Rocky Recounting

I share pretty much anything that pops into my brain. This sharing can be my thoughts on today's top news stories, my opinions on the relative lack of merits of popular culture, or a funny or neat thing I learned.

Usually my dog is the lucky recipient of my stories. The other evening, it was my parents who were sitting, riveted, (immobile?) by my newfound knowledge of Catholicism.

"So I'm reading this murder mystery," I began. "It's about this crazy guy who kills catholic school girls based on the Rosary. So, I asked Annette (resident Catholic in my life) about the Rosary."

"And what did you learn," mom asked in between bites of dinner. She knows if she just asks, my story will get over quicker, thus with less pain.

"The beads each stand for a 'decade.'"

"What's a decade?" My dad asked.

Great. He's always got to poke holes in my newfound knowledge.

"I don't know," I said. "I thought it represented each decade of Jesus's life, but he apparently died at the age of 36, according to Annette. And she's old enough that she would probably know. Anyway, there are five decades, and some of the beads are bigger than other beads, and on the bigger beads you pray one thing, and you pray something different on the smaller beads. On certain days, like Mondays and Wednesdays you say one prayer on the small beads, then on Tuesdays and Thursdays you say a different prayer."

"Wow," my mom said. "That's really..."

"Confusing," I supplied. "Then, you get down to the wooden cross, and you say The Apollo Creed."

My parents' silverware stopped. They looked at me. I looked at them.

"That sounds wrong. Apollo Creed," I said to myself. I brightened. "Wait, that's 'Rocky'!"

I learned yesterday that the thing you say when you get to the cross of the Rosary is the Apostle's Creed. The creed probably has nothing to do with eyes of tigers, but beyond that, you'll need to look it up for yourself.