This past weekend was the Taste of Huntington Beach. It is an annual fundraiser to support the children's part of the Huntington Beach Public Library.
Local restaurants have booths where they give samples of their foods. Some wineries and breweries also participate by pouring their products. People pay to enter the event and try all this food and drink. The profits of the event then go to buy books or other necessities for the children's library.
I bring all this up because my parents were involved with planning the event. I spent a lot of time make signs, picking up donations, and doing other stuff to be helpful. This is also part of the reason for my recent paucity of posts.
On the day of the event I had an interesting job. I was one of the official beer judges. There were seven breweries that came to the event, so I had to try the products all of them brought. This does not mean I tried seven different beers. Many of them brought multiple types of beer so I ended up drinking twenty different beers. These were all two ounce sips or less, at least they were supposed to be.
Earlier last week
While I am on the topic, there are a couple of other food related stories I will present.
To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Blizzard, Dairy Queen had a special: buy one Blizzard and get one for 25 cents. By buying a couple and bringing them home to share, I enjoyed the wonderful flavors of midnight truffle, Oreo cookie jar, chocolate covered strawberry, and Georgia mud pie.
A 7-Eleven opened a few months ago a few blocks from my house. To get people in the store, they have put out some good coupons. Last week I had a coupon for a free quarter pound hot dog. Since the clerk had trouble ringing it up (he originally charged me for the hot dog), he gave me a free donut. I walked out with a Big Gulp of Dr. Pepper, a hot dog loaded with onions, chili, and cheese, and a donut for the bargain price of $1.49.
Last week I went to Steve's Charburgers. While I have lived a block away from it for over nine years, I only ate there for the first time last week. I have been missing out, it was great.
In writing this post, I decided to look Steve's up online. One of the negative reviews was from a person who saw a complete disregard for health codes. Even after reading that, I am still looking forward to my next tasty trip there.
When reading these reviews, I was reminded of Arnaud. He is a student from France who was studying abroad at Cal my senior year. He would talk about the poor food quality at a couple of the Chinese restaurants in Berkeley. Arnaud talked about the rotten meat these places served. He would say all this as we were walking to eat there. When we got to the restaurants, he would eagerly order and eat the food. These were his favorite places to eat, even though he verbally trashed them until he finished walking through the door to order.
Arnaud's favorite place to eat was 145 Chinese (Chinese Express) across Channing from Unit Three. On my last trip to Berkeley in January, I discovered it had closed :(
I drank some beer earlier today, but I will need another post to erect the explanation behind that.
Friday, April 30, 2010
The First Crown at Churchill Downs
Tomorrow is the first Saturday in May. This will make it the 136th running of the Kenturcky Derby.
There are a lot of traditions associated with the Derby. These include playing Stephen Foster's "My Old Kentucky Home" and draping the wining horse with a garland of roses. To celebrate this event that happens at Chruchill Downs, enjoy an official Kentucky Derby Mint Julep. The recipe is quoted below.
If you do not have a silver julep cup, any small cup should work. For a cold frosted look, place the cup in the freezer first.
If that is too much alcohol for you, try an Oaks Lily instead. From the official site again:
Once again, it is doubtful anyone has the mentioned glassware. While the Kentucky Oaks is tonight and the Kentucky Derby is tomorrow, these drinks are suitable for anytime.
Two weeks from now I will talk about Pimlico Race Course and the Blacked-Eyed Susan.
There are a lot of traditions associated with the Derby. These include playing Stephen Foster's "My Old Kentucky Home" and draping the wining horse with a garland of roses. To celebrate this event that happens at Chruchill Downs, enjoy an official Kentucky Derby Mint Julep. The recipe is quoted below.
Early Times Mint Julep Recipe
2 cups sugar
2 cups water
Sprigs of fresh mint
Crushed ice
Early Times Kentucky Whisky
Silver Julep Cups
Make a simple syrup by boiling sugar and water together for five minutes. Cool and place in a covered container with six or eight sprigs of fresh mint, then refrigerate overnight. Make one julep at a time by filling a julep cup with crushed ice, adding one tablespoon mint syrup and two ounces of Early Times Kentucky Whisky. Stir rapidly with a spoon to frost the outside of the cup. Garnish with a sprig of fresh mint.
If you do not have a silver julep cup, any small cup should work. For a cold frosted look, place the cup in the freezer first.
If that is too much alcohol for you, try an Oaks Lily instead. From the official site again:
The Oaks Lily®
1 oz. Vodka
1 oz. Sweet and Sour Mix
3 oz. Cranberry Juice
Splash of Triple Sec
When the ingredients are mixed, place the pinkish cocktail in an official Oaks Lily® glass (stem-less wine glass) with crushed ice, add a straw and garnish with an orange wedge and cherry.
Once again, it is doubtful anyone has the mentioned glassware. While the Kentucky Oaks is tonight and the Kentucky Derby is tomorrow, these drinks are suitable for anytime.
Two weeks from now I will talk about Pimlico Race Course and the Blacked-Eyed Susan.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
My Blogging Backstory
I was drafting a post and I thought it would be good if I gave some background on myself, specifically my experience blogging.
Once upon a time I was a news writer for the California Patriot magazine. It is the conservative political student publication at the University of California, Berkeley. I started my sophomore year of college. My column in the monthly magazine was about the student government, the ASUC. After a few months, I was asked to consider writing for the magazine's blog as well. My only blog experience was occasionally reading a friend's Xanga or LiveJournal and irregularly viewing one or two blogs people had mentioned to me.
In early 2006, I started blogging. It was a Wordpress blog hosted on a third party server. I was one of four bloggers for the site. At first I wrote about the ASUC like I did for the print edition of the magazine. Reading the other posts on the blog, mostly by the Online Editor Patrick Rodriguez, I looked to the same places he did to get ideas. This was commenting on what happened on Sproul (the big student plaza where everything happened) or an article in one of the local newspapers. Considering I spent more time on Sproul than I did in class that year, I saw all the protests and crazy things that happened.
One time one of the protests (and counter-protests) I covered was mentioned and linked to by Michelle Malkin's blog. Since this is a nationally known and well read blog, this link was a big deal.
The Patriot's blog won honorable mention in the Daily Cal's Best of Berkeley: Best Blog category. However, the winner in the category, Berkeley LiveJournal community, was a message board and hardly a blog. I won the Patriot of the Year award for outstanding contributions to the magazine for the 2005-06 year.
The busiest times of blogging were around the student elections. Since I had closely followed the student government's actions through the year, I knew a lot of background information. When anyone running for office makes grand claims, it is always fun to throw their own record back at them along with a few questions.
After Patrick's graduation in January of 2007, I became the Online Editor. I got the job because I was the most consistent and dedicated blogger. As part of the job I was the webmaster for the magazine's website. At the start of 2008, the Patriot blog was named as a finalist in a national competition for the best conservative or libertarian campus blog.
The most fun thing to cover was the tree sits. Hippies would climb trees and give a list of demands. If these demands were not addressed, they would stay in the trees. While this happened, there were great pictures to be had and unique people to watch. The sit in the oaks by Memorial Stadium lasted over a year.
In my two and a half years of blogging for the Patriot I made over 130 blog posts, many of which had pictures I took myself. Many of the posts were commenting about things politically and reporting on things I saw around campus and the city. I also had a few good bloggers nearby who I learned some things from.
After graduation, I wanted to continue blogging, but had trouble coming up with a presentation I was happy with. Eventually I started this blog. The archives on the right can fill you in on what I have written in the last year.
I could write a book about my blogging and all the campus and political things it touched on. Until that happens, I will keep posting here.
Once upon a time I was a news writer for the California Patriot magazine. It is the conservative political student publication at the University of California, Berkeley. I started my sophomore year of college. My column in the monthly magazine was about the student government, the ASUC. After a few months, I was asked to consider writing for the magazine's blog as well. My only blog experience was occasionally reading a friend's Xanga or LiveJournal and irregularly viewing one or two blogs people had mentioned to me.
In early 2006, I started blogging. It was a Wordpress blog hosted on a third party server. I was one of four bloggers for the site. At first I wrote about the ASUC like I did for the print edition of the magazine. Reading the other posts on the blog, mostly by the Online Editor Patrick Rodriguez, I looked to the same places he did to get ideas. This was commenting on what happened on Sproul (the big student plaza where everything happened) or an article in one of the local newspapers. Considering I spent more time on Sproul than I did in class that year, I saw all the protests and crazy things that happened.
One time one of the protests (and counter-protests) I covered was mentioned and linked to by Michelle Malkin's blog. Since this is a nationally known and well read blog, this link was a big deal.
The Patriot's blog won honorable mention in the Daily Cal's Best of Berkeley: Best Blog category. However, the winner in the category, Berkeley LiveJournal community, was a message board and hardly a blog. I won the Patriot of the Year award for outstanding contributions to the magazine for the 2005-06 year.
The busiest times of blogging were around the student elections. Since I had closely followed the student government's actions through the year, I knew a lot of background information. When anyone running for office makes grand claims, it is always fun to throw their own record back at them along with a few questions.
After Patrick's graduation in January of 2007, I became the Online Editor. I got the job because I was the most consistent and dedicated blogger. As part of the job I was the webmaster for the magazine's website. At the start of 2008, the Patriot blog was named as a finalist in a national competition for the best conservative or libertarian campus blog.
The most fun thing to cover was the tree sits. Hippies would climb trees and give a list of demands. If these demands were not addressed, they would stay in the trees. While this happened, there were great pictures to be had and unique people to watch. The sit in the oaks by Memorial Stadium lasted over a year.
In my two and a half years of blogging for the Patriot I made over 130 blog posts, many of which had pictures I took myself. Many of the posts were commenting about things politically and reporting on things I saw around campus and the city. I also had a few good bloggers nearby who I learned some things from.
After graduation, I wanted to continue blogging, but had trouble coming up with a presentation I was happy with. Eventually I started this blog. The archives on the right can fill you in on what I have written in the last year.
I could write a book about my blogging and all the campus and political things it touched on. Until that happens, I will keep posting here.
Monday, April 26, 2010
The Perils of MATLAB and Online Education
As I have mentioned before, I am taking classes through extension at UCI. These are online classes and some commentary is below.
C Programming for Embedded Systems
One of the first things that comes to mind is to compare this to a class I took in the spring of 2008; there are a lot of parallels. When I started taking Cosmology and High Energy Astrophysics, I was excited. I liked the teacher's style of bringing in results from different studies, the grandness of the topic, and the anticipation I would be learning amazing things. This continued for the first three or four weeks.
In my current class, I really liked my teacher's practical approach. He extended a well known quote:
In both of these classes my great expectations were dashed. In Astrophysics, the professor repeated himself a lot. He talked about the expanding universe and used the balloon analogy a few too many times. I remember sitting in class and not taking any notes for 40 minutes because everything was in an earlier lecture or common sense for anyone in upper division Physics. Talking about relativity can be good, but giving the same lecture multiple times to a bunch of people who already know the theory helps no one.
The teacher in C is talking about the general uses of C in embedded systems but has provided few specifics. He talked about the scope of variables, but has not broken any new ground that a basic knowledge of C would not cover. Our only assignments so far have been to introduce ourselves to each other and to list ten things around us that have embedded chips in them. While this is a nice embedded systems are everywhere activity, it is a poor substitute for actual coding.
I hope my misgivings will prove unfounded, but the class may end up being a disappointment.
MATLAB Madness
A situation came up with MATLAB. It revolves around the statement x = 7i/0. When a complex number is given to MATLAB, it will display its real and imaginary parts in the form A + Bi. In the notes, the program returned x = NaN + Infi. This means the real part is not a number and the imaginary part is infinity. However, when I entered the equation into MATLAB, I got x = 0 + Infi. I think my answer is better. I do not see a real part to x, so I do not see how it is not a number. In all this confusion, I completely missed that both of the answers are mathematically incorrect; division by zero is never allowed.
I only noticed this when a fellow student pointed it out in one of the forums. I joined the discussion, and it looks like MATLAB versions 2009a and 2010a display this differently. The teacher did not weigh in on the discussion.
Speaking of my teacher, he is not inspiring confidence. However, this could be a side effect of my teacher not being into teaching.
In our last assignment, there were eleven questions. Four of them were based upon his notes, while the other seven were based upon the notes of a professor. One of my teacher's problems was incomplete. It said "Create surface and mesh graphs for the function " but did not provide a function. When a student posted in the forum asking which function to use, he was met with silence for four days. When a reply was finally posted, it was the original student saying he was not provided a function and came to the conclusion the question should be disregarded.
Back to the notes comment above. For last week, the PDF file with notes for the week was 101 pages long. Of these, our teacher wrote 24. The rest were from Edward Neuman at the Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. These notes on MATLAB and Linear Algebra are available for anyone to download and view. They are good notes and I would recommend them. However, when the majority of notes for a week and the homework are straight from someone else concerns about a teacher should rightly develop. I am a fan of citing more knowledgeable people when possible, but this goes too far. As I said before, I don't think my teacher is into teaching.
I will not let the fact my teachers are less than stellar interfere with my own effort and learning. I still have to work hard and understand everything as well as I can. Learning is my responsibility, teachers are only there to help me.
In light of my 13 day post hiatus and the content of this post, there is something I should say. I have never used academic responsibilities as an excuse for my lack of blogging and I will not start now.
C Programming for Embedded Systems
One of the first things that comes to mind is to compare this to a class I took in the spring of 2008; there are a lot of parallels. When I started taking Cosmology and High Energy Astrophysics, I was excited. I liked the teacher's style of bringing in results from different studies, the grandness of the topic, and the anticipation I would be learning amazing things. This continued for the first three or four weeks.
In my current class, I really liked my teacher's practical approach. He extended a well known quote:
Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. If [you] teach about the science or theory of fishing prior to learning to fish he will starve before he will learn.Since I have completed one of the three weeks of instruction for this class, I can now offer some feedback.
In both of these classes my great expectations were dashed. In Astrophysics, the professor repeated himself a lot. He talked about the expanding universe and used the balloon analogy a few too many times. I remember sitting in class and not taking any notes for 40 minutes because everything was in an earlier lecture or common sense for anyone in upper division Physics. Talking about relativity can be good, but giving the same lecture multiple times to a bunch of people who already know the theory helps no one.
The teacher in C is talking about the general uses of C in embedded systems but has provided few specifics. He talked about the scope of variables, but has not broken any new ground that a basic knowledge of C would not cover. Our only assignments so far have been to introduce ourselves to each other and to list ten things around us that have embedded chips in them. While this is a nice embedded systems are everywhere activity, it is a poor substitute for actual coding.
I hope my misgivings will prove unfounded, but the class may end up being a disappointment.
MATLAB Madness
A situation came up with MATLAB. It revolves around the statement x = 7i/0. When a complex number is given to MATLAB, it will display its real and imaginary parts in the form A + Bi. In the notes, the program returned x = NaN + Infi. This means the real part is not a number and the imaginary part is infinity. However, when I entered the equation into MATLAB, I got x = 0 + Infi. I think my answer is better. I do not see a real part to x, so I do not see how it is not a number. In all this confusion, I completely missed that both of the answers are mathematically incorrect; division by zero is never allowed.
I only noticed this when a fellow student pointed it out in one of the forums. I joined the discussion, and it looks like MATLAB versions 2009a and 2010a display this differently. The teacher did not weigh in on the discussion.
Speaking of my teacher, he is not inspiring confidence. However, this could be a side effect of my teacher not being into teaching.
In our last assignment, there were eleven questions. Four of them were based upon his notes, while the other seven were based upon the notes of a professor. One of my teacher's problems was incomplete. It said "Create surface and mesh graphs for the function " but did not provide a function. When a student posted in the forum asking which function to use, he was met with silence for four days. When a reply was finally posted, it was the original student saying he was not provided a function and came to the conclusion the question should be disregarded.
Back to the notes comment above. For last week, the PDF file with notes for the week was 101 pages long. Of these, our teacher wrote 24. The rest were from Edward Neuman at the Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. These notes on MATLAB and Linear Algebra are available for anyone to download and view. They are good notes and I would recommend them. However, when the majority of notes for a week and the homework are straight from someone else concerns about a teacher should rightly develop. I am a fan of citing more knowledgeable people when possible, but this goes too far. As I said before, I don't think my teacher is into teaching.
I will not let the fact my teachers are less than stellar interfere with my own effort and learning. I still have to work hard and understand everything as well as I can. Learning is my responsibility, teachers are only there to help me.
In light of my 13 day post hiatus and the content of this post, there is something I should say. I have never used academic responsibilities as an excuse for my lack of blogging and I will not start now.
A Colorful Book
I have been away from blogging for what seems like a long time. While it has been 13 days, that is still enough time to draw concern in the comments section of the last post.
When I was at the library six weeks ago, a book in the new book section caught my attention. The cover had a blue background with the title Golden Bears in gold lettering. The subtitle of the book was A Celebration of Cal Football's Triumphs, Heartbreaks, Last-Second Miracles, Legendary Blunders and the Extraordinary People who Made It All Possible. I immediately grabbed this book written by Ron Fimrite and checked it out. You can find it on Amazon if you like. As an aside for the one reader who might not know, all the teams of the University of California, Berkeley play under the title California. It was the first and for a while the only public university in the state.
At first I was less than excited about the book; it was 517 pages long. I decided I would read the parts that were interesting, but not feel compelled to read the entire book. I started reading it one day. At the end of that day, I had read over 100 pages. The book was well paced and did not become bogged down in retelling every detail.
The book is more than a history of the football team of the University of California, it touches on many other areas. It covers the history of the school itself and talks about Wheeler, a new place called Memorial Stadium, and the game of football being classified as too dangerous to be played. I enjoyed learning about Andy Smith and the Wonder Teams. I have heard them spoken of with admiration and awe, but I did not know about their original exploits or how Smith was recruited to be their coach.
Below are a few words from the book (23-24) that might inspire you to pick up a copy.
When I was at the library six weeks ago, a book in the new book section caught my attention. The cover had a blue background with the title Golden Bears in gold lettering. The subtitle of the book was A Celebration of Cal Football's Triumphs, Heartbreaks, Last-Second Miracles, Legendary Blunders and the Extraordinary People who Made It All Possible. I immediately grabbed this book written by Ron Fimrite and checked it out. You can find it on Amazon if you like. As an aside for the one reader who might not know, all the teams of the University of California, Berkeley play under the title California. It was the first and for a while the only public university in the state.
At first I was less than excited about the book; it was 517 pages long. I decided I would read the parts that were interesting, but not feel compelled to read the entire book. I started reading it one day. At the end of that day, I had read over 100 pages. The book was well paced and did not become bogged down in retelling every detail.
The book is more than a history of the football team of the University of California, it touches on many other areas. It covers the history of the school itself and talks about Wheeler, a new place called Memorial Stadium, and the game of football being classified as too dangerous to be played. I enjoyed learning about Andy Smith and the Wonder Teams. I have heard them spoken of with admiration and awe, but I did not know about their original exploits or how Smith was recruited to be their coach.
Below are a few words from the book (23-24) that might inspire you to pick up a copy.
...the flights of fancy of Lawrence 'Pete' Kaarsberg, a back with another apt sobriquet-'Kangaroo.' When confronted with a tightly bunched defensive line, the agile Kaarsberg simply jumped over it. When greater altitudes were indicated, his teammates took hold of special straps he had sewn into his uniform trousers and hurled his 145-pound frame over the line. It goes without saying that Kangaroo Kaarsberg's antics led to several rule changes.Through characters like this, the book brought me into the times it described. Pick up Golden Bears, read a few parts, and enjoy the trip.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Movies on the big screen and graphing on my computer screen
I think I set a new record for seeing movies in theaters. In six days last week I saw four movies.
Graphing in MATLAB
On Sunday my first MATLAB assignment was due. One of the questions ended up with this as an answer.
Launch of the Labels
A few days ago I decided to start using labels for my posts. After adding labels to many of my older writings and changing the layout of the posts to display their labels, I had no success. After searching for solutions, I found one that said to click "Revert widget templates to default" in Layout> Edit HTML. I had to click it a couple of times, but now the labels are up and running.
There are two divergent approaches to take to tags (or labels as Blogger calls them).
Tagging anything and everything possible reminds me of people in high school (1 more tag for high school) who would highlight most of the lines in their textbooks. Overusing highlighting or tagging undermines its purpose in calling attention to important things.
If you have not figured it out by now, I favor the minimalist approach on tags.
- Monday She's out of my League When I first saw the trailer for this movie I knew if I saw it it would be because I was watching it with Larry.
- Tuesday The Book of Eli This was at the dollar theater. They have a special where movies on Tuesday night are half price; the ticket only cost one dollar.
- Friday Shutter Island We saw it at The Block and ate Krispy Kreme Doughnuts afterward.
- Saturday Date Night This most recent release on the list is also the least impressive. Afterwards, the In-N-Out on Bristol was frequented which reminded me of high school.
Graphing in MATLAB
On Sunday my first MATLAB assignment was due. One of the questions ended up with this as an answer.
Launch of the Labels
A few days ago I decided to start using labels for my posts. After adding labels to many of my older writings and changing the layout of the posts to display their labels, I had no success. After searching for solutions, I found one that said to click "Revert widget templates to default" in Layout> Edit HTML. I had to click it a couple of times, but now the labels are up and running.
There are two divergent approaches to take to tags (or labels as Blogger calls them).
- Tag as many different topics as possible. This means an author will come up with new tags all the time even if they are only used in one or two posts.
- Only create tags for large groups of posts. This means posts will have vaguely descriptive tags, but when a reader looks at all the posts under a specific tag he will find things he might like but would have never searched for directly.
Tagging anything and everything possible reminds me of people in high school (1 more tag for high school) who would highlight most of the lines in their textbooks. Overusing highlighting or tagging undermines its purpose in calling attention to important things.
If you have not figured it out by now, I favor the minimalist approach on tags.
Friday, April 9, 2010
I have new pants
I have had five appointments since my last Apheresis update.
Each of the cups is from a different appointment I had to donate platelets. The books they are on top of have been sitting around my room. In the background are red sweatpants I received in the mail earlier this week. I got them for being an Apheresis All-Star from my donations last year.
Now for some short commentary on the movies I saw during my appointments.
Each of the cups is from a different appointment I had to donate platelets. The books they are on top of have been sitting around my room. In the background are red sweatpants I received in the mail earlier this week. I got them for being an Apheresis All-Star from my donations last year.
Now for some short commentary on the movies I saw during my appointments.
- District 9 After a few years, people (even with scores of aliens to work with) still can't learn anything about an alien ship over Johannesburg.
- Zombieland A great example of what to do and not do in a zombie situation. Beware of dangers like having your hair brushed over your ear.
- Everybody's Fine Obviously nobody is fine, but everyone has some issues.
- Up in the Air I kept expecting Clooney's character to be fired.
- Angels & Demons Did anyone think of turning off the electrical grid dozens of sections at a time instead of one by one?
Anteaters and the Matrix Laboratory
I have a question for you. Why are these anteaters happy?
Their names (left to right) are Giant, Zot, Peter, and Ants.
These anteaters are happy because last week I started taking a class at the University of California, Irvine through their extension program. The class is MATLAB for Engineers. It is the first in a series of classes I am taking toward a certificate in Digital Signal Processing (DSP) Systems Engineering. This certificate program is different from a masters degree program. There is no application process. I simply sign up for the classes and start taking them. As a member of the Cal Alumni Association I get 10% off one class a quarter; these savings pay for more than half of my lifetime membership dues.
This first class I am taking covers the computer language MATLAB, which is short for matrix laboratory. The syntax is designed to make linear algebra and matrix related calculations quickly. My exposure to MATLAB was summed up in my introductory forum post for the class
Their names (left to right) are Giant, Zot, Peter, and Ants.
These anteaters are happy because last week I started taking a class at the University of California, Irvine through their extension program. The class is MATLAB for Engineers. It is the first in a series of classes I am taking toward a certificate in Digital Signal Processing (DSP) Systems Engineering. This certificate program is different from a masters degree program. There is no application process. I simply sign up for the classes and start taking them. As a member of the Cal Alumni Association I get 10% off one class a quarter; these savings pay for more than half of my lifetime membership dues.
This first class I am taking covers the computer language MATLAB, which is short for matrix laboratory. The syntax is designed to make linear algebra and matrix related calculations quickly. My exposure to MATLAB was summed up in my introductory forum post for the class
Hello everyone,In my short use of MATLAB so far it is a great language. I wish I knew it when I was taking linear algebra for the first time.
My name is Chris and I have a little experience with MATLAB. I used it to measure nanoparticle movements and compute their velocities. The program had been written by someone else and I never had a need to modify or understand the code.
I am currently seeking employment and taking this class so I can understand any MATLAB programs I come across in the future.
Sunday, April 4, 2010
The Fullness of Grace
The first thing I want to do is recount the entire Easter Vigil from last night. I started to, but then I realized how difficult it would be. The Easter Vigil is the celebration the night before Easter and it is the biggest and most elaborate mass of the year. It took about three hours. Check out the Unnamed Geniuses for talk of the Catholic Easter Vigil; they give it a good treatment. If you have any questions I would be glad to answer them. For this post I will focus on explaining the events around the sacraments.
The use of light is very important in the Easter Vigil. To start, everyone gathers outside the church in the dark of night. A fire is started and the Easter candle is lit. The Easter candle is a big candle almost six feet tall. Everyone follows the Easter candle in procession into the completely dark church. As everyone enters the church, they carry a small candle which was lit from the Easter candle. It symbolizes the light of faith in God they received at Baptism when they entered the church. The Elect (the people preparing for Baptism and other sacraments) did not have candles (or in the case of Philip, was not supposed to have a candle).
How it started and we got here
My involvement with RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults) began in September. At the fellowship I was at they asked for people to be involved as sponsors for RCIA. There were a couple of teenagers in the program and the team was looking for younger people to sponsor these young people. I signed up and was assigned to Philip, who is 18. Since September, I have been walking with Philip in his journey to join the church. (This is the point where it would be very helpful if I used labels and tags for my posts. I could say check all the posts labeled RCIA and see the entire story.) At this stage in his journey Philip a member of the Elect, since he has been preparing to receive Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Communion at this Easter Vigil. After Baptism, he will be referred to as a neophyte or new member for a year.
In my last post, I explained how earlier in the day I pieced together the fact I was going to be Philip's Godparent and sponsor. It turned out my reasoning was correct and I was both his Godparent and Confirmation sponsor. Anyone who wants to can now correctly refer to me as a Godfather.
Baptism
After the Elect followed the Easter candle in procession around the church, the water for Baptism was blessed. Those to be Baptized were then asked some questions and responded with "I do."
The neophytes were then dressed in white robes as a symbol of their new and spotless nature after the cleansing of Baptism. Each of them received a candle from their Godparent that was lit from the Easter candle. The neophytes went among the congregation and lit everyone's candle in the church. This symbolizes how their faith will be a light to everyone.
Confirmation
Confirmation is based upon Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles. As the neophytes stayed around the altar, the candidates were called forward with their sponsors. After answering the Confirmation questions, which are the same as the Baptism questions, they all received Confirmation. The priest anointed the forehead of every person with chrism saying "[Name] be sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit." He then shook their hand saying "Peace be with you." Nearly 30 people received this sacrament.
Eucharist/Holy Communion
The last part of initiation for these people was receiving Holy Communion. After Confirmation the mass ran like a normal Liturgy of the Eucharist.
Afterwards
After the mass there was a reception. All of the people who went through first sacraments were surprised to find a poster welcoming them to the church and a bag of letters of support and congratulations from people in the congregation. A little girl came up to Philip and told him how she had prayed for him by name every night before she went to bed. This seven year old girl was preparing for her First Communion and had never met Philip before.
Before this, the most moving moment of the evening had been the first Baptism of the night. It was a person who used to practice Judaism. In embracing Jesus, he found the completion and perfection of the faith he grew up with. However, this acceptance is viewed as a rejection of Judaism.
That art project I mentioned earlier can now be explained.
Art and me is a bad combination. However, finding clip art and mounting it on colored paper is something I can pass off as a creative enterprise. The RCIA team took scores of pictures over several months for these posters. The sponsors were in on it from the start, but it was a complete surprise to the sponsored.
How Long?
I have an answer for you. Twenty minutes.
Now the question: How long after a young man's first mass as a full member of the church does it take for someone to tell him he should be a priest? A lady who met Philip at the reception said she would pray that he becomes a priest. For all she knows he could be a mass murderer. If I remember correctly, it was Sidney who said he wanted a workshop at church on ways to tell vocation recruiters no.
The Sunday catechesis will continue through the Easter season to Pentecost.
Happy Easter to all, and to all a good night!
The use of light is very important in the Easter Vigil. To start, everyone gathers outside the church in the dark of night. A fire is started and the Easter candle is lit. The Easter candle is a big candle almost six feet tall. Everyone follows the Easter candle in procession into the completely dark church. As everyone enters the church, they carry a small candle which was lit from the Easter candle. It symbolizes the light of faith in God they received at Baptism when they entered the church. The Elect (the people preparing for Baptism and other sacraments) did not have candles (or in the case of Philip, was not supposed to have a candle).
How it started and we got here
My involvement with RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults) began in September. At the fellowship I was at they asked for people to be involved as sponsors for RCIA. There were a couple of teenagers in the program and the team was looking for younger people to sponsor these young people. I signed up and was assigned to Philip, who is 18. Since September, I have been walking with Philip in his journey to join the church. (This is the point where it would be very helpful if I used labels and tags for my posts. I could say check all the posts labeled RCIA and see the entire story.) At this stage in his journey Philip a member of the Elect, since he has been preparing to receive Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Communion at this Easter Vigil. After Baptism, he will be referred to as a neophyte or new member for a year.
In my last post, I explained how earlier in the day I pieced together the fact I was going to be Philip's Godparent and sponsor. It turned out my reasoning was correct and I was both his Godparent and Confirmation sponsor. Anyone who wants to can now correctly refer to me as a Godfather.
Baptism
After the Elect followed the Easter candle in procession around the church, the water for Baptism was blessed. Those to be Baptized were then asked some questions and responded with "I do."
Do you reject Satan?Each of the people was immersed in water three times with the pastor saying, "I Baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." After Baptism the Elect become members of the church and are properly called neophytes. While the neophytes were changing into dry clothing, their Godparents gathered at the altar. Instead of joining them as I should have, I went back and sat down in my pew. Luckily, as soon as I sat down the person in front of me drew my attention to my mistake.
I do.
And all his works?
I do.
And all his empty promises?
I do.
Do you believe in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth?
I do.
Do you believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, Who was born of the Virgin Mary, was crucified, died, and was buried, rose from the dead, and is now seated at the right hand of the Father?
I do.
Do you believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting?
I do.
The neophytes were then dressed in white robes as a symbol of their new and spotless nature after the cleansing of Baptism. Each of them received a candle from their Godparent that was lit from the Easter candle. The neophytes went among the congregation and lit everyone's candle in the church. This symbolizes how their faith will be a light to everyone.
Confirmation
Confirmation is based upon Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles. As the neophytes stayed around the altar, the candidates were called forward with their sponsors. After answering the Confirmation questions, which are the same as the Baptism questions, they all received Confirmation. The priest anointed the forehead of every person with chrism saying "[Name] be sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit." He then shook their hand saying "Peace be with you." Nearly 30 people received this sacrament.
Eucharist/Holy Communion
The last part of initiation for these people was receiving Holy Communion. After Confirmation the mass ran like a normal Liturgy of the Eucharist.
Afterwards
After the mass there was a reception. All of the people who went through first sacraments were surprised to find a poster welcoming them to the church and a bag of letters of support and congratulations from people in the congregation. A little girl came up to Philip and told him how she had prayed for him by name every night before she went to bed. This seven year old girl was preparing for her First Communion and had never met Philip before.
Before this, the most moving moment of the evening had been the first Baptism of the night. It was a person who used to practice Judaism. In embracing Jesus, he found the completion and perfection of the faith he grew up with. However, this acceptance is viewed as a rejection of Judaism.
That art project I mentioned earlier can now be explained.
Art and me is a bad combination. However, finding clip art and mounting it on colored paper is something I can pass off as a creative enterprise. The RCIA team took scores of pictures over several months for these posters. The sponsors were in on it from the start, but it was a complete surprise to the sponsored.
How Long?
I have an answer for you. Twenty minutes.
Now the question: How long after a young man's first mass as a full member of the church does it take for someone to tell him he should be a priest? A lady who met Philip at the reception said she would pray that he becomes a priest. For all she knows he could be a mass murderer. If I remember correctly, it was Sidney who said he wanted a workshop at church on ways to tell vocation recruiters no.
The Sunday catechesis will continue through the Easter season to Pentecost.
Happy Easter to all, and to all a good night!
Saturday, April 3, 2010
The penultimate post on the Elect
The RCIA process is on the cusp of culmination.
I went to the Holy Thursday mass. At the start, three people (including Philip whom I am sponsoring) from the congregation brought up three oils. These were blessed on Monday at the Chrism mass, where the bishop blessed all the oil that would be used in the diocese for the coming year.
Each of the oils has a specific use.
After this there was a practice for the Elect, Candidates, and their Sponsors and Godparents. We walked through what would be happening at the Easter Vigil tonight and who would stand where when. We worked out who would be walking around with candles in the dark, how to Baptize people by immersion, and where to get them ready for the next part of mass quickly. When to say Amen, I do, and Peace be with you.
All of this brought me to thinking of the time I made my first Communion. I was in the second grade and one of eighty people preparing for the sacrament. We had a week or two of in church practice of standing, sitting, receiving, and processing. We even had crackers so we could practice correct form in consuming the Eucharist. In fact, every sacrament I remember making for the first time had a lot of practice. These people tonight are getting three of them and they have not had even a third of the practice I went through for just one sacrament. Even so, I think everything will work out well, even though there will be open flames handled by nervous people wearing robes.
Clarification
There is one thing I have not made clear in my RCIA posts. When I started the sponsorship of Philip in October, he already had a Sponsor and Godparents lined up. I was not there in a direct role like all the other sponsors, but only to attend the classes and teachings with him. At the start of Lent, Philip said he had other people (family members I understood) who would sponsor him. At first I was a little miffed that I was doing all the actual work and someone else would step in at the last minute. Then I thought about why I signed up for the program. I wanted to help someone who did not have anyone else to be there for him.
You need to understand, this was my mindset for the past 6 months. Today I asked Philip who would be coming to the Easter Vigil. He said he thought his sister would come but he was not expecting anyone else. Combining this with the absence of anyone else at the practice today, my reasoning leads me to say I will be his Godparent and Confirmation Sponsor. If so, I would be honored. However, finding this out the morning of the sacraments is unconventional.
Last night I was working on an art project, but more on that later. Tonight the Elect and Candidates will all receive Confirmation and Eucharist, while the Elect will also receive Baptism. The Easter Vigil starts at 8 and after the Vigil and reception I hope to be home a little after midnight.
I went to the Holy Thursday mass. At the start, three people (including Philip whom I am sponsoring) from the congregation brought up three oils. These were blessed on Monday at the Chrism mass, where the bishop blessed all the oil that would be used in the diocese for the coming year.
Each of the oils has a specific use.
- Oil of the sick - This is used to anoint the sick.
- Oil of catechumens - Everyone who is Baptized and people preparing to enter the church are anointed with this oil.
- Chrism - This is used in Confirmation when a person is sealed with the Holy Spirit.
After this there was a practice for the Elect, Candidates, and their Sponsors and Godparents. We walked through what would be happening at the Easter Vigil tonight and who would stand where when. We worked out who would be walking around with candles in the dark, how to Baptize people by immersion, and where to get them ready for the next part of mass quickly. When to say Amen, I do, and Peace be with you.
All of this brought me to thinking of the time I made my first Communion. I was in the second grade and one of eighty people preparing for the sacrament. We had a week or two of in church practice of standing, sitting, receiving, and processing. We even had crackers so we could practice correct form in consuming the Eucharist. In fact, every sacrament I remember making for the first time had a lot of practice. These people tonight are getting three of them and they have not had even a third of the practice I went through for just one sacrament. Even so, I think everything will work out well, even though there will be open flames handled by nervous people wearing robes.
Clarification
There is one thing I have not made clear in my RCIA posts. When I started the sponsorship of Philip in October, he already had a Sponsor and Godparents lined up. I was not there in a direct role like all the other sponsors, but only to attend the classes and teachings with him. At the start of Lent, Philip said he had other people (family members I understood) who would sponsor him. At first I was a little miffed that I was doing all the actual work and someone else would step in at the last minute. Then I thought about why I signed up for the program. I wanted to help someone who did not have anyone else to be there for him.
You need to understand, this was my mindset for the past 6 months. Today I asked Philip who would be coming to the Easter Vigil. He said he thought his sister would come but he was not expecting anyone else. Combining this with the absence of anyone else at the practice today, my reasoning leads me to say I will be his Godparent and Confirmation Sponsor. If so, I would be honored. However, finding this out the morning of the sacraments is unconventional.
Last night I was working on an art project, but more on that later. Tonight the Elect and Candidates will all receive Confirmation and Eucharist, while the Elect will also receive Baptism. The Easter Vigil starts at 8 and after the Vigil and reception I hope to be home a little after midnight.
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