Ramblin' with Roger

Iraq Plus Five

I’m not quite sure what more there is to say. Just this month, there was a study discounting the Saddam Hussein/Al-Qaeda link. This follows this 2007 report, which merely confirms what the 9/11 Commission said back in 2004. I won’t even talk about the expense, which is now calculated in the TRILLIONS of dollars.

Here’s a website tracking the casualties. Let us pray that we’re NOT there for another hundred years.
***
I need to write more on this, but let me say that I really liked Obama’s speech on race.

ROG

1. Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages).
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people.

Well, I happened to be in the public library so I went to the nearest shelf, which happens to have been the 7-day loan fiction, i.e. recent popular fiction, and got Street Love: A Triple Crown Anthology (2007). From The Fink, by Quentin Carter:
Not bionic. Not super. Just lil ole Shania Freeman.

Eh, try again. Nikki Turner presents Street Chronicles: Tales from da Hood (2006). From the story 360 by The Ghost:
The two agents walked out the door. They’d gotten what they wanted. Cojack’s mother kissed him on the cheek, sat down with him for a while, then headed home to get some rest.”

Well, that was better. One more time: The Lost Diary of Don Juan by Douglas Carlton Abrahams(2007):
My interest today, however, was in only one daughter, and from what I had seen, she was hardly defenseless.
The Marquis’s palace was an enormous brown stone edifice with three curved balconies and many large windows surrounded by decorative columns. Two guards stood by the door, and over their clothes they wore the sleeveless blue tunic that bore the Marquis’s coat of arms, with a castle and lion embroidered in gold.

OK, consider yourselves tagged if you haven’t posted in the past 33 days.
ROG

An Irish Blessing

(Found here)

From JEOPARDY!, Thursday, May 17, 2007
The largest art theft in U.S. history was at 1:24 a.m. on this date in 1990, while Boston slumbered after partying.
***
Apparently, there could have been some ethno-theological near-catastrophe going on today: St. Patrick’s Day arrived during Holy Week. This convergence hasn’t happened since 1940, when the wearing of the green collided with Palm Sunday, and before that, 1913, with the holiday on Monday of the sacred period. Of course, Albany, with its large Irish Catholic population, had its parade, check that, PARADES and The St. Patrick’s Day mass, which CANNOT, apparently, be substituted for one of the Holy Week masses, on Saturday. So there can be time for both the saints AND the sinners, who, of course, are usually the same people.

Naturally, every day is St. Patrick’s Day for me; with a name like Roger O’Green, how can it be otherwise?

So my friend Mary sent me some appropriate factoids from something called FITNET:

There is a factoid floating around that Coca-Cola was originally green. To the best of my research this is false and would fall under the category of urban legend. Although the concoction was at one time sold in green bottles. Maybe the rumor was related to the position the company takes on the environment.

“Lord, keep my memory green.” -Charles Dickens

“Research is a scientific activity dedicated to discovering what makes grass green.” -Russell Baker

“A stockbroker urged me to buy a stock that would triple its value every year. I told him, ‘At my age, I don’t even buy green bananas.'” -Claude Pepper

“Are you green and growing or ripe and rotting?” -Ray Kroc

“Do not call for black power or green power. Call for brain power.” -Barbara Jordan

“If you can sell green toothpaste in this country, you can sell opera.” -Sarah Caldwell

“I was the toast of two continents: Greenland and Australia.” -Dorothy Parker

“It’s not easy being green.” -Kermit the Frog
***
The JEOPARDY! question: What is March 18? (Check the time!)

ROG

Pray without Ceasing

During Lent, our adult education classes on Sundays and our Lenten devotional classes on Thursdays have been devoted to prayer. Sometimes, the lessons actually stick, such as the idea of praying when I turn on the computer when I get to work in the morning, then praying again when I turn it off. Of course, the way my work computer is acting lately, probably I SHOULD pray for its continued operational well-being. The worksheet also suggests setting up a screen saver with a meaningful Bible verse or enter a password of religious import. The latter I almost certainly WON’T do, only because I’m having trouble keeping track of the eight I’m rotating through as it is.

I’ve also embraced the notion of praying the newspaper, the idea of praying for those who have suffered that I read about, but also for the writer of the story who may have some residual pain over having to convey the bad news. One of the things I’ve been doing in Albany for decades is stopping when I see an emergency vehicle approach an intersection, for thrice I have seen accidents of drivers not yielding, twice at the same corner; I suppose offering up a prayer in that case couldn’t hurt.

The one thing I have embraced, surprisingly, is putting together some beads on a string with a list of things that are important. I was surprised because I suppose that it felt a little papist. (Of course, some Unitarians I used to know probably think the candle that is lit in the beginning of every session to remind us of the presence of Jesus is probably papist.) In any case, one can put together four beads for the four seasons or for the four directions. It could be seven for the days of the week or ten for the Commandments.

Somehow, mine came from a Bible verse that I memorized, WAY back in the day when I used to do that for my Friday night Bible club, which was when I was 10 to 16 years old. The one (or technically, ones) that popped out: Galatians 5:22-23 – “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.” That’s the King James Version. The New International Version might make more linguistic sense: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” However, I remember it in the KJ version, so that’s what I use, moving a bead with each of the nine words starting with love.

I think that perhaps the seeming rigidity of organized religion has rendered certain activities void of meaning for many people. To that I say, start your own ritual with whatever is meaningful for you.
***
My church choir is performing the Duruflé Requiem Good Friday, March 21, 2008.

ROG

Getting To Know You

Three people played my little quiz last week. One, Scott, answered in his blog. One, M., answered by e-mail, and the third, Uthaclena, answered in the comments.

So, now, beware: it’s my time to turn the tables and see if I can answer the same questions about them.

Where did we meet (can be electronically – if so, how did you come to this blog, and if applicable, how did I come to yours)?
S: Actually, I think he linked to my blog, or at least cited my blog, I noticed in Technorati. So I went to his blog, liked what I saw, and voila.
M: At church, mid-to-late 1980s.
U: September 12, 1971 in the basement of Bliss Hall, State University College at New Paltz, probably in a food line.

Take a stab at my middle name.
S: No idea. Bet it starts with a consonant.
M: Starts with L. Louise? No idea.
U: Starts with A.
Yes, my middle name is Owen.

Do I smoke?
S: The rare cigar.
M: No.
U: Nothing legal.
No, I don’t.

Color of my eyes.
S: Look bluish in photos.
M: Brown
U: Brown.
Mine are brown.

Do I have any siblings? If so, where am I in the birth order?
S: Fortunately, you answered that here. You’re the eldest, as am I.
M: Seems as though I’ve met a brother who I think is older.
U: You have two younger brothers.
I have two younger sisters, Leslie and and Marcia.

What’s one of my favorite things to do?
S: Listen to music.
M: Listen to music.
U: Listen to music.
Whereas I NEVER listen to music, he lied.

What’s my favorite type of music?
S: Prog rock.
M: At your wedding, you had someone play Ripple, so I’m going with the Dead, though you certainly like your Beatles.
U: While you like your 1960s music, you also appreciate progressive jazz.
My tastes are fairly eclectic, though 1960s Motown and Beatles are important.

Am I shy or outgoing?
S: Comfortable in your own skin.
M: Shyly outgoing.
U: Depends on the situation.
I’m probably more shy than people think.

Am I a rebel or do I follow the rules?
S: Tries to keep to the rules, except when they don’t make sense.
M: Definitely knows the rules, will follow them if necessary.
U: Hates many of the rules, avoids them when he can, suffers them when he can’t.
ME? I subvert the stupid ones whenever possible.

Any special talents?
S: You know more about hockey than I will ever know.
M: You’re extremely talented at putting people at ease.
U: Your time as a bartender has served you well.
U identified my kazoo skills.

How many children do I have?
S: You are always making plans for Nigel.
M: One under 18, plus.
U: A daughter named after your middle name, but spelled differently.
I have Lydia.

If you and I were stranded on a desert island, what is one thing that I would
bring?
S: Some tome.
M: A first aid kit.
U: Sufficient firewood.
Me? A World Almanac

AND for a bonus question, you can share any other factoid you deign to share, as long as it’s about me, and it’s truthful. Preferably not mean.
S: He has a very spiritual side, quite possibly more than he realizes.
M: She used to be a party animal!
U: About the only person who could actually blackmail me.

ROG