This morning our church service ended with a parade through the neighborhood. It was led by one of our younger members carrying a Holy Spirit banner. Our Rector said that this banner had been carried at the consecration of Gene Robinson to the Episcopate. Two thoughts immediately went through my head:
This was a great event for colgaffneyis. Continue reading
Yesterday, May 14, was my birthday, when I turned 30 (if you count in base 19). It was a good time–one of my best birthdays. I am very gratified by the good wishes I got from all of my family and friends.
Irish class, May 12, 2008
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Fadas: áéíóúÁÉÍÓÚ
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We began with an English→Irish translation exercise. Not a lot of restrictions; just use
whatever Irish we could to give the general sense. Even so, this was quite hard.
Today is Pentecost, one of the three chief festivals in the Western Christian church year. It would be hard to imagine a complete lack of coverage of Christmas or Easter but Pentecost, the least commercial or secularized of the three days, doesn’t receive much media coverage at all.
I rather like it that way.
Today is the Feast of Pentecost. At St. Mary’s, as at other churches I have known, part of one of the Bible lessons was read in multiple foreign languages (See Acts 2: 1-11). Afterwards a small but very clear voice in the congregation said: “That was freaky.”
Whatever other remodeling projects we undertake in this house, we are not removing the popcorn ceilings in any of the other rooms. Right, mia_mcdavid??
I rode my bicycle to and from the Rosedale park-and-ride (about three miles each way) both Monday and Tuesday. From there I took an express bus to work in downtown Minneapolis as I usually do. I gave my knees a break yesterday and drove to Rosedale, but I was back on the bike this morning. I hope to manage 3-4 carless commutes each week through the summer and early fall.
Long ago I read an article arguing that per passenger mile the bicycle was the most energy-efficient form of transportation known, not only to homo sapiens, but throughout the animal kingdom. It was in a reputable scientific publication, Physics Today IIRC, with plenty of numbers, equations, and graphs. I wonder if I could track down a copy of it.
Irish class, May 5, 2008
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Fadas: áéíóúÁÉÍÓÚ
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First exercise. Two lists of foods, in Irish and in English, but not in the
same order. We had to match them up, doing as much as possible without the dictionary.
From Hilbert Space to Dilbert Space, and beyond 