Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

On the news today, I heard that some hacker claimed he stole the book off of a computer at the publisher's. "Yeah right," I say about this attention seeker. There is a lot of interest in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows right now because JK Rowling apparently is killing off two characters.

Me? I deeply, deeply hope that one of these characters is Jar Jar Binks. Yes - I know Jar Jar is not part of the Potter canon, and is a creation of George Lucas. But couldn't she reveal that Dobby is actually Jar Jar and then kill him off in an unfortunate pod racing accident? Stand up Ms. Rowling, and dare to due what George should have done in the Phantom Menace.... can't Lord Voldemort do what Lord Vader ought to have done, and dispatch Jar Jar?

Where the bees are

 I found an interesting article on Colony Collape Syndrome - the disease that is wiping out the bees that pollenate our food supply. Perhaps this disorder is not as much of a mystery as we think it is. Maybe the problem with bees is the same problem we give ourselves - we feed them junk food, and drive them everywhere they go.

Link to Washington City Paper: Cover Story: Buzz Kill

Rivers of Tears

A new song I've written and recorded. I was up really late last night doing it, so I'm very tired today. :)

 

How far I've fallen, I'll never know
I've lived in the darkness that reigns below
The power of your mercy, the strength of your grace
Lifts me up to see your face

And so it is I've fallen down
To let all my sorrows drown

The rivers of tears I'll cry for your feet
I'll dry with my hair for the times I've been weak
Let me love much, Lord, let me love deep
Abundant forgiveness for the tears that I weep

How distant I've travelled to faraway lands
Squandered my riches, let got of your hands
And so I've returned, just call me your slave
But you've jewelled my finger, this son that you save

And so it is I've fallen down
To let all my sorrows drown

The rivers of tears I'll cry for your feet
I'll dry with my hair for the times I've been weak
Let me love much, Lord, let me love deep
Abundant forgiveness for the tears that I weep

Caught in betrayal, they bring me to you
They're asking to stone me, they turn to you
And down in the sand, you write my name
You say, “Who will condemn you?”
Breaking my shame

And so it is I've fallen down
To let all my sorrows drown

The rivers of tears I'll cry for your feet
I'll dry with my hair for the times I've been weak
Let me love much, Lord, let me love deep
Abundant forgiveness for the tears that I weep

On Reason, Again

Reason is necessarily silent on why existence exists. It can tell us something about the nature of the opening moments of existence, all the way back into the Big Bang's initial scalar field.

But reason cannot provide us with the answer to the question, "Why?"

Perhaps some are content to leave it a mystery, and not investigate with the other faculties we have, aside from reason. Many of us, however, are not willing to settle for that. We suspect there is more, and our spiritual quest is to find out what exactly that "more" is.

And that - ironically - is not all that unreasonable.

Bride
My Beloved, the mountains,
and lonely wooded valleys,
strange islands,
and resounding rivers,
the whistling of love-stirring breezes,
the tranquil night
at the time of the rising dawn,
silent music,
sounding solitude,
the supper that refreshes, and deepens love.

St. John of the Cross, the Spiritual Canticle

Driving back home

We're driving back home after a day at my folks down on the shores of Lake Ontario. I am proud to say I did my first swim of th year this morning in one of the coldest bodies of water there are around here.

I began by stepping slowly into the water an inch at a time. The sky was clear, the sun bright, and the air warm... But the water was not. When I got to my waste, a giant carp - must have been three feet long - swam by in front of me.

After about ten minutes, I managed to get up to my chest. I dove in, shouted some, got out, and then went in again.

I hope it is a little warmer next time!

Wireless Blogging

I've never blogged from something that wasn't a computer before. This is the first time I've done it.

Typing in super small keys isn't the easiest thing in the woeld to do. However, my daughter has the computer most of the time, and the ability to do this might inspire me back to blogging productivity, so to speak. :-)

Reason

Reason isn't everything.

When the sun shines orange from the horizon, and the sky is dappled in purple, and the seagulls are honking boisterously, there are two ways I can look at it. Both are valid.

I can say, "the light of the nearest star is being scattered in the ionosphere and lower atmosphere, causing unusual layers in the appearance of the air mass I am peering through, resulting in unusual bands of the colour spectrum. I also note that the charadriforme aviformes are retiring to their island location for the night, as their evolution has led them to be highly diurnal life forms, due to such factors as strong vision and poor sense of smell."

Or (and also), I can say, "Thank you God, for another beautiful day."

When you fall off the horse

I arrived by bike at the stable where my daughter takes her riding lessons about ten after six. Her horse walked by the fence a couple of times, and she smiled at me. My daughter likes it when I come to watch her ride; I'm not entirely sure why, really, but it is important to her.

In all her past lessons, they rode indoors. But she's in a more experienced group, so now they are using an outdoor meadow. I told her on one of her swings past me that I'll have to bring my camera. The indoor arena, you see, is poorly lit, and I've never been able to get a good shot. But now that they're outside, no problem!

Not too long after I got there, nature called rather insistently. When I returned from the building, I saw my daughter going by the fence at a cantor. She was sloping off the side of the horse, and then fell right off. "Oh!" I explained and began to run over. But she got up quite quickly, and dusted herself off. She walked over to where the horse had stopped, and got right back on.

So do like the old proverb says. If you fall off the horse, get right back on. If for no other reason than that it is a great comfort to those who had to see you fall off the horse!

Nearly given up on blogging

I've hardly blogged this year. I don't even know why it is important to, to tell you the truth.

It is not my primary means of expression. I do that through music. I haven't got any great thoughts to share, either. Most of my existentialist musing took place the first year or two I blogged.

There should be things to blog about. I'm a grandfather now. But you'd be surprised how slowly that develops. It is not a comparable situation to becoming a new parent, much to my surprise. I see her only about once a week or two. I don't have to wrestle with figuring out what to do with her when she's around - I guess I'm an old hand now with babies and young ones. I know how to change a diaper, how to mix formula, how to dress them, how to entertain them.

But I don't see her everyday, so I am deprived of the newness; I'm not there when she says her first words, or takes her first steps. I find out about it, and then get to see it later.

In fact, that is the larger issue behind my lack of blogging. Things in general have lost their newness. I am tired all the time, and I can't remember the last time I felt real wonder and awe.
I'm sure I have no one but myself to blame for this, but it is true.

Things are not new anymore. And so I have very little to write about.

News flash: terrorists find Google useful.

So says the Sydney Morning Herald. That this actually rates as news shocks the heck out of me. Who doesn't find Google useful?

But it made me think of the perfect solution to the terrorist problem. If someone would just send them the link to World of Warcraft, we would never hear from the terrorists again! (Their guild would be too busy on Jihad in some dungeon.)