Contrariwise

I should be reading Henry James right now. The CSC’s third annual Eucharistic Congress is tomorrow. Archibishop Pietro Sambi (the papal nuncio to the U.S. from the Vatican!) and Archbishop Wuerl will both be there. The only downside is that I won’t get to do any homework during the afternoon, so I had to make up for it today. I chose to start by finishing the reading I didn’t do for American Lit this week, so really, I’ve done nothing.

So what am I doing now? Blogging.

First, a joke from the CatholiCity Message:

A young man confessed to his priest that he was guilty of the sin of pride. “When I look in the mirror, I think I’m handsome.” The priest gently consoled him, “My son, you are in no spiritual danger. That is not a sin. That is a mistake.”

Then, the Friday Five (via LJ) : Senses Working Overtime
1. If you had to choose being blind or deaf, what would you choose and why? Deaf. I think American Sign Language is really cool, actually; I was in Sign Language Club during my freshman year. I feel like writing or watching could make up for not being able to hear the world around you, but sight is so precious and impossible to recreate any other way. Even if you describe something, your goal is to create a mental picture. If you’ve never seen the thing being described, though, creating that picture is impossible.
2. What is the best smell? I really like the smell of coffee. I don’t drink it, and I don’t really want to, but my roommates’ coffee smells so good as I blitz out the door in the morning.
3. Would you rather be hot or cold? I prefer being cold. I really hate sweating. Cold keeps me alert, which is why I study cold when I’m afraid of dozing off. I’ve thought about it before, and given the choice, I’d rather freeze to death than burn. Freezing would just be like the overwhelming desire to fall asleep. Burning would be agony.
4. What’s the worst feeling in the world? Loneliness. I like being alone, but not lonely. And it’s especially hard during those times when I feel like even God has left me. I know he doesn’t, though; God will not abandon.
5. Would you rather have something hurt or something be itchy? Definitely pain. I can offer up pain for souls in purgatory, or shift my mind away to something that doesn’t hurt, or just grit my teeth and sit it out. Ever since I learned in PSYC 100 freshman year that you can disrupt pain receptors by rubbing hard on a hurt spot, I’ve been doing it. It works every time. Itching is much worse, especially when you’re in public and it’s somewhere awkward to scratch. It is hard to take my mind off itchiness.