Category Archives: Music

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: April 10, 2016

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Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY April 10, 2016

Outside my window… dark. It was grey with intermittent rain showers today. Despite being out of my migraine preventative (and having a doctor who refuses to prescribe it), I’m loving the weather.

I am thinking… about this week and the chaos it will bring.

I am thankful… that Daniel was in a cuddly mood today and decided to take a nap so I could have one as well.

In the kitchen… leftovers tomorrow.

I am wearing… my Run for the Little Flowers shirt and black capri sweats.

I am going… to pray for a somewhat quiet week for Daniel’s Spring Break even though I know I’m totally out of luck on that one!

I am wondering… how Tuesday will go.

I am reading… Accidental Saints by Nadia Bolz-Weber. I also have a ton of books checked out of the library as well.

I am hoping… for calmness in my day tomorrow… even though I know that it’s NOT going to happen.

I am looking forward to… all the home repairs and improvements being done!

I am hearing… “Annua Gaudia” by The Rose Ensemble.

A Daniel story for today… he kept asking for “shower” and we kept telling him that it was too early for his shower. When he took his nap this afternoon, Mom and I finally figured out why he was asking — his shower always comes before he goes to sleep at night so he thought he ought to have one before his nap!

Around the house… repairs/renovations/ordered chaos.

A favorite quote for today… “I need a God who is bigger and more nimble and mysterious than what I could understand and contrive. Otherwise it can feel like I am worshipping nothing more than my own ability to understand the divine.” — Nadia Bolz-Weber in Pastorix

One of my favorite things… music. It enriches my life.

A few plans for the rest of the week: collateral services meeting with Clementine tomorrow, blood work for the kid on Tuesday morning (it has to be fasting blood work too which will be a new level of hell for all of us), psych appointment on Wednesday, Jon visiting from Wednesday to Friday, morning prayer/Bible study on Thursday, and whatever else comes up.

A peek into my day… This song seems to describe my mindset at the moment.

Post Script… If y’all can pray for a special intention for me this month, I would greatly appreciate it.

Hosted by The Simple Woman.

7 Quick Takes: From My Bookmarks This Week…

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Someone cute turned 7 today. I can’t believe that 7 years ago today, Mr. Cutie Pie was born by emergency c-section.

His baptism on April 10, 2009.

He is, in the words of my mother-in-law, such a big galoot now!

Daniel.

— 2 —

Breathtaking. Someone in one of my Facebook groups shared this video of Armenian liturgical chant from this CD. It’s beautiful enough that I would listen to it while working or if I couldn’t fall asleep at night to help me relax.

— 3 —

Addressing a problem with our young men in America. This is a really good piece by Rod Dreher on the problems caused by young men being exposed to pr0n at an early age. Here’s a pertinent quote from the end:

There you see the attack on the family, down to the neuroscientific level. Brilliantly evil. Think about what you might be setting your son up for by giving him a smartphone. A junior high school principal said to me recently that she invited a specialist in porn addiction to give a talk at her school about this, but parents balked, saying their kids didn’t even know what that was.

Fools.

This is not simply a matter of getting a smartphone out of your kid’s hands. Remember my telling you about the family I know who removed their kids from a school because fifth grade boys in her son’s class were watching hardcore porn on smartphones their parents gave them? The boys were building a pornified culture of boyhood. Fifth graders.

— 4 —

Mom text fails. This is probably NSFW but a woman in Ohio did a screenshot of her mom’s texts and has been sharing them on Facebook. I read them a couple nights ago and was dying of laughter at some of the pranks she has played on them and on the mother/daughter relationship.

— 5 —

Scruples and mercy. Simcha Fisher had a couple really good posts this week, one on scruples and the other on mercy. I also recommend her field guide to Dominicans and other terrors.

— 6 —

Scripture cake. For those who have read Christy by Catherine Marshall, you might recall mention of Little Burl telling Miss Christy that his mama was going to bake her a “Scripture cake”. This is a recipe for it. (HT: Goodnight Gram)

— 7 —

Special intention. If y’all could be praying for a special intention of mine this month, I’d greatly appreciate it. Please and thank you!

For more Quick Takes, visit Kelly at This Ain’t The Lyceum.

{five favorites}: Miscellanea (LXI)

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#5Faves

One

Orthodox Celts. This is another installment of “Jen is a music snob” but I love the vocal harmonies that are reminiscent of what I hear when I’m listening to Eastern Orthodox liturgical music to fall asleep at night. And seriously, what is with the step-dancing on the cliffs in “Rocky Road to Dublin”?!?!?!?

Two

The High Kings. They are probably my favorite for “Rocky Road of Dublin” and “The Little Beggarman”. I like their version of “Màiri’s Wedding” but not as much as the version by Van Morrison and the Chieftains.

Three

Austism-friendly activity bags. Two ELCA congregations in Pennsylvania made autism-friendly activity bags. I’m seriously wanting one for my kiddo!

Four

Office supplies. Staples is my idea of nirvana. 🙂 I got a back-up set of pens for my planner (because it’s color-coded) and I almost started drooling in the three aisles of Tar-zhay that had binders and notebooks and pens.

Five

My friend John. I did something somewhat stupid and got into a fight with someone on his Facebook wall over an asinine statement that Muslims have to stop using the name Allah because it’s the Arabic word for “God” and they should have to use a different word. (Trust me… it was pretty bad.) I had history and linguistics on my side but the guy was seriously nasty to me. John not only backed me up but unfriended the guy for his treatment of me. John is the guy I trusted to be Daniel’s buddy last summer during VBS — he is a stand-up guy and the person I go to if I have *ANY* weaponry questions because he knows his stuff. 🙂 I know he’ll catch flak from some of his Facebook groups for backing me up and I appreciate it especially because of that.

Go love up Ashley and the others.

7 Quick Takes: Bright Week Musings

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Bright Week. Bright Week is the week following Pascha (Easter) in the Orthodox Church and some other Christians use the term as well. Why am I using it instead of “Easter Week” or “the Octave of Easter”? No idea — I just like it.

— 2 —

Finally done! I took my last dose of Cipro today. Given how much nausea it has caused me in the last few days, I’m pretty thankful to be done with it. The bronchitis is wiped out as far as I can tell — I honestly didn’t realize how sick I felt all month until after the Cipro took effect and I started feeling *GOOD* for a change.

— 3 —

Interesting Easter song #1. I’m always looking for interesting Easter hymns to post at this time of year and this one is a flash mob Easter hymn from Lebanon.

— 4 —

Interesting Easter song #2. Here’s one from Serbia that seems to make the rounds on the pages of some of my friends who are Lutheran pastors. (I seem to have a fair number of Lutheran pastor friends who are closeted Eastern Orthodox.)

— 5 —

My favorite Easter hymn. This is an Easter hymn that has a special place in my heart because we sang it frequently at my high school church which is actually the church I am attending right now.

— 6 —

The prerequisite take on vaccination. Because, ya know, non-vaccinators don’t care if you die. I’m so thankful to live in a state that does not allow personal exemptions to being vaccinated and where many doctor’s offices are kicking out unvaccinated patients or requiring that they come into compliance with the vaccination schedule because of the risk to the vulnerable patients in the waiting room posed by kids with measles/mumps/rubella/pertussis whose parents were selfish enough not to vaccinate them or who listened to quacks online or on talk shows.

— 7 —

Mother Angelica. I was never a fan of Mother Angelica and I never watched EWTN other than during the Papal Conclave of 2013. However, she was quite a witty person and I found these sayings of hers quite humorous.

For more Quick Takes, visit Kelly at This Ain’t The Lyceum.

7 Quick Takes: Unofficial Quick Takes on Good Friday

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7 Quick Takes

Kelly at This Ain’t The Lyceum is on hiatus this week as her laptop is kaput and it is also the holiest day of the year during the holiest week of the year. Some of us are still posting unofficial quick takes though.

— 1 —

It’s baaaaack!!! Apparently, my bronchitis from earlier in the month never completely left and after being just a lingering cough for a couple weeks, it hit with a vengeance on Monday night which sent me into respiratory distress on Tuesday. Thankfully, the receptionist at my provider’s office handed him the phone and he told me that they would see me the second I walked in the door. They handed me over to the PA student doing an internship there who was absolutely wonderful, came up with a good treatment plan, sat there with his hand on my knee while I sobbed because I was so scared and had no back-up person to watch Daniel if I ended up in the hospital (my parents were out of town), got me hooked up with a nebulizer, and tried to find something he could prescribe that *wasn’t* Prednisone which gives a fairly volatile reaction. (It’s like throwing gasoline on a fire — we’re talking the mother of all panic attacks that results from Prednisone with me.) I saw the actual PA at the clinic on Thursday who said that my lungs are clear and the fact that I feel like I’m being waterboarded is probably because I have pretty bad bronchitis. After excoriating me for refusing Prednisone, he put me on a heavy-duty steroid inhaler and some Cipro to knock out the infection that the Z-Pack seems to have missed. I still feel really weak and I spent much of the day in bed or on the couch sleeping, but it does feel like something is finally working.

— 2 —

Pictures for today. Instead of posting Quick Takes, Kelly posted images of the crucifixion. Go check them out.

— 3 —

Some relevant music. Here is my favorite chorus from Handel’s Messiah that is pertinent to this day:

— 4 —

The specialness of this day. This is the last time in my lifetime that the Annunciation and Good Friday will fall on the same day (March 25th). It presents an interesting situation in which you have both a fast (Good Friday) and a feast (the Annunciation) and the interplay between Mary learning that she will bear a child and then sees him on the Cross 33 years later. I recommend reading this post on it as well as Jessica’s blog post for today which includes the pertient John Dunne poem written in 1608 when these two events fell on the same day.

— 5 —

The question of Christian seder meals. Simcha Fisher writes thoughtfully on why her family has a seder meal but the rest of us probably shouldn’t do it. Short answer: cultural appropriation which is something that has only occurred to me in the last couple years. I also did something stupid and read the combox. Big mistake. It’s annoying to me when people ignore what is written and try to insert their own rationalization for things and I have to give Simcha some credit for not going in there and completely shutting some of the people down.

For the record, I’ve been to seders at churches that have been reverent and well done and I’ve helped put on one at the medium security prison where I volunteered in Montana. I think the most meaningful Maundy Thursday food event for me was at my church in San Jose in 1997 when we had a potluck with readings and Taizé music interspersed it in it. I also echo Simcha’s words:

“If you want to engage your senses on Holy Thursday (beyond the foot washing, which let’s not even talk about. Feet feet feet. Lady feet, Muslim feet, more and more feet, twenty-four feet!), it would be fine to make some unleavened bread and some lamb and serve it with wine in your home. That will give you a small idea of what it felt like to be in that room on Holy Thursday, or what it felt like to be waiting with girded loins for the sign to flee Egypt.”

— 6 —

Another beautiful Good Friday hymn. I love the beautiful harmonies on this version.

— 7 —

So, um… about that Lenten discipline thing… My modified Coptic fast ended pretty abruptly on Monday when I realized that large amounts of chicken soup were going to be in my future. In all honesty, it’s one of the few things I haven’t cough/vomited up from the coughing. I’ll probably write a post for Laura talking about what I’ve learned. After all, she mothered me from afar all week — it’s the least I can do to thank her. 🙂

Have a blessed weekend, y’all!

7 Quick Takes: St. Patrick’s Breastplate, the Faith of John Kasich, and Other Findings From The Web This Week

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

St. Patrick’s Breastplate. Happy St. Patrick’s Day, y’all! I thought I’d share the hymn form of St. Patrick’s Breastplate as it is a beautiful (but VERRRRRY long) hymn. Click here to read the whole prayer which is also quite long but very pretty.

— 2 —

Something penitential for meat eaters for today. 🙂 It’s not Friday so technically observant Catholics, Episcopalians, and some Lutherans aren’t having to abstain from meat… unless you went vegan like I did. I’m Irish-American, did my senior comps in college on Celtic Christianity, and have kissed the Blarney Stone so I’m treating today as a feast and *gasp* eating meat and having dairy. (Sorry, Laura.) As a penitential act for today (since, you know, I’m being a heathen and all), I’m listening to all of the videos on here, especially #6 and #7.

— 3 —

I knew there was a reason I kinda sorta like John Kasich. It turns out that boyfriend is Anglican and shares my view that it’s obnoxious to try and win votes using God’s name. I would rather see positive spiritual fruit in one’s life than have someone claim to be one on national television and see the opposite in how they treat people. (Ahem… Ted Cruz and Donald Trump.) I love also that Kasich is focused on living out Matthew 25 and not just on winning political office. It makes a difference to ne and this is why he would be the only Republican in the race for whom I would consider voting.

— 4 —

My scars are signs of life. A bunch of men and women bared their scars for everyone to see and explained the story of them. Mine would only all be visible if I was wearing a string bikini so we’ll just skip my c-section scar reveal even though that story is worth telling. Still, the account of each scar is worth a read and the video is worth a watch.

— 5 —

Passover Rube Goldberg-style. This is pretty amazing and would be a good tool to teach kids about the Passover story. Props to priest’s wife for sharing it with me on Facebook!

— 6 —

Why many women are skittish around men. This is a good read about why many women like me have no sense of humor when men make sexually-driven comments. Seriously, it pisses me off that I have to weave my keys between my fingers if I’m walking on the street to my car after dark in case someone decides to assault me.

— 7 —

Why victim-blaming falls apart. Two girls from Peru were traveling to Ecuador and were brutally murdered by two men they met, their bodies found several days later in plastic bags. In the midst of all the people decrying what happened were the people who were blaming the girls for their murder, saying that they put themselves at risk. A student from Paraguay thought this was incredibly wrong and wrote an account in the voices of the victims.

I share this because it pisses me off to no end that if I were to get raped, the first question would be “what were you wearing?” When we were doing the required self-defense class in high school so that we could fight off rapists and attackers, nobody ever mentioned teaching the boys not to rape. I shouldn’t have to be worried about walking down the street by myself or that some man is going to be turned on by what I’m wearing and decide to assault me. I mean, I have more than a few friends who were wearing a t-shirt and sweats when they were sexually assaulted!

We have a serious problem in our society when the victims of a crime receive blame than the person who committed the crime against them.

For more Quick Takes, visit Kelly at This Ain’t The Lyceum.

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: March 13, 2016

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Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY March 13, 2016

Outside my window… rainy. It’s absolutely spectacular to have a rainy weekend here.

I am thinking… about some of the things that are happening this week. It’s not going to be as abnormal as last week but it will be relatively busy.

I am thankful… for the Dimetapp which finally helped get the kiddo to sleep at 1 a.m. after he woke up coughing. *shakes fist at all the pollen in the air*

In the kitchen… I think Dad is making steak tonight.

I am wearing… burgundy top from Old Navy and black sweats from Target.

I am going… to try and get caught up on my temperature afghan this week or at least get caught up with recording the temperatures. (My illness threw me off a bit.)

I am wondering… the structure of the readings in the Coptic lectionary. (Laura will have an email in her box tonight. :))

I am reading… Calmness by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III. I still have Accidental Saints by Nadia Bolz-Weber on my NOOK and got a little bit of that read this past week.

I am hoping… to get some walks in this week now that the bronchitis is (almost) gone and the rain should be going away. Now if only the bursitis would take a hike!

I am looking forward to… the games night on Saturday. Bob is making red beans and rice and someone else is bringing corn bread.

I am hearing… Coptic liturgical music (I’m keeping their Lenten fast so I’m checking out their music) and my dad drilling various things into walls.

A Daniel story for today… when I took the precious sweetling to Target on Friday to get his happy meds refilled, I was telling him “first shopping, then toys.” (First/then statements are an ABA thing.) Daniel’s response: “OK. Buh-bye.” I seriously need to record myself saying it the way he does because it was ADORABLE.

Around the house… Dad is attaching towel rods now that the painting of various bathrooms is done.

A favorite quote for today… I found this on Facebook and thought it was appropriate.

Political wisdom from the Lakota.

One of my favorite things… a fire in the fireplace on a rainy night.

A few plans for the rest of the week: catching up on things tomorrow morning, psych appointment for the kid on Tuesday, knitting/crocheting group on Tuesday night, morning prayer/Bible study/choir on Thursday, psych appointment for me on Friday, and games night on Saturday.

A peek into my day… I love this cover of “The Sounds of Silence” by the artist Disturbed. I’m a huge Simon & Garfunkel fan so I appreciate how he was faithful to the original song while giving it kind of a metal spin.

Hosted by The Simple Woman.