The Year of Prime ... Dios a Domicilio ... Soccer Mania ... Colombia from the Hip

Okay. I've been slack.
Big time.
Time is no excuse since I know every blogger out there in bloggersphere has lots to do as well. Many have kids, full time jobs, but it seems all manage to maintain their blogs. I, however, do not.
That said, I'm back ... though I can't really promise this will be as regular as I dream. And I'm back with a rant, a rave, and A GIVEAWAY! (So that's not SOOOO bad)

RANT: DIOS A DOMICILIO
I live in Colombia, for those who didn't know, and am surrounded by the world of Catholicism. Which is fine. I was raised in a Christian tradition, baptized Lutheran, and many of the Catholic beliefs and values are what I was taught as a little girl. But there's something that just bugs the hell out of me here: mass ... everywhere. In shopping malls, grocery stores, tennis clubs, country clubs and more, mass services are given. EVERYWHERE. Like everywhere. Priests even go to people's apartment complexes to give mass. Now, I'm all for portable holy water -- it's almost comical to me to think of portable holy water, actually. Sure, we're in a world in which we need all the drops of goodness we can get, but what bugs me (besides the fact I'm not Catholic and don't like mass and don't really want to hear it EVERYWHERE I GO) is the idea that now God comes to your door if you're too bloody lazy to go to church. Harsh? Yep. I know it sounds brutal, but to me the idea of religion for those who practice is a sense of sacrifice. A sense of commitment outside of our regular day-to-day activities. So, if I'm too freaking lazy to go to church, but it's CONVENIENT for me to have mass at the mall or country club where it doesn't interrupt my day too much so I can have my coffee, meet with friends and do a little shopping, it all seems WRONG. And invasive. Dude, I don't want to hear your mass and services. Really. I don't. If I did, I'D GO TO CHURCH. Really. So this whole tendency of take-out God services just bugs me. Keep your church and services in your church, and let me buy my mangoes in peace. And if you can't manage to get to church or a cathedral or wherever you want to be to pray, then it probably isn't that important to you to begin with.

RAVE: U-20 WORLD CUP MANIA
Colombia put on one of the most beautiful, organized World Cup tournaments ever!! And I'm so proud. Our local stadium was revamped for this occasion and is, without a doubt, one of the classiest, most gorgeous stadiums I've ever been in. (And I've been to Camp Nou in Barcelona and Boca's Bonbonera in Buenos Aires.) I think it's given a little uumph to our local team, Pereira, too. Last night they beat Equidad in Bogota ... and pretty much need a near-perfect season to NOT drop down to B ... So, hopefully it's an inspiration to play pretty amazing and win, like every game, this season. Yep. We kind of need a miracle here for Deportivo Pereira. If that miracle comes in the form of a new stadium, that works for me!

GIVEAWAY
As promised, a giveaway!! Click over on the cool GOODREADS button to the side and win a signed paperback of COMPROMISED.