h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Pon: I thought it best to start a new thread on your space. First of all, the folk at h2g2 take 'being off topic' very much more seriously than even on the ctmb. Second of all my Blade Runner thread and reading I am doing for it have become important to me. If you only knew how I ended up here, I would hope you would understand and respect those places where I can still post.

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If you knew the context and how I came to be here, I don't think you would be so dismissive and direct. So start giving a hoot.

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I don't know what this means. Obviously if I am not with the birds, I cannot pick up private messages there.

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No.

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I just did.

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I am interested in knowing the story of your conversion, Pon. If you post it here I will be able to respond. Or you could post it on the ctmb and risk being blown out of the water by the lunatic anti-Catholic faction over there.

I am also investigating Catholic message boards. There is one which has organized discussions around denominations: Orthodox/Catholic, Protestant/Catholic, Muslim/Catholic. The discussions are fairly tightly limited so that nobody gets into slug-outs and, because they are pre-defined, they tend to be much more productive than the laissez-faire ones. There are also open discussions with caveats in red that opinions expressed do not and need not reflect the Magisterium.

I have changed my whole approach to interfaith dialogue. Since so much of it seemed to revolve around what source material is acceptable and who has the power to say what, I have decided that any source material is acceptable and that the power to speak is up for grabs. But this is a whole detailed discussion which I do not have the energy to get into right now.

I look forward to hearing the story of your conversion. Ani.

Pon: My period of premoderation is over as of tomorrow (Friday). I checked with the ctmb moderators and they instructed me to reply to their email on Friday and that they would make the change in my account back to postmoderation. So, likely that change will be made some time next week and I will be able to post and respond to posts normally by early November.

It's been a little weird at the ctmb of late. First, my appeal to the head office took a lot out of me. The lack of support from so-called friends took the rest. I have also been trying to avoid the lunatic anti-Catholic fringe on the ctmb; that takes quite a bit of resourcefulness and self-control. I have changed my approach which has most posters, I am afraid, scratching their heads and wondering what the hek I am on about. (I don't care.) There are quite a few new posters and, with Sparrows, the old posters do not show up except for the same old creation/evolution and homosexuality topics. (God, give me strength.) Or to recruit.

I think I stayed on the ctmb out of plain dumb determination not to be got the better of. This whole messy business (and believe me it got brutal) has resulted in me picking up my old hermeneutics even though all my books were stolen. I still remember a surprising amount and am slowly starting to build up my library again. My priest is seeing if he can get someone to talk to me about graduate school. I am meeting with someone from the Coptic church to start learning about how to make ikons. And I am struggling with a painting teacher who wants my abstractions to be completely unrecognizable.

My classes are great though. My painting class is just eating up the stuff I am throwing them into. One of my students did her PhD in hermeneutics so we are having a great time. The ceramics classes are eating up what I am throwing them into as well. There is a whole row of rectangular vases decorated a la Modigliani sitting on my shelf waiting to be fired. And then another row of cylindrical Picasso vases waiting to be finished. Modigliani and Picasso are in town, so I thought my students might like to make something they can take to work and impress the boss with. (Chuckle) The kids are making masks. This week they will make beasty bowls. Ani.

Hi Pon. I have been lurking on an interesting Catholic message board. Try this link and then go to the debate threads marked in red. What a breath of fresh air.

http://www.catholic-forum.com/cgi-files/dcforum/dcboard.cgi

Ani.

Ani: this was posted earlier on sparrows:

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(Then I continued like this)
Only yesterday ( that would be Wednesday) I visited my former government offices and gave someone copies of my PSL newsletter for distribution by internal mail.

I don't mind being told off and to keep to the topic also. Obviously I didn't know you were banned from sparrows for the time being or I wouldn't have sent you messages there. My conversion story is now posted as you can see. I am looking forward to you not being pre-modded and able to access CTMB and Sparrows soon.

I was not aware that I had been banned from Sparrows. I left Sparrows over irreconcilable differences. Ani.

Pondero. I was so happy to receive a copy of your posting on how you were converted. So indrawing was it that I thought I was daydreaming about my own past. Not that your past was anything like mine. But it was an odd experience. I caught myself jumping at the computer, reminding myself that I am here and you were there.

Many of the poor blokes in WW2 got the short end of the stick. Your Dad, I am assuming, was one of them. My Dad was.

Your picking up a flyer on the barrack room floor was exactly how Our Lady found me and drew me back to her, only it was not a barrack, it was a dinosaur tent where I worked.

I have some paintings to do before going to class this afternoon. So am likely to be away from the computer til this evening. I will respond in more depth when I have some more time. God bless to you and the Missus. Ani.

PS: Did you go to the link I gave you?

Ani:

I have found the link and it seems like you said " a breath of fresh air" on Catholicism. I am also glad that you found a response in your heart to my conversion.

Today, I also am going to be very busy, at least until evening, I have many errands and a long distance phone to make re Port Charlotte.

Ask any questions you like about my conversion and I will be happy to fill in the outline of what I have given you so far. God Bless.

Thank you for your kindness, Pon.

Pondero,

Just to put the record straight, as I see there has been a misunderstanding here.

Ani has NOT been banned from Sparrows. I am aware that she has chosen not to visit the site for a while, although she is always welcome. If and when Ani chooses to return, she will be still be welcome to do so.

Sally

Hi Sally:

Thanks for clearing that up. I should visit Sparrows myself to see if anyone else has posted a conversion story.

Let me guess Ani. You were out west, perhaps in the Badlands of Alberta working with paleontologists digging up dinosaurs? I am serious - you mentioned being out west before in one of your postings. Lunch time will soon be over and I have lots of house cleaning to do. Mary is teaching supply today.( it is not for the money - she loves the job).

Tell us your conversion story sometime in the near future. I know you value your privacy so I expect it will be an outline.

Yes, Pondero. No need to leap to conclusions about the reasons I am not on Sparrows. I have posted my reasons in private to the person concerned and to that person's friend who asked me. It only complicates things by dragging into the fray people who were not involved. As I said, as far as I know, I am not banned from Sparrows. Sally has confirmed that I am not banned from Sparrows. That's the end of it.

No I was not in the Badlands digging up fossils. I was working for Ex Terra in an exhibit in Toronto. Yes, I was excavating a fossil (a hadrosaur) which was in a large clump of earth transported to the site. I was also casting plaster ornithomimus 'bones' and glueing them onto a display. I was the only one who could get the ribs out of the casts without breaking them.

Which subjects does Mary supply teach?

I will tell you my conversion story some time in the future. Perhaps at the Catholic site by private message. I am a little weary from class. It is so draining going from the familiar into the unfamiliar. He is having us do flipping thick lines across our canvasses. I hate lines. But I did them anyway and now a whole field has opened up to me and I don't want to go there.

So, it got a little touch and go on the ctmb today. I am telling you, Pon, God is looking out for me. I haven't gotten into a fight yet today. I am no longer pre-moderated so can actually have a decent discussion with someone. The only discussion which I have had today is with Crab Apple who seems to think I have never heard of James Dio and Black Sabbath. But he seems to be on his way off to another board, anyway.

Some of the debates on the Catholic site seem pretty ironic, don't you think? I gather that I am not the only one who has experienced anti-Catholic bashing either overtly or in its more gentrified forms.

My favourite ctmb post of all time came from Strabismus who coined the term 'Schrodinger's God.' That is going straight onto a piece of clay which will be glazed and fired. And then it is going onto my wall.

I don't know about me being private. I am pretty open actually except to predators. But I just don't see the use in divulging my 'encounters' with God. People have a hard time believing them and I am too fed up to speak about them anymore.

Whew that pre-moderation period and all the events surrounding it were rough. But I survived it. I'm still standing. Thank you God. Ani.

Yes Ani I agree it is good to leave the reasons for your disagreements on the Sparrows board secret. It is something between you and others. I hope that you do reconcile your differences in the end though.

As for Mary, she teaches any grade up to high school. She is now in retirement a supply teacher for the Toronto Catholic School Board. Often she tells me she should never have retired as she enjoys her work teaching so much. Apart from having a BA degree and a MRE degree ( MRE = Master of Religious Education) Mary has taken all kinds of courses in what used to be called "Special Education". Years ago when taking some MRE subjects part time, she wanted to go full time to complete the degree, she won some kind of internal competition as an excellent teacher and was given a year off with full pay and tuition fees paid by the board. I was very proud of her. She has a gift as a teacher and can explain anything to anybody in words they can understand.

Hi Pon. You're up early. Me too. I have to go in to work early to load the kiln. There's a new demonstration (bowls) this morning and the handbuilders are starting their Picasso vases as well. So lots of set up. I think this is the day that one of my students has her photo exhibit, so I shall pop in there as well.

I borrowed my teacher's book yesterday and I think I have found my definitive idol: Richard Diebenkorn.

Mary and my mentor (Ban) have a lot in common. Ban was an art teacher in the Separate School Board and also taught special ed. Ban's daughter Clare just received some sort of certificate (I think from Regis) in religious ed and will be starting a very exciting adult ed project for the Catholic Church shortly.

Well, the kettle is boiling. I'm off to make tea and oatmeal and then off to work. Have you had any conversion stories? Are you going to post the same thread on ctmb? All the best to you and Mary. Ani.

Well Ani, I haven't figured out everything on the catholic-forum... board yet. I was not aware there was a private messaging centre there. I have a password for the site given to me by E mail after I registered, and so I have a lot of exploring to do, if I have time for it. My own conversion story is not finished, and there is more, but even for me it is too private to disclose on a public forum.

Ani:

I looked up the abstract paintings of Richard Diebenkorn one of them was an abstract landscape. If you want some real landscapes from which to "abstract" you should go up Hwy 28 to Burleigh falls where the pink rocks are simply magnificent. They are like cathedrals in the wild.

I am restudying Calculus now, at times, as in the past I used to indulge in what I called "mathematical art".. I have one painting of that type done years ago on the wall, unless my wife has removed it. It has been some years I used watercolours then.

I don't want to get off topic too much, as the mods frown on it. I need an outlet, not just the boards here, or s/w radio, or even Ham radio will suffice.

We're ok getting off topic on this thread since this thread is about you. I am interested to hear more about your math art. I have been meaning to restudy my calculus as well. but no time.

thanks for the tip about the pink rocks. I have some fotos I took on Manitoulin that I am going to reference and maybe the view from my window.

I need an outlet too. There isn't a lot I can do on h2g2, even less on the ctmb, and the catholic board is mainly a resource not a mode of expression. what kind of things can you do on a ham radio? Ani.

PS I doubt if anyone will object to us being off topic. I doubt if anyone will even read this thread.

Ani:

I don't talk to anyone these days on Ham Radio as I need new batteries for my 2m VHF. I found a painting I did about 30 years ago on mathematical art. It is still hanging in our basement. A displeased tax auditor upon seeing it said it looked like a pattern for a floor tile. The cheek. He was a N.Irish Protestant called McCready, so Heaven forgive him.

I tried posting on the CMB today, and had two posts removed by the Mods in the space of one hour. One because I used the words "cogito ergo sum" and the other for unknown reasons. I think the reply by Val was unacceptable to the Mods and they removed mine too for good measure. I also called some posters "pseudo-scientific neanderthals" that didn't sit too well either.

Who wrote 'dubito ergo sum' or was that me?

A reply by Val unacceptable to the Mods? My, my. Maybe their month-long tussle with me made them cautious. I studiously avoid a whole long list of people now. It just isn't worth getting pre-modded over.

Besides I prefer being happy. Happiness is vastly under-rated.

'Pseudo-scientific neanderthals' is a colourful expression. I myself am often tempted to use the term ' g-t!' However these sorts of expressions seem to be reserved for important people only. And I gather that I am not important among the ctmb pantheon. Hi-ho. Their loss.

I followed your run-in this afternoon. Pity that Liz Rm's thread went downhill. Ani.