So apparently now I'm some kind of Xanga philosopher. At least I'm putting my bachelor's degree to good use. I've decided to come down from my ivory tower to post an update.

I'm writing this from the comfort of my bed, as I have finally recieved my new Dell laptop. It is at least five times better than my old crappy computer that is locking up on me now that I'm trying to transfer files to the new one. I'll also be able to post pictures now.

V left yesterday. And the Navagators are leaving tomorrow, which means even less Americans for me to hang out with. I had a crew of Romanians and Russians at work today. I barely heard the English language for eight hours.

I need to get a hold of Lucas in Baton Rouge to see how he's doing. Last night I talked to Sarah Hays in Santa Fe, whose boss does search and rescue for FEMA and is in New Orleans indefinately. Pray for all those involved, and if you can help monetarily, send a donation to Catholic Charities. One-hundred percent of donations go to the hurricane victims.

Speaking of Catholicism, as I often do.... A few weeks ago I was looking for a book called The New Anti-Catholicism: The Last Acceptable Prejudice, but I couldn't remember the name. So I went to Barnes and Noble and searched the keyword "anti-Catholicism". What were the first five returns I got? Angels and Demons by Dan Brown, which describes murdered cardinals, a posioned pope who fathered a test-tube baby, and a secret society bent on literally destroying the Church.

I didn't like The Da Vinci Code because is was so poorly written and paraded fiction as fact (you can read my review), so I have no desire to pick up another Dan Brown book.

My problem with this early Brown work is that it's popularity seems to be growing. It just so happened that earily that same day I searched BN, I found in a cabin a issue of US News and World Report exclusively dedicated to the Angels and Demons. This is probably due to the fact that the story involves the death of a pope and the subsequent conclave, both of which are very relevant topics now.

Combine this with the John Roberts confirmation hearings and The Da Vinci Code movie coming soon, and we Catholics are going to have it pretty rough for a while.