Happy Belated Birthday to Jane! She's just a lass of 22, and already she can't stand most liturgical music :-). Hope it was good!

I'm officially old. Yesterday I picked up my new glasses -- my first pair of bifocals. *sigh*

I went to Dupont for work today. Unfortunately the timing for this trip was bad, since the air shuttle home was cancelled due to a heavy wind/rainstorm. So I had to carpool back from Dupont with some coworkers; we had to wait forever for a rental car, then I-5 was closed for about an hour due to a downed tree. I wound up getting home 4+ hours later than I otherwise would have. I'm reallllly tired.

Marie and I went to see the Christmas Ship Parade last night on the Willamette. It was a lot of fun! Although "ship" is a bit of an overstatement -- they are really boats. The decorations were quite pretty though. My favorites were one that had an outline of a salmon and lights that blinked "CO HO HO", and also one that had an "L" in a circle-slash (No-L, get it? It took me a second).

Also last night I shaved off my beard, except for a little bit under my lower lip that I kept for an experiment -- it looks dorky though, so it and the mustache will probably go soon.

A very moving editorial about the James Kim story: Ultimate dad knew meaning of devotion / Why futile journey of a stranger had nation mesmerized.

Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him. May he rest in peace.

An interesting article on frozen embryos and the controversy and confusion as to what should be done with them. It's interesting how the human spirit resists the commoditization of them as "objects" in spite of so many efforts to characterize them as mere hunks of tissue.

Thanks to Mark Shea for the link.

Happy Feast of the Immaculate Conception!

I went to the vigil Mass last night at my parish. Fr. Steve gave one of the best homilies on the IC that I've ever heard (must write a note!).

On the other hand, the folk group did the music. The closing was "Hail Holy Queen" sounding like it was supposed to be the "Sister Act" arrangement. I was resolved that if people started rhythmically clapping I would find something to throw... fortunately they did not. Gaaah!

This weekend I performed in my first two concerts with the Oregon Chorale. We performed the C.P.E. Bach "Magnificat" with choirs from Pacific University. It was a lovely pair of performances. The Magnificat is rarely heard (compared with J.S.'s) and the last movement is especially challenging.

Moment from tonight's concert -- thinking "phew, I'm tired. How many pages to go? Dang, only on page 111!" (of 124). And our conductor forgetting to bring us in on the Gloria Patri :-).

Marie made me watch the latest American Dad with her, where Stan's secret figure skating addiction is revealed. I had to laugh, it was pretty funny and well done.

Bishop Moreno was laid to rest yesterday. Rest in peace, Bishop.

In paradisum deducant te Angeli; in tuo adventu suscipiant te martyres, et perducant te in civitatem sanctam Ierusalem. Chorus angelorum te suscipiat, et cum Lazaro quondam paupere æternam habeas requiem.

So... it snowed today, or so I'm told. I didn't actually see any of it. I did have to drive back from choir rehearsal in Hillsboro home to Beaverton on roads that were ice and slick. That was an adventure!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Best wishes for a happy Thanksgiving. Mine's been pretty nice so far. Sang for 9 a.m. Mass, came home and relaxed, then enjoyed an amazingly amazing dinner. Marie really outdid herself -- the ham she made was to die for! Really, just amazing.

Anyway, I have a lot to be thankful for. Deo Gratias!

The Star has a nice eulogy/remembrance of Bishop Moreno. I'm told that the SSPP Schola will be singing at the vigil service next week. *sigh* If I were there, I'd be singing.

I didn't get a chance last week to blog about Sun open-sourcing Java. A lot of people had been calling for this, and Sun had been making noises about it for some time, but I was still rather suprised (and pleased) at this move. As someone who worked on a Java-compliant JVM for some time (at NewMonics) I am pleased that I no longer have to worry about being clean-room contaminated by seeing Java source.

Check out the Slashdot discussion for some insight too.

Woo-hoo!! The Wildcats beat the Ducks yesterday!! 37-10! I'm pretty stoked. Of course it figures that the one game they play in Oregon and I couldn't go because of choir retreat yesterday *sigh*.

Check out Hansen's column too.

Bishop Moreno passed away Friday evening (here are the diocesan press release and obituary). Considering the news reports it was hardly surprising, but still sad. I had a lot of good memories of him, though I couldn't say I knew him well. I was privileged to dine in his company a couple of times at SSPP, and had met him several times. He always struck me (as others have said) as a very gentle, humble, holy man. I remember when he was first installed as bishop he came to the Newman Center at UA, where I was a student at the time. I was impressed by his approachability and his openness.

I know that for some his legacy will be the mistakes that he made in the handling of abusive priests. I honestly believe that he did the best he could and that he intended no harm. He apologized for the mistakes he'd made, and I believed he was sincere. At any rate, he's gone to meet the only one truly qualified to judge him.

Rest in peace, Bishop Manuel.

Apparently the UK is working hard on catching up to the Netherlands on the euthanasia front -- Wesley J. Smith on Respectable Baby Killing.

Thanks to Mark Shea for the link.

The Star is reporting that Bishop Moreno's condition is worsening, and he may be near death. Please pray for him.

The US bishops have issued their latest statement on homosexuality (read the actual text for yourself here). Nothing really new here, but some good explanations that will be helpful (e.g. homosexuality being "intrinsically disordered" as an inclination doesn't mean that homosexuals are intrinsically disordered people, or that God loves them less).

Thanks to Mark Shea for the link.

So... the election is over. Some surprising stuff -- Arizona is the only state that didn't pass a gay marriage ban; parental notification didn't pass here in Oregon; and the stem cell initiative in Missouri did pass. I'd chalk it up to an energized liberal base and a discouraged and demoralized conservative base. I'd bet if most of this stuff had been on the ballot in 2004 it would have been different.

Finally! Vista was RTM-ed today. Since I've been playing with various versions for the past 4-5 months, I'm glad that it's finally on the way. Not that I am horribly impressed with it. It is *very* pretty, but for the most part I think it will be a big "so what" for Joe Consumer.