HoodedHawk

Whoa. J.K. Rowling is obviously a very popular author due to her Harry Potter series. But I just today learned of her ingenious way to thwart “signature pirates”. It seems that she has been inundated with requests for her signature since the early days of the Harry Potter series. So much so, that she no longer signs books except for charities and the like. Well, that means that unscrupulous people have sold copies of her books with forged signatures (to greatly increase their worth on the market).

To counteract this piracy, since 2007 she affixes a little hologram to the opposite page of any book she signs. I’ve never heard of this before. Neat, sorta. But it’s also sad – I rely on the word of a dealer when I buy a book that was signed. I’m still optimistic that all the signed books I have are authentic (though more than half were signed in my presence)…

The book below is an example and you can get it for a mere ~$350.00 on ABEBooks.com. That’s a steal, as a 1st edition copy of her first book, “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” (published 1997) runs for more than $15,000.00 (with the hologram if signed after 2007).

From Pope Francis’ Lenten Message:

Indeed, Jesus “worked with human hands, thought with a human mind, acted by human choice and loved with a human heart. Born of the Virgin Mary, He truly became one of us, like us in all things except sin.”

I proclaim to you good news of great joy: today a Savior is born for us, Christ the Lord.
-John 10:27

Nativity at St. Louis Church; after Midnight Mass

Christmas Card 2013

It was an overcast/rainy Easter Sunday, so we took pictures indoors, after we got back from Easter Brunch (very nice – Brio’s in Rockville, MD).

First Easter Egg Hunt at the Shrine of St. Anthony in Ellicott City, MD. The Friary had 2000 eggs; Fr. Michael said they didn’t know whether they would end up with 2 kids with 1,000 eggs each, or too many kids and not enough eggs. It was a very large turnout, but I think everyone got some eggs. Preston loved running to get the eggs. Olivia asked me to carry her to them. :)

The Hunt started at 10am, with Father Michael saying “Alleluia” as the start word…by 10:10 I’d say all the eggs were found.

We visited Fr. Joe at his “farm” plot behind the Shrine. He raises chickens as well as veggies, so Preston and Olivia got to see some “real” chicks. Preston got his finger pecked – twice. Guess once wasn’t enough to register. They had a great time, and the weather was wonderful.