The Unsinkable Buddy Christ

`Miraculous` Christ Washes Up in Texas Rio Grande
Tue Sep 28,11:17 AM ET

MONTERREY, Mexico (Reuters) - A fiberglass statue of Christ that washed up on a sandbar in the Rio Grande three weeks ago is attracting scores of devout pilgrims to a police department lost-and-found and being hailed as a miracle.

Police in Eagle Pass, Texas, said up to 40 people a day are coming to pay homage to the five-foot-tall figurine, known as "The Christ of the Undocumented," which was found by U.S. Border Patrol agents in the river.

"Some come to pray, and some come and just touch it," police lieutenant Daniel Morales said by telephone on Monday. "We have never experienced anything like this before, and interest is growing by the day."

The border city, which lies opposite Piedras Negras in northern Mexico, has a large Mexican community. Many arrived illegally by way of the river, and most are devout Roman Catholics.

Morales said the life-like statuette, which turned up without a crucifix base, would probably be given to a church in the border city if no-one came forward to claim it within 90 days.

Local Catholic Church authorities called the figure`s arrival "miraculous" and said they wanted to place it in a specially dedicated chapel in the city.

"Jesus Christ manifests himself in many places, but he showed himself here in the way of an undocumented migrant," said Marta Ramirez, a spokeswoman for the city`s Our Lady of Refuge Church.

"We think it`s appropriate to place it in a special chapel."

It's kinda like a punch in the gut that you deserved a long time ago

And then on a random Thursday night it hits me like a belly flop off the high dive.

I am sitting here in my little studio apartment. I want to talk to my brother and he is in China. I miss being able to chat about stupid stuff. E-mail is nice but the voice provides a comfort that text fails to provide.

Even if it is only a dumb voice mail and a return phone call a week later...

Notes from class

*My Notes from Crisis Communications today*

My mind is wandering in and out of this hopeless dribble.
I know he sees the pained look on my face, the same look on everyone's faces.
Entertainment Television is fast food television. That's fun. He says that's a fun source of news about serious issues.
The 'that's' is oozing with sarcasm and disdain. The sorority girls squirm uncomfortably, slowly removing their hands from the air.
This is gut wrenching monotone, regurgitating information he already typed up on a hand out. I think I hate this man.
Talk about other things that might be helpful or interesting that didn't make it on to the paper you fucking bastard. I don't need you to read what is on the sheet on my desk.

I think I am going to compile my ramblings over the semester and staple them to my teacher evaluation form.

We went to the Dirty Dog Tavern last night to listen to live crappy country music and drink penny beer to celebrate my friend's 22nd birthday. A couple of birthday shots into the night, he decided that we should have babies because 'they would smash the ball 500 ft. Every time they got up to bat.'(He plays baseball and always uses such flattery on girls he's trying to impregnate...)'Just think of your crotch as the new Yankees farm system.' He's from New York and I think I broke his heart and ended our friendship when I said my kid will never play for the Yankees.

Brother dearest, while abroad limit yourself to only one illegitimate baby, please

BEIJING (Reuters) - A court in China's southern boomtown of Shenzhen has fined a couple 780,000 yuan ($94,250) and sealed off their house for having more than one child, the Beijing Morning Post said Monday.

The pair were among nine couples who were fined "social fostering fees" for their extra children, the newspaper said. They had their first boy in 1997 and last year had twin boys, the newspaper said.

With approximately 1.3 billion people, China is the world's most populous nation. It has stringent rules on family planning that allow couples usually to have just one child, at least in cities, and limit numbers elsewhere.

The couple's house had been sealed up "according to the law," the paper said, or until they pay the fine which was unusually large. A house is sealed with a white paper bearing the stamp of a local court pasted across the front door.

Punishment for having more than one child can include having the power to the offending couple's house or to the houses of relatives being cut off.

What Would Jesus Do? 

An Update of Sorts

Well, I have entered the final semester of my college career. I believe my graduation ceremony begins at 8 a.m. Dec. 18, 2004. I'm really thinking we should do a graduation party in the home state instead of having everyone break their necks to get out here in the miserable Oklahoma winter weather. I'll confer with the parental units and keep you posted. Besides graduations are painfully boring, we should celebrate the graduation instead.

This blog has been neglected so I am doing some maintentance.

*Things that are new*

• apartment:A little studio on the other side of Wal-mart. It feels temporary, which works because I'm moving out of here mid-December.
• roommates (2 kittens): Fabio and Duff really aren't kittens anymore. They are in the teenage punk stage of catdom. They act like teenage boys that haven't grown into their bodies yet, which is mostly true.
• internship: I'm the new clueless intern for the Allied Arts program, http://osunet.okstate.edu/alliedarts/, at OSU. It really is a fun internship, free tickets. I get to do a lot of creative work, it has made me realize I like my major more than I thought. Who knew there were opportunities in public relations in which you didn't have to be a scumbag?

I also serve as secretary and voting member for the Allied Arts Selection Committee.

We get to pick the line-up for next fall. This means I get to watch some really amazing performances and some amazingly crappy performances.

Gramma raved about Cavali, but I can assure you, a woman doing ballet on a standing horse is rather unsettling.

• Non-athlete student: I'm a regular college student. My calluses are gone (mostly). And I still get free school and free admission to all athletic events. Whahoo! The Athletic Committee has also incited me to be its student representative. This is the council formed by academics to do away with athletic scholarships and make universities learning institutions. These people mostly live in la la land. It should be interesting

And that's all she wrote...