Venn: Notre Dame, Architecture, Manhattan, and 9/11

Who stands at the center of a Venn diagram including the University of Notre Dame, the profession of architecture, a student newspaper called The Observer, the humor of a cartoonist, sketchbooks of a globe-trotter, Manhattan, the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center, CodeX, and 9/11? 

I know of only one man who fills the bill: architect, cartoonist, and lecturer Michael Molinelli.

 

"As you know, Michael Molinelli is a talented artist who worked for Notre Dame's OBSERVER daily student newspaper and received his degree in Architecture. He was the creator of probably the most beloved comic strip on campus, a daily must view for all of us Domers when the paper came out just before lunch. The strip was called "Molarity" (morality with the "l" and the "r" switched). He presents an interesting perspective about the Twin Towers from an architect's point of view. CAUTION: while one particular scene has been seen millions of times since that tragic day in 2001, it is still shocking and disturbing." --Eduardo Magallenez, ND '83

 

This 15th edition of Michael's CodeX project describes the design and construction of the Twin Towers and the force that brought them down on 9/11.

Before reading Eddielalo's post, I was not familiar with Michael's CodeX Series. After watching this one, I was inspired to watch more and wound up subscribing to his channel. The videos (currently about 24) are fantastic explorations of interesting and influential architects and the buildings they have given us. You need not be an architect to love these videos. 

Michael Molinelli, AIA, NCARB, LEED Accredited Professional holds a 1982 Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University of Notre Dame. Michael was best known to his fellow Domers as the creator of Molarity, a comic featuring the antics and exploits of fictional student Jim Mole and his friends. 

Since graduating from Notre Dame, Michael has built a successful architecture practice. He is an award-winning licensed architect, an award-winning cartoonist, humorist, lecturer, author, inventor, volunteer firefighter, husband, and father.

Visit Michael's websites:
His architecture practice 
The official website of Molinelli's cartoon strips including Molarity and Molarity Redux.
A site about the book he co-authored with his wife, Gina 
The YouTube channel for his ongoing CodeX series 

These websites about Michael are also worth a look:
His Amazon author biography featuring a nice pic with an ND hat

The Wikipedia entry describing his Molarity comic strip

Meme of the Day: No such thing as a long-sleeved T shirt!

On Cruising Main in a Plymouth Satellite Blaring Styx, Kansas, and Foreigner

It's the 40th anniversary of our high school graduation. What are we going to do to celebrate? How will we mark this august occasion? Is there something we could do that would take us back to that time and place?

First of all, let’s not try to have any fun, because having fun is for kids. Look at us. 1979 was a long time ago. We aren’t kids anymore. We’re practically adults! 

Figure 1. 1970s MOPAR Muscle

But if we do attempt to enjoy ourselves, let’s not buy 12-packs of beer in pony (6 oz.) cans, because ponies are for amateurs.

But if we do buy ponies, let’s not consume the contents of these cans in the car as we cruise Main, because that might lead to gunning our engine, squealing our big fat stupid tires, attempting to arrive at the next intersection in less time than the car in the adjacent lane, or other inappropriate behavior.

But if, in the course of behaving as we might, we do in fact amass a pile of empty cans, let’s not use them as stackable blocks to build pyramids in the parking lots on either end of Main, because pyramid-building is for geeks, nerds, jocks, and future engineers. Ugh! 

But if we do create our own little design-and-build project, don't allow an officer of the peace to catch us because building pyramids from what might appear to be large quantities of empty cans could land us in a heap of trouble since 

“These cans didn’t drink themselves!” 

(Or words to that effect.)

But if we do get caught, let’s allow the most loquacious member of our party explain the engineering challenge of constructing twin pyramids on opposite ends of Main nearly simultaneously (!) while the rest of us quietly get anything that looks like a pony can out of the car and into the closest pyramid as swiftly and stealthily as possible, because this will be our only hope for ending the evening not in jail.

Figure 2. Lumber Yard

Figure 3. Hy-Vee

But if we do explain the finer points of our engineering project (and assuming both that the officer is distracted until the car is free of cans and that the other occupants comport themselves appropriately), the officer may very well be amused, and allow us to go upon our merry way.

But if the officer is not amused, there remains a non-zero probability that all will be forgiven if we simply offer to dismantle the pyramids in reverse order and if we further promise to recycle the "evidence."

But if all is not forgiven,

"You can just spend the night in jail, mister! 
And let that be a lesson to you!"

(Or words to that effect.)

Figure 4. "No cans but... it smells like a brewery in here!"

This is precisely why we adults must shake our heads and say, “Kids these days!” Mature adult persons would never dream that any kind of fun at all could be had by cruising Norfolk’s main drag in a 1972 Plymouth Satellite with big back tires and Pat Walsh’s old kickbox speakers on the red fuzzy-carpet-covered rear window ledge with a Pioneer 8-track tape deck blaring Styx, Kansas, and Foreigner 

(As if it were 1979 forever....) 

Grammar Lessons my Bartender Taught Me

Ahoy! 

What we have here is a clever twist on a standard joke set-up, "A man walks into a bar ..." As you read each line, a grammar lesson is illustrated in the form of a bar joke. For example, "A synonym strolls into a tavern ..." is funny because a synonym is a word that means the same thing as another word. Walked and strolled are synonyms. Bar and tavern are also synonyms. If you get the joke and enjoy it, read on! 

This is a fantastic review of grammar that language lovers and logicians will appreciate! 

If you find some of these jokes sail over your head, have a look at Linda's helpful explanations. 

I do love this clever form of humor. I wish I could find the author. Apparently this list of bar jokes has been floating around for awhile. In searching for the author I have uncovered several versions, all lacking attribution. 

Can you supply any new Grammar Lessons in the comments? Surely someone has created a pun-filled version. Can you post a link to one? Or how about a list composed entirely of Spoonerisms? For example, "Mardon me, padam, is this bar tool staken?" (I just made that up!)

Please add your own "bar jokes" in the comments! 

Enjoy! 

The Swanson Pyramid of Greatness

“I’ve been developing the ‘Swanson Pyramid of Greatness’ for years. It’s a perfectly calibrated recipe for maximum personal achievement.”

Words of wisdom from Ron Swanson, our hirsute hero. Now available on t-shirts, mugs, and posters. 

Enjoy this extended video presentation of the Swanson Pyramid of Greatness from the season three premiere of Parks & Recreation. 

That Moment When #7: Alarm Clock

That moment when your 5:30 alarm goes off and you get mad at yourself for even setting an alarm on Saturday and you go back to sleep and it's Tuesday.

Word of the Day #1: Meretricious

The Word of the Day is:

Meretricious

adjective  mer·e·tri·cious \ˌmer-ə-ˈtri-shəs\

The definition of today's word is:

1. 1:  of or relating to a prostitute :  having the nature of prostitution meretricious relationships
2. 2a :  tawdrily and falsely attractivethe paradise they found was a piece of meretricious trash — Carolyn Seeb :  superficially (see superficial 2) significant :  pretentiousscholarly names to provide fig-leaves of respectability for meretricious but stylish books — The Times Literary Supplement (London)

And the reason we looked this word up today is:

The Mom Who Hosted Naked Twister Also Allegedly Took A ‘Multi-Party’ Bubble Bath With Teens

What is this WORLD coming to?

That Moment When #6: Disagreement?

That Moment When #5: Too Hot to Run?

Today was hills day. It was 90 degrees, sunny, and humid. Pretty sure the heat index carried the apparent temps into the mid-nineties. I did my job, summiting Harrison Hill three times--but it took me the better part of an hour to accomplish, plus a gallon of water and 40 minutes to cool down. 

Hooah!  

49 days! 

Abide

Fans of "The Big Lebowski" will no doubt appreciate this t-shirt.Get yours here: http://teesop.com/abide

Rather than on a wooden floor, though--shouldn't this shirt be displayed on a rug? Yes, on a rug, one that really ties the room together. And a tumbler containing a half drunk White Russian should be displayed beside the shirt. I'd be more likely to order a shirt if a beverage were somehow involved.

That Moment When #4: the Power of Memes

"That moment when" something touches a shared nerve--and sends ripples across the Internet!

The fact that you are reading a blog post is a good indicator that you are at least a consumer and possibly also a producer of social media content. So I could almost take your understanding of memes for granted. Perhaps you have already used a meme-generator to add a funny or poignant quip to the social fabric. This post is intended for those of us who are perhaps a little late to the party. I'll define a meme in the context of social media, provide some examples, and conclude with links to some meme generator sites. Then, we'll all be armed and ready to meme on!

A meme is "an element of a culture or system of behavior that may be considered to be passed from one individual to another by nongenetic means, especially imitation."

In his 1976 book The Selfish Gene, British scientist Richard Dawkins coined word meme, which he defined as "a unit of cultural transmission." The term meme itself, like any good meme, caught on fairly quickly, spreading from person to person as it established itself in the language.

Often, a meme takes the form of "a humorous image, video, piece of text, etc. that is copied (often with slight variations) and spread rapidly by Internet users."

Here are a couple of examples from among thousands upon thousands floating around the hive mind we call the Internet.

Meme generators are websites that facilitate the creation of memes by providing some images and editing tools, Users can add their own text and, viola! Of course, you can always use PowerPoint or even a photo editor to quickly make your memes. But the meme generator sites are nice because they come with the tools you'll need to launch your little gem into the ethersphere.

The original meme generator https://memegenerator.net/
Imgur's site http://imgur.com/memegen
Live meme http://livememe.com/
Meme Dad http://memedad.com/
Quick meme http://www.quickmeme.com/
Image Flip https://imgflip.com/memegenerator
One of Image Flip's popular meme templates (The World's Most Interesting Man) https://imgflip.com/memegenerator/The-Most-Interesting-Man-In-The-World
Good old Photoshop http://www.photoshop.com/

That Moment When #3: Old Friends

That Moment When #2: Remote Control

https://memegenerator.net/instance/70909753 

That Moment When #1: Pants

My first post in a planned series of original #ThatMomentWhen memes.

https://memegenerator.net/instance/7089803

More On Neologisms

I love word play! Puns, spoonerisms, double entendres, portmanteaux, paraprosdokian sentences, redundant acronym syndrome acronyms, and humorous neologisms are bound to delight me. Results may vary...

Inspired by the viral list of neologisms you've undoubtedly seen, I published a collection of 100 pretty good examples. And then, before the ink was even dry, I set out to offer a little more on (moron) this type of humor.

ne·ol·o·gism

  (nē-ŏl′ə-jĭz′əm)

n.

1. A new word, expression, or usage.

2. The creation or use of new words or senses.

You know that list of 14 funny neologisms which just showed up in your Facebook newsfeed (or possibly in your email inbox if you are over 50 years old)? The one that starts with "Coffee: the person upon whom one coughs"? These are great neologisms, but (a) they are not new and (b) they are not the product of something called the Mensa Invitational!

As a subscriber of the Washington Post, a decades-long fan of WaPo's weekly Style Invitational feature (including annual neologism contests), and a lapsed Mensan, I feel a certain compulsion to point out that this list has been circulating for years. It is not new, though occasionally someone will modify the content with an updated year (the 2008 list was relabeled as the 2009 list, for example). The annual results are often repeated on other websites, such as TheAdultGamer.com with attribution to WaPo, but for some reason a version incorrectly attributed to Mensa is persistently making the rounds.

Points to ponder:

• Neologisms are real, naturally occurring features of a living language 
• The annual Washington Post Style Invitational contest invites readers to come up with especially creative forms of neologisms. 
• Each year, the Style Invitational contest has some sort of twist to the rules, e.g., change the word by one letter, or move the first letter to the end of the word, or spell the word in reverse order.
• People like and tend to combine and recirculate the lists
• Possibly as an homage to the cleverness of Style Invitational contestants, one popular version of the list has been mistakenly attributed to Mensa, the high IQ society
• After a neologism becomes accepted into mainstream language it is no longer a "new word" 

If you are interested in researching the history of various lists in circulation, please examine the following links:

• http://www.washingtonpostsmensainvitational.com/
• http://www.vappingo.com/word-blog/great-examples-of-neologisms/
• http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/invitational/invit980802.htm
• https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/we-give-you-our-words-the-invitationals-neologisms/2013/02/28/e5a9fd02-7b39-11e2-9a75-dab0201670da_story.html

If you are interested in enjoying a list of 100 neologisms, and perhaps sharing some of your own, feast your eyes on this alphabetical list collected from various sources.

http://philosfx.blogspot.com/2015/10/100-funny-neologisms.html

What happens when a newly created word moves beyond the humor category and enters the formal lexicon? The following neologisms have been formally accepted into mainstream language, as evidenced by appearing in a respectable dictionary. As a result, they can no longer be classified as neologisms.

• D'oh!: An exclamation meaning damn (usually after a mistake by the speaker).
• Wicked: Good or cool.
• Google: To look up information on the Internet.

Here are 19 more former neologisms invented by famous writers

• Banana republic
• Beatnik
• Cyberspace
• Freelance
• Hard-Boiled
• Butterfingers
• Chortle
• Doormat
• Factoid
• Feminist
• Gremlin
• Meme
• Nerd
• Oxbridge
• Pedestrian
• Scientist
• Workaholic
• Twitter
• Yahoo

And here are 12 brand names or words created especially for advertising or PR campaigns that are now used generically.

• Aspirin
• Hoover
• Laundromat
• Band-aid
• Kleenex
• Frisbee
• Tipex
• Xerox
• Tupperware
• Escalator
• Granola
• Zipper

My final contribution to this post offering more on neologisms is a mention of the Urban Dictionary, a crowd-sourced compendium of often humorous, occasionally scandalous new words and slang. 

A living language evolves. 

100 Funny Neologisms

Some of these are tied to very specific cultural references. I made no effort to rank or cull these, since the value of each depends on you, the reader. If I missed some, feel free to add your favorites in the comments! 

1. 404: Someone who's clueless. From the World Wide Web error message 404 Not Found, meaning that the requested document could not be located.

2. Abdicate: to give up all hope of ever having a flat stomach.

3. Acme: a generic skin disease.

4. Adulatery: cheating on one's wife with a much younger woman who holds you in awe.

5. Antifun gal: a prude.

6. App: Software application for a smartphone or tablet computer.

7. Auto-da-feh: the extermination of heretics via drowning in a vat of pus.

8. Balderdash: a rapidly receding hairline.

9. BFF: Stands for best friends forever. Used to state how close you are to another individual.

10. Brangelina: used to refer to supercouple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.

11. Burglesque: a poorly planned break-in. (See: Watergate)

12. Chilax: To calm down or relax, it is a slang term used when someone is starting to get uptight about something that is happening.

13. Circumvent: an opening in the front of boxer shorts worn by Jewish men.

14. Coffee: the person upon whom one coughs.

15. Coiterie: a very, very close-knit group.

16. Contratemps: the resentment permanent workers feel toward the fill-in workers.

17. Crapacity: The size of one's attic.

18. Crowdsourcing: The activity of getting a large group of people to contribute resource to project, especially by using a website where people can make contributions.

19. Defrigerator: Start saving energy now with this special offer from Pepco!

20. Deifenestration: to throw all talk of God out the window.

21. DIOS: the one true operating system.

22. Doltergeist: a spirit that decides to haunt someplace stupid, such as your septic tank.

23. Dopeler effect: the tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when they come at you rapidly.

24. Ego surfer: A person who boosts his ego by searching for his own name on Google and other search engines.

25. Elepants: too-tight jeans on broad-beamed people.

26. Emasculathe: a tool for castration.

27. Epigramp: A maxim that brands the speaker as an old codger. “If God had wanted women to wear pants . . .”

28. Errudition: Comical misuse of big words. “Madam, your dress looks positively superfluous on you tonight,” he said with amazing errudition.

29. Eruditz: A philosophy professor who can’t figure out how to work the copying machine.

30. Esplanade: to attempt an explanation while drunk.

31. Eunouch: the pain of castration.

32. Flabbergasted: appalled over how much weight you have gained.

33. Flatulance: emergency vehicle that picks you up after you are run over by a steamroller.

34. Foreploy: any misrepresentation about yourself for the purpose of obtaining sex.

35. Fortissimoe: the musical moment produced when someone serially slaps the faces of the first-violin section.

36. Frisbeetarianism: The belief that when you die, your Soul flies up onto the roof and gets stuck there.

37. Gargoyle: olive-flavored mouthwash.

38. Genitaliar: an image-enhancing object that can be carried in a man's front pocket.

39. Geobragging: Repeated status updates noting your location in an attempt to get attention or make other people jealous.

40. Giraffiti: vandalism spray-painted very, very high, such as the famous "Surrender Dorothy" on the Beltway overpass.

41. Glibido: all talk and no action.

42. Goodzilla: a giant lizard that puts out forest fires by stamping on them.

43. Guillozine: a magazine for executioners.

44. Guiltar: A musical instrument whose strings are pulled by your mother.

45. Hindkerchief: really expensive toilet paper; toilet paper at Buckingham Palace.

46. Hindprint: indentation made by a couch potato.

47. Hipatitis: terminal coolness.

48. Hozone: the area around 14th Street.

49. Impotience: eager anticipation by men awaiting their Viagra prescription.

50. Inoculatte: to take coffee intravenously when you are running late.

51. Intaxication: euphoria at getting a refund from the IRS, which lasts until you realize it was your money to start with.

52. Karmageddon: It's like, when everybody is sending off all these really bad vibes, right? And then, like, the Earth explodes and it's like a serious bummer.

53. Lollapalooka: someone who has taken one too many turns in the mosh pit.

54. Lymph: to walk with a lisp.

55. Metrosexual: A heterosexual man who likes the interests traditionally associated with women or homosexual men (e.g., shopping, fashion, his appearance) .

56. Mitthead – An individual who constantly changes his political positions to suit his audience and objectives,”

57. Moon-basing – The act of a candidate or surrogate offhandedly proposing a policy so outrageous that it significantly harms the candidate’s electability.

58. Muffin top: This refers to the (often unsightly) roll of fat that appears on top of trousers that feature a low waist.

59. Nazigator: an overbearing member of your carpool.

60. Necronancy: communication with the late Ernie Bushmiller.

61. Negligent: describes a condition in which you absentmindedly answer the door in your nightgown.

62. Newtspaper: the Washington Times.

63. Noob: Someone who is new to an online community or game.

64. Osteopornosis: a degenerate disease.

65. Oyster: a person who sprinkles his conversation with Yiddishisms.

66. Pectacles: gladiator movies.

67. Percycution: Giving your child a name he will hate for the rest of his life.

68. Pokemon: a Rastafarian proctologist.

69. Quartersack: On the Redskins, it's the player who lines up behind the center and takes the snap.

70. Racne: Acne located on a woman’s chest.

71. Rectitude: the formal, dignified bearing adopted by proctologists.

72. Refiance: To replace your subprime boyfriend when your interest starts to vary.

73. Reintarnation: coming back to life as a hillbilly.

74. Republican’ts – The 49 percent of Republicans who, in a recent survey, were unable to explain the meaning of their party’s initials “GOP.

75. Rickwad – An individual who claims to be a devout Christian but supports policies that indicate otherwise.

76. Rococoa: Haute chocolate

77. Santorum – We'll let you look that one up for yourself.

78. Sarchasm: the gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the recipient who doesn't get it.

79. Sata: a mythical being who brings toys to bad children.

80. Skilljoy: The would-be friend who’s a bit better than you at everything.

81. Socceur: the proper spelling of the sport for the next four years, alas.

82. Spam: Flooding the Internet with many copies of the same message, in an attempt to force the message on people who would not otherwise choose to receive it.

83. Sparadigm: A model panhandler.

84. Staycation: A vacation at home or near home (usually due to financial constraints preventing a holiday abroad).

85. Stitch 'n' bitch: A gathering of individuals who chat or gossip while knitting or crocheting.

86. Stupfather: Woody Allen.

87. Suckotash: a dish consisting of corn, lima beans and tofu.

88. Synapple: a perfect beverage to accompany brain food.

89. Taterfamilias: the head of the Potato Head family.

90. Tatyr: a lecherous Mr. Potato Head.

91. Tebowing: description of a prayerful victory stance derived from NFL quarterback Tim Tebow.

92. Testicle: a humorous question on an exam.

93. Thripp: a bug.

94. Transvestheight: The difference between the jockstrap and the bra.

95. Troll: An individual who posts inflammatory, rude, and obnoxious comments to an online community.

96. Tweet cred: social standing on Twitter.

97. Unappalin’ – Adjective used to describe a person with a combination of physical attractiveness, ruthless ambition and limited mental capacity.

98. Vagjayjay: Slang term for the vagina that was believed to have been coined by Oprah.

99. Vaseball: a game of catch played by children in the living room.

100. Whitetater: a political hot potato.

101. Willy-nilly: impotent.

102. Writer's tramp: a woman who practices poetic licentiousness.

103. And, Lust: an unseemly craving for this [final] position in the [Style Invitational] column. [Note, the Style Invitational editor usually publishes a groaner of an entry at the end of each list.]

Daily Disfunction: RAS Syndrome

You won't find it in the American Psychiatric Association’s 2013 Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disoders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5), but RAS syndrome is a real thing.

"RAS syndrome (short for "redundant acronym syndrome syndrome") refers to the use of one or more of the words that make up an acronym or initialism in conjunction with the abbreviated form, thus in effect repeating one or more words. Two common examples are "PIN number" (the "N" in PIN stands for "number") and "ATM machine" (the "M" in ATM stands for "machine")." -- accessed September 30, 2015 from Wikipedia 

I learned about RAS syndrome from a friend when I laughed about the common access card to which many people refer as the "CAC card" (the "C" in CAC stands for "card"). He responded with another good example: VIN number (the "N" in VIN stands for "number").

This reminds me of my favorite acronym of all time: TADHEA, short for

"The Army Doesn't Have Enough Acronyms."

Have you heard of RAS syndrome? Share your examples in the comments.

What will you do with your extra second?

June 30, 2015 has an extra second. How will you put that time to use?

For the 2d time in the history of PhilosFX, the international scientific community have decided to add a "leap second" to the last day in June.

A leap second is a one-second adjustment that is occasionally applied to Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) in order to keep its time of day close to the mean solar time. Since this system of correction was implemented in 1972, 26 leap seconds have been inserted, the most recent on 30 June 2015 at 23:59:60 UTC.

What to do with the extra time? Gawker.com's free ideas for what to do with today's extra second are nearly perfect. I love how people add fun comments and suggestions.

As the clock struck an extra long midnight in London, the FIFA Women's World Cup semi-final match between USA and Germany was just getting underway in Montreal (at 7 p.m. Eastern Time).
I know how I'm gonna use today's leap second! I want to watch O'Hara's goal in the 84th minute of the match! Put that video on Vine!

The gifted free time is designed to compensate for the drag caused as our planet wobbles a bit more than usual now and then. Of course all of this is beyond my ability to discern, To me, it is amazing that we have atomic clocks that can detect this difference, and computers that demand the accuracy.

The last time we had a leap second was 2012, and I put up a little blog post to celebrate in good humor. As of today, that post has garnered 10,758 views, my single most-viewed post. It also attracted 893 comments. Will this post rival that one for interaction? Something about astrophysics just gets people excited...

Match Your Myers-Briggs Personality Type to a Patron Saint

Image: Church of the Resurrection

On St Patrick's Day, Trevor McMaken of the Church of the Resurrection published in interesting twist on the ever-popular Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator: using your MBTI profile to match yourself to a saint in time for Holy Week.

As an ENTP, I was immediately curious to add a Saint to my collection of characters from Star Wars and Harry Potter characters. This fascination with the MBTI has been habit-forming! Turns out the folks at the Church of the Resurrection reckon that the Patron Saint of ENTPs like me is one St. Thomas Cranmer.

Image: Church of the Resurrection

Frankly, despite my post-secondary education at Notre Dame, I was not familiar with St. Cranmer and so was slightly disappointed that I did not align with someone more popular, like St. Francis of Assisi....

"Now I'm practicing my likeness of St. Francis of Assisi
And if I hold my hand outstretched a little bird comes to me"

                                                     --Elvis Costello, "Bedlam" 

Alas, clearly, I am no INFP, so IF McMaken and Church of the Rez are accurate, I have little hope of Elvis singing about me. However, I mollify myself with the speculation that Mr. Costello is himself a fellow ENTP. And I surveyed the remaining choices and found no descriptions more like me. Those of you who share my MBTI fetish might enjoy reading the choices to see whether you really do align with the recommended saint.

Image: Church of the Resurrection

The Sunday edition of the Washington Post placed this interesting bit of pop psychology into slightly wider circulation under this banner: For Holy Week, Here's How You Can Match Your Myers-Briggs Personality Type to a Patron Saint. I noticed more of my friends participating and commenting after the Post got in on the game. It was at this time that I figured I had better get a better understanding of the life of Thomas Cranmer. And that is when I discovered why the story of Saint Cranmer was not discussed at my alma mater....

Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, is revered as a reformer and martyr in ... wait for it ... the Church of England. So, he may be a saint, but not one recognized by Catholics. Thomas made it possible for King Henry VIII to divorce Catherine of Aragon and marry Anne Boleyn, which of course made neither the King nor the Archbishop popular with the Pope.

Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury (1533-1556). Image: Wikipedia

Henry VIII died at age 55 and was succeeded by his 9-year old son, Edward VI, born by 3rd wife, Jane Seymour. During the reign of Edward VI, Cranmer was allowed to make the doctrinal changes he thought necessary to the church. In 1549, he helped complete the book of common prayer. After Edward VI's death, Cranmer supported Lady Jane Grey as successor. Her nine-day reign was followed by the Roman Catholic Mary I, who promptly tried Cranmer for treason.

Cranmer’s martyrdom, from John Foxe’s book (1563). Image and caption: Wikipedia

To save his life and his life's work, Cranmer recanted. He was even received back into the Catholic church. However, Mary I insisted on his execution. Cranmer was sentenced to be burnt to death in Oxford on 21 March 1556. Before his death, he publicly renounced his recantation. He dramatically stuck his right hand, with which he had signed his recantation, into the fire first.

As an ENTP, I am all about generating ideas for change, for reformation, and for continuous process improvement. I am also quite happy to work hard for causes in which I believe passionately. The whole burned at the stake thing, though. That is a different matter!

I hope this post has you in an enlightened, if somewhat somber, Holy Week mood. And if you are so inclined, feel free to comment or share.


References:

1. Church of the Resurrection

• Address: 935 W. Union Ave., Wheaton, IL 60187. 
• Phone: 630-653-3888. 
• Email: office@churchrez.org. 
• Website: http://www.churchrez.org 

2. Church of the Resurrection's original publication. Retrieved March 30, 2015, from http://www.churchrez.org/news/holy-week-myers-briggs

3. The Washington Post's republication of the article. Retrieved March 30, 2015, from http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2015/03/29/for-holy-week-heres-how-you-can-match-your-myers-briggs-personality-type-to-a-patron-saint/

4. Wikipedia's entry on Thomas Cranmer. Retrieved March 30, 2015, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Cranmer

5. Bedlam Lyrics. (n.d.). Lyrics.net. Retrieved March 30, 2015, from http://www.lyrics.net/lyric/7543662.

6. A British perspective on Church of England's sainted leader. Retrieved March 30, 2015, from http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/cranmer_thomas.shtml

A Pi Day for the Ages

Mark your calendars and set your alarms for Saturday, March 14, 2015, at 9:26.53 a.m.

Or, in another means of expression,

3/14/15 @ 9:26:53

This, of course, for those of you who do not already have your calendars marked, represents the first ten digits of the mystical ratio known for ages by the Greek letter, pi 

Here at PhilosFX, we have a tradition of celebrating Pi Day in numbers. Here is a look at Numbers of Note on Pi (3.14) Day, 2015

I do not know if my "blogological" musings are helping or hindering anyone else, but this I do know: 

My blogging may not change the world, but 

Blogging changes me, and then 

I change the world.

Keep on bloggin'!

Albert Einstein was born on March 14, which is also celebrated as Pi Day,
honoring the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter,
otherwise known as the  mathematical constant π. Credit: Biography.com

R. Crumb is considered by many to be the
single best cartoonist America has ever produced.

Previous posts on this Pi Day Par-tay theme:

• 3.14.2014
• 3.14.2013
• 3.14.2012
• 3.14.2011