Category: General

I got word that my high school graduating class has its own website.

Understand, I left that school in 1987 and don’t intend to return for this or any reunion. (Judging by the “lost” list, I’m not alone.) Even so, I was sad to see that eleven of my class of 516 had already died.

Hubby and I went to an open house today. We liked what we saw, but it confirmed that when we do buy property, we’ll end up with much less space than we have now. Very expensive to live in D.C., especially in the areas we like.

So we’re on perpetual possessions culls — makes not buying easier — and it’s time to start selling off books. Some duplicates. Mostly theological.

I’d rather avoid eBay as long as possible and would prefer to set a price and sell direct. We’ll see how that goes.

If you live in the U.S. — or rather, if you have a U.S. (including APO/FPO) delivery address — and would like to be informed when I have books for sale, contact me using the contact page. I’ll not use the email address for anything but the book sale and will not give it, sell it or otherwise transfer it. If you have a particular interest, note that too.

Thanks.

Dear Readers,

As I have written before, I am not conventionally employed and while I’m enjoying my current temp placement (at a Major and Very Well Known Media Outlet, doing many of the same things in my last Day Job, as it happens) I would like to be hired and enjoy Fringe Benefits.

I have a career counselor. What I need now is someone to review my cover letter and resume form. He or she needn’t be local, but I would prefer an American (due to the strange way we do things) and, even more, someone with hiring or HR experience in a nonprofit.

That may be asking a lot, but I can pay.

If you know someone, or would like me to — erm — hire you, drop me a line at bitb — at — boyinthebands.com

A quick note from New York. Revival turnout was smaller than I
expected — more about that when I get home — but the keynoter I
heard — the Rev. Dr. Gary Dorrien, of Union Theological Seminary has
made up my reading list for the next year.

I’ll try to post photos of New York. Leave your comment here if you have
requests.

Just a little test to see if I can do it. Haven’t tried in ages.

Impressed? This is a feature of WordPress, if you’ve not upgraded.

The Socinian just blogged about the 1914 Christmas truce.

What he didn’t mention — but may have known — is that the last survivor of the truce, Alfred Anderson, died last month, aged 109.

Hubby and I honeymooned in England in 2003 over November 11, Remembrance Day. Then, two or three of the surviving World War One vets were bundled up and driven down Whitehall as a part of the observances. We were amazed at — and the BBC commentor noted — their apparent health despite all being over 100.

Something about the First World War sticks with me. The huge loss of life, and with it the loss of optimism that took a toll on liberalizing movements, including both the Universalist and Unitarian churches. Seeing the last of the World War One vets — none under 104 years old — die reminds me both of the twin frailty and ruggedness of human life, and the lost opportunity for a more progressive world.

A list of the last known 85 or so World War One veterans can be read here. But this may be the last Christmas that generation sees.

Depressed? Irritated? So many men died in WWI that some women — who would have otherwise married — devoted thmeselves to single lives of great service. Of these, the story I know best is Margaret Barr, the British minister with the Khasi Unitarians in India, who even now is remembered for her life of service.

One of my Loyal Readers asked if I had any resources for learning Latin inexpensively; indeed I do.

I’d recommend Peter Jones’s Learn Latin, being the series printed in the London Daily Telegraph in the mid-90s and published by Barnes and Noble in 1998. You should find it at the store of the same name for $7.95. (You used to be able to read the same online for free, but that seems to be gone.) You won’t be able to parse the Corpus Juris or the Gallic Wars with that course, but inscriptions, a little poetry, and perhaps some liturgy will be within your grasp.

For practice, I’d refer Loyal Readers to the Latin news service of the Finnish international radio service. Yes, really. They link to a small glossary for computing terms in Latin and will sell you Luther’s Small Catechism in a recent Latin translation.

YLE Nuntii Latini

I can tell I’m more upset about the hurricane disaster than I first thought. Edginess. Stess eating. A bit of weepiness when an official interviewed on NPR — which I haven’t tuned in to hear in months — identified himself as a Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer. (As was my father, now retired, who was stationed in New Orleans twice after I was born; that’s why I lived there about six years.) I’m making red beans for dinner.

I’m annoyed with a lot of people. Bloggers on the left — friends included — trying to make hay about the racial identification of looters. An assortment of Christian and Muslim idiots who judge the hurricane to be divine wrath. Our guitar-strumming, terrier-carrying president who doesn’t have the gravitas of a Hallmark card.

Let’s hear it for some grief, a lament. A day of prayer, of mourning? Has anyone in authority announced such an occasion because if anyone would I’d comply.

I spent most of my early childhood years in suburban New Orleans, and remember the storms and flooding of smaller hurricanes. Bad business, that.

I am very worried.

I’ll add news, particularly Unitarian Universalist-related news, as it happens.

Later. Katharine prays for New Orleans in a comment that got zapped as spam. She remembered Charleston before and after Hugo, and hopes that Katrina goes easy on NOLA.