Somebody had a whole playlist of “eclipse-related” songs; Monday’s “Totally Random Song of the Day” was “Steal My Sunshine” by Len. (It blows my mind that the song is 25 years old already - how is that possible?) However, both this eclipse and the one in 2017 brought to mind Carly Simon’s song “You’re So Vain” which includes the line about travelling to Nova Scotia to see the total eclipse of the sun (referencing the total eclipse of 10 July 1972). It seems the next total eclipse visible from Nova Scotia will be May 1, 2079. If I’m still here, it may be a nice trip!
The weather’s been quite nice - it truly feels like spring. I’ve done some work outside, and noticed that somewhere in here, the grass is looking shaggy again. I’m not trying to get nuts about the lawn, but keeping up with it seems to help control some of the weeds - or, at the very least, the lawn looks less dominated by dandelions. In any case, the mourning doves may be moving back in so we’re watching that intently.
Writing
Reading
'Wheel of Fortune' Reveals Date of Pat Sajak's Farewell Show - Breitbart | The end of an era
Man arrested after staying 80 nights in hotel and being unable to pay bill - Japan Today | Just weird news
Uber, Lyft to stop services in Minneapolis after city council passes wage requirement for rideshare companies - The Post Millennial | Does nobody understand the concept of consequences?
Philadelphia Eid event shooting injures 3, including teen shot by officer; 5 arrested - Fox 29 Philadelphia | For a few short minutes, the banners were starting to go across news sites blaring out news of what might be a “hate crime”. Looks like it was merely another day in Philadelphia, so it’s not news anymore.
Experts say Wisconsin woman who at 12 nearly killed girl isn't ready to leave psychiatric center | She shouldn’t be allowed to leave for many, many years. I suspect that she’s still being held because the story was so big that there’s still a big “outrage” factor here in Wisconsin over it.
U.S. Postal Service Announces Sixth Price Increase Since 2020 - Breitbart | And yet, I still believe that they lose over a dollar for every Amazon package they deliver. We can pay for that though!
Oral history interview with Christopher McGarvey, 2022 | Gateway Digital History Collections
Praying for a miracle, the miracles that prayer bring about:
Patience and persistence paying off:
A discussion on whether “online Orthodoxy” oversteps the bounds of the Church & whether it’s actually doing any good:
This was interesting, but seems to be more of a “guilt by association” thing than a whole lot of concrete evidence:
Listening
Giorgio - A modern-day miracle story:
The Vital Sign of Beauty:
One of my online acquaintances here made the comment this week that it seems like I’m always trying to see the good in everybody. I think this is part of what I’m supposed to do, but not be naive about it. For a lot of reasons, this was hard to listen to, but it’s amazing how the love of one or two people and their “small” kindnesses could bring a soul back from the brink:
Music
Roberta Flack - Killing Me Softly With His Song (Official Video)
Len - Steal My Sunshine
Carly Simon - You're So Vain
Primrose Hill - a new McCartney-Lennon-Ono tune. Well James McCartney and Sean Lennon-Ono. Shockingly, (or not) it reminds me a lot of Oasis.
Tetris “Type A” on dulcimer
Laugh
Turtle on a skateboard
Sun and moon in conversation during an eclipse
Working out and playing at the same time
Learn
The Year That Killed Received Pronunciation (RP)
As I am very close to the email length limit, let me know your thoughts!
It's funny, Steven Christoforou was actually in my Parish this morning giving a FOCUS speech.. He opened his address by noting how much the church has ballooned in the last year since he has last been here. He seemed sincere in the belief thatbthe church was authentically growing.
He seemed like a nice guy, and I definitely appreciate the work he has done locally with FOCUS for my Parish. But it is interesting to see these thoughts from him, especially when his content seems to still be focused on forms of "teaching and preaching". And certainly his older content is still available in that regard. He claims.ro be a "former" Orthodox content creator, but there is plenty of Orthodox content still being created. And clearly he has parlayed former content creation into a solid career within the church.
Definitely an interesting read though. I appreciate the share. I will have to go read more of his writing.