Various & Sundry: in which quite a few people make very good points

Hello! I'm back. And we have much to discuss. But at the moment, here's a few odds and endy things I wanted to share.

What do you say to a person who asks if suicide is a legitimate option for someone "who genuinely is tired and doesn't want to continue"? I thought this was a terrific answer.

I've never really thought much one way or the other about Libertarianism, but Lance Mannion sure has and has the rant to prove it. "You don’t have to believe in no government," he writes, "but if you aren’t at least trying to take yourself off the grid and off the dole, then I’ve got to conclude that your professed libertarianism is just a high-fallutin’, long-winded, and, usually, very boring way to complain about your taxes." He may have a point.

I've started following the blog Our Valued Customers which reports on snippets of conversation from a comic book store.

He may have a point, too.

Ta-nehisi Coates also has a mighty good rant going with his post on The Selective Amnesia of Post-War Europe, which is not quite the stuck-in-the-past post you might think it is. (Or maybe I'm just particularly close to it, having recently finished the post-war-set Bernie Gunther mystery A Quiet Flame, which I'll get around to reviewing one of these days.) This was the key quote for me: "'The past' is whatever contributes to a society's moral debts. 'Heritage' is everything else." Say it with me now: He may have a point.

Although this article is ostensibly about the dangers of playing it safe, it's also an excellent example of keeping the long view in order to foster change in an organization. The writer, who encourages organizations to take risks, also (I think) learned the important lesson: Change happens in mysterious ways.

In a fit of self-promotion, and because I'm pleased with how it turned out, I'd like to pass on a blog post I wrote on 4 reasons youth hate confirmation classes. You'd hate them too.

Go, Red Sox! Check out this amazing Red Sox Bento Box lunch, with an apple carved into a baseball:

Finally, seeing as it's almost noon, I recommend the essay On Lying In Bed by G.K. Chesterton. Is it immoral to lie about in the morning? "Instead of being regarded, as it ought to be, as a matter of personal convenience and adjustment, it has come to be regarded by many as if it were a part of essential morals to get up early in the morning. It is upon the whole part of practical wisdom; but there is nothing good about it or bad about its opposite." He most certainly has a point.

And did I mention? Go Red Sox!

Various & Sundry: Mostly fabulous women, plus a castle

It's been another long week on deadline, but I can see the finish line. ALMOST THERE! In the meantime, can I just say, if you name your college group The Holy Club, as John Wesley did, you are just asking to be pantsed. I also kind of like the fact that the good people of the colony of Georgia hated him. HATED. Here's a fabulous quote from his journal from June 22, 1736:

Tuesday, 22.—Observing much coldness in M ----‘s behaviour, I asked him the reason of it. He answered, “I like nothing you do. All your sermons are satires upon particular persons, therefore I will never hear you more; and all the people are of my mind; for we won’t hear ourselves abused. 

“Besides, they say, they are Protestants. But as for you, they cannot tell what religion you are of. They never heard of such a religion before. They do not know what to make of it. And then your private behaviour: all the quarrels that have been here since you came, have been ‘long of you. Indeed there is neither man nor woman in the town who minds a word you say. And so you may preach long enough; but nobody will come to hear you.” 

He was too warm for hearing an answer. So I had nothing to do but to thank him for his openness and walk away.

Oh dear. Well, it got better for him.

Enough of that. What else have I got here?

We've got some fabulous women, that's what we've got. Let's start with Helen Mirren. "She's had some practice in issuing commands to her subjects as a queen, but it still came as a surprise to a group of drummers when Dame Helen Mirren yelled at them to be quiet while dressed in her full Queen Elizabeth II costume on Saturday night." Love it.

The fabulous Lena Horne died last Sunday, and the obituary ends with a spectacular quote.

Looking back at the age of 80, Ms. Horne said: “My identity is very clear to me now. I am a black woman. I’m free. I no longer have to be a ‘credit.’ I don’t have to be a symbol to anybody; I don’t have to be a first to anybody. I don’t have to be an imitation of a white woman that Hollywood sort of hoped I’d become. I’m me, and I’m like nobody else.”

You tell 'em.

The Bloggess offers some fabulous Rules for Life, my personal favorite being number 13 (which as you will see is labeled 12b):

12b. Embrace your flaws and foibles. If people make fun of you, kick them in the back and then blame it on a ghost.

I am totally doing that.

In the article, this photo has the caption,
"The castle is in need of significant renovation."
In case you were in doubt.

There's a castle for sale, by the way, in case you're in the market. Inchtower castle was owned by Count Robin de Lanne-Mirlees. Actually, that's just the shortened version. His full name was (ready?) Robin Ian Evelyn Milne Stuart le Comte de la Lanne-Mirrlees and he was an officer of the College of Arms, meaning he created heralds.

Among the many he created was the Bond family motto -- as in James Bond -- which is Orbis Non Sufficit: The World is Not Enough. Mirrlees and Ian Fleming were acquainted, and it is thought that Bond's cover identity, Sir Hilary Bray, Bt, is based on Mirrlees.

Oh, and if you buy Inchtower Castle, you become Baron or Baronness of Inchdrewer. So there's some incentive right there.

So last weekend Gabrielle Marcus married Brian Marcus. But when the announcement appeared in the Times, she still wasn't sure whether she was going to take his last name or not. Adorable photo, isn't it? Turns out her husband (and mother- and father-in-law) are photographers.

I thought this article on the unexpected antidote to procrastination had a good point. And it was, in fact, not what I expected. What was it? Feeling, and being willing to feel. As I said, not what I expected.

And with that, I am going to go on with the day. I've got a sermon to write.

The way we think about charity is dead wrong

I've been meaning to watch this TED talk for a while and finally got around to it today, thanks to the Episcopal Cafe. I am in total agreement that our thinking about the non-profit sector and our assignment of morality to money is detrimental to work we would like to do.

As we saw in yesterday's gospel, people get very wound up about issues of money and morality. We often miss the forest for the trees.



I hope you'll take 20 minutes to watch it. Or you can read the transcript.

Various & Sundry: Supermodels, Martyrs, Poets, and other animals

*sigh* It's been one of those weeks that's clunked along. I had lots of plans of things to blog, but, as you see, it didn't happen. Probably because I never did get that handsome dose. But I do have a few things left lying about the place that are worth sharing, late as it is, so here you go.

For example, there are good reasons I didn't become a supermodel. Again, the handsome dose would have made my career as a supermodel more likely. But there are other legitimate reasons, as Nancy Kho points out.

I don't know if you've been following Lent Madness, but this week the martyrs have been beating the tar out of the more naturally-death-inclined. Yesterday, however, in a match-up between John Donne and the martyr Agnes of Rome, Donne charmed the votes out of people, which broke the martyrs' win streak. Does it have something to do with his erotic poetry?

This leads very nicely into Book Riot's Date, Dump, or Marry: Famous Author Version. Your choices? I'm thinking to date Jane Austen (she would be an excellent dinner companion, don't you think?), dump Poe (I mean, creepy, although I'd worry I'd be the inspiration for some gothic character), and marry Dick Francis. He seems stable and unpretentious.

Oscar fanatics and film buffs may want to read this analysis of Django Unchained. I haven't seen the movie, and don't plan to, so I am in no position to opine, but it strikes me as a really important perspective.

I really liked what Beth Kanter had to say about the importance of being data-informed rather than data-driven. And I especially appreciated this article on the seven  habits of highly effective mediocre people:

Being mediocre doesn’t mean you won’t change the world. It means being honest with yourself and the people around you. And being honest at every level is really the most effective habit of all if you want to have massive success.

In law enforcement news,

Prosecutors in England, prepping for a case, repeatedly contacted a police department for details on the arrest—specifically, they demanded a witness statement from "PD Peach," an officer who assisted. The problem is, PD stands for Police Dog, and Peach is an adorable German Shepherd, and as such is incapable of reading or writing.

Well, maybe, maybe not, as this police report shows:

Perhaps Peach had someone speaking for him, something Pat Derby did quite well. Ms. Derby, who died last week, was "a former animal trainer for television shows like “Lassie” and “Flipper” who became a crusader against animal exploitation in entertainment and founded of one of the largest privately operated wildlife sanctuaries in the United States." I read two obituaries for her this week, one in the Times, and one in the Telegraph. In both, she sounds tough-minded and realistic. "Throughout her life, she remained acutely conscious of the inherent shortcomings of raising wild animals in captivity: 'You can never replace the wild. You can only make the prison as comfortable as possible.'"

I don't know. I think this bucket of sloths looks pretty cozy.

Various & Sundry: People to avoid, theologians to watch, magicians to mislead

Oh, I give up. I'm not getting anything else done today, so I might as well move on to the snips and snails of the blogging week that I wanted to share with you.

The White House has gotten some push back on its recent proposal...not to build a death star. The Mischiefs of Faction debate the estimated cost of building the Death Star, the intergalactic politics of blowing up planets, and the technical work-arounds for the thermal exhaust port problem. And Galactic Empire Public Relations also posted a response: Planet Earth Abandons Death Star Project In Face Of Superior Galactic Imperial Power. Our planet is such a wuss.

In school shooting news, I'm surprised we haven't heard more about the fact that it wasn't an armed guard that stopped a shooting in Bakersfield, but an unarmed teacher who talked a student into putting down his weapon. Of course it may have helped that this was a shotgun and not a semi-automatic.

I doubt I would be able to stand up to someone holding a shotgun. On the other hand, I would do well to remember these 5 types of people to run like heck from: Distract-o-matics, Grillers, Status Claimers, Narcissists, and Non-Learners.

I just finished a huge and hard project in 2012, and I realize the people that made that project successful were exactly the opposite of this list of five-to-avoid: They were collaborators who were open and willing to explore ideas together, inherently curious people, and ones who didn’t grade our relationship on some hierarchical scale but based on our shared interests.

Good to remember.

Impressive news from the world of theology: 10 theologians under the age of 10, inspired by works as varied as Brown bear, brown bear, what do you see? to Toy Story. Here's Derrick, age 10:

Author of Why I want to be an Archeologist
What was the first piece that had an impact on your theology?
The Missing Piece. I’m not sure you can say anything definitive about salvation and self-understanding if you’ve not read that book. This idea we have that we are somehow deficient, and need to spend our lives searching for that one piece that will make us whole is so destructive. Shel Silverstein did the world a great service.
Tell us a bit about the piece included for this list.
“Searching” is a theme in my life. Clarifying what our gifts and skills are is the first step to understanding who God has called and created us to be.
What makes good theology “good theology”?
I need it to do something new. Listen, we’ve all read Barth and Moltmann. Those guys are old hat. I want you to push a few boundaries. Make me see something I hadn’t before.
What is your current project?
I’m working on a lost treasure story. I’m thinking of calling it Seek and Ye Shall Find. Do you think that’s too on the nose?
Name one of your favorite theologians over 10.
I gotta go with Tony Jones. A Better Atonement is the best thing I read last year.

Suzannah Paul wrote a really great post on Privilege and the Emerging Church. Whitney Johnson and Tara Mohr remind women that work isn't school. And illusionist Derren Brown explains why you are deceived.

Every wind of doctrine

Consider this your "shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted" Bible study post. But, hey, this passage will come up again:

We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people's trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming. But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body's growth in building itself up in love.

Ephesians 4:14-16

Here's the thing that struck me reading it this time. So. It seems to me that people toss around that phrase "every wind of doctrine" to mean "every newfangled thought that comes along." Is that how you've heard it used? But it occurred to me that at the time the letter was written, Christianity was the newfangled thought. And Paul was an innovator even within this newfangled sect of Christianity, welcoming the uncircumcised, calling a slave his brother (and his owner's brother), expecting a radical equality among genders and races and incomes. He was doing crazily new stuff, way out of the mainstream.

So it makes me wonder if doctrine here doesn't mean new doctrine, but what we usually think of when we think of doctrine: those beliefs that are settled and static and cast in stone.

What if this isn't saying, "Don't be blown about by the latest fad," but instead is saying, "Don't be blown about by 'the way we've always done it'"? Don't be blown about by those forces that wish to deny new truths that have been brought to light through Jesus Christ. 

Remember that grim hymn "Once to ev'ry man and nation"? It has this great couplet:

New occasions teach new duties, time makes ancient good uncouth,
They must upward still and onward, who would keep abreast of truth.

And of course let us not forget the great Thomas Cranmer's delightful introduction to the first Book of Common Prayer (1549, of course): "There was never any thing by the wit of man so well devised, or so sure established, which in continuance of time hath not been corrupted."

Darn right.

So the next time someone throws that old "every wind of doctrine" line at you, I'd recommend you say, "That's exactly why we need to speak the truth in love, so that we are not continually battered by doctrines that no longer fit our understanding of God and of the world." The winds of doctrine isn't about new ways of thinking; the winds of doctrine are the ones that try to blow us backwards as we attempt to make progress, promoting the body's growth.

Various & Sundry, no exertion required

All right, who's staying up until 1 in the morning (Pacific Time) to watch the women's triathlon? Me either. I've set the DVR, though, and will watch it while lounging about in my sweats with a cup of tea tomorrow morning. Hey, at least I'll be wearing athletic clothing.

I could, of course, always watch the triathlon while also commemorating the life and invention of William Staub, the man behind the treadmill we know and love today. He died, as seems only fair, at the age of 96.

Early on, Mr. Staub’s son Gerald designed an on-off switch that could be mounted on the handlebars. His father was perplexed.

“My father said, ‘Well, why would you want to do that?’ ” Thomas Staub said. “My brother said, ‘To make it easier for people.’ And my dad said, ‘But it’s an exercise device.’ ”

He has a point.

Another notable obituary this week for Thelma Glass, "the last surviving member of a black women’s group that in 1955 organized a yearlong bus boycott in Montgomery, Ala." She was 96. She taught geography at Alabama State University for 40 years. The obituary ends, "On July 20, just a few days before her death, Professor Glass attended a black tie gala at the university, clad in an elegant gown." That's the way to do it.

Speaking of elegant gowns--well, I'm not sure "elegant" is the right word, but Tom & Lorenzo have a fabulous (and opinionated) take on the gown that Kate Beckinsale wore to the premiere of Total Recall. Behold:

You got a big-ass science fiction film coming out? You don’t wear something demure and colorless; you wear something big and science-fictiony. You break out your muthafuckin Lizard Queen dress, bitches, and you conquer that red carpet like it’s loaded with potential slaves for your Space Lizard Empire. This is the kind of dress that immediately causes its wearer to stand up a little straighter and resist the overwhelming urge to shout things like “SEIZE THEM!!!!!”

Where's my Lizard Queen dress, minions? Oh, right. I'm looking forward to wearing sweats. To watch the Olympics. While potentially eating some zucchini and apricot muffins. I've got to do something with all these zucchinis. 

I don't know, though. It seems cruel to eat them when they're all snuggled together like this. Besides, does a Lizard Queen actually eat vegetables?

"What's the Fuss About?" Sunday: 8 Tips for creating a more welcoming church

It seems to me that this Sunday is an amazing opportunity for Episcopal Churches to reach out to people in the community and introduce themselves.  I mean, you've had publicity that money can't buy, what with editorials in the NY Times and the Wall Street Journal as well as amazing rebuttals to said editorials in the Huffington Post and elsewhere.

I say strike while the iron's hot! Let's quit talking back and forth amongst ourselves and to the critics, and reach out to people who have no clue what the Episcopal Church is or what it's about but might be curious to know.

Easy for me to say, not being a parochial priest (oh, and that right there? That's inside baseball lingo--"what's a parochial priest?" is the kind of question the person I'm thinking about will be asking--or really doesn't care about at all). That being said, here's some thoughts on what I would suggest to make "What's the Fuss About?" Sunday a welcoming event for your parish.

1. Use both newfangled social media and old fashioned elbow grease to publicize the heck out of it quickly There's the sexy newfangled ways of publicizing things: Creating and sharing an event on Facebook seems an obvious point of entry. Then there's blogging (not just yours; what about your parishioners? blogs pertaining to community news?), twitter, enewsletters (again: not just your church's enewsletters), posting a special announcement on your Yelp profile (what? You haven't checked your church's Yelp profile?) or Foursquare page. But then there's the down and dirty analog methods. Write a press release! Leaflet the neighborhood! Or--here's a thought--create flyers and put them on the windshields of cars at the local grocery store!

2.  Create an avenue to ask for feedback One of the most invaluable gifts any new people can give you is the gift of their perspective. What helped them? What didn't? What was confusing? What was welcoming? What impression did your church give them overall? I'm thinking create an insert for your bulletin that has a link to an online survey so that people who attend can give their anonymous, honest feedback. They don't even have to be new. (I know people will do this last, but you'll need time to get it in place.)

3.  One word: SIGNAGE! Why do you think real estate agents put out signs when they're hosting an open house? People see a sign and drop in. Put a couple of signs out where people driving by can see them.

4. Have your ushers stand outside the doors on Sunday You know what's the hardest thing to do when you go to a new church? Walk through the doors. I say this as a person who goes to new churches as a priest incognito. If I find it difficult, if I find those church doors imposing, imagine what it's like for people for whom church is a completely foreign environment. If you have some friendly folks outside who can help with that very difficult threshold (literally), people will find it easier to enter.

5. Announce up front that people can come and go Thank people for coming. Let go of the desire to turn any of these folks into members. This is your gift to them to see who you are as a congregation and as a denomination.

Kudos to you, Church of the Advent, Birmingham!

6. Have a welcoming table! If you have ever visited a megachurch, you'll see they do welcoming really well. One thing they do is provide a way for newcomers to get information in a way that is non-threatening. You know one thing that is not non-threatening? Having newcomers stand up. You know another thing that is not non-threatening? Having your newcomers wear a badge that loudly proclaims "NEWCOMER!" so that old-time members can ostensibly approach the mortified newcomer and say hello. You know what works instead? MAKING THE WELCOMERS STAND OUT SO THE NEWCOMERS CAN BLEND IN! Having the welcomers at a station such as a table with materials on it can allow newcomers to sidle over, ask questions if they wish, and talk with friendly people. Kind of like being in the exhibit hall at General Convention. And have a little more than that old registry for visitors, would you? Make sure there's information for them, not just data for you.

7. Have a clear message about your congregation and about the Episcopal Church If there is one thing you want people to know, what is it? How can you convey that in your words and in your actions? If the one thing you want people know is "The Episcopal Church welcomes you," how can your bulletin say, "We welcome you"? Your sermon? Your announcements? Your coffee hour?

8. Beware the curse of knowledge! I remember going to a new church one time and a person got up for announcements and said something like "The Blabbety Guild will meet at the usual time in the Falalalala Room for our monthly movie night." Now, I like movies. I might have liked to go to the movie night. I didn't have a clue a) if I was invited; b) what the "usual time" was; or c) where the Falalalala Room might be. Beware the curse of knowledge! (See also: "parochial priest," above.) Put yourself in a newcomer's shoes. Look with your special eyes. Or if you, like me, tend to slip, say up front, "If I'm saying something that's unfamiliar jargon, please let me know."Oh, and hint: most people do not care about General Convention minutiae.

So anyway. There's my 2 cents. Obviously, some of these suggestions might be useful for more than one special Sunday.

As far as a potential "What's the Fuss About?" Sunday goes, given that I thought this up while driving home today, you may have more well-thought-through plans or ideas than I do. Please leave them in the comments!

Various & Sundry, May 18

Would it surprise you to find out your mother was a spy? I loved this article about the woman who left the CIA to become a children's book author.  Must have come as a shock to her daughter, though.

“When Hana turned 8, I took her to the International Spy Museum for a fun program they hold, called Operation Secret Slumber. I gave the keynote talk, telling the assembled kids about the real work of spies. Hana was in the back of the room, but I saw her hand shoot up into the air. Wonderment spread across her face, she blurted out ‘So you’re here because you’re the spy?’"

Surprise!

James Lipton offers advice to Mitt Romney on How to Act Human. It's quite specific: how to laugh, how to hold your arms, problems of casting. I thought it was a fascinating insight into how actors observe someone playing the role of a public figure.

If you want some inspiration, read this story about the Columbia University janitor who just graduated with a degree in Classics.  With Honors.  After 12 years. That's after the six years he spent learning English. Truly impressive.

As a classics major, I wonder if he would approve of Dante's Inferno in Lego form.  Or would he think it was a heresy.

Internet Monk offers a lost parable of Jesus: the Sugar of the Earth.

And Jesus spoke to them and said, “You are the powdered sugar of the earth. As sugar is sprinkled on cakes and cookies to make them attractive and exceedingly sweet, so you shall make my church the most delightful confection the world has known. For the children of this world have an insatiable sweet tooth, and you shall satisfy those who hunger and thirst for empty calories."

Yes, it's slightly bitter.  But oh so good.

Also deliciously bitter, this letter W.H. Auden sent to his priest at St. Mark's in the Bowery.  Liturgy geeks, enjoy. Everyone else, you may go about your day in a practical manner.

Monday Morning Preacher: Easter redux

At 10:48 pm on Saturday night, I posted on my Facebook page: "Guess it's time to get started on the Easter sermon."  I wasn't kidding.  Well, I was and I wasn't.  I'd been pondering for ages, but writing? Not so much.  Boy, was I glad not to have a Vigil to do as well. Whew! Good Friday and Easter Sunday were plenty for me.

Sermon writing outfit

This is only the second time I've preached on Easter Sunday.  The other time was my very first year out of seminary; I was still a transitional deacon at that point.  The rector offered me the gig and I fell all over myself thanking him.  He told me, "I'm not doing you any favors." He was so right. Easter is a tough, tough gig. Can I get an amen?

For all that I was putting it together until 7 AM Sunday morning, I thought the sermon turned out well.  It helped a lot that I did indeed have a clear idea of what I wanted to say long before I started writing things down.  The other thing that helped immensely was a book called Roll Back the Stone: Death and Burial in the World of Jesus , much of which I could read on Google Books.  For me, at least, it helped to picture what it was the women were expecting to see.  I hope it helped the congregation as well.

Sermon preaching outfit

The congregation, by the way, was wonderful.  If you have a congregation that laughs at your jokes and responds when you ask questions, it makes preaching so much easier and more fun.  And I have found that almost every congregation is willing to do that, willing to be with you in the midst of the preaching, so I do try to invite them in to participate--mostly for my sake.  It just feels so much better preaching when you don't feel like you're talking to yourself. So, thank you, St. Giles!

And Happy Easter, everyone! How did it go for you?

Various & Sundry, March 16: Curmudgeons, zombies, muppets

In case you haven't been keeping track of Lent Madness, we're now in the round of Saintly Sixteen, and today is the Battle of the Curmudgeons! Philander Chase faces off against Jerome, and I think it's the end of the road for ol' Phil, there.  But that's OK.  I like Jerome.  Still time to vote, though!

I think my blood pressure has finally returned to normal regarding the Kony 2012 video.  One last thing--maybe, we'll see--that I want to pass on to you is this blog post from Independent Global Citizen that answers the question, "So what do I do if I want to make a difference in Africa?" The answer? "My experiences have revealed an effective way to have an impact. Build sincere relationships with Africans. That’s it."

The results of the recent survey asking you what you wanted in The Infusion revealed most of you are not particularly worried about the impending zombie apocalypse.  Fine.  Be that way.  I still think you might want a white chocolate zombie rabbit for Easter.  At last a good reason to eat the head off first.

In other blood-spattered news, I'm looking forward to The Happytime Murders, a film noir featuring muppets!  Anibundel has the report:

[E]x-cop Phil Phillips...exists in a world where puppets are acknowledged but play second fiddle to humans. Phil is searching for a serial killer who murdered his brother and is now targeting cast members of ’80s television show, The Happytime Gang. The catch? The clues to the killer’s identity begin to point back to Phil himself.

I am so there.

The Infusion is 5!

The Infusion is five years old today. Can you believe it? I sure can't.

As I tried to figure out how to mark this milestone, I've gone back and read through almost everything I wrote over those years. First of all, there's a lot! Over 1400 posts, if you can believe it, over 280 posts a year--not counting the posts I wrote from Uganda. Astonishing.

Second of all, it's not bad, in my opinion. There's not a whole lot of stuff that I read and cringe, which is a relief (though this post does make me wince a little). In fact, there's quite a bit I think, "Hey, that's pretty good!" I'd be willing to post them again...if that would interest you.

 In fact, I'd like your opinions about a couple of things. If you would take a moment to take the survey below, I'd be mighty grateful. That means you, too, lurker types. I know you're out there; I've seen the stats. What would you like to see on The Infusion in the future? And do feel free to offer further feedback or suggestions in the comments.

My thanks to any and all of you who take the trouble to stop by and read what I write.  I'm mighty grateful.  This is fun to do, but it would seem mighty futile if I didn't know that you were out there. I hope The Infusion is a worthwhile and hospitable waypost as you gad about on the internet. Thank you for your input. (The survey will be open for 1 week, unless weird stuff happens.)

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey, the world's leading questionnaire tool.

You can also click here to take the survey. Thank you!

Review: Zone One

What better beach reading can there be than your basic literary zombie novel?  To tell you the truth, I had put off reading Zone One by Colson Whitehead for quite some time because I thought having zombies as the last thing in my head before turning out the light would be a bad idea.   Much better to read it in full daylight on an island thousands of miles away from the zombie-ridden apocalypse that is the mainland.  And if worse comes to worst and some zombies make it to Hawaii, you can always shanghai a boat.  That's what I would do.

Wise move on my part (the postponed reading, that is, not stealing a boat).  I still had a zombie nightmare.  But I'm also really glad I read this book.

I love Colson Whitehead's writing (he also is one of the more interesting people I follow on Twitter--always unique), and though I haven't read everything of his, I'm always very glad when another of his novels comes out. (Other favorites: The Intuitionist (which I want to see turned into a movie starring Viola Davis) and Apex Hides the Hurt.)

I remembered why, reading Zone One.  I find myself trusting that Whitehead will answer the questions he raises.  He doesn't do it right away, but I find as I go along that he doesn't forget about that thing he brought up and didn't resolve; he'll get to it. And so though I found myself tense simply due to the tension in the situation, I didn't worry that Whitehead as a writer or storyteller would let me down.

Oh, the book.  Well, you know the drill: zombie apocalypse. people on the run, trying to rebuild society, blood, eviscerations, and blasting zombie heads off, blah, blah, blah.  Our protagonist, given the nickname Mark Spitz for reasons to be revealed much later, is part of a volunteer crew asked to help clean the less-active zombies out of Manhattan.  Only a couple more days and his team can head back to Fort Wonton in Chinatown for R&R.  Maybe things will get better.  Maybe they won't.  Nothing in Mark Spitz's experience suggests hoping for the best is anything but a bad idea.  But he carries on, likes some of the people he works with on Omega team, doesn't connect too much, thinks about the past a lot.

What is compelling about Mark Spitz is his insistence in his mediocrity, and that it is his uncanny skill to get by with minimum effort that has allowed him to survive this long.  He puts a lot of stock into this skill, and soon I did too.  He's not particularly heroic, but I figure he'll get by, somehow.

I am still thinking about this book.  I'm not sure I can tell you "what it was about." I'm not sure that matters.  If you insist, I'd say it's a meditation on success and survival and civilization and loss. It's a zombie novel. It's really good. You read it.  You tell me.

Various & Sundry, New Year's edition

It's been a while since I did a V&S post--and I'm not promising to be faithful about it, mind you.  But I'm in a mood to post and I've seen some interesting things float by, so here you go.

Best Obituary Ever award goes to Jennifer Anne Church who died on New Years Day. Really, you must read it all to get the full impact, but if you don't want to, here's the heart of it:

Mrs. Church worked for nearly 30 years in Harrisonburg, Lynchburg and Roanoke as registered nurse specializing in gerontology. Her death was the result of a vicious attack by a renegade pack of Miniature Schnauzers. With her bulldog, Bella, at her side, she fought gallantly. Mrs. Church had a unique sense of humor and seldom followed a path of traditionalism.

Hmmm...you don't say.  A follow-up article in the Roanoke Times goes into detail. I also like the part about offering a bottle of wine in lieu of flowers.

Bravest Blog Post Ever award goes to The Bloggess for revealing her struggles with depression and self-harm in a forum where she could easily have been attacked by Miniature Schnauzers.  She writes,

I hope to one day I see a sea of people all wearing silver ribbons as a sign that they understand the secret battle and that they celebrate the victories made each day as we individually pull ourselves up out of our foxholes to see our scars heal, and to remember what the sun looks like.

I hope so too.

Best Life Ever goes to Rob who blogs at A Gardeners Calendar.  "I work as a gardener on an English country estate and this is a journal of my life here," he says in this profile, and I have been more jealous than I have ever been of anyone this week as he has recounted his daily schedule.  Let's take a look at what he did yesterday morning, shall we?

Calendar For Today.
07:05 - 07:20 Get up and dressed ( Personal record )

07:20 - 07:30 Prepare the dogs dinner ( Personal record )

07:30 - 07:50 Walking the dogs ( Personal record )
 Note: Took Tommy and Tess as far as the horse field.

08:00 - 08:30 Had breakfast ( Personal record )
 Note: Had a bowl of Cornflakes and a mug of tea.

08:30 - 08:50 See to the sheep ( Work Book )
 Note: Took across some hay. Checked and counted the sheep.

08:50 - 09:00 Check the fruit store ( Work Book )
 Note: Check the mouse trap set yesterday, there was nothing in it.

09:00 - 09:15 See to the greenhouses ( Work Book )
 Note: Checked round.

09:15 - 10:30 Potting up ( Work Book )
 Note: Dug up some Chrysanths and put them into pots ready to take some cuttings from.

10:30 - 10:50 Break for tea. ( Personal record )
 Note: Had a mug of tea and a couple of chocolate biscuits.

10:50 - 12:45 Pruning ( Work Book )
 Note: Made a start on pruning the raspberries.

***
 He'll make up for it in the spring, summer, and fall, though. Won't you, Rob? Or am I going to have to be eaten by jealousy all year round?

I was very touched by the blog The Adventures of Homeless Girl which I found when someone tweeted her most popular post, Should You Give a Homeless Person Money?  I appreciated her insight on this question as well as her follow-up post.

Finally, for you Anglican music lovers out there, today I found a list of the Best Anthems in the Anglican Choral Tradition.  If there's something you think is missing, you can add it on.  In the meantime, enjoy!

Dinosaur clean up on Aisle 5: A guest post from LKT's mom

As you can guess, I've been too busy to blog, which makes me unhappy. I was going to write something about the very cool trip my parents recently took and then I thought--hey! I'll just get them to write it! Thank you, mom, for being my first guest blogger! (I note that you didn't include any photos of yourself. Hmph.)

An Archeopteryx is thought to be an intermediate
between modern birds and predatory dinosaurs.  

 So what can only be found in Berlin Germany, London England and Thermopolis, Wyoming? Give up? Why a fossil of an Archeopteryx of course.

A few weeks ago we (LKT's mom and dad) spent an amazing week at the Wyoming Dinosaur Center in Thermopolis, a town of 3500 people in the middle of Wyoming, with a Road Scholar program learning how to prepare dinosaur bones.

We spent hours and hours hunched over a camarasaurus femur using toothbrushes, water and dental picks to remove mud then transitioned to small hand held jack hammer like tools to deal with the rock or matrix that still surrounded parts of the bone. This was followed by an application of an epoxy to repair and stabilize thin or broken parts.

Dinosaur femur pre-cleaning 

LKT's father engaged in femur cleaning. They paid to do this!

Stegasaurus bones

We got to see the bones for a Stegasaurus  already prepared and laid out ready to assemble as well as how foam casts are used for missing parts or parts too heavy to mount (see below). The hours, days and years necessary for preparing the final displays we see in the museums are many and speak to a dedication on the part of some pretty special folks. We were delighted to be a part of this for a short time.  

Foam casts of bones

More photos from the exhibits at the Dinosaur Museum below:

Awww...mama and baby dinosaurs--how cute!

The Dinosaur Museum in Thermopolis, WY

My new fake band

A friend of mine posted this exercise in procrastination bagatelle on Facebook yesterday, so I thought I'd pass it along so that you don't get anything done either just for fun.

1- Go to Wikipedia and hit Random article, found in the left sidebar. The first random Wikipedia article you get is the name of your band.
2 - Go to quotationspage.com and hit Random Quotes, also in the left sidebar. The last few words of the very last quote of the page is the title of your first album.
3 - Go to flickr and click on “explore the last seven days” under the "Explore" tab on top. The third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover
4 - Use photoshop or similar (picnik.com is a free online photo editor) to put it all together.
5 - Post it with this text and invite friends to join in.

With that, I am pleased to announce that my new fake band, the London Country Bus Services, has just put out its first album, Rich Man Poor, available nowhere.

What's your new fake band?

Excuses, excuses

Sorry for the light blogging.  I'm trying to catch up on the things that got pushed back over Christmas.  Regular service will resume...soon.  Maybe.  In the meantime, here's another fabulous letter from my great-aunt's sweetheart.

Discernment is driving me crazy

Last week I linked to a blog entry entitled Discernment Looks Boring which talked about the new Harry Potter movie and how its slowness was representative of the hard work of discernment.

I realized today that I'm also struggling with discernment with this whole job search process. The running around and doing things part is easy; the actual sitting down and figuring out what I want to do? Not so much.

I've spent all morning doing stuff and avoiding the thinking stuff. As soon as I post this, I will shut down the computer and go and think.

The big question is "what do I want to do?" Since my answer to that is, I don't have a clue, the first thing I need to figure out are what are the smaller components that add up to "what I want to do."

Finding a job is hard enough. I had no idea it was going to be that much harder to find out what kind of job I'm looking for. What a slog! Keep me in your thoughts and prayers.

Turning off computer now.

Really good stuff that other people wrote, October 15

So many this week! So let's start with a picture.

This has been making the rounds, and rightly so. (I first saw it courtesy of Stephen Fry's Twitter feed, of all things, but it's been showing up a lot of places.) I think you can click for a larger image, but if not, go to the link above.

So when you get annoyed when people suspect you are from SOUTHERN California, imagine how an Ethiopian feels when people ask what it's like in South Africa.

My fave Ta-Nehisi Coates asks his readers, "What does it mean among white people to be considered racist?" He is astonished at what he learns from his commenters.

Peacebang posted this link with SHOCKING TRUTHS! about church growth. The ones that shocked me most: Church membership is unimportant; and debt freedom always leads to church decline. Wow! Very provocative.

Frequent commenter Elisabeth has started a blog called Songs of a Soul Journey. I particularly appreciated her entry on Silly Bandz, something I only learned about last week when one of the kids at church was sporting about 6 inches-worth of them on his wrist.

Finally, having consumed a good portion of a red velvet cake this week, I deeply appreciated the new comic/memoir The God of Cake at Hyperbole and a Half. You know you want some cake, don't you, little girl?

All right, but just one piece.

Enjoy!

Obsession or OCD: you decide

This
|
|
\/

is made out of 250,000 Euro cent coins.

These people are nuts.

It's pretty incredible, though.

h/t Design Fetish