Archive for the ‘Personal Notebook’ Category
Today in History
One event that happened today, 30 April, looms large in my personal view of history : I was born on this day. For years–decades, actually–I've known of one significant event that happened on this same date in history : Hitler killed himself (Wikipedia about). Significant, yes, but not the happiest thing to keep in my […]
Rolling My Own
I've finally acknowledged that I need to keep, at least for awhile, a more detailed diabetes log–blood-sugar readings, carbs consumed, insulin taken, and such. My control needs to be better and it's been difficult lately to discern useful patterns in the paltry data I've been keeping. I wanted something convenient and paperless, if I could. […]
In: All, Eureka!, Personal Notebook
A Musical Extravaganza
St. Matthew's UMC church, where Isaac is music director, celebrated its 50th anniversary this weekend. Among the many splendid events, Isaac organized a gala musical evening this past Saturday. The program included gem after gem: Isaac playing a festive and rambunctious fanfare by Charles Ore on the organ; St. Matthew's handbell choir played 3 selections, […]
In: All, Music & Art, Personal Notebook
A Scienticity Reading List
A friend asked me for some recommendations for popular science books she might read. Here is one such list. It is 16 titles I culled from the "Top-Rated Books" [link] in the Scienticity Book-Note Collection of books that I have read and found enjoyable, informative, and memorable. Most of the notes in the links are […]
In: All, Books, Personal Notebook, Speaking of Science
Farewell to Kathy
Here is Isaac's report on what we were doing today: Today, we interred my sister Kathy's ashes in Elizabethtown, PA, where we grew up. There were about 30 people gathered for the short service at the graveside. We were able to place the ashes in the same grave as our Hungarian grandmother and next to […]
Another Piece of Another Award
It's so gratifying to be a part of an award-winning anthology. Riding the Rails, edited by Jerry L. Wheeler, has just won a 2012 Gaybie award from TLA for "Best Erotic Fiction Book" (nominations by TLA staff, voting by public; winners listed here). My story was called "One Night on the Twentieth Century", and I […]
In: All, Personal Notebook, Writing
A Small Opera
Every year Isaac plans and runs the Good Friday service where he is music director (St. Matthew's UMC, in Bowie, MD). I always attend because it will certainly feature a significant musical presentation. Occasionally I perform, more frequently I listen. Tonight's special offering was a 20-minute, two-person opera with choir called "Saturday 29 AD", by […]
In: All, Music & Art, Personal Notebook
Snippets of Cruise Conversation
Between Christmas and New Year's Eve, we went on a pleasant Caribbean cruise, taking the Carnival Elation from the Port of New Orleans, to Cozumel, to Progresso, (both on the Yucatan Peninsula), then back to NO. Pleasantly, this gave us the chance to visit for awhile with our friend Loretta, who lives in Baton Rouge […]
In: All, Laughing Matters, Personal Notebook
The Inscrutable Muses
Last week I finished a story, known right now as "The Café Françoise". It is set in Nazi-occupied Paris during the second world war and involved a dangerous liaison between a French Resistance operative called Jean-Pierre Renard, and a Gestapo officer whose name was Klaus Nördlingen. When I was looking for a name for the […]
In: All, Personal Notebook, Writing
Literary Statistics
Tonight, for a project that I'll describe later, I put together an inventory of my fiction writing, i.e., those stories and things authored by Jay Neal, my pen-name for fiction. I found things to interest me; your mileage will undoubtedly vary. One thing : I'll refer to "stories", but it's a bit difficult to say […]
In: All, Personal Notebook, Writing
"Eye for Science" and Android Wallpaper
You may recall my mentioning Scienticity's "Eye for Science" project, a Flickr group to which members contribute interesting and provocative images that tell a story about science or nature or something related, which images we then try to get in front of others to provide a brief science moment. One way we do this is […]
In: All, Eureka!, Personal Notebook, Speaking of Science
Pride in New York
It's the Empire State Building with its gay-pride colors on, but this celebration is special. New York City's gay-pride events were already scheduled for this weekend but they are a bigger-than-ever party celebrating the arrival, late Friday night, 24 June 2011, of marriage equality in the state of New York. The New York assembly has […]
In: All, Current Events, Faaabulosity, Personal Notebook
A Letter to MD Delegate Valentino-Smith
In the process that's trying to move a bill for marriage equality in my home state of Maryland, last week's step was to get the bill out of the Maryland House Judiciary Committee so that it can be debated and voted on by all the delegates. One of my district's delegates, Geraldine Valentino-Smith, sat on […]
In: All, Faaabulosity, Personal Notebook
Beard of the Week LXC: Good Company
This week's beard belongs to Stephen Sondheim (b 1930, on the right), joined here by George Furth (1932–2008, on the left). They're here to provide an excuse for me to write a bit about our musical-theater troupe's recent production of "Company", a musical with book written by Furth, music and lyrics written by Sondheim. The […]
In: All, Beard of the Week, Music & Art, Personal Notebook
About The Nice Ones Next Door
And I’m not referring to the homosexual who may be the nice one who lives next door; I’m talking about people who are committed to a radical homosexual agenda…. — a random homophobe named Jim Garlow [quoted by Mike Tidmus, "God Delusioned: Jim Garlow and Matt Staver", Mike Tidmus blog, 27 September 2010.] While I […]
In: All, Faaabulosity, Personal Notebook
It Was Hot
Well, how nice. Our area of the country, greater Washington DC, has been acclaimed by The Weather Channel as having had the worst summer of any major area in the US in 2010 (Jon Erdman, Tim Ballisty and Chris Dolce, "Top 5 Worst Summers", not dated/accessed 24 September 2010). There are several extreme conditions, like […]
In: All, It's Only Rocket Science, Personal Notebook
The Liberal-Activist Olympics
It may not be common knowledge, and I don't try to hide it, but I have an attitude about the "Special Olympics", and I've had this attitude for, oh, at least 25 years. It has nothing to do with nominally adorable special children, but saying so just sounds defensive so I usually don't. Largely I […]
In: All, Faaabulosity, Personal Notebook
The Orthography of Equations
Every now and then this little image appears on my Facebook page, as a sponsored ad, with the headline "Become a Physics Teacher". The sponsors claim that they will help me get a master's degree online in education so that I can become a physics teacher. Now tell me, if you were considering paying someone […]
In: All, It's Only Rocket Science, Personal Notebook
NWS Pictures Hot
When I want to know a weather forecast, I get it online from the National Weather Service (for "Baltimore/Washington", search for Bowie, MD). I usually don't want a lot of detail in my forecast and I don't need to hear it or see it every ten minutes, so this suits me. Today the NWS says […]
Amis on Morality
Secularism contains no warrant for action. One can afford to be crude about this. When Islamists crash passenger planes into buildings, or hack off the head of hostages, they shout, "God is great!" When secularists do that kind of thing, what do they shout? [Martin Amis, from The Second Plane; quoted by Richard Dawkins, "I […]
In: All, Common-Place Book, Personal Notebook