Bread Alive

A friend of ours from church just posted this link to the 1st place essay that her daughter wrote for the Patriots in the Park celebration in Granite City this week. Congrats, Lillie...

Well, it's time for the "biggest July 4th party in the metro-east" right here in Granite City, Patriots in the Park. We plan to walk the couple of blocks to the park at least once - on Saturday night for the fireworks...

I've been so busy prepping for vacation this week that I haven't posted a thing... but I will post some stuff the next few days...

Starting NOW, through the month of July, every WORD in every comment you make on a post here on BreadAlive.com will earn one entry into a drawing - to be held August 1 - for a $25 Starbucks Card.The more words in the more comments you post here on BreadAlive.com in June the more chances...

"Global warming" & "swindle" in the same title? Uh oh. Glad cap and trade passed the House on Friday.the.great.global.warming.swindle

So not everyone is always happy with what their elected representatives. But now, thanks to Santa Cruz, CA, we can all get a glimpse of what our elected representatives sometimes have to see of us. And it ain't all pretty...

In the diocese of Worcester, MA last week, Bishop McManus ordained seven men as permanent deacons, including the youngest yet in the diocese, Colin M. J. Novick, who at age 35 is the youngest a man can be ordained a permanent deacon...

The Gospel from today's Mass readings is from Matthew 8, and is one of my favorites - it includes Matthew 8:8, which is the line when Christ, who was asked the the centurion to come to his home to heal his paralyzed servant, comes to the home and is exhorted by the centurion: "Lord, I am...

= What the heck is wrong with our society?Tonight, I was standing at our kitchen sink, cleaning up after dinner, looking out the window onto 25th Street and beyond.Across the street, our neighbor Kyle was cutting his grass, and I noticed that he had a water bottle on the hood of his car.As...

I was intrigued last night by Amazon.com's request for fans to make their new ad for them (read about it at FutureLab.)Basically, they'll give $10,000 each to the creator of two winning entries.FutureLab is down on it, criticizing Amazon for not capitalizing on the strengths of their brand...

Even more good news today, via Reuters (full article): US Steel is seeing better orders, and is eyeing the re-opening of a blast furnace in the U.S. Granite is called out as the possible one.

"Tag Line Guru" has named the Most Influential Advertising Tag Lines Since 1948. My opinion? Someone forgot a few.I don't use the brand, but shouldn't "Can you hear me now?" be up there above at least one or two of these? It's not even in the top 100...

The Beacon has more up on the great news about the mill re-opening, and the number of workers going back at this time.I know that my dad seemed really happy to be heading back today, even though he's been blessed with work of one sort or another through most of this downturn at the...

Singing the Psalm this weekend, and hearing the Gospel, were interesting to me, as the story from both readings - and a particular line in the Gospel - brought back vivid memories of a day on the Chesapeake last summer with coworkers.The GospelThis week's Gospel (Mark 4: 35-41) was about a...

Very special, and prayerful, wishes to all my fellow dads for a very happy Fathers' Day with your families today.That's for the fathers of the "domestic churches" - the prima scholas.But it's also for the fathers who serve our spiritual needs as well...

Today, Suzanne and I returned to an annual summer ritual: We took the day off work to take the boys to Circus Flora's "Little Top Wednesday" abbreviated matinee for kids. It's about an hour long (shorter than the full evening circus) and the boys loved it...

And to be perfectly honest, so will I.Toy Story 3 teaser. Awesome!Seriously, though. June 18, 2010? A whole year to wait!?!

This was one of the most fascinating and eye-opening moments for me in Economics 112 back in the day. Yet to be disproven... explained perfectly in this 7:00 video from the Cato Institute...

Here's a great gift idea for the book-loving dad in your life... and you can buy it and send it right now from the comfort of your computer chair. That's right. You can purchase it online and email it to your dad or any other dad you choose...

Seeing pictures like these make us even more proud to have, in the past, been supporters of Clear Creek Monastery. And makes us eager to get the next letter in the mail to give a bit more support...

[Photo: Moroney's Religious Art]A fascinating little piece that I ran across over at The Deacon's Bench.....

It's a big day today in the city just across the river (also known as the "Gateway to the West" and "Rome of the West.")Archbishop-elect Robert J. Carlson today becomes Archbishop Carlson.The St. Louis archdiocese has a ton of great info on their website, the St...

Let's say, hypothetically, that you had an opportunity to interview a married couple - a husband and wife of 5 years, or 10 years, or 30, or 50 years.What would be the most interesting and pressing question(s) you would ask them about their marriage, their life together, the challenges of...

Today's St. Louis Post Dispatch asks the question "Can the Arch grounds include Illinois?"Wow...

Check that out. I scored a 95% on the "2009 GMAC Insurance National Drivers Test."Give it a spin and let me know how you score.

A blog that I frequent, Art of Manliness (you can check out a cool, recent newspaper write-up on it here) is running a project in June called "30 Days to Be a Better Man." We're heading from day 3 into day 4, but I wanted to post the results of my Day 1.Day 1 asked us to "Define our Core...

Real life conversations with a 3 1/2 year old...

It wouldn't be the first of the month without the Pope's suggested prayer intentions for the month...

Today, from our parish church, Mr. George Yevin was carried to his final resting place. He passed away last week at 95. His life was celebrated and his soul prayed for at a funeral Mass... I was unable to attend due to my work schedule, but wish I could have.I met Mr. & Mrs...

Okay, here's a question for all of my parent friends out there... both the ones who raised our generation, and the ones who are raising kids now:Where did (or do) you look for parenting advice?Did you have any secret wells of knowledge?Did you go to your parents? Peers...

Thank goodness our Why Catholic? small group meets at the church...

I agree wholeheartedly with Kevin over at DadCentric, starting at paragraph 4. So I won't even add to the discussion. I'll just tell you to read it and come back and let me know if you agree.

Starting NOW, through the month of June, every WORD in every comment you make on a post here on BreadAlive.com will earn one entry into a drawing - to be held July 1 - for a $25 Borders gift card.The more words in the more comments you post here on BreadAlive.com in June the more chances...

...He can write his name...Forward...And backward...

I'm going to love this one!St. James, my taken/chosen (Confirmation) name and the middle name of my second son, is about to be celebrated in a year long feast!Spain celebrates fourteen "Years of James" per century. Every time the feast of St...

A coworker posted this clip today on his blog, The Conservative Front, and I felt compelled to pass it along. It expresses some of my primary concerns with where our government is taking our economy, and wraps them in personal experiences...

Well, well, well...

Admittedly, my blogging is always light...

Just ran across this in Google Reader... Kris Allen singing God of this City. I had never heard it before... craziness... but now I'm going to learn it for our ensemble's Music for MARTHA benefit concert this summer.

Action in the garden:

I'm going to say a little right now about two things I've never blogged about: (1) American Idol and (2) Sexual preference.I'm doing so because I've seen some stuff the last couple of days that really have me fuming mad about our culture and lack of respect for one another's viewpoints...

Man, regardless of politics, I feel sorry for these kids. From the DC area NBC affiliate:Thursday was supposed to be the highlight of the year for more than 100 kindergarteners from Stafford County, Va. They got up early and took a chartered bus to the White House for a school field trip...

When I had an email this morning from a "Fr. Paolo Padrini, Pope2You Project manager" explaining a new social media project the Vatican is launching, I thought, "Wow, the phishers are getting really clever.....

Just got this from a friend: Thursdays and Fridays, the Garden Gate Tea Room is showing free movies in their garden here in West Granite. All movies begin at sunset. Bring a chair or blanket.If you're thinking about going to any of these, let me know...

How shall I find words to describe the happiness of a marriage, whose tie is formed by the hands of the Church, which is confirmed by the sacred oblation, sealed by the blessing, proclaimed by the angels, and ratified by the heavenly Father?How wonderful a yoke is that which is taken up by...

Sorry for all the video lately... I must be grasping at straws... or else everything good is in video format of late.The latest from CatholicVote.org:

No, Mr. President: John Piper's Response to President Obama.H/T Backyard Conservative.

You know CNN isn't my favorite. But when they post a commentary titled "Man up and be a real dad", I even perk up.Amen, brother...

Seeing the pictures of - and reading about and the quotes from - the newly ordained (2009) Catholic priests here in the U.S. was very, very cool. I hope you find it as encouraging and inspiring.http://usccb.org/vocations/classof2009/

About a month ago, I was happy to be interviewed by Elia Powers, a reporter for the St. Louis Beacon, who was writing an article on life in Granite City after the Granite City Steel layoffs...

A good part of the reason behind why we love where we've chosen to live. Can't beat the turn-of-the-century Craftsman home in the old, gentrified neighborhood, a short walk or bike ride from everything...

A friend from our church emailed this out today. She's in the middle of the long task of going through her parents' things to clear out "stuff" and "a little yellowed piece of paper cut out of a newspaper slipped out of a book belonging to [her] father."I got a kick out of it...

I always love singing Psalm 22 at the Mass on Palm Sunday, when we also read the Passion of Christ at Mass...