May 9 Pictures, Part the Second

The evening of May 9, after the morning in Orlando and the flight home, orin graduated from Aquinas Institute with his Masters in Theology.  Here are a few pics, thanks to Orin's wife Erin and friend Jen.

Orin played some music at the ceremonies

Orin's Dad and Erin's parents and brother were there.

Orin receives his diploma from Fr. Rick

Erin, Orin and Orin's Dad just after the proceedings

May 9 - Busy Day

Oddwalk, on May 9, began the day in front of 3,100 8th trough 12th graders from the Diocese of Orlando Florida at their Festival of Faith, celebrating 40 years as a diocese.  Orin immediately following the set got on a plane back to St. Louis so he could graduate from Aquinas Institute of Theology with his Masters!

Photos to follow - today we're just going to enjoy the party in the park (the rain is supposed to avoid us until later - yay!) and the last couple days of Orin's Dad in town.

Two Informative Pictures

Orin passed his comprehensive exams!  With honors!  And is turning in his major paper this week!  And will be done!  DONE DONE DONE!  And likes exclamation points!  A lot!!!

Gracie is the same color as the floor.  The end.

With One Final Click...

...of the "submit" button, Orin has finished his last class at Aquinas Institute of Theology. Yay! While happy and relieved, there is still the matter (in the Spring) of the major paper and the written and oral exit exams... But still! Classroom lectures, note-taking, etc. — things of the past!

When I started school, I posted my first small assignment as it tells a story I often tell when out Oddwalking. I won't bother posting this last assignment, a take-home Church History final exam, unless anyone really wants to know what I think about the Christological divide between Cyril and Nestorius, the far-reaching effects of the Fourth Lateran Council, or whether or not Christianity can be described as a European religion.

Instead, let me share this parting thought with you, though we've already noted it's not entirely true:

"No more pencils! No more books!
No more teacher's dirty looks!"

Pictured is Fr. Dominic Holtz, OP, my Church History professor and academic adviser. He's nicer and funnier than this picture would lead you to believe. Picture swiped from spirituallydelicious.com.

Erin (H) Saves the World in Her Own Unique Way

Orin's wife, Erin H, is changing the format of her blog a bit. Right now she has this amusing story posted:

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For Church History I we were assigned a ginormous annotated bibliography to help us further along our research. I was having some trouble finding recent enough scholarship on the Early Irish Church, when I found an essay that I really wanted. I checked the library and the book wasn't there, so I made an interlibrary loan request - like you do.

Here is the response I received:

This request has been cancelled by the interlibrary loan staff for the following reason:

Other. Please see note field below.

You have Pius Library's copy of this book checked out. The due date is 1-31-2008.

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Don't forget to keep playing our Haiku Challenge (no. IV), just below!

Many Ford Escorts

The other day, Orin drove to school, and parked in the garage in his usual spot, and noticed that his spot was between two other Ford Escorts.

Like many of Orin's stories, that's about all there is to this one. Enjoy.

Congrats, AI Graduates!

Peering out from behind the pillar is Timothy Radcliffe, OP, speaker at AI's graduation Friday.

Congrats to all graduates (Orin plans to be one next year), including Oddblog friend Michael (here, with Radcliffe):

Usually in humor is a hint of truth

I might preface this joke two ways: 1) Aquinas Institute is a Domincan school, and 2) It's possibly only Orin finds this funny.

Saints Dominic, Francis and Ignatius of Loyola are transported back in time and place to the Birth of Our Lord.

St. Dominic, seeing the Incarnation of the Word, is sent into ecstasy.

St. Francis, seeing God become a helpless child, is overcome with humility.

St. Ignatius of Loyola takes St. Joseph and Our Lady aside and asks "Have you given any thought to His education?"

Hint: he's wearing a burgandy shirt

So, Orin's image finally made it on to the Aquinas Institute of Theology website. While not the focus of the image, he's at least glad that there is some visual record of his ever being there.

Can you find him?

Here's the original page.

Here's our post from a long time ago when Orin's wife made the website. Not that he's bitter or anything.