Waiting for Beckett - 20 November 2021 - Plague Journal Day 618

Micah 6:8
Proverbs 10:23
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?

Today is National Absurdity Day. I've enjoyed absurdist writing since I encountered it in my High School French and English classes (Samuel Beckett and Tom Stoppard were the first one I read.) Frankly, I still enjoy the absurd - and even have played at writing some of it myself.
I wonder if today was chosen for this celebration for any particular reason.

On this date in history:

20 November 1985: Windows 1.0 was released. Nearly two years after its announcement, out came the first graphical "OS" (really just an overlay or UI on top of DOS), opening the door to wimp computing for the masses. (that's windows, icons, mouse, pointers)

20 November 1942 Joe Biden was born. (the 47th Vice President and the 46th President of the United States)

You're welcome.

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.

What About NaNoWriMo? - 19 November 2021 - Plague Journal Day 617

Micah 6:8
John 21:25
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?

NaNoWriMo - what about it indeed? (that's National Novel Writing Month, aka November)
In years passed I have probably bored many folks with my constant updates, either celebrating the number of words I'd written or bemoaning the fact that I had hardly written any.

Sadly, I've been stuck on the same novel project for a few years now - it seems like a great story to me, and much of it is written and/or outlined, but actually finishing a draft has eluded me thus far.

Well, I came across a book title the other day that may have been just what I needed to spur me on to writing again. I have no idea what the book is about, but the title spoke to me of a book I could actually enjoy writing while I wait for the other one to finally congeal in my mind.
It's much more of a kind with my first novel, Bytes Akimbo - a not-quite-absurdist humorous sci-fi romp. This should be fun for me to write and for me to read as I proof and revise.
(Here's a link to that first novel if you're interested - it's actually part of Kindle Unlimited for those of you who have that service.)

I think I'm going to jump on this one as soon as I'm done outlining the sermon I have to prepare for next Sunday. Stay tuned.

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.

A Rotten Day (but just one) - 18 November 2021 - Plague Journal Day 616

Micah 6:8
Luke 10:33-34
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?

I had a terrible day on Tuesday. A bit of background first. My cat, Jack, has glaucoma, so I've been putting drops in his eyes three times a day for the past several months. His left eye was the first one to be bad - his right one still seems pretty good, really, we just give it a lower dose as a preventative measure.
At any rate, Tuesday was a terrible day. I didn't see Jack all morning, so I was a bit worried. When he finally showed up around noon, Jack's left eye had apparently popped. It was back to normal size, but with what looked like a trickle of blood down his muzzle.
I felt terrible that I hadn't been able to prevent that happening. In retrospect, he seemed fine with it.
Anyway, it turned out to be OK - the way it "deflated" was the best way it could have happened (a small hole rather than a major rupture). Still, I felt awful.
Happily, he has returned to sitting by me, letting me put in his (single!) antibiotic drop, and purring instead of yowling and running away.

Today also marks the anniversary of a truly terrible day: 18 November 1978. On that day 918 people died in Jonestown, Guyana under cult leader Jim Jones. This is where the phrase "drink the Kool-Aid" originated. Very scary stuff, really - it's amazing how relatively easy it is to get people to abandon what they know to be true by promising them something they really want.
I don't mean to trivialize the Jonestown tragedy, but this sounds like the way politics works anymore.


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.

Reading is Miraculous - 17 November 2021 - Plague Journal Day 615

Micah 6:8
Numbers 22:22-35
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?

Today is National Farm Joke Day. Frankly, farms are nothing to joke about, nor are farmers. Without them, what would we eat? Nuts and berries we gather ourselves? Himalayan Possum Stew? (yep, I found him a-layin' in the road) I'm no expert on agriculture, but I think we'd be in dire straits without farms.
Some of my favourite magazines (especially back when printed magazines were a thing I actually did in my job) are the Farm magazines - Successful Farming, Farm Journal, Progressive Farmer, and all that ilk. They all seem to have a page or two featuring what are now called hacks or life hacks - simply brilliant solutions to problems around the farm using materials and skills at hand. I always enjoy checking out the ingenuity of the American Farmer.

Nonetheless, as it is National Farm Joke Day, I'm going to supply one here. Enjoy:

A devout farmer lost his favorite Bible while he was mending fences out in his fields.
Three weeks later a cow walked up carrying the Bible in its mouth.
The farmer couldn't believe his eyes.
He took the book out of the cow's mouth, raised his eyes heavenward and exclaimed, "It's a miracle!"
"Not really," said the cow. "Your name was written inside the cover."

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.

Striking? Quitting? Scabs? - 16 November 2021 - Plague Journal Day 614

Micah 6:8
Acts 1:12-17,20-26
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 this day in history, 16 November 1982, an agreement was announced on the 57th day of a strike by NFL players. Yes, the NFL players were on strike.

That brings me to one of my favourite Keany Reeevs movies (enhanced by the performance of Gene Hackman, one of the greatest movie actors ever) - The Replacements. That film chronicles the experiences of a group of replacement players for the Washington football team, and it's really fun.

Here are a couple clips for your enjoyment, but go ahead and find it streaming or whatever - it's really fun.

Clip of Welsh kicker on his second field goal.
Clip of a touchdown where John Madden opines that he likes to see a fat man score.

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.

Won't You? - 15 November 2021 - Plague Journal Day 613

Micah 6:8
Psalm 65
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?

Today is Little Red Wagon Day. To celebrate, here's Willie Nelson singing about his little red wagon.

Our street was under construction (complete tear-out, replacement of water mains, supply lines, sewer lines, concrete, the whole nine yards) most of this past Summer and much of the Fall. Having to park around the block when doing grocery shopping made the ownership of a wagon a very positive thing. Mine is collapsible and blue, but I could imagine having done all this with a little red one.

I'm not sorry the job is done, but the crew we had was actually great - very polite, accommodating, friendly, and appreciative of anything we did for them (like leaving a cooler of iced water bottles out on the hottest days). We'll miss them, but not the disruption.

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.

Worship - 14 November 2021 - Plague Journal Day 612

Micah 6:8
1 Samuel 1:1-20
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? 

 

For our 9:30  EST worship service we will have a piano solo at offertory time, and three(!) hymns for congregational singing. (Yes - we're real Methodists again!) 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