Book Journal 2006 - ????

I just found a notebook. On the cover I had written "Book Journal 2006 - ."

I was going to write down every book I read and anything I felt like saying about it.

I will now transcribe the entire journal for you here:

Feb 2006
Title: Allen Carr's Easy Way to Stop Smoking
Year: 1985/1998
Pub: Barnes & Noble Books

Led me to quit smoking for approx 18 hours.

--

That is it. On the plus side, I did figure out a way to quit smoking a couple months later.

St. Aloysius Gonzaga

I got into following my alma mater, Saint Mary's College, during last season's college basketball. SMC's main rival in the West Coast Conference is Gonzaga. I know who Saint Mary is, and she seems a good person to make a saint. I had to Google Gonzaga...

St. Aloysius Gonzaga was born in Castiglione, Italy on March 9, 1568. Reportedly, the first words St. Aloysius spoke were the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary. Hmmm. By the age of 9 Aloysius had decided on a religious life, and made a vow of perpetual virginity. Really? That sounds very odd. To safeguard himself from possible temptation, he would keep his eyes persistently downcast in the presence of women(!). That's my favorite part. He made this vow at age 9, and apparently stuck to it.

Around this time he was laid up with a kidney disease, preventing him from much social activity. He prayed a lot during this time. As a teen he taught catechism to the poor. His father wanted him to go into the military, but of course, our hero, Gonzaga, wanted to be a priest. When he was 18, his father finally okayed Zag to join the Jesuits.

Always in delicate health, he, nevertheless, devoted himself to the care of the sick. The Plague broke out. He died at age 23 in 1591. Reportedly, the last word he spoke was the Holy Name of Jesus. I'm not sure what context this was in, but he received the last rights. He was canonized in 1726.

In 1887 Gonzaga University was founded and named for him in Spokane, WA. Bing Crosby attended Gonzaga in the early 1920s.

St. Mary's College's basketball star Patty Mills broke his hand at Gonzaga on January 29, 2009. Before the break, SMC was leading by double digits. Gonzaga came back to win. This also lead to SMC not getting to the NCAA finals.

Many believe that St. Zag put a hex on Mills and SMC (see photo). Kobe Bryant called Mills "too quick" -- but he wasn't quick enough to get away from The Saint!

Some of this info came from catholic.org, newadvent.org and wikipedia.org.

Oh Brother

So, I wanted to take some old audio cassettes and put them onto discs, but my last audio tape deck died a few years ago. My brother has one. My brother never tells you if he's coming out, he just shows up. The following email chain is what it's like trying to communicate with my brother...

On 3/29/09, Ted wrote:

Hey Steve,

Next time you come out can you bring your new audio cassette deck? I have some audio cassettes that I want to put on to disc.

Please respond.

Thanks,

Ted

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On Mar 30, 2009, at 6:12 AM, Steve wrote:

okay remind me next time I come out

--Steve

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On 3/30/09, Ted wrote:

but i don't know when the next time you come out will be. i'm reminding you NOW to bring it out the next time you come.

please respond.

ted

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On Mar 31, 2009, at 5:30 AM, Steve wrote:

right, I will try to remember

if you remind me closer to when I actually do come out there'll be less chance I forget

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On 3/31/09, Ted wrote:

but you never tell me when you are coming out, you just show up.

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On Apr 4, 2009, at 5:44 PM, Steve wrote:

but you never tell me when you are coming out, you just show up.
But you never tell me when you're coming out, you just show up.

so?

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On 4/4/09, Ted wrote:

well you said to remind you to bring it the next time you're going to come out, but you never tell me when you are going to come out, you just show up. hello?

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On Apr 6, 2009, at 5:35 AM, Steve wrote:

okay I will try and remember to bring it out next time I come out