A good thing,

Hello

I have been itching to be able to post something new here.

Not a whole lot has happened these last couple of weeks, and I haven't had table internet access for a while,so I haven't had much to write about or the means to update this little blog of mine.

I'm at my favorite coffee shop right now, hanging out with a couple of my housemates. It's also finally snowing. It hasn't snowed in over a week. Thursday was so sunny and warm that it seemed like we skipped ahead a few months to get to Maya little faster.

Also, I am sick right now with a cold, but Advil is working well right now. I really want to write something, but I don't know how well this will turn out.

So here are a few unfiltered thoughts I've had recently:

The Occupy Syracuse movement: I've visited the remnants of their camp a few times in the past three weeks. I attended a recent general assembly meeting. I've tried to engage individual occupiers in dialogue.

My housemate Reed summed up my feelings about the Occupy movement really well during a conversation we had after one of the times we visited their camp. Reed noticed that the occupiers “lacked a certain vocabulary when talking about social issues.” Whenever I've talked to anyone from the Occupy Syracuse movement, they say nothing about solidarity, standing with the oppressed, or taking meaningful action that address issues within Syracuse. Instead, I only hear about the perpetual occupation of a meaningless slab of concrete. Their recent actions don't address any of the real problems the poor in Syracuse face.

It's easy to criticize their lack of action, but I realize that I haven't shared any of these opinions with them yet, so I'm going to try to do that soon.

My work at Catholic Charities: I'm working more with men from the Oxford Street Inn. Right now I am completely speechless about the things I've witnessed working with these men. A lot of the naivete I had about homelessness, mental illnesses, and humanity in general has been chipped away through working with these guys and our other clients. However, I perceive that as a really good thing for me.

In the midst of the organized chaos of working with people who have serious personal problems, I find that I am very happy. I really love being with people who are struggling with addiction and mental illness. There is a realness to this kind of work that makes it full of meaningful purpose for me.

Other clients: I get to visit a couple of guys regularly. One guy regularly talks about pizza and birds. He also talks about Satan and witches a lot, but I try to steer us onto another topic when that happens. I'm going to try to take him out for pizza one day.

Another client really wants to play chess with me so I'm going to get a hold of a board.

I met a fellow 23 year-old the other day whose mother was murdered by his father when he was eighteen. His story has really stuck with me. I can't share all of the details for confidentiality reasons. Suffice it to say, it was heartbreaking. It's apparent that he has some deep-seated psychological issues because of that horrible event. So, in conclusion, I want to learn more about domestic violence issues.

Other thoughts: I have to make a confession. I promised one of the Jesuit novices I worked with at Practical Assistance that I would read “All the Pretty Horses” at the same time as him while he was on his 30 day retreat. I didn't do that. I have to try to read as much of that book by tonight or tell him that I didn't read it.

I'm going to try to make peanut butter coffee sometime this week. My housemates are skeptical about how well this experiment will turn out.

I've been thinking about opening a Catholic Worker house sometime in my lifetime. It seems like a rather snazzy thing.


That's it for now.