Friday shuffle

1. Bruckner: Ave Maria - St Bride's
2. Walton: Set Me as a Seal - Trinity Choir
3. PDQ Bach: Erotica Variations - Semi-Pro Musica Antiqua
4. Phibbs: Rainland - Bach Choir of Pittsburgh
5. Love Walked In - Suzannah McCorkle
6. Mama Said - Shirelles
7. Alexander: Jesus Met the Woman at the Well - Chanticleer
8. Is the Blue Moon Still Shining - James King
9. Strauss: Ein Heldenleben - von Karajan, Berlin
10. Love Letters in the Sand - Pat Boone

I cheated today. Every touch brought up more classical music. So I just kept trying again.

Fall cats

Camo cat

Not camo cat

I wish...

I wish the John McCain we saw last night were the John McCain who ran for president.

I wish the Republican party would shatter itself into unidentifiable little bits that are impossible to reassemble.

I wish a new political party in the manner of the Rockefeller Republicans would rise out of the ashes. A party that values discussion and difference. A party of intelligent people who evaluate all sides before making decisions. A party of compassionate people who care for others while being financially responsible. A party of people who include others with divergent opinions and value equal rights for all people.

Perhaps that is only a dream. But that's what I believed Republicans were that day I stood next to the car containing Lyndon Johnson for whom I had no respect and listened to him campaign for John Kennedy. He congratulated me for being open-minded. I told him the majority of people there were young Republicans. There were no boos. In those days Republicans were respectful. How times have changed.

Sad.

BUT Barack Obama will be our next president. The world rejoices with us as hate will soon leave the White House.

Cheers and jeers

Hallelujah! We will have a president who is cool under pressure, a role model for often neglected youth and isn't an old white male. The whole world rejoices with us.

Unfortunately Floridians, Arizonans and probably Californians believe that the Bible sanctions all sorts of misguided relationships between heterosexual people but eternally condemns life long commitments between people of the same sex. If, as they believe, they will meet Jesus when they die, I suspect they will be asked what part of his message they did not understand. Some people's religion is poisonous.

I'm angry enough to not even ask God to have mercy on their souls. May they reap what they sow - fear and hate. And may their children disown them - for good reason.

And one final plea against Prop 8 in California and "Christian" prejudice everywhere

And for Connecticut voters, please vote NO on Issue 1.

Vote!

Please!

Even if you disagree with my choices. If you don't vote, you forfeit your right to complain!

I voted at 10:30 am. Have you?

New voters had to show ID. Their name space indicated that. The rest of us who vote regularly didn't.

An interesting perspective on voting is on Caminante's blog.

RIP Madelyn Dunham

Barack Obama's grandmother died today. May he and his family find peace in all the turmoil tonight, tomorrow and the days beyond will bring.

Sunday church blogging

The ordinations yesterday were at the Cathedral of St. Paul in Erie, PA. I didn't take a photo of the outside so I nicked this from the Diocese of Northwestern Pennsylvania website. The following ones are mine. The differences in lighting are due to the brightness of the sun Saturday. That was appreciated but made photographs of the interior weird.

All of the relatively decent photos I took of the Ordinations are here. There are more than are posted below.