre-Modern Europe. He glanced at the book and leaned closer.

"Is he for or against?" he asked me.

I explained that it is a history, but that Boswell was certainly for them. I introduced myself as a Catholic priest and asked how his mission was going. We had a nice chat the rest of the way. It turned out that they were staying in the house next to the monastery. His companion looked uncomfortable. He had just started his mission, but the one who did all the talking was near the end of his two years.

I saw them from time to time after that. The friendly one always wanted to know what I was reading, and I suspect I was the only Catholic priest he had ever met. One time he'd see me and I would be reading a biography of Shakespeare or the history of the court of Henry VIII. The next time might be a book on the Eastern Orthodox theology of marriage or a book about famous hoaxes or something about Islam. I'm sure he was a bit perplexed by it all.

Eventually he moved on to other fields ,and the uncomfortable one warmed up a bit when he had more experience. At least he would respond to my greeting when he got on the bus with a newbie.

Twenty-two year old elders.

The Carmelite monastery in Hyde Park had belonged to the Mormons before the friars bought it. Small-world-note: Tom was one of the real estate attorneys involved in the Mormon's sale of the property to the friars.

Also, I don't know if I have mentioned it here, but the friars have closed that community and sold (or are selling) the property. That foundation only lasted about ten years. It was purchased as a house for students, but they haven't had any students for a couple of years, have no students right now and none who would be going on there for at least another two or three years.

But whenever Monday comes

(From the Mamas and the Papas 1966 hit)

When I went into work this morning my work space was filled with boxes. Joe recently got new furniture for his office, and over the weekend his brother and one of the tenants helped him dismantle the old setup and move in the new stuff. This meant I inherited a large credenza and all the stuff that has been accumulating thereon and therein for a year or so. All this had just been put into large boxes and piled around my chair, and the only thing to do was to clean it up. Joe was amazed at how quickly I turned that disorder into order, but we still spent a big chunk of the morning moving things around. I also managed to type one of the papers due in his lit class this week, but there is another one due on Thursday. I got Evelyn's bills out and about half of Joe's. So on the whole it was a fairly productive day.

Tom went in and spent half the afternoon showing Joe how to use his new laptop.

I get paid for my efforts.

Tom got a bunch of fresh parsley from the garden.