Today would have been my mom's 76th birthday. DANG, she would have been OLD... it's hard to picture. I used to tease her about being an old woman when she was only50. Happy birthday Mom, I miss you.

It's definitely "fall" here... overnight lows are in the mid 30s (brrr!), and driving to work I was driving through flurries of leaves that were carried in the wind made by passing cars -- it was kind of interesting/neat to look at. And of course over the weekend we all mucked with our clocks again -- what a stupid system!

With things like this happening, can the End be far behind? It reminds me of the Ghostbusters quote:

Dr. Peter Venkman: This city is headed for a disaster of biblical proportions.
Mayor: What do you mean, "biblical"?
Dr Ray Stantz: What he means is Old Testament, Mr. Mayor, real wrath-of-God type stuff.
Dr. Peter Venkman: Exactly.
Dr Ray Stantz: Fire and brimstone coming down from the skies. Rivers and seas boiling.
Dr. Egon Spengler: Forty years of darkness. Earthquakes, volcanoes...
Winston Zeddemore: The dead rising from the grave.
Dr. Peter Venkman: Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together - mass hysteria.

Congratulations to "Jane" on her engagement!!!

United Way Conundrum

My company is in the midst of the annual United Way campaign, and I'm faced with a conundrum. The Intel Foundation matches gifts given through the campaign, but the match doesn't go to the agency you choose, but to UW's Community Fund.

I'm concerned that organizations that I can't support (like Planned Parenthood, for example) may receive funding through the Community Fund, and that therefore if I participate I may be indirectly aiding an organization that is diametrically opposed to my beliefs. If that's the case I'd be better off just giving as I do now and skipping UW altogether.

I'm going to do some digging to see what's in the UW Community Fund.

I'm still getting over the crud I've had. I had a call from the choir director at church last night asking me if I could cantor this morning since the usual cantor's daughter broke her leg. So I said yes, of course. I've been singing with this group for 3 weeks and I'm cantoring already!

Unfortunately my voice was not at its best since I've been so sick. I did okay, though. The amusing point for the morning is that I was busily singing the opening song, and as Fr. Pat processed past me, he reached over and turned my microphone on! I hadn't realized it was off and needed to be turned on. If I had not been otherwise occupied I would have laughed and laughed.

Sick Day. *bleah* I've been feeling a bit run-down this last couple of days; it looks like the bug running around work finally caught up with me. With all the stress from the re-structuring and uncertainty I guess it's not surprising a lot of people have been sick. So it's a day to stay home and have some chicken soup, I guess.

Happy Founder's Day

to all my brothers in Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia. May the values we hold dear always light your path and guide your steps, and may you always find in music your lasting joy.

I was watching "Lost" last night (what a great season opener! Although the show seems to be going in a pretty trippy direction) and in the opening scene one of the characters is listening to Petula Clark's "Downtown". It reminded me I'd always wanted to get this song, so I just bought it on iTunes and i'm listening to it now. It makes me happy, and nostalgic, and reminds me of my early childhood. Yay!

I'm officially old. I had an ophthalmologist appointment today, and he confirmed that I need bifocals. *sigh*

Schism

It appears Archbishop Milingo has gone into schism by ordaining 4 married men as bishops. The Baltimore Sun reports also.

Thanks to Peter Edwards for the links. Check out his commentary. Apparently all concerned are excommunicated, but the consecrations are valid. *sigh*

It's been an interesting week. Wednesday I went to choir practice at St. Cecilia's. It's a nice bunch and I think I'll really enjoy singing with them. Today I talked with the director of the Oregon Chorale, and he invited me to join them (I auditioned for them in March, I think). So... I'll be joining them Monday. I'm really looking forward to it.

The Religion of Peace strikes again. It's pretty ironic that the quote in question talked about converting people by the sword, which is exactly what Al-Qaeda is threatening to do.

Sorry I've fallen off the face of the earth!

I went to Arizona for about 9 days, where I visited with friends and family and got to go to lots of my favorite places. It was a really nice vacation and it was good to be back. Sunday 9/10 I got to sing with the Schola again; we did the Palestrina "Assumpta Est Maria" and "Sicut Cervus". It was glorious. I also got to see my oldest goddaughter play her very first soccer game! Issie did a great job, which isn't surprising since her parents are coaches and her older siblings all play. Still, she did really well -- much better than the other 4 year olds! I was impressed.

After I got back I had a fun time digging out at work. They still haven't told us specifically who they are letting go and what programs they are canceling or curtailing. It's been stressful.

I decided to join the choir at my parish (St. Cecilia); I talked to the choir director yesterday after Mass. Rehearsals are Wednesdays 7-9.

Some people claim there's no discrimination against Catholics. Not true even in "civilized" Scotland, where a player was penalized for making the Sign of the Cross.

Thanks to Mark Shea for the link.

I really like this guy.

As often happens, I'm up in Dupont (WA) for work today. Flying up this morning on the Intel shuttle, I went from being below the overcast to being in the beautiful bright sunshine. It was a really amazing sight -- bright sunshine, cloud deck underneath, and then sticking up through the clouds I could see Mt. Hood, Mt. Adams, Mt. St. Helens (complete with wisps of steam/smoke trailing from it) and Mt. Rainier. Awesome!

I've been thinking about this whole Israel-Hezbollah thing for a while, and on Friday this hit me..

Situation: Country with big army is victim of dastardly terrorist attack. Country decides to take out the terrorists by attacking them and the country that hosts them.

If "Country" above is "United States" world cheers and supports you when terrorists = "Al Quaeda" and host country = "Afghanistan."

However, if "Country" is "Israel", terrorists is "Hezbollah" and host country is "Lebanon", world is horrified and country is pressured to end the fighting etc.

It seems pretty hypocritical. If we have the right to defend ourselves in that situation, so does Israel. I'm not a big fan of Israel in general, I think they've often gone way overboard and have treated the Palestinians pretty shabbily. That doesn't mean they don't have the right to defend their country against terrorists who rocket their country from a neighhboring country that can't or won't stop the terrorists.

This is pretty cool, there's a website for Opus Dei blogs. If you'd like to know more about Opus Dei than the image portrayed in Da Vinci Code, check it out.

Miscellaneous stuff...

Wednesday was my 4-week anniversary of going to Pilates class. So far, so good. It's still kicking my butt, but things are improving and best of all I don't have a major problem (so far!) with either motivation or making time for it, so that's good. I think it's a good balance for my skating and should help me feel better in many ways.

Marie and I have gotten really into watching "So You Think You Can Dance" on Fox; but, with last week's dismissal of Allison and this week's loss of Ivan, I'm seriously bummed. I wanted each of them to win and I really enjoyed watching them dance together. *sigh*