Make your vote count!

At last, voting has opened at the Catholic Blog Awards.

Here at the cafeteria, we are actively campaigning for our friends. (Don't you see those campaign posters on the walls?)

Vote now for Susan for Best Blog by a Woman (It is!) and for Steve for Most Devotional Blog (It is!) and for Lee for Most Bizarre Blog Post (I don't know if it is, but I love his blog!)

A nod to Julie D. at the Happy Catholic and Kathy at Relapsed Catholic (both listed over there on the blog roll) who are nominated for a category or two. One I'm not so sure about is The Cafeteria is Closed? (What's that about?)

You can vote once per day, if you're so inclined. (Imagine if our national or state elections worked that way?) Just do so by Feb. 21st. Hats off to my bloggy friends, and happy voting!

I Think I Love You

St. Valentine, whose feast we celebrate this day, is widely misunderstood. Found this Catholic News Service report at The Catholic Report. Apparently, the patron saint of lovers has had a historical rough go.

These days, the saint is a nearly forgotten aspect of the feast day. A fact that's most noticed in St. Valentine's old hometown.

Such little significance is attached to the memory of St. Valentine that even in the Spanish capital of Madrid in 2005 only a handful of people visited the Church of St. Anton, where what is believed to be his skeleton is kept on a side altar in a glass-fronted baroque case.

Tough call. It's February 14th and you want to express your feelings for your true love. Whatcha' gonna do? Buy a dozen roses or visit a saintly skeleton in Spain?

Though he may be fading from our collective consciousness, St. Valentine is one to remember. History recalls the saint as a "brave, righteous and wise man and a kind and conscientious friend to those in need."

According to tradition, St. Valentine also cared deeply for the young: He taught lovers to read and write letters to one another, presented flowers to newlyweds and helped married couples in difficulties.

Here's to the life, and memory, of St. Valentine. May he never be forgotten.

Forecast: Cloudy

Nothing too newsy out there today. So, I stopped by Susan's place and followed the links to Snap Shirts to create the Cafeteria's "Word Cloud". Next, I'll follow Susan's lead and find out which winter sport I am. (Thanks, Susan!)

Now, what's a word cloud? Glad you asked!

A visual depiction of content (words) used in a body of text. The word clouds we use at snapshirts.com are arranged alphabetically and depict more frequently used words in progressively larger fonts.

I had fun playing with the words. And, I hope you do to. I stopped short at ordering a Cafeteria Catholic Word Cloud t-shirt. If you want one, just let me know.

Holy Real Estate

Real estate, in most parts of the country these days, is hot. Around the cafeteria, property is, to say the least, high dollar.

So, when some friends stopped by the other day to tell me they'd purchased a new home and were preparing to put their future former home on the market, they had one thing to say.

Time to bring out St. Joseph.

Ah, yes. St. Joseph. What? The patron saint of real estate?

You see, a few years back when I was inspired to put my own homestead on the market, these same friends showed up with a small plastic figurine of good St. Joe in tow.

"Bury him in the front yard," they said. "For good luck."

I did as they told, burying San Jose in the front yard, along with a holy card for good measure. Weeks passed. My property didn't sell. No harm done. I didn't really want to move, anyway.

Well, now, these friends want their holy statue back.

I went to the spot in my front yard where I'd buried the small piece of plastic. I dug, and dug. I found the holy card, and kept digging. Nothing. More digging. Nothing. The petit Joseph de saint was nowhere to be found.

Wow. Apparently I'd discovered a dicey piece of data about this saintly real estate deal. If you don't sell your property, St. Joe takes a hike!

Check the web. There's a site that sings the praises of the power of the St. Joseph Statute. As for me, a local religious artifacts store sells little holy real estate kits designed just for the purpose of burying in your yard, and hoping and praying for a high bid. I'll run down there and purchase one to reimburse my friends.

Meanwhile, I just have to know. What's the deal with St. Joseph and real estate deals?

Vote Today!

I take great pride in my "very Catholic" blog roll over there to the right. It makes for some nice reading material in -- and out -- of the cafeteria.

Now's the time to peruse the list and let the blogosphere know what you think.

Nominations for the Catholic Blog Awards are now being accepted through this Friday, February 3rd, at 3PM Central Time. The event is sponsored by Cyber Catholics. (Yep, they're over there on the roll.) I've already nominated a few of my friends on the list. I encourage you to let your voice be heard, too.

Of course, there is space here on the walls of the Cafeteria for an award. If you feel so inclined, feel free to include this humble little establishment on your nomination form.

Thank you, kindly.