Morning treadmill walk done, mug of Scottish tea two hours ago, then a large glass of vinegar water (try it, you may like it, Sam I Am).  WiFi is down, restart the device says the Network Diagnostics guide. Can’t do that because Linda is still asleep upstairs where it’s located. So, on the iPad turn off WiFi and 3G comes on. Back on line with iPad 3G. In the news. Meteorites slam into Russia as meteor seen streaking through the morning sky. Friday 150 foot asteroid will buzz earth, missing by 17150 miles.  Christopher Dorner’s mother expresses deep sorrow for his actions. Because of the horrific acts he committed the man is no hero, but it shows what comes of racism, which should come as news to nobody. Carnival Triumph safely in port in Mobile, Alabama.  Cruises have gotten to be popular and inexpensive all inclusive ways to vacation. We’ve enjoyed three cruises, Disney Carnival Disney. Little interested in another cruise except possibly roundtrip A...

First Sunday in Lent Almighty God, whose blessed Son was led by the Spirit to be tempted of Satan; Make speed to help thy servants who are assaulted by manifold temptations; and, as thou knowest their several infirmities, let each one find thee mighty to save; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. On page 237 of William Bright’s book Ancient Collects is this collect, from which comes our present Collect for the First Sunday in Lent: For the Tempted. Merciful and faithful High Priest, Who didst deign for us to be tempted of Satan; make speed to aid Thy servants who are assaulted by manifold temptations; and as Thou knowest their several infirmities, let each one find Thee mighty to save, Who livest, &c. Amazing what’s available on the internet. Bright’s book is there, including the ownership annotation that someone wrote inside the front cover in December 1865; his book, for ...

As a Navy officer myself, the tragedy of Christopher Dorner hits me hard every time he’s pictured as an officer of the United States Navy. The happy, intelligent man wearing a huge smile and the uniform of a Navy two-striper had potential for life, both as a naval officer and as a policeman. The evil that brought him down and drove him to destroy his own life and the lives of several other people and families, including murdering at least four human beings, is terrible to think about. It seems clear from reading news reports that as an LAPD officer he was the victim of inexcusable and unforgivable morally criminal racism. His developing hatred and seething rage over that experience in the years since his unjust firing brought him to his final inferno in life, understandable to anyone but a moron. Only the most obtuse of us would expect the outcome to be otherwise when a man is treated so badly and unjustly as part of an evil, racist culture. And it is no wonder to read that he had a ...

Spiritual Frididaire: What’s that horrible smell? Week of Last Epiphany (BCP p. 950) Tuesday 26, 28 v 36, 39 Deut. 6:16-25 Heb. 2:1-10 John 1:19-28 Having done my early morning time on the treadmill, and remembering my assertion that the +Time blog is for my mental exercise, who cares that nobody is going to read all of this -- my nonsense is my term for it, though not the scriptural part, μὴ γένοιτο . In all the perturbation about the Pope stepping down, no one will notice me casting spells, so as for those who skip today’s post as too biblical, let them be anathema, eh? A pox upon them and may their pancakes have weevils. For any who do not understand the sense of Shrove Tuesday, today’s Scripture might help, though Psalm 26 does bring to mind Jesus’ parable of the Pharisee and the Publican , the smug self-righteous at prayer and praise, oh my goodness.       Deuteronomy 6:16-25 (NRSV) 16 Do not put t...

Dark Chocolate Hear this, O elders,    give ear, all inhabitants of the land! Has such a thing happened in your days,    or in the days of your ancestors?  Tell your children of it,    and let your children tell their children,    and their children another generation.  It would be heresy to say Lent is fun, but Lent is certainly an interesting season, especially perhaps its opening gate.  Sanctify a fast,    call a solemn assembly. Coming up against Lent, we “shrive” the house and our lives of wicked things, sin and sweets and fatty foods, and having shrived, shrove, shriven, we gorge on a gluttonous stack of pancakes loaded with butter and sweet syrup on Mardi Gras, “fat Tuesday.”  What the cutting locust left,    the swarming locust has eaten. What the swarming locust left,    the hopping locust has eaten, and what the...

Sunset can be a nostalgic, sentimental time, even maudlin (comes from Mary Magdalene, which the English pronounce "Mary Maudlin," as the weeping woman), but it doesn’t need to be. When we were at the University of Michigan fifty years ago and I was 27 instead of 77, we lived in a mainly student housing development in Ann Arbor. It was obviously a World War II housing project for military or civilian war workers. To the west of us was a wide open field that often yielded magnificent sunsets. Sometimes -- especially at the end of our time there when Linda and the children had taken the train home to Panama City and I stayed behind to finish exams and work with the movers to pack us up for our move to Japan -- I would go sit out in the field, watch the sunset, and write poetry. Incredibly mawkish doggerel. All the more so with a couple of Ann Arbor beers. No poet, I’m no photographer either, but my iPhone takes good pictures here in Alfred’s front yard. Creati...

News Headlines Asteroid 2012 DA14 to fly within 17,200 miles of earth on February 15, inside the orbit of some weather and other satellites. My thoughts. (1) will I be able to see it? (2) what damage would it cause if it collided with earth? No, it'll be over the Indian Ocean. Minor, only catastrophic if it hits  your town. Bronx Beer Hall on Arthur Avenue serves a brew named after the borough’s founder, Jonas Bronck.  I n my job interviews before Navy retirement in February 1978, a defense firm in Brooklyn asked, “Will you take the job if we offer it to you right now?” Mouth: “No, because you are not going to offer it at our first meeting, you have better sense.” Brain: if I accept a job in Brooklyn Linda will raise the same hell she raised against that offer in Chicago, Illinois.   Boy Scouts Say Gay Debate Was Ignited by a Leak Run up the flag and see who salutes: battle cry of the homophobes, the most vociferous of whom are secretly in th...