05 September 2020 - Plague Journal Day 176

Micah 6:8
Genesis 2:23-25
Yes, your life matters.

We all are still sheltering in place, but I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

One of the things I've enjoyed in these work-from-home months has been that on Wednesdays, Heidi is home, goes shopping, and often cooks bacon. The house smells great, and I am happy to report this, as today is International Bacon Day. (It suddenly occurs to me that this might be Kevin Bacon's birthday, but I'm not going to bother with that possibility. Even if it's not, no doubt there are no more than six degrees from someone whose it is to Kevin.)

Speaking of Heidi, today is the 38th anniversary of the day she made me the happiest man in the world. Yes, we've been married more than 3/8 of a century, and I wouldn't change it for the world. We're missing our annual trip to Niagara Falls this year, but we'll get somewhere with a waterfall one of these days, and as long as we're together, that's all that really matters.

Keep Calm and Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.
The mental health issues related to our lockdown and the pandemic are especially hard for people with depression. NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, has a 24 hour helpline: 800-950-6264

04 September 2020 - Plague Journal Day 175

Micah 6:8
Genesis 37:1-4
Yes, your life matters.

We all are still sheltering in place, but I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

I wonder if my cousin, Rob, is wearing his CMU Pink and Clear today. Why am I wondering that? Simply because today is College Colors Day, that's why.

Interestingly, it's also Wear Teal Day. I suppose there are probably schools with teal as their color, but 
I'm more of a merganser guy myself.

Keep Calm and Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.
The mental health issues related to our lockdown and the pandemic are especially hard for people with depression. NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, has a 24 hour helpline: 800-950-6264.

03 September 2020 - Plague Journal Day 174

Micah 6:8
Numbers 13:25-27
Yes, your life matters.

We all are still sheltering in place, but I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

I have a fairly odd cat. Jack is almost more like a dog than a cat - he wags his tail when he's happy, comes when called, sits when told (before getting his meals or treats, generally). All in all, he's not a normal cat.

He does like his dairy products, though - especially yogurt. As many of you no doubt know, cats really dislike citrus fruits. One of the suggestions to keep them away from Christmas trees is to hang oranges on the tree. Jack, however, loves these Chobani yogurts: Lemon Meringue, Orange Cream, and Key Lime. He bugs me when I'm eating them to give him his share, and he always cleans the bowl.

There are two other flavors, though, which he prefers to the citrus ones: Honey and Coconut. Yesterday Jack finished my honey yogurt at lunch with his wonted gusto. Now I discover that yesterday was World Coconut Day (sadly, I didn't realize it then), so for a belated celebration, we had some coconut yogurt today, and again, the tub was clean as a whistle. (How did that become an expression? I've heard dirty whistles from time to time.)

So there you go. By the way, Jack's not totally abnormal. He loves getting into boxes and bags, just like a typical cat.

Keep Calm and Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.
The mental health issues related to our lockdown and the pandemic are especially hard for people with depression. NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, has a 24 hour helpline: 800-950-6264.

02 September 2020 - Plague Journal Day 173

Micah 6:8
Psalm 90:12-17
Yes, your life matters.

We all are still sheltering in place, but I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

Today is Calendar Adjustment Day. It commemorates the shift in Great Britain and her colonies from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar, thus matching the calendar used by most of the other European nations (who were generally the Roman Catholic countries). Had you been there in September of 1752, your calendar would have skipped ahead from the second to the fourteenth with no days in between. That sounds like a bizarre couple of weeks, doesn't it? (By the way, the write-up in the link has the date of adoption in Great Britain wrong by a century - it really was 1752, not 1852.)

This probably seems like nothing to folks who were born on February 29. Skipping a few days once in a lifetime is hardly worth a thought compared to trying to figure out how old one is, or on what day to celebrate. It's so emotionally and psychically taxing that you'll find those people seem to age about four years for every birthday they have. Please, have some compassion on our leap-day-born friends, won't you?

After all that, though, I guess the question is, does anybody really know what day it is? Does anybody really care?

(Apparently the fun trivia answer to Chicago's title question is 3:17. You're welcome.)

Keep Calm and Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.
The mental health issues related to our lockdown and the pandemic are especially hard for people with depression. NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, has a 24 hour helpline: 800-950-6264.

01 September 2020 - Plague Journal Day 172

Micah 6:8
Luke 18:20-23
Yes, your life matters.

We all are still sheltering in place, but I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

Today is American Chess Day - huzzah! I think an appropriate way to celebrate would be to watch "Searching for Bobby Fischer," a really good film about kids in the competitive chess world.
I think I was in University when I got my chess computer - Boris - which was an amazing piece of kit at the time. It didn't move the pieces, rather it had a red LED readout that told you where its pieces should go, and a keypad for entering your moves so it knew what was where. Oh, and Boris plays black.

Just a semi-political, semi-spiritual aside here: I keep seeing people posting things like, "why is it that when Jesus says to feed the poor it's Christianity, but when a politician says to feed the poor it's Socialism?"
It's an interesting question on its face, but here's my take on it. Jesus says "Share what you have with the poor," the politician says "I'll share what you have with the poor." That seems very different to me. I guess I'm a Davy Crockett kind of guy.

Keep Calm and Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.
The mental health issues related to our lockdown and the pandemic are especially hard for people with depression. NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, has a 24 hour helpline: 800-950-6264.

31 August 2020 - Plague Journal Day 171

Micah 6:8
John 21:25
Yes, your life matters.

We all are still sheltering in place, but I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

I'm an anachronism. 

I think I've known that for a long time, but as I read more books on writing, as I attend more classes and webinars on writing and editing, it's like my nose is being rubbed in that fact.

I'll admit it. I like to read stuff that was written in ways that I'm told isn't good - that readers won't like. I even like to read the classics - books full of words and people rather than just action. I enjoy the words, the language, the rhythm of the writing, not just the plot. Novels aren't movies. They don't have to flow quickly from opening titles to closing credits because people will get up and go to the bathroom or the kitchen if it slows down.
Novels are a place where the author - the writer - can show and tell us things that are impossible in nearly any other medium. (Maybe radio can challenge, but only in a slightly different way. Film and TV would have to be made in a way so different to their norms that they might be unpalatable to most viewers.)

Keep Calm and Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.
The mental health issues related to our lockdown and the pandemic are especially hard for people with depression. NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, has a 24 hour helpline: 800-950-6264.

30 August 2020 - Plague Journal Day 170

Micah 6:8
Psalm 105:1-6
Yes, your life matters.

We all are still sheltering in place, but I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

It's Sunday, why not join us for worship at Grosse Pointe United Methodist Church? (211 Moross, Grosse Pointe Farms) We meet on the lawn around the Memorial Garden, and worship starts at 9:30AM.

If you can't be there in person, join our YouTube live stream here.
This and other worship services can be found on our YouTube channel.

In addition to our day of worship, it turns out that today is Slinky Day! I always wanted to run a slinky down the escalators at Eastland (when there were such things, and there was a reason to go there), but I never managed to do that.
I was able to find this video that's really quite fun, so enjoy and celebrate responsibly.

Keep Calm and Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.

The mental health issues related to our lockdown and the pandemic are especially hard for people with depression. NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, has a 24 hour helpline: 800-950-6264.