Growing older

[da]

In somebody's journal, I just referred to a book I read as an undergrad. And then I realized I read it a dozen years ago. Over a dozen years. Fall of 1992. Good heavens, but that makes me feel old. Mostly because a bit of my brain still feels like it was just yesterday. I certainly remember the joy of my first year at university like it was yesterday, as I hope that I always will.

I've been thinking about the last half of my life, as I approach my 31st birthday. Perhaps I'll have more to share about that later.

But for now, a short story.

In the fall of 1994, four friends and I went on a road trip from Ithaca to Quebec City. It was roughly 8 hours by car. We were pretty loopy by the time we stopped for dinner at a Hardees on the highway. One friend and I started telling puns, and the topic somehow turned to the Pope. The following punchline got uttered, and I won't say by whom:

"That's no Pope, that's my wife."

Unfortunately, we couldn't find a joke to precede the punchline. Even if we started, "A guy walks into a bar." We agreed it made a damn good punchline, but eventually gave up on it. It was simply absurd, and fun.

This week, after the Pope's death, I was thinking about how messed up the Catholic Church is about many things, including their opinions regarding women. And then, with Andrea Dworkin passing away, I was thinking about the progress of Feminism over since the 1950s to today, and how far society still has to go.

And finally, it struck me- some year, maybe another millennium from now, if Catholicism still exists, who knows what changes it will have taken. Maybe, even then, there might be a female Pope. Heck, maybe she might even be married. Or, at least, somebody's wife could be mistaken for a Pope.

And that was a comforting thought, this week.

Comments

[poeticalpanther.livejournal.com]

Well, of course there already has been a female Pope. :) Somehow, with the College of Cardinals stacked as it is, it'll be a while before we see much of a shift from "very conservative" in the Papacy.

I had the same problem recently with a punchline in search of a joke: "It's better than a Pope on the Eye with a sharp stick!"

Couldn't make the joke to run up to it, though.

[da-lj.livejournal.com]

Heh. maybe work it into something like "it's better on the eyes than a pope"...

I was all set to mock up teeshirts for "Pope," "Pope Classic," "new pope", "old pope", etc. until I realized the Coke cans all depend on the flowing C at the start. Feh. :)

I think my best pope-related idea recently is pretty darn obvious but fun. It was to buy the domain for 'papal.com' and turn it into a parody of paypal. but I expect the scalpers sitting on it want a chunk for it. :)

[da-lj.livejournal.com]

I hadn't read the story of Pope Joan, which was interesting, even if it's a myth.

Looking at that wikipedia page, now I want to write a joke about antipopes, I mean, do they release a huge amount of energy if they come into contact with a regular pope?

The most interesting antipope I saw was Gregory XVII (the first, not to be confused with the Gregory XVII who lives in Spain), who apparently lives in montreal and has a female successor waiting in the wings when he dies. Apparently Gregory XVII celebrates a latin mass and has ordained a number of women bishops.

[mynatt.livejournal.com]

A similar but true story is that of a Spanish nun (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catalina_de_Erauso) who ran away and joined the army. She lived a colourful life, and was one of the first European women to write an autobiography (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0807070734/ref%3Dnosim/societyforhumans/103-0695623-8362201), which is an interesting read. She eventually received a special Papal dispensation to live her life as a man, amazingly enough.

Oh, and I browsed the article about antipopes, and found that one from Kansas is mentioned in Thomas Frank's last book (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What%27s_the_Matter_with_Kansas%3F), which in turn lead me to the wikipedia page on The Baffler (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Baffler), and the information that a second collection of articles from it was published in 2003. So thanks for the link :)

[da-lj.livejournal.com]

to the extent that it was my input that helped. :) Anyway, you're welcome. :)