I find myself saying, "I'm not Catholic anymore, but...", except I don't have to. I respect the Pope on a celebrity level, he's the leader of the smallest country in the world and an American could have a chance at the office just as easily as anyone else. If presidents and heads-of-state from all over can flock to Vatican City for the installation of a new Pope, why can't I, a Pagan, be excited and fascinated?

This is the third Pope of my lifetime and the eighth for my (Catholic) father. (He was born seven years before the death of Pius XII and has also seen the reigns of John XXIII, Paul VI and John Paul I. I, on the other hand, was born eight years into John Paul II's reign, so until 2005, JP2 was the only Pope I'd ever known.) When I went to World Youth Days¹ 2002, my friends said, "Why are you going? You're Wiccan." But I made a promise to myself when I was a young girl that if I ever had a chance to go, I would. It didn't matter that I was sixteen and long past thoughts of the Catholic church (despite having to go each Sunday until after graduation)...I wanted to go! And really, it doesn't matter what your beliefs are--the crowd for the final mass is always huge² and electrifying. If you don't feel the energy, you must be dead inside!

I don't remember this much excitement in 2005. I swear I watched the news and read the paper, just like I do now, but I do not remember almost-daily articles in the Lansing State Journal and periodic reports on television. CBS even had Randall Pinkston reporting from Vatican City today at noon! Maybe it was because Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger was a surefire pick for the pontificate and the cardinals are not so sure this time around. Personally, I would love to see Timothy Cardinal Dolan or Sean Cardinal O'Malley rise to the white. Hell, I'm not picky...even a Canadian cardinal would be a good get in my book! But an American cardinal would be a cause for dancing in the streets! (My second/third choice would be a cardinal from Central or South America.)

Things that Stick Out About the American Candidates

• Tim pretended to celebrate mass as a child. (Wow...that's so nerdy I can hardly stand it! *giggle*)
• Tim has published eight books, the latest in 2009. (High marks from the novelista on that one!)
• Sean has a blog. At the blog's inauguration on September 19, 2006, he was the first cardinal to have one. He's also had a podcast since Christmas that year.³
• Tim is the president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
• Tim became a cardinal on January 6, 2012. (One day before my twenty-sixth birthday.)
• Sean has been a cardinal since March 24, 2006.
• Sean's educational credits give me a nerdgasm. (*gigglefit*)
• Sean has ministerial experience with Latinos.
• Sean believes that the Democratic party has been too hard on pro-life people. (Going to WYDs made me turn pro-life, so I'm glad he came to our defense.)
• Sean created a zero-tolerance policy for the sexual abuse cases he worked with. He reportedly settled one hundred and one.

The "Not Cool" List

• Tim bribed sexually abusive priests with payments of 20k (each) to get them to resign.
• Tim did not approve of the president's health and human services mandate. (Although I suppose he ameliorated the issue a little by saying that the revised version was a step in the right direction.)

My Conclusion

I feel like the Wikipedia article on Sean wasn't quite as extensive as the one on Tim, so I'm not sure how easily I can make a decision. However, based on what I read, I believe Sean Cardinal O'Malley is my American candidate of choice. The fact that he has a blog and a podcast shows that he's in touch with today's young Catholics, while the charitable work highlighted in his article made me feel good about his potential decisions regarding the future of the Catholic church as a whole. I love that his education and linguistic abilities make it easy for him to focus on a "Latino-centric" ministry; especially given that Catholicism--long practiced among those of Spanish descent--is on the rise amongst Latinos.

Besides gay and female rights (which will take a long time for the church to deal with, if ever), the sex scandal is a big issue with me. The "repression/celibacy is too much" claim aside (and I can't say I argue with it), how each cardinal deals with problem (and has dealt with it in the past) goes a long way toward coloring each candidate for me. The fact that Tim bribed priests to resign (even though he claimed it wasn't a bribe) is a huge black mark in my book. The zero tolerance policy adopted by Sean is probably the best remedy for the scandal. I can't necessarily say that Sean's policy should be the rule for all of the abuse cases, since I am woefully undereducated in that issue, but it should certainly be considered by those with the most knowledge of the situation.

=====

¹ Technically "World Youth Day", on a set Sunday each year. But in my opinion, if it's not plural, what do you call the days leading up to it? That's why I always pluralize.

² At the time, I heard one million people were present for the final mass. However, Wikipedia reports 850k. Either way, it's still the biggest crowd I've ever been in...and the worst trouble I've ever had getting to a porta-potty! This year's celebration will be held in Rio from July 23-28. (You can find more about my year here. If you want to hear my memories, use the Disqus comment form below or hit me up on Twitter!)

³ This is a very good thing. If he's promoted, I have little doubt that he'll make great use of the papal Twitter account, which will make him the shining light of young Catholics everywhere.

Something I Learned While Writing this Blog: With the presence of 850,000 people, Downsview Park (a retired Canadian air force base) was temporarily the fourth biggest city in Canada. HOLY SHIT! (Pardon the pun!)

Meet Ophelia Now Ophelia
(Hardcover, Nook No Longer Available)

I had cover problems when I went to upload the revised text, so I decided to make a whole new cover. Then I decided if I have a new cover and a lot of corrections to the text, maybe I ought to make it a second edition. Since I've been considering a sequel to Meet Ophelia (entitled Elizabeth), I also considered the fact that I ought to re-title so that the original book will correlate with the new one. So when the second annotated edition comes out, Meet Ophelia will simply be called Ophelia.

As much as I loved having a hardcover edition of my first book, Lulu's books are more expensive than Amazon and there is no "author's discount". Furthermore, in order to correct all the problems I found in the annotated edition, I would have to retire the original book, make a copy of the new manuscript, format it in Lulu's 6x9 style (their 5x8 is ugly), upload the new text and cover and...no. Not happening. As for the Nook edition, I have had zero sales since last July, few people are buying Nooks since B&N eliminated sideloading (and Android is better, period--even I have one) and I don't like the fact that I have to have a credit card on file "in case my returns exceed my sales". (Amazon doesn't do that.) So Nook is nil.

What good is a blog called Confessions of a Novelista if the novelista doesn't confess? Here's some random things you may or may not know about me, bulleted because they're in no particular order.

(By the way: Disqus comments are now available at the bottom of each page. I've disabled the "guest" option to prevent spammers and trolls...if you want to leave a comment, you have to put a verifiable name to it. You can use twitter, facebook and disqus accounts to leave comments.) (Fake accounts being used to spam/troll will be banned and moderation will be turned on if abuse persists.)

• I decided to use the word "novelista" after "fashionista" became popular. Only later did I look at my dictionary and realize that "novelista" is Spanish for "novelist".
• I like low/mid fantasy. Garth Nix is great, Marion Zimmer Bradley is mostly okay. Tolkien? Forget it!
• I'm a virgin. When I was twenty, I told a guy that I would only have sex with someone I loved. He laughed. I wonder how many STDs he's had and pregnancies he's caused, while at twenty-seven, I've had neither? (Meanwhile, I don't mind saying that this is probably why my novels feature a lot of sex!)
• My parents are divorced. That's not really a secret (or a surprise) in a society where divorce is rampant. But I thought I'd throw that in there.
• I'm a Calderon Romani (Kalderash Gypsy) by right of adoption. I consider myself a progressive--put down the stereotypes, avoid arranged marriages unless absolutely necessary for the good of the family/clan and married women only need wear headcoverings for formal events. Among other things. (Television shows and movies featuring my people are invariably rife with stereotypes and are therefore only good for the entertainment value--if you can stand to watch them that long!)
• Lauren adopted me. My last cat died of an accidental poisoning in 2008 and I went to the humane society for a kitten. Lauren grabbed my right wrist, wrapped her paws around and proceeded to lick my palm. The result? "I WANT TO TAKE HER HOME!" *giggle*
• I'm a Priestess of Isis. But I don't mind being called a generalized Pagan for the sake of simplicity.
• Bobby is my favorite Carradine. Did I mention that already? I "fell in like" when I saw him in Mom's Got a Date with a Vampire. But his nephew Cade is definitely the hottest one. (Despite the fact that he smokes. YUCK!)
• I love William James Remar. ( <---Captain Obvious)
• I gave up my Xbox 360 and my DS a few years ago to give me more time to work on my novels. Does that degrade my "nerd cred"? Or does it simply change the elements of what makes up my nerd cred?
• I play Neopets. My oldest account is eleven this year, but I can't get into it. Usually, I play it for a few months, get bored, leave it for several, then come back and repeat the cycle. This time, I'm stuck in a "play period", because a war started the other day and I want to earn another trophy for my account. (I've been earning trophies like crazy in the last few months, but I'm keeping the secret to that to myself.)
• I tried WoW once and got incredibly lost and confused. That may hurt my geek cred, too; but I guess it's a blessing, because it would probably vacuum up our bandwidth if I played it all the time.
• I wrote Meet Ophelia after failing to land a role in Spider-Man 3. That's a long story, one that appears in the annotated edition. (Which I have to get off my rear end and fix, so I can re-release it.) But I'll retell it here if I get enough interest.
• In the Spider-Man movie fandom, I consider myself a Classicist. That means I'm faithful to Raimi's movies and refuse to see Webb's (much as I think a guy named Webb directing Spider-Man movies is highly amusing). Nevertheless, as an established Osborn fan (have you read Meet Ophelia?), I'm curious to see what Dane DeHaan will do with the role of Harry. Chris Cooper, I'm not worried about so much, as I enjoyed him (repeatedly!) as Colonel Burwell in The Patriot. My biggest concern is that they'll somehow decide to make Norman too nice...something he is not. Ever.
• I don't think Broken Road is very good. Yet it was the most popular when I had it available free on Amazon. So what do I know? That being said...
• I've turned in papers that I felt aren't all that great and I usually get an A. I tend to find that anywhere between amusing and hilarious. Nothing like feeling like it was a crappy piece and getting the ultimate reward for it.
• I never thought I'd release a poetry anthology, despite having one of my favorite Jamie poems appear in a college literary review. Yet here I am with a fifty poem collection to my name and free copies sent to Kira Leyden-Andrea (lead singer of The Strange Familiar), Tim Hutton, Chris Kane (both formerly of Leverage) and Jamie.
• I have a cousin who willingly pulls together the money to buy my latest book every time I release one. I always autograph it for her and we meet to eat, chat and browse Barnes & Noble. Everyone should have a cousin as wonderful as Katie. ^_^
• I was asked about a sequel to Meet Ophelia a few months after its release. I want to write Emmeline, but I just can't seem to pull together a cohesive problem/resolution storyline needed to tell the story of Norman and Emily's marriage and subsequent divorce. I suppose it's possible that I might write a novellette or novella for the annotation edition of Elizabeth, but right now, Emmeline is just a dream.
• I'm roughing notes for the sequel to Meet Ophelia. As I mentioned in the last bullet, the title will be Elizabeth and it will take place fifteen years after the second epilogue. Beyond that, I'm unwilling to say.

If you have anything else you'd like to know about me, use the comment forum at the bottom of the page!

And now, I give you the top ten reasons why I will not be watching the last two episodes of King of the Nerds...

10. Moo lost the Nerd-Off. (DUH!)

9. I don't have cable or satellite, which means no TBS. And I'm getting tired of playing "dial-a-website" to find the latest episode, only to have it buffer like crazy.

8. I'm pretty sure the show doesn't end with the announcement that CBS will be carrying King of the Nerds next year, thereby taking a load off my shoulders.

7. The show does not end with Calista announcing that she's releasing a CD and working on a book covering the last fourteen years of her father's life.

6. The show does not end with a major publishing company offering me a contract.

5. The show does not end with the announcement that Bobby, Curtis and Moo are appearing on the Big Bang Theory before the end of the season. (Unless it does? LOL)

4. The show does not end with the announcement that James Remar has upcoming appearances on both NCIS and the Big Bang Theory.

3. The show does not end with the shocking announcement that David did not die, followed by the Nerdvana medics rushing Bobby to the hospital.

2. The show does not end with James Remar proposing marriage to me.

And...drumroll please...

1. The rest of the cast did not drop dead and the crown was not placed upon Dr. Moogega Cooper's head.

Alas, some of those are not as silly as I hoped they would be.

It's been fun, everyone! Take care of yourselves and maybe I'll see you on a book tour one day!

I don't have very many critiques this week, because the nerds had a lot of professional help and--as quite often happens--the Nerd-Off was a matter of luck, not studying. So it will probably be short.

I liked both songs...they were each catchy in their own way. (I can also tell how good they were by the fact that they kept jumbling in my mind! I'd hear the hook to "Nerds are King" while the instrumental of "Talk Nerdy to Me" was playing in the background, for example.) And my girlcrush on Moo is definitely growing bigger, because not only did I think she was hot in her rap clothes (*embarrassed giggle*), but I think my favorite part of the whole song experience was her rap. <3

I definitely think that the Nerd-Off was fair and balanced. The trivia ones, you had to study for and if you didn't study the right way, you were out of luck. The other challenges were based around luck, but also on dexterity (like when Brandon lost because he couldn't control his golf cart). But this one was definitely balanced--you could either imitate what was on the screen or you couldn't. No subjectivity about it.

I'm sorry to see Virgil go, but I can't say I think it wasn't inevitable. Yes, I wanted Danielle and Ivan to go, but I also knew that--despite how potentially wonderful Blextrophy's song would be--it was almost certain they would lose, in which case Virgil would lose the Nerd-Off. I'm truly amazed at how much Viv doubted herself. Yes, she'd had very little experience with the game; but as I said before, it's a matter of whether you can imitate the screen, not chance, not luck and not hinging upon studying.

Based on the fact that we're in the merge and this week's theme is "Enginerds", we'll probably see everyone building their own robot or something. The preview photo on Facebook looked like something was going to be blown up, and I definitely saw glass being broken in the preview at the end of last week's show!

I have no idea what they're going to do for the final week, because the episode title is "A King is Crowned". Should be interesting!

Good luck to everyone trying out for next season! I wish I had the chops to join you!

Randomness of the Week -- Six Degrees

(Garfunkel and Oates star) Kate Micucci <on Raising Hope with> Martha Plimpton <daughter of> Keith Carradine <older brother of> Robert Carradine...

I know I keep saying that this doesn't work in the Carradine family, but fuck if I don't love this British/Irish/Aussie phrase...

AND BOB'S YOUR UNCLE!