The series premiere of Everyone Hates Chris was last week. I really like Chris Rock, so I wanted to check it out. I haven’t really watched TV in a year, but everyone seems so excited about a couple of shows, like this one. I really enjoyed it. Very funny and definitely worth checking out, and I’ll be watching again. I had checked out My Name is Earl, and while interesting, not as intriguing or funny as the first episode of “Chris.”
(Okay – now, I’ve seen episode #2 – and it’s really darn funny. Catch it on Thursdays on UPN!)
I volunteered last night at the Cradle’s Casino Night. Architectural Artifacts was an amazing and wonderful space. I dealt Blackjack for 3 hours. I had a nice and helpful table. Being that I’m not a professional dealer, the people at my table had more experience than I did. It’s a good thing that I play cribbage now, because I can add a lot better than I could several years ago. However, after 3 hours of counting, my brain was fried. Overall, a great night and a fun thing to volunteer for in an evening.
Thanks to Beth, I was able to read A Song to Sing, a Life to Live by Don and Emily Saliers. I love Indigo Girls and have liked other stuff that Don has written, so it was great to read this.
There are some pieces that really caught my attention and resonated with me.
“Expanding musical boundaries is a challenge because at first it feels like you have to give up an identity that has become comfortable. It is easier for most people to sing what they know – in a sense, to sing what they have already become – than to venture into something new” (89). It’s amazing to me how often I have seen this – in parishes, in seminary, in friends, in myself. Like liturgy, music is tied directly to our identities. It’s hard to be open to something else and to experience something new. When we do, we often find that something unexpected and wonderful happens (might I be bold enough to call it grace?). Or even if we don’t in ourselves feel any different after having heard it, we can talk with others who have been touched by the experience. We can realize that just because we don’t connect doesn’t make it worthless. (This goes for liturgy or music.)
In talking about congregations having fights about music, the comment is made that “all language about God is limited; the divine reality requires a wide range of music if we even begin to express our awe and wonder. The conflicts will be deep and divisive as long as people do not listed to one another in love” (110). It takes time and concentration to be willing to share identity questions. I think that it also takes a strong leader to walk people through the process. The first challenge is to help people see that the music (liturgy) is really about their identities. Once they can have some sort of recognition about it, they might be able to breathe a little more deeply and open up to the thoughts, feelings, and experiences of another.
“Hymns that sing of justice and freedom ought to agitate and disturb many of us. Such songs can bring us face to face with truths we might rather not know” (146). It makes me ask, “How am I doing that in my the worship that I help plan? How can I bring these to students and help them become open to the hurts and injustice in the world? How can we together work for justice after being inspired by song?”
A great book and I’m so glad that I read it.
Hope and Andrew got married today! It was fabulous! Congratulations to both of them as they being their married life together. The service was well planned and well executed (as one would expect from a deacon and a seminarian) and the reception was a fabulous gathering of friends and family. Hope looked radiant and they both looked very cute all day long. It seems that they actually like each other…always a good place to start a marriage!
Congrats again to them (even though they are a little too busy this week to read this post…)!
My friend Melissa was here for the weekend. It was a fun break in the middle of the beginning of the school year craziness.
We went and saw A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum at the Marriott in Lincolnshire. It was AMAZING! The fast-paced production was well acted. It was just fabulous. We had a great time, enjoying the singing and the funniness. Theater in the round done with great blocking. It was closing weekend, otherwise I would tell you all to go see it immediately.
My friend Sarah gave me Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden. It was going to be my vacation reading and I almost got through it. But I did finish it the other day.
It is a great book – very well written and incredibly engaging. I was enthralled. Brilliant historical depiction of a place that I know so little about. Golden follows the struggle and joys of one woman through her life. The character creation and description of the towns draw the reader into Sayuri’s world.
It will be interesting to see what happens with the movie – released this December.
My friend gave me Harold and Maude to watch. Her daughter called it ‘disturbing’ and I have to say that I agree. Now, we know that, for the most part, if it’s a movie, I’ll like it. This one only gets an “I’m glad that I saw it” since people keep telling me that I should see it. But it is disturbing. And just strange. But it was made in 1971 and that might explain some of the weirdness that occurs.
So – Hope took me to see The Brothers Grimm for my birthday present. Thanks to Shane, I knew that it wasn’t going to be a fabulous movie. But I was entertained, so all was good. It was a little odd, and of course the plot line wasn’t particularly clear (it is Terry Gilliam, after all). But fun and a great birthday present.
My sister and I also talked about it. She was even more disappointed in it. I was really kind of hoping that it would be clever enough to rival the joy that I get in watching “Into the Woods” but we weren’t that lucky. My sister is also unhappy in the history pieces and their lack of accuracy…
...to celebrate Phil and Callie getting married!
It was a great celebration. Lots of friends to see and visit with.
The ceremony was beautiful - well structured (as one would expect from 2 aspirants to Holy Orders). Catherine Phillips did a great job presiding. The reception was held at the Morton Arboretum which was a beautiful setting.
CONGRATS TO THEM!
So – AKMA would really like this Bible Quiz. And you can visit every week!
This was posted at the Maritime Institute in Baltimore:
Do not job on roadway except during daylight hours.
Exercise caution at all times.