Friday quick takes: Blogger Colleagues Edition

Click on the post-it to head over to Conversion Diary's quick-takes gathering place.

1. Gotta love Enbrethiliel. Like me, she can't just blog one way. She's the hostess of Sancta Sanctis, a great Catholic blog, but adds the personality-filled Shredded Cheddar to boot. She may just be serious about her tag-line: "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you odd." (My own quirky side is on display at In Dwelling.)
   
   
2. Another fun dual-personality is TSO. You must know him from his unspellable Video meliora, proboque; Deteriora sequor, the only blog I know where the title is longer than the URL. It's also the home of "Spanning the Globe", in which every Catholic blogger worth his salt strives to earn a mention. TSO lets his ya-yas out over at Parody is Therapy. (I'm not letting cats out of bags, am I sir?
   
   
3. For a good time, go over to Karen Edmisten and do a search for posts with the label Ramona. Ramona is her 7-year-old daughter with an amazing talent for coming out with quotable nuggets that are both profound and hysterical. An example:

   Me: Hey, Ramona -- you played a lot in your room earlier today. Are we going to be able to find your bed when it's bedtime?
   
   Ramona: Ummmm ... maybe not. I can guarantee you my room is not in tip-top shape.
   
   Me: Well, let's take a look.
   
   After surveying the bountiful clothing coverage -- both dress-up and the real stuff -- in her room, Ramona observed,
   
   Ramona: All it really needs is some hamperage.

4. I very much enjoy reading whatever Mr. and Mrs. Darwin write over at Darwin Catholic, but I am especially charmed by the comments Mrs. Darwin makes on blogs here and there. I wish she'd collect and catalog them.
   
   
5. Genevieve Kineke blogs at Feminine Genius (which I absolutely must remember to get up on the sidebar blogroll). However, she is also the author of The Authentic Catholic Woman (on my Wish List) and articles, including this one entitled "Choices Last".
   
   It was good timing for me to read the article because I've just been finishing the classic Kristin Lavransdatter, a superb portrayal of one young woman's journey of finding out exactly what the long-term consequences are of some key choices. Great juxtaposition.


6. The American Papist is a good source of Catholic news and commentary. He has the ability to be witty without being "snarky", a rare talent. Here's an example from a recent post:

   Someone should tell the folks writing NARAL's petitions that marijuana isn't legal (yet). They actually have posted a petition - and almost 32,000 people have signed it - which reads in part:
   
   "Anti-choice extremists at the Family Research Council are launching an outrageous media and lobbying campaign claiming that Congress' health-care reform bills will deny seniors the medical care they need in order to pay for abortion."
   
   Yes, you read that correctly - NARAL is worried that seniors might lose their medical coverage for abortion.

   [Ed. note: Perhaps this offers evidence, at least in the case of NARAL members, the sex education of their day may well have been inadequate.]


7. Finally, you've heard me talk about "Two Ways of Renouncing the Devil" before. As I said in a comment there, she has knack for wondering about things that would never have crossed my mind. So cruise on over there if you've every wondered about the Ethics of Gift Cards. And just in time for the holiday giving season, too.