Hello?

Is this thing on?

A Word From Matt

via Mark:

Godsbody is experiencing ridiculous quantities of ridiculously technical difficulties. Well, just one, actually, but it's keeping me from posting anything at all. Still trying to figure out if this is a sign from God that I should stop blogging and get to work. I'm slow that way.

Me, I'm still trying to figure out whether the fact that my unshorn brother looks like Michael Sera (from the nose up--OK, from the hair up) is a sign from God that he should have dropped out of TAC his freshman year and started that acting career that Mom and Dad talked him out of.

Beginning to hate blogger.

More technical difficulties.

Christmas comes early this year...

...usually, the good people at the NEA wait until December to send out these little tidbits. The Godsbody Pledge(?) remains in effect.

Prayers for Cathy

A break from the ribaldry/hilarity/triviality...Friend of Godsbody Chris writes: "My wife is facing open heart surgery this coming Monday to repair her aortic valve. We have four children (10-to almost two,) and they, and I, love their mom very much, and want her to be OK... I am asking you to post a simple prayer request for Cathy in Atlanta who will face open-heart surgery the morning after our 12th wedding anniversary."

He has also set up a blog, which "will be the information hub for anyone interested in keeping up with the wildness of Cathy getting a new aortic valve installed."

Today in Porn, First Paragraph of Terminally Unfinished Novel Edition

Francis Xavier Martin sat in the fifth pew back on the left hand side of Our Lady of Sorrows Church on an uncharacteristically sticky Saturday afternoon in San Diego, gazing up at the statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Sanctuary and wishing she didn’t look so much like a whore. Or at least what he imagined a whore would look like, portrayed by one of the better-looking porn stars. The trouble was around the eyes. Some artist ¬ perhaps operating under the notion that altar statuary must be made-up like an actor on a stage--heavily, so that the features are visible to the folks in the back ¬ had lined their edges with tiny raised dabs of black paint, then trailed his brush through each dab and away from the eye to create the impression of an eyelash. From the front pew, the effect was merely ugly, reducing a passable sculpture to a little girl’s self-portrait, thick streaks of black crayon around the eyes to help lend femininity to the blocky, androgynous figure. From the fifth pew, where Francis sat, the lines blurred together into an embarrassing, exaggerated mascara job. Like a whore might have.

The Catholic Novel is Alive and Well in England

So says Marian Crowe. But who reads any more?

First Lines of Children's Book

If there was one thing Benjamin knew, it was this: there were monsters under his bed.

***

“No monsters in sight,” said his father. But Benjamin knew better. “Oh, Daddy,” he explained, “of course you can’t see them. They’re not after you.”

***

And if there was one other thing Benjamin knew, it was that his bear was what kept him safe.

While we're on the subject of kids and death...

Giant Microbes. Because they're never too young to learn about the ravages of Syphilis:



And what child wouldn't want to curl up with some cuddly Ebola?



The more you know...

The Godsbody Pledge?

Something tells me this is gonna get a whole lot worse before it gets better...

Things I learned about death from contemplating the cover of First Son's copy of Muse Magazine...

6. Being naked will not help.

Things I learned about death from contemplating the cover of First Son's copy of Muse Magazine...

4. Death is very tidy, and even sometimes playful. Sometimes, he likes to don a human face while he sweeps away all traces of your brief existence.



5. Death will totally own you in wrestling.

Things I learned about death from contemplating the cover of First Son's copy of Muse Magazine...

...a publication that bills itself as The Magazine of Life, the Universe, and Pie Throwing. And death!

2. You've got a date...with death!



3. Today's special is...death!

Things I learned about death from contemplating the cover of First Son's copy of Muse Magazine...

...which featured Breughel the Elder's cheerful children's illustration, The Triumph of Death...



1. You can try to fight it. You can try to hide from it. But you will lose, and you will be found.

Standby

Technical difficulties here at Godsbody.

Obligatory Halloween Post - Part VI

First Son's take on Ben 10's Omnitrix:

Obligatory Halloween Post - Part V

Third son's Classic Grinner, Second Daughter's cute Banshee.


Second Son's nightmare visage - a grinning cyclops, with an inverted second face.

Obligatory Halloween Post - Part IV

The Twins' pumpkins - a witch (left, with hat obscured by stygian darkness) and a cat.


First daugher's pumpkin - a trio of flowers.

Obligatory Halloween Post - Part III

The lion will not sleep tonight.


A very special appearance by the Twins, all the way from upstate New York.

Obligatory Halloween Post - Part II

Hope for the Flowers.


Samurai 'Lijah-Paijah

Obligatory Halloween Post - Part I

Because it is, in fact, all about the Benjamins. And candy.


Bat-boy says: That dude on the cover of the National Enquirer is such a poser!