Norwalk Walks of Shame

I had an interview in New York City this morning (it went well for those of you who are keeping track), and when I got back to Norwalk, I walked home from the South Norwalk train station.  My route took me along Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive and then up Fairfield Avenue to Cedar Street. I turned right on Cedar and followed it across Reed Street where it becomes Stuart Avenue. At Connecticut Avenue I turned right and then left onto Woodbury Avenue, which takes me to the back drive of the parking lot for my apartment.

As I've written before, the state of sidewalks this winter leaves a lot to be desired. I've started taking pictures and creating a Walks of Shame. Including individual pictures of the unshoveled walks along my route would take up a lot of space, so I've created an album of the pictures with captions of their locations.

These 43 pictures were all taken between 3:15 and 3:45 this afternoon, more than 24 hours after the last snowstorm.

Here are today's Walks of Shame:

Thinking about Reading Schripture Through Other Eyes

We're still waiting for transcripts of the presentations from last week's Trinity Institute Theological Conference: Reading Scripture Through Other Eyes. While I took notes, I'm sure I missed a lot, especially during Gerald West's bible study on the last day. It will probably be a couple of weeks before we see the transcripts.

In the meantime, I've been poking around the blogosphere to see what other participants thought about the conference. Here is what I've found so far:

First, the live blogging done by Nicole Seiferth at Trinity Wall Street: Reading Scripture Through Other Eyes.  It includes photos and video clips.

Faithvictoria's Blog: The Trinity Institute Conference

Episcopal News Service: Scholars, theologians gather to consider Bible through others' eyes, by Mary Frances Schjonberg; reposted on several blogs and news sites.

Land of Rest: The Bible

Fr. Jonathan's Blog: Trinity Institute: Reading Scripture through other eyes

Building Faith: Reading Scripture Through Other Eyes; Sharon Pearson of Church Publishing, who was not able to attend but discusses some ways to use materials from the conference to look at scripture in your own congregation.

For the usual so-called Orthodox spin and comments, here are posts from blogs I rarely look at. I have not yet seen one from someone who actually attended the conference. So far their wrath seems to be based on Mary Frances' article.

StandFirm: Pre-Packaged Interpretations - That’s the Whole Problem.

Midwest Conservative Journal: Party at Walt's!!

The Primates in Dublin

I'm not sure anyone really cares except for those of us who are Episcopalians and Anglicans, but the Primates of the Anglican Communion are meeting in Dublin this week. It's early, and they haven't had much to say so far.  According to the first briefing:

Before the Primates attended Night Prayers, Archbishop Rowan gave a short reflection on primatial leadership using the text of Mark 10:35-45.

An interesting choice on the Archbishop's part. Mark 10:35-45 reads

James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to him and said to him, ‘Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.’ And he said to them, ‘What is it you want me to do for you?’ And they said to him, ‘Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.’ But Jesus said to them, ‘You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?’ They replied, ‘We are able.’ Then Jesus said to them, ‘The cup that I drink you will drink; and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized; but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.’

When the ten heard this, they began to be angry with James and John. So Jesus called them and said to them, ‘You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.’*

Last week at the Trinity Institute Theological Conference Gerald West led us through a short version of Contextual Bible Study, which has been used extensively in South Africa. In this method of study, the group also looks at the passages immediately preceding and immediately after the first one.

The passage right before the Archbishop's selection (10: 32-35) is Jesus telling the twelve what will happen when they get to Jerusalem (arrest, condemnation, crucifixion). The passage immediately following it is the healing of Bartimaeus (10:46-52).

I wonder what the Archbishop would have said about primatial leadership had he looked at the larger context. And after my experience at the conference, I wonder what the Primates themselves would have discovered if they had engaged the scripture this way?

= = = = =
*New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Hazardous Walking

This morning I walked down to church to meet with our priest-in-charge. It was still snowing, and walking was a little slippery. Even though we had more snow than expected, it really only coated the piles and piles we have from the previous storms. And it is the accumulations from those previous storms that make it hazardous to be a pedestrian in Norwalk and, I'm sure, in other communities throughout the Northeast.

But it isn't the snow itself that makes for hazardous walking. It's where the snow still sits. On sidewalks. The Department of Public Works issued a snow removal policy, which can be found here. The portion relating to sidewalks says:

Per City ordinance, Norwalk property owners are responsible for keeping all sidewalks along their property clear of snow and ice. The City clears only sidewalks that are not abutted by private property. Keeping in mind that snow plows will push street snow onto sidewalks, it is advisable to clear sidewalks after the plows have finished your street. Do not throw snow from sidewalks back into the street.

Many homeowners have not shoveled the sidewalks in front of their properties.  Here 5 Union Park, which is two building west of Grace Episcopal Church.

This is the walk in front of the building taken Sunday, more than four days after the previous snowstorm.  It looks pretty much the same today, except for the additional two inches of snow from this morning's precipitation.

This is Union Park itself, looking west up toward Van Buren Avenue, also taken Sunday.  This particular section of sidewalk is "not abutted by private property," which means the city is responsible for clearing it.  I don't see a clean sidewalk.

This is Maple Avenue near Berkeley looking west toward the hospital.  Again, walks the city should have cleared that still remain covered by snow and ice more than four days after the last storm.

Here is the bike path where it crosses Maple heading toward Union Park.  The bike path is cleared, but the sidewalks aren't?  I know some bicyclists ride in the winter, but not very many.

A lot of people walk throughout the winter.  Yet the sidewalks are not cleared everyplace.  So we have to walk in the streets where slippery conditions increase the possibility of being hit by a car, truck, or bus.  So why hasn't the city cleared the sidewalks for which it is responsible?  Or not enforced the ordinance requiring property owners to clear the sidewalks abutting their property?

It may be time to start publishing a Walk of Shame!

A Full Week

Last week I commuted into the City four days out of five.  Four winter days.  Four days of train malfunctions and delays.  I do not miss that part of the daily commute!

Tuesday I had a job interview, which went pretty well.  That trip also gave me a chance to visit with some of my former Church Center colleagues, and I came home with some additional job leads to follow up on.  All in all, a productive day.

Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday I attended Trinity Institute's 41st Annual Theological Conference: Reading Scripture Through Other Eyes.  I was able to attend because I'd been asked to facilitate one of the small groups.   It was both exhilarating and exhausting.  Walter Brueggemann, need I say more?  I'm waiting for the transcripts to be posted, because my notes just don't do the presentations justice.  To get a taste for what we heard and saw, check out the conference blog.

The icing on the cake, so to speak, was running into friends, both new and old.  Several of the facilitators were folks I went through EfM mentor training with last August.  Another facilitator was someone I know from my involvement with Integrity Westchester.  I finally met in person someone I've known through Facebook because of our professional networks.  And then there were two friends from Pennsylvania who I have not seen face to face in longer than any of us care to think about. 

Tomorrow it's back to the job hunt.  Every day is one day closer to my new job--wherever and whatever it is.

Wanderlust

A couple of days ago the latest TravelSmith catalog arrived in the mail.  They have a variety of products designed to help frequent travelers cut down on the amount of stuff they need to pack and still dress appropriately for a number of occasions. Occasionally, I have actually ordered from it for my own travel needs. Once every few months, the arrival of the catalog prompts me to visit the One Bag web site.

But mostly, the catalog sparks a bit of Wanderlust.  I want to pack up my carry on, grab my passport, buy a ticket, and head off to someplace new.  There are still parts of Ireland I want to see (for Christmas one of my nephews gave me a book about bike touring and Irish History for Dummies). There's a bike trip from Vienna to Prague I'd like to take.  Not to mention parts of my own country that I still haven't been to.

I'll be saving my pennies for a while. In the meantime, maybe I should go to the library and check out one of Paul Theroux's books.

Sharing Faith and Hope

Over at Episcopal Cafe there's a discussion on about whether or not gays and lesbians should debate scripture.  It's based on this article at the Religion Dispatches site, which was in response to this article on The Huffington Post.  It's an interesting discussion, and I think a great deal of it hinges on the definitions of argue, debate, and discuss, which is a post for another time.

What caught my eye was Jay Michaelson's opening paragraph in the Religion Dispatches piece:

It is tough, lonely, and occasionally dangerous to be an LGBT religious activist. Fellow queers think you’re an apologist for an oppressive system, or that you haven’t yet gotten over your guilt about being gay. Religious people think you’re nuts, or evil, or worse. And you have to be told, time and time again, that your love for your partner, lover, or friend is no different from someone’s lust for a sheep. I think our work is saving the world, but it definitely sucks at times.

From the perspective of my many years of dealing with these issues, Michaelson has hit the nail on the head. Those of us who are both LGBTQ and Christian are often scorned, chastised, and even excluded by both communities. There are times when I tire of filling the role of token LBGTQ person in my congregation. And equally, of being the token Christian in in many LGBTQ circles. Let me tell you, ardent LBGTQ activists can be as nasty and hurtful as the most right-wing fundamentalist Christian.

I do have short answers for both situations:

LBGTQ Critic:  How can you belong to such an intolerant organization? Why don't you leave?
Me: How can you live in such an intolerant country? Why don't you move to Denmark or the Netherlands?

Christian Critic: How can you so flagrantly disobey God's Law?
Me:  When you're keeping all 613 mitzvot come back, and we'll discuss it.

That usually ends the conversation. Especially since both types of folks really aren't interested in conversation.

However, I don't believe in shutting it down interaction with someone who disagrees with me simply because we disagree.

Quite frankly, I probably wouldn't be a Christian today if it weren't for one evening during my senior year of college spent sitting with a college friend on his dorm room floor as he walked me through Paul's Letter to the Romans. Tom was a member of Intervarsity Christian Fellowship, as were a number of my college friends. Occasionally, they invited me to their meetings, and I attended once or twice. Those meetings made me uncomfortable, in no small part because I was in the midst of Coming Out. I don't remember how Tom and I ended up having that particular conversation, but it probably started with my trying to explain to him just why I was uncomfortable with their meetings. I also don't remember much about our conversation except that he presented Romans 1:26-27 in a way that emphasized the sin rather than the consequences and treated the consequences presented as part of Paul's rhetoric. It was an eye opening conversation for me.

Nor would I have as great an appreciation for the Eucharist if I hadn't attended a workshop given by Bishop Jeffery Rowthorn, with whom I often disagree where LBGTQ issues are concerned. A few years later I had the opportunity to tell Bishop Rowthorn how much that workshop taught me and what it meant to me. He seemed genuinely touched. In spite of our differences.

And then there are the times when a conversation about Christianity begins with an LBGTQ person where I am called to listen. The church, in all its forms, has inflicted a great deal of pain on us. Including on me. It still does. So I listen, and if appropriate, offer the faith and hope of my own experience. Sometimes, a seed is planted.

Sometimes a seed is planted in me. 

Someday I hope I can tell Tom how much fruit our conversation bore and continues to bear in my life.

A Printed Flute

Yes, you read that right, a printed flute! 

While puttering around on the Internet, I found this article: 3D-Printed Flute Is Here; 3D-Printed Stradivarius Next. There are some issues, but it's still pretty amazing.

The flute took around 15 hours to print and was printed in four separate pieces which were then assembled later. Zoran designed the Flute using a CAD program, then sent the CAD drawing to the printer.

A little poking around found printed 3D architectural models, shoes, a skateboard, and even a motorcycle.

If you want to know how 3D printing works, check out this Wikipedia article.

The Quantz Sonatas are here!

A year-and-a-half after I first heard about Rachel Brown's Urtext* edition of Quantz flute sonatas, they arrived in today's mail.

As a member of the National Flute Association, I've known about Rachel Brown for a number of years, but I did not have the opportunity to see her perform until the 2009 NFA Convention. She presented a lecture/recital of sonatas written by Johann Joachim Quantz for Frederick the Great of Prussia.  During the lecture portions of the program Rachel spoke about the court of Frederick the Great and some of the history and gossip of the period. She talked about visiting the collection and seeing the original manuscripts of the sonatas. She also announced that she planned to publish an edition of the sonatas with facsimiles of the originals. The first run, she told us, would be by subscription.

Later during the convention I had the pleasure of meeting Rachel and spending a few minutes with her. We talked a bit about playing the flute (of course), history, and her plans to publish the sonatas.  I gave her my email address and expressed an interest in subscribing.

A year later, I received an email from Rachel informing me that the sonatas were ready for publication and inviting me to subscribe.  I'd been uneasy about subscribing because of what it might cost.  On the other hand, how often do I have the chance to be a patron of the arts?  As it turned out, the subscription less than $100, which I could afford at the time, so I was pleased to be able to play a small part in getting the sonatas published. 

They were due to be released on November 19 in conjunction with a launch concert at the Royal College of Music in London.  You can read a review of the concert here at the Chamber Music Today blog. However, there was a delay at the printer with the folders, and they mailed the music to subscribers in December.  Mine was postmarked December 11, and even via air mail, it took over a month to arrive.  Perhaps the winter storms played a role. 

But now both volumes are here.  Each volume contains six sonatas with three scores (two containing both the flute and cello parts printed together and one for keyboard) and the facsimiles.  Rachel has written fairly extensive performance notes that are readable, interesting, and usable.  They include sections on accidentals, rhythmic alteration, tempo markings, articulation, grace notes and trills, ornamentation and cadenzas.  In the near future she will have an extended performance guide online at her web site.  The keyboard realization of the figured bass is by Terence Charlston.

I particularly appreciate that Rachel chose to print the flute and cello parts together in the same score.  In the performance notes she writes:

The flute and figured bass parts are presented together, as Quantz demanded.  Apart from the obvious advantage of better ensemble through following each other's parts, this offers many other benefits, chiefly, that it allows for a better understanding of the harmony and all of its implications.

I've never understood why most editors and publishers print the flute and keyboard parts together in the keyboard score but print the flute part alone. I'd much rather see the other musicians' parts while I'm playing. Besides, it makes it easier to find your place, if you get lost. And I have lost my place during performance. That's why I usually play from the keyboard score, even if I have to enlarge it!

I haven't yet read through these with my flute, but that gives me something to look forward to as I savor the scores and text.

*Urtext: n. The original text, as of a musical score or literary work. [Ger: ur-, original] (from The American Heritage College Dictionary, Fourth Edition, 2002)

Now We Are One and Fifty

When I was little birthdays meant a decorated chair, ice cream for breakfast. and cupcakes for my classroom at school.  As I got older, toys gave way to more practical presents, like electric typewriters.  Yes, I'm old enough that I actually used a typewriter to type my papers for school.  That particular typewriter helped me earn extra spending money during college by typing papers for others.

I got carded for the first time on my 19th birthday.  At that point in time, 19 was the legal drinking age in Minnesota.  The next year found me in Illinois, where the drinking age was raised from 18 to 21 right before my birthday.  The year after that my friends threw me a major party that was memorialized in the yearbook (how many college students can you fit on a twin bed?).

For my 33rd birthday Brian and I spent a long weekend in Newport, RI.  Dad had died the previous November, his mother three weeks after that, and I needed to get away.  I spent my 34th birthday sitting at LaGuardia Airport waiting for a flight to Nashville that never left because of a snowstorm. 

The big 4-0 resulted in a party planned by a friend that turned out to be more for her birthday than mine.  For the last five years or so, a small group of us gets together and plans some sort of surprise day trip or special dinner for each birthday.  Last year, for my 50th, they worked with Mom to plan a big celebration.  This year, we'll be doing a combined Christmas, Hanukkah, Solstice, Birthday party later in the month.  We just couldn't find a mutually convenient date in December for the holiday party.

So today, on my 51st birthday, I spent a quiet day at home.  I took pictures of snow.  I dug out the non-functioning car (yes, I still have to get it into the shop).  I took more pictures.  I continued hunting for a job.  A group of my former colleagues gathered together and called me to sing Happy Birthday with much joy and laughter.  And many many friends posted good wishes on my Facebook wall.  All in all, not a bad day.

1-11-11

Or 11-1-11, if you prefer the European method.  The first time I remember being aware of dates like this was during the summer I spent in Germany as an exchange student: 7-7-77.  That was also the summer Elvis Presley died, and I suddenly became the local Elvis Expert simply because I was the American in Vallendar am Rhein at the time.

So in honor of the date, here are 11 bits of trivia about me.  In no particular order.  Just for fun.

1.  I can fumble my way through conversations with varying degrees of fluency in four languages other than English:  French, German, American Sign Language, and Spanish. 

2.  Being the unofficial family genealogist enabled me to help my niece and two of my nephews with eighth grade history projects. 

3.  I was a first soprano until I was 15.  That made for an interesting 8th grade musical when I sang higher than both the other leads--an alto (female lead) and a baritone (1st male lead).

4.  I never intended to stay in Connecticut after I returned from college in the Midwest.  Life happens.

5.  My favorite Halloween Costume: my junior year of college when four of us dressed up as the Fruit of The Loom guys (I was Leaf).  We won first prize in the contest at a local gay bar.

6.  My 9th grade yearbook lists Math Whiz under my picture.  Little did they know Mom spent hours and hours with me at the kitchen table helping me with my math homework.

7.  I've worked for eight different employers since graduating from college.  I've been laid off from all but one of those positions.  "It's the economy."

8.  I had nine different bosses during the eight-and-one-half years I worked at the Episcopal Church Center.

9.  I got my first bicycle when I was 5.  Without training wheels.  It took me so long to learn how to ride it that the whole neighborhood cheered when I finally managed it.  A bicycle was my primary mode of transportation until I was 23. 

10.  I edited the Rockford College literary magazine, The Feast, my senior year.  I don't know how many readers caught on to the fact that we organized it around biblical themes--that's just the way the submissions we received that year worked out.

11.  I wrote (and played) a flute descant for "The Wedding Song" for my brother's wedding that was favorably critiqued by professional musicians. (Hey, I had to mention the flute someplace!)

Forecasting Snowmageddon Part 3

The Arizona shooting has dropped to third place, or lower, in the news headlines this evening as two storms converge on the Northeast.  Our weather experts expect the meeting of the storms dump between 9-13", or even 10-16" on our area. This will be the third major snowstorm in three weeks. 

What gives? 

It's winter.  It gets cold.  It snows. 

Some years we get a lot of snow, and some years we get very little.  It wasn't all that long ago people noted the number of winters with little or no snow.  Now they moan that we have too much.

It's winter.  It gets cold.  It snows.

Get over it.  Weather happens.  We can't control it.  In our urbanized culture, we have forgotten what it means to live with the weather.

It's winter.  It gets cold.  It snows.

Use a little common sense, and we'll be fine.

This Is Our Neighborhood

Yesterday afternoon I took a break to run a couple of errands.  I needed to go to the local CVS and stop at the library. One of the great things about living where I do is that I can walk to just about anything I need in terms of basics.

So I walked.

And I took my camera.

One of the places within walking distance is my church, and I've been wanting to put together a photo essay for the members to show them what's around the church. Today presented me with the opportunity to start it.

After the 1955 floods the City of Norwalk undertook a period of urban renewal. As part of that project, the City bought out Grace Episcopal Church's property. The parish made the decision to remain in the downtown area and bought property a few blocks away where they built their new church.

Over the years the downtown area went through cycles of decline, renewal, and change.  The neighborhood is no longer what it was 50 years ago.

Grace Episcopal Church is no longer what it was 50 years ago. The congregation has shrunk drastically in the last 20 years. But the church continues to do some amazing work. We provide homes for three other congregations and meeting space for a number of community organizations and a local symphony. We contribute food to local food pantries and supply emergency funding to families in need.

Very few of our members live close to the church. The congregation seems to have lost touch with the neighborhood. So let me show you our neighborhood--places less than a 15 minute walk from our church.



Even a short walk around the church shows that we are in the middle of a multi-ethnic, multi-lingual, multicultural, and increasingly diverse neighborhood.  It also includes a sizable number of homeless citizens. 

The question is, how willing are we as a congregation to BE part of this neighborhood?

New Year, New Look, New Direction

The first work day of 2011 found me tying up some of the last loose ends relating to the end of my position at the Episcopal Church Center.  I didn't get them all taken care of because I also needed to make flight reservations for the February NAECED Conference and work on a version of my resume to submit for a job lead.  I also spent some time this afternoon pursuing some volunteer opportunities, so I won't spend my days sitting around my apartment.

After supper I started tinkering with this blog.  I wanted to get all my sermons from then past few years in one place.  I ended up also importing selected posts from my old blog.  And as long as I was tinkering, I decided I wanted to freshen up the look of the blog as well.  I didn't use the template I really liked because white text on a dark brown background doesn't make for ease of reading.  I opted for something simpler and infinitely more readable.

New Direction applies to all of the above.  I have no idea where my job search will take me.  And I'm still finding my voice for this blog.  I may not know where I'm going yet, but one foot in front of the other keeps me moving forward.

Here's to a successful 2011!