SIDE SALAD - Everything crunchy is good.

IN DA NAME OF DA FADDAH

Everyone is in full-on pope overload. There's a lot of sameness to what's being written and said. Very little of it is interesting or personal.
When he started his papacy in 1978, I was a 13-year-old Catholic schoolboy. When he finished it, I was neither Catholic nor a schoolboy.
Still, I feel an affinity toward him. Not sure why. Maybe it's because he once wore a sombrero during a papal trip to Mexico. Maybe it's because I high-fived him when I was 17 as he sped through St. Peter's Square during one of his regular Wednesday afternoon addresses. (I'll try to post the photo later this week.) Maybe it's because once you've been a practicing Catholic, it never really leaves you, even if you leave the church. Being Catholic is like buying luggage; you never really get rid of it.
The overkill of samness to the reporting and broadcasting is why I enjoyed the article by Bill Gallagher, "On Drinking With Pope John Paul II." Nothing like rapping with the man over steak sandwiches and a bottle of Beaujolais before he becomes The Man, you know? Posted by Jeff at April 5, 2005 08:17 AM