No Offense, But - 12 February 2022 - Plague Journal Day 702

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

Some of you are still sheltering in place, but fear not: I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

On 12 February 1809 were born what could hardly have been a more disparate pair: Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin. How bizarre, but it does make one question astrology, no?

Today's freewrite prompt word is Blunt, and I shall take full advantage:

As noted above, today marks the birthdays of both Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin. The latter affirmed (and used his scientific theory to support his opinion) that the White Race was superior to the Darker Races. Prior to this "science" bigots were forced to rely on mere technological and cultural differences to assert their superiority. Darwin gave them cover to treat others with contempt, as they could be seen as provably inferior.

Meanwhile, Lincoln took Jefferson's words from the Declaration of Independence and essentially doubled down on the phrase, "all men are created equal." Here's where acknowledging our Creator really does make a difference. If we're all created in God's image, how can we treat some humans as non-human? some persons as non-persons? Obviously we cannot.
I would say I'm sorry to be so blunt, but I'm not sorry.

Keep Calm and Don't Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.
The mental health issues related to our insane 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.

No Weasels, Please - 11 February 2022 - Plague Journal Day 701

Micah 6:8
Job 32:18-20
Yes, your life matters.

Some of you are still sheltering in place, but fear not: I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

On 11 February 1938, the BBC broadcast the world's first science fiction TV program, Karel Čapek's “R.U.R.” This Czech play's abbreviated title stands for “Rossum's Universal Robots,” introducing the word “robot” to the English language. (Note that Robot comes from the word for Worker in the various Slavic languages.)
This was the beginning of the BBC's long commitment to science fiction on television. Now one can only hope they'll do something to save Doctor Who from the pit into which it's been thrown and continues to dig deeper.

Speaking, though, of good science fiction, today also marks the 96th birthday of Leslie Nielsen, that fabulous Canadian/American actor who starred in Forbidden Planet. Of course, no Nielsen filmography would be complete without a mention of Men With Brooms. Both of those films are highly recommended.

Today's freewrite prompt word is Pop

As a Michigander, that to me is what in many other States would be called soda. When I say soda I either mean soda water or baking soda. On occasion we might say soda pop, just to be inclusive, and I suppose that's a good thing, but just plain pop is the norm.

Of course there's also the effect that all that carbonation has on one's GI system - making one feel ready to pop. (Perhaps that's the source of the term?) Just imagine being chased by that pincushion man when in such a state.

An in closing, there's also the usage of Pop to mean one's father. I never called Dad Pop, but I know there are folks who do. Just a few days ago the New Yorker calendar served up this reminder of how one ought to approach one's demise:

I'm very glad that Dad had his affairs in order. We can only with he had all the stuff his house in such a state. Ah well, it makes for fun discoveries of things long forgotten - like cancelled checks from the 1960s. Fun times, eh?

Keep Calm and Don't Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.
The mental health issues related to our insane 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.

Just Bare Bones - 10 February 2022 - Plague Journal Day 700

Micah 6:8
Ezekiel 37:1-14
Yes, your life matters.

Some of you are still sheltering in place, but fear not: I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

That's just stunning. Today is day 700 of our two weeks working from home to flatten the curve. Fifty times the originally expected period - and we're still not through the whole thing as far as our Federal overlords are concerned. It makes me glad they didn't say four weeks at the outset! At any rate, I've now blogged for 682 days, missing only a couple right around the time when my Dad died. They're not all gems of the blogosphere, but they're all there - warts and all.

Now for today's freewrite prompt word. It is Skeleton, so here we go.

I can't tell you how many meetings I've been in where folks mix up the phrases "flush out" and "flesh out" when talking about adding details to their ideas. I'd like to tell you, and I'm not contractually prohibited from doing so, I just can't remember, other than to know that it's been quite a few.
When I pointed it out once, I was told that fleshing something out sounded kind of gross or disgusting. To my mind, flushing something out smacks of childhood goldfish funerals - and that's much worse than adding muscles and skin to a skeleton if you ask me.

Of course this all does bring to mind that spectacular scene by Ray Harryhausen when Jason and the Argonauts (those are the ones who didn't suck) fought the sword-wielding skeletons that kept growing up out of the ground from the dragon's teeth that had been planted for just that purpose.
Pretty amazing effects when you think about the fact that it's basically the same technology that gave us Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer featuring Burl Ives and the first elfin dentist.
I'm sure those Argos were glad no one fleshed out the skeletons!

Keep Calm and Don't Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.
The mental health issues related to our insane 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.

I Could Tell You, But ... - 09 February 2022 - Plague Journal Day 699

Micah 6:8
1 Corinthians 15:50-52
Yes, your life matters.

Some of you are still sheltering in place, but fear not: I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

Before I get to today's writing prompt, here's a quick Carnage du Jour (or perhaps Potage du Jour), courtesy of Heidi.

Jacki & Gary are up to do more clearing of crap from Dad's house, so Heidi volunteered dinner the first night of their stay - a crock pot full of white chicken chili.
This was made from a previously cooked chicken (you could use a rotisserie chicken from your favorite market) which also supplied a delicious, homemade chicken stock as the base. (Sorry, you're on your own for your stock. The boxes aren't bad ... they're not great, but they're not bad.)
Anyway, sautéed onions, peppers, and celery went in, then steeped with the shredded chicken in the stock in the crock pot for a long time. Cumin and garlic were among the spices. I know something with a kick was in there, but I'm not sure what - perhaps cayenne. Then, toward the end, in went a can of white beans (I think great northern, but they might have been cannellini) and a couple garnishes - cilantro in the pot and sour cream and shredded cheese on the side.
Jacki made some cornbread and dinner was great.

Today's freewrite prompt word is Classified

Isn't it interesting how some words seem to have two nearly-opposite meanings? Cleave, for instance. One can cleave to something, but one uses a cleaver to cleave something apart.
It's similar with the word classified. I had two immediate connections - Top Secret stuff and Classified Ads. One is kept from nearly everyone and the other is meant to be seen by nearly everyone.
I suppose the secret version is really a matter of common usage and a bit of misunderstanding adding a connotation to a word whose denotation didn't really support it.
Remember when yonder just means "over there" rather than the sky as some now take it. That's due to the Air Force's going off into the wild blue yonder. Listeners took blue to be an adjective and yonder a noun, when blue was actually the noun and yonder a preposition of place. They were headed into the wild Blue. And where is that wild blue, my friend? Oh, it's over yonder. That's what it was about.
Back to Classified as Top Secret: things are classified top secret - classified is the verb there, not another adjective. Isn't English wonderful? As English speakers, we can make verbs into adjectives; we can make prepositions into nouns; and we can verb nouns like crazy.
English ftw.

Keep Calm and Don't Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.
The mental health issues related to our insane 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.

Ripping Yarns! - 08 February 2022 - Plague Journal Day 698

Micah 6:8 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Micah+6%3A8&version=ESV

Yes, your life matters. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deuteronomy+30:19&version=ESV

Some of you are still sheltering in place, but fear not: I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

Today marks what would have been, had he lived, Jules Verne's 194th birthday. I have a "Complete Works of Jules Verne" on my Kindle, and have been working my way through his stories and novels for quite some time now. Frankly, I'm more impressed than I expected to be when I started. I knew 20,000 Leagues and Around the World in 80 Days and a few others, but the breadth of his output is quite remarkable. Nor is is all some sort of proto-science fiction - he wrote political stories as well as straight adventure novels.
I'm quite happy to be in the process, and wondering what I'll read next when I finish the last 20% of the volume.
Why not celebrate by reading one of his stories? They're fun!

Speaking of writing, today's freewrite prompt word is Pitch

It's quite amazing to realize that there were no standard time zones until way at the end of the 19th century. Everyone simply set their clocks by the local noon indicated by the sun. Then, on 08 February 1879, Sandford Fleming pitched the use of time zones. The later introduction of Universal Standard Time, which is based on time zones, revolutionized time keeping. Imagine how difficult it must have been to figure out the time when traveling across this continent by rail when the conductors had their watches set to whatever time they started with. Pretty bizarre.
This sort of takes me back to my occasional rants about Daylight Saving Time. Detroit needs to simple settle on Eastern Standard Time and stay there. It's already nearly DST for our longitude, based on solar noons here. Enough already!

Keep Calm and Don't Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.
The mental health issues related to our insane 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.

The Sheriff Is Near - 07 February 2022 - Plague Journal Day 697

Micah 6:8
1 Corinthians 1:20-25
Yes, your life matters.

Some of you are still sheltering in place, but fear not: I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

On 07 February 1974, the classic comedy by Mel Brooks, “Blazing Saddles,” opened. An amazing film that condemns all kinds of racism and bigotry - but in a way that today's audiences probably couldn't tolerate. Funny that; here we are in the age of tolerance and the tolerant can't tolerate those who speak out against what they find intolerable. Well, almost funny. It's sad, really.
I can't imagine anyone making Blazing Saddles or its equivalent today. There are too many folks out there who are too quick to take offense without thought when the offensive thing is meant to spark some thinking.

You may have noted that yesterday I didn't write on the prompt word of the day. That was deliberate, as I took Sunday off to worship. That does mean, though, that I'm a word behind, so it's time to catch up:
Yesterday's freewrite prompt word was Fizzle.
Today's freewrite prompt word is Erupt.

It's almost like the word fairies are playing right into my hand (or my memories). This takes me back to a July in the 1970s (I really don't remember which year) when a bunch of us had gathered at the parsonage with the pastor's sons - basically a subset of the normal MYF group of the day. We were lighting off fireworks in the side yard. Joel or Tim had gotten hold of some Roman candles and they were quite fun.
Then there was one that was a dud. It was lit as the previous ones had been, but rather than shoot forth its sparkling glory into the sky, it sat on the ground and fizzled. Howard go tired of waiting for it to either go off or go out, so he headed over to the fizzling firework, ready to throw it away. Just as he got there, standing over it (yes, you're way ahead of me), the candle finally caught and erupted with a gout of flame and sparks - right into Howard's face.
He was OK after a while - washing his eyes out with cold water helped immensely - and I don't think anyone even got in trouble for being stupid ... that day.

Keep Calm and Don't Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.
The mental health issues related to our insane 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.

Worship - 06 February 2022 - Plague Journal Day 696

Micah 6:8
Luke 5:1-11
Yes, your life matters.

Some of you are still sheltering in place, but fear not: I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

For our 9:30 AM worship service we plan to have our choir singing in person at offertory time and our standard three hymns for congregational singing. Why not join us to find out who the soloist is? You'll probably be amazed. We will also be sharing communion. Know that this is the Lord's table, not ours, so all who can respond to Jesus as Lord are welcome to take communion with us.

Remember, we'll be streaming for all those who can't join us in person, and intend to continue that practice indefinitely. Still, know that we miss seeing you in person - please come join in corporate prayer, praise, and worship as soon as you feel ready.

As usual, today's stream should just appear as the latest entry on our YouTube channel, here.
You'll find all our previous worship videos right there at that same place, and today's stream will stay there as a recording as well. 

Keep Calm and Don't 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