Sacred Music Friday: When In Our Music God Is Glorified
Posted: April 28, 2017 Filed under: Music Leave a commentWhen In Our Music God Is Glorified, Festival Adult Choir, Eric Dale Knapp, conductor, the Mark Thallander Foundation Choir Festival, Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, February 17, 2008
I’m not that old
Posted: April 27, 2017 Filed under: Random thoughts, Spirituality Leave a commentI’m not that old. At least I don’t feel that old. I have to admit that I become eligible for Medicare next year. But still. And if I want to feel young, all I have to do is to do is have lunch at the Bistro here at Four Seasons or go to Sunday service at Good Shepherd Episcopal.
So I was a bit taken aback when I read a recent daily meditation in the Forward Day by Day devotional guide. The author wrote:
Think back to the first major global event you remember. For me, it was the 1986 explosion of the space shuttle Challenger.
She went on to write: “Others may recall the fall of the Berlin Wall. … Still others will remember the events of September 11, skyscrapers folding in upon themselves and planes being transformed into missiles.”
I was working at the weekly newspaper Metro in San Jose when the publisher’s wife said, “The shuttle blew up.” When the Berlin Wall fell I was working at a small software company in Mountain View. On 9/11 I was snoozing on the commuter train, not learning what had happened until I arrived at Lawrence Station in Sunnyvale.
The earliest events I remember were decades earlier. I remember talk of Khrushchev pounding his shoe on a podium and people discussing his statement, “We will bury you.” I remember the events surrounding the 1960 presidential election. I suppose the first specific even I remember was Alan Shepard’s sub-orbital flight in 1961. I was an avid follower of the space program then on.
But still, I don’t feel that old.
easy meals
Posted: April 26, 2017 Filed under: Cooking Leave a commentI enjoy cooking and I have tried a lot of new recipes in recent months, many of which I modified in one way or another. But sometimes I need to do something simple.
On a recent Thursday I made it very easy by making a frozen Bertolli meal. It’s simple to make and really quite tasty. The next day I got a take and bake pizza from the local grocery store. I normally get one with toppings, but this time I got a cheese pizza and added my own toppings. It made for a really good meal, plus we had leftovers for a second dinner, and a lunch for me besides that.
Sometimes its nice to take the simple route.
a Toastmaster milestone
Posted: April 25, 2017 Filed under: Toastmasters 2 CommentsI recently passed another Toastmaster milestone. I received my Advanced Communicator Bronze award.
To get my Competent Communicator award, I had to complete the ten speeches in the Competent Communication manual. The next level, Advanced Communicator Bronze (ACB), required completing two five speech sets from two of the fifteen advanced manuals. I did that by completing the speeches in the Storytelling and Speaking to Entertain manuals. I submitted my application and received the award.
I was getting somewhat burned out with Toastmasters and was thinking about making some changes, but with getting my ACB and given my role of Vice President – Education, I am re-energized.
My next speaking goal: Advanced Communicator Silver. And with my mentoring a new member I am close to my Competent Leader award as well.
grilled shrimp with Romesco sauce
Posted: April 24, 2017 Filed under: Cooking, Grilling, Recipes Leave a commentOne of the Food Network programs that I have set up for series recoding is Valerie’s Home Cooking. If you remember Valerie Bertinelli from One Day at a Time, which ran from 1975 to 1984, she is every bit as cute and charming today as she was back then. A much younger me had quite the crush on Valerie, or at least her character Barbara Cooper. The me of today loves watching Valerie share her cooking skills and learning new recipes from her.
One recipe that she demonstrated was Grilled Shrimp Skewers with Romesco Sauce. I saved the recipe to my database and tried it on a recent Saturday. The Romesco sauce comes from the Catalonia area of Spain and is based on roasted red peppers. I made it generally according to Valerie’s instructions, although I used pine nuts instead of almonds since I had pine nuts on hand and no almonds. I tossed the shrimp as directed and grilled them on our outdoor gas grill. I served a garlic-butter rice mix on the side.
The Romesco sauce made the meal. It was absolutely delicious. Terry gave it her highest praise, which is “We can make this again.”
Not only that, there was plenty of sauce left over, which I later used on grilled chicken.
Sacred Music Friday: Jesus Christ is Risen Today
Posted: April 21, 2017 Filed under: Easter, Music 2 CommentsFirst Plymouth Congregational Church, Lincoln, Nebraska, Plymouth Choir and congregation, arrangement by Jeremy Bankson, Associate Minister of Music
changing browsers
Posted: April 20, 2017 Filed under: Web/Tech Leave a commentI had been using Firefox as my web browser for some time now. I’ve always really liked it, and I have become used to it. But recently I went through the hassle (reentering passwords, getting cell phone authorizations, etc.) of switching to Chrome.
I didn’t want to switch. Firefox is developed by a non-profit organization and is a big advocate for user privacy. Chrome comes from the Evil Empire of Google, to me as much of an Evil Empire as Microsoft. Maybe more so these days. (But I am stuck with them both, big time.)
The reason I switched was that within a period of a few weeks I was hit twice by the same ransomware attack. Firefox failed to catch it. Fortunately it was easy to get rid of this particular one. All I had to do was delete the file that contained my browsing history. Still, that shook my confidence in Firefox. A quick search brought up studies that showed that of the major browsers, Firefox was the least robust in preventing malware.
I decided, in spite of Windows 10 regularly telling me that I needed to switch to Edge, to switch to Chrome. The transition was less painful than it could have been. I am getting used to Chrome and its features.
And I am, I have to say, disappointed in Firefox and the Mozilla Foundation.
protecting our grill
Posted: April 19, 2017 Filed under: Cooking, Grilling, SoCal Life Leave a commentShortly after we got our new gas grill Terry said that I needed to get a cover for it. I responded that I didn’t think we needed one as it was under the patio cover. She told me it was getting covered with dust. She was right. It was dusty.
I checked out Amazon. (Where else?) I found the appropriate sized grill cover for only $19.95. When it arrived I was pleased with how heavy and sturdy it was. Great value for the price.
I’m glad I got it. When I’m ready to grill the grill is nice and clean and ready to go.
This is not a very interesting picture, but having the cover makes my grilling experience so much more pleasant.
not so bad, I suppose
Posted: April 18, 2017 Filed under: Books, Web/Tech Leave a commentI have had an Amazon credit card from Chase Bank for quite a few years now. I have long used the points from that card to buy many of my Kindle books. I would use the points to buy an Amazon e-gift card which I sent to my email address and then enter the redemption code into my Amazon account. I then bought the Kindle book I wanted. It all worked very well.
I went to do that recently and discovered that the option was no longer available. I further discovered that I can’t even use those points to buy a physical Amazon gift card delivered to me by postal mail. I spent several hours being seriously ticked off with Amazon. Then, however, I did some further investigation and I discovered that I could redeem the points as a statement credit on my Amazon credit card. So, I did that and then ordered my Kindle book which was charged to my Amazon credit card and I was done. As I thought about it, it was actually easier than what I had been doing.
Not so bad, I suppose.
lemon-cumin chicken with pesto
Posted: April 17, 2017 Filed under: Cooking, Grilling, Recipes 1 CommentOne of the things that I like about Giada’s recipes is that she is serious about the spices and seasonings. I don’t have to add anything; she has it handled.
I have had her recipe for lemon-cumin chicken in my database for a while. I tried it on a recent Saturday and it was a success. I prepared the marinade as specified and I let the chicken marinate for close to five hours. I bought the thin-sliced chicken breasts at the full-service meat counter of our local grocery store. I cooked the chicken on our outdoor gas grill.
I had never made pesto before. The task seemed daunting. I have watched enough cooking shows that I really should have gotten it that pesto isn’t that hard. But it just never sank in. This recipe called for pesto, however, so I decided to tackle it. It was really very easy and came out quite tasty. I substituted pine nuts for walnuts because that was what I had on hand. Otherwise I followed Giada’s instructions.
On the side I served Farmhouse Herb and Butter rice mix and I had our home-grown romaine lettuce with my homemade vinaigrette blend.
It was a dinner that worked out very well.
my point being 