Sunday, April 24, 2011

Happy Easter - mundane thoughts


Overall, it's been a lovely Easter. I didn't feel up to going to the sunrise service and I'm pretty sure the "hard core" was there at 6AM. I heard people say it was the warmest sunrise service they had experience which was no surprise when you think it was so late in the year. CR managed to find daffodils for sale, but not in great quantity. I made some origami "easter egg" earrings before I went to the 10:30 service. At this late service, there were a portion of people who were actually squirming. They were clearly there as a favor to another family member. The girl in front of me was so uptight, I felt like giving her a neck massage ... but figured that would have been the last straw to send her screaming out to the street. Her whole crew raced out to the front sidewalk after the service while they waited for Aunt Dorothy. Since they were of mixed races, they looked quite attractive out on the sidewalk and created a nice impression of our congregation.

I'm sure people were uncomfortable about the lack of guidance on etiquette. We were dressed in the whole gamut - boys in suits and ties, a woman with a "covering" on her head, a man in a dashiki, political t-shirts, jeans, and I wore a very old dress with new sweater - and the singing behavior varied just as much. Many old folks remained seated along with a few non-participants, the guitar player's daughter danced with the music up front, Mr. Pastor raised his hands, and not many sang because the contemporary music was unfamiliar. I wished I had come to the more traditional 9 AM because I had those old hymns down cold. I shed a few tears missing my Dad who sang the old hymns so well. All made me reflect on what a strange occasion late Easter service was. It was the pastor's chance to deliver a message to those who only came once or twice year. I was not surprised that Martin delivered a positive message.

Later in the day I listen to Rick Warren's sermon which was similar. A little more direct and filled with metaphors using the testimony of a Chilean miner.

I decided not to break my meat fast today by cooking at home because I didn't want to inflict the smells on my vegetarian neighbor. I think she's gone back to DC now, so I'll be making corned beef tonight, and maybe lamb tomorrow. Even I hate the smell of lamb.

Saturday, April 23, 2011

How to have a Treme marathon





Treme is the name of a neighborhood in New Orleans. It's also the name of a television series that is produced by Baltimore's David "Homicide, Wire, Corner" Simon. Simon has shown that he is an expert in making the location a starring character in a drama. Treme's previews promised good acting and noteworthy music performances. Along with the big name actors such as John Goodwin and Melissa Leo there are many exciting local musicians and a good seasoning of good cooks.

I have just finished a marathon of watching the first season. Here are my directions for how to do it.

First you have to have no TV, because if you had a TV you would be unable to resist paying for HBO and watching it when it first broadcast. Second you should have no local friends with class, because if you knew someone else who watched the show, you'd be borrowing the recording they made. Then you have to have patience to wait for it to arrive on iTunes.

I recommend not watching the episodes front to back. Yes, you should be watching your computer screen steadily as you would with any marathon. But, the experience is best stretched out by reading Alan Seppinwall's reviews on HitFlix and Dave Walker's (of The Times-Picayune) very informative blog after watching each episode. I even like to read the reader comments. All this gives me a feeling of being in the know. This practice goes back years ago to the mid 90's when I would join UseNet's Alt.TV.Homicide forum on the night right after Homicide had been on. I'm still in contact with many of the people I met there (Alan Seppinwall was one) although we don't meet regularly we did before Tivo. As it was with the early years of Homicide, the audience input is usually informed and entertaining. Treme requires a degree of intelligence and taste. Good jazz is not for the hoi palloi.

Because I include reading reviews and blogs about the show, it requires a pretty heavy investment of time. I'm on Easter break, but I have other things to do. That's where getting sick comes in handy. For the past two days I've had a sour stomach, an earache, and maybe a fever. I'm too sick to do little else but watch the show.

Another season is beginning and I'll probably have to wait a year to see more. Since I have it in my iTunes files, I'll probably watch season one again. It's very good.

Friday, April 22, 2011

Withdrawal - deferred


My internet connection is not working this morning and I have a while to think about what a blessing that could be. It is so easy to get distracted with the daily news and amusements found on Twitter, eavesdrop on the lives of friends on Facebook, look at weather patterns, growing eaglets, zoom around GoogleEarth views. Tuning into the internet gives me distraction from contacting my aunt, gives me reason to delay sorting papers (months worth of bills -fortunately I pay bills with the internet). Stumbling gives me reason to avoid writing my blog – which I am doing now on Word.

I get online with some worthy purpose in mind. Just now I was going to look up some audio books because Neil Gaiman said in his blog that listening to Dickens on audio books helped him to exercise. I figure I could turn down the volume of my chair dancing DVD and play an audio book on the computer, and as he discovered to be true, be less bored … and enriched in the process. But I have some audio files already downloaded, certainly enough to listen to for the small time segments of exercise. And cruising the web for good literature would be a minefield of distractions.

I have an apartment jam packed with worthy projects. My fingers may be flexible enough to play the fiddle again. And I’ve got Garageband and the Amazing Slow Downer programs to put JD Crowe on slow speed enough to play along. And that’s way down on my list.

Near the top is to make origami earrings to wear around as advertisements for the Japan project. The Japan project is to make and sell origami in little boxes (school colors) and donate the proceeds to Red Cross in Japan. They could certainly use some help.

I got this idea when I was bored silly proctoring a statewide assessment test and I began to pray to pass the time. My prayer was answered with an idea. I’d put tiny origami into small origami boxes and sell them as Christmas ornaments etc. and I’d ask my Japan-loving Otaku adolescent grandson to help. If I get a fully formed idea after prayer, I take it pretty seriously.

When I presented the idea to my grandson, he was not eager to do folding - he lacked the confidence – but he was willing to cut paper and I’m hoping to persuade him to do the bookkeeping (which would help with math). There’s a bright but bored student at school who loves to do folding, so I just provide him with fancy paper. That’s another reason to make jewelry during this Easter break: I can make him some to give to his mother/sister.

So I’m recognizing the signs of withdrawal from such a strong habit as the internet. Years ago when I quit smoking I’d periodically pat down my blazers in search of a forgotten pack. Now my mind drifts in the browser direction even as I am enumerating the benefits of not getting online. I usually forget that I don’t pay for my internet connection … I’m picking up something from WiFi. I don’t even know which of my neighbors has the unsecured linksys. I wonder if they have recently learned enough to make their connection secure. Or maybe the commuting neighbor is disconnecting hers. This has happened before, but I have no understanding of why it stopped and why it started back up. So I am left wondering about the future of my connection. Such a philosophical feeling!

But now I see I'm back on line, so I'll post this and get sucked in again for now.