7 Quick Takes Friday Vol. 4

Once again hosted by Camp Patton.

1.       First of all, in case you are wondering, yes I’m doing better than I was last week. I’ve still got fits of depression, but I’m gaining more energy and having more fits of cheerfulness as well, so that’s good.

2.       Finally finished my ‘Famous Catholics Friday’ profile of Nicolaus Copernicus, which I intended to get up last weekend, but just didn’t feel up to the research (see above, RE: Depression). Good Lord, what a man! What a genius! And it really irks me that these days he’s mostly relegated to a footnote in the stupid ‘Galileo story.’ Frankly, if anything Galileo ought to be a footnote to Copernicus, not the other way around. Of course I don’t mean to belittle Galileo’s many, many accomplishments, but his contribution to that particular issue was basically just lending support to Copernicus…and then getting himself and Copernicus banned because he was a jerk about it.

3.       Obviously, this has been rough week for everyone in the country: we’ve had to endure listening to the horrors of the Gosnell trial (once the media could be shamed into actually doing their jobs); we’ve had to watch yet another act of wanton evil directed against innocent people, this one with bombs rather than guns. It doesn’t make too much difference, really. Then, as if that wasn’t enough, we were treated to a (probably) accidental explosion down in Texas that reads almost like an atomic bombing, with photos of mushroom clouds and descriptions of whole areas being “gone.” In the face of such evil, our first and last defense is prayer. Let’s pray for the victims, those they leave behind, the injured, the responders, and, let’s not forget, for the perpetrators. May God be merciful to them and inspire them to true repentance.

4.       Prayer may be our first and last defense, but there’s a lot in the meaty filling in between. There was at least some good news this week on that front (at least for some of us); every single one of the new gun-control measures (including a return of the worse-than-useless assault weapons ban) failed miserably in the Senate. This despite the fact that the Senate is still controlled by Democrats who might be expected to be a bit more open to the idea of gutting the Second Amendment some more. Granted another bill that would require States to honor CCW permits also failed (not sure how I feel about that one; my pro-second-amendment beliefs clash with my pro-tenth-amendment ones), but the funny thing is that it received more votes than any of the gun-control ones. Thank God for small miracles!

5.       Speaking of which, I finally purchased my carry-gun this week (they never had what I wanted in stock previously). It’s a Smith and Weston Model 60 revolver chambered for .357 Magnum or .38 Special rounds. It’s not exactly what I was looking for (it only holds five shots), but I’m very happy with my choice so far. For one thing, it has a longer barrel than most ‘snub-nosed’ revolvers, giving it better accuracy and less recoil (so I’ve heard; I haven’t had a chance to fire it yet), but it still fits comfortably and completely in the pockets of all the pants I’ve tried it in. For another, since buying it I’ve read nothing but good things about this particular model, with the only complaint being one guy who thought the trigger pull was too heavy. Maybe it was just his particular gun, but I find it pretty much perfect; it takes some effort (which is good, since I don’t want it going off in my pocket if I make a sudden movement), but it’s smooth and comfortable. Plus, if it’s really a problem you can just cock the hammer back and fire it single-action (for the record, I don’t recommend this at all). Finally, it just feels good in my hand; very secure and comforting. I foresee a very profitable working relationship with this particular firearm.

6.       Last night my parents and I went to see my brother present his thesis in Creative Writing. His was a weird, trippy combination of journal entries, stream of consciousness, script, to-do-lists, and musical (seriously). It wasn’t the kind of writing I usually like very much (for instance, the guy who presented after him I found almost unbearably grating), but this was quirky and creative enough that I thoroughly enjoyed it (a confession of murder is presented in the form of a stage-musical. How do you not love that?).

7.       Speaking of writing, I’m leaning towards doing another tear-down of Lepus. This draft isn’t working too well, and I realized that the thematic heart of the story needs to be different. That, and I’ve worked out most of the difficulties that were keeping me from taking another stab at The Chronicles of Hendricks. Whichever I decide to work on next, I’m aware that I really need to finish that book first before I do anything else. I’ve got too many partially-completed writing projects as it is.