Happy Birthday RantDad. RantDad would be 82 today. RantWoman is fondly remembering being able to surprise him with a visit on his 60th birthday, his last. Today RantWoman celebrates the music continuing.
RantWoman also takes note, it is the first Sunday of Advent. RantWoman really does not care whether other Quakers keep that celebration or not; it is important in the cycle of RantWoman's attention to matters spiritual.
RantWoman thought of marking this year's temporal coincidence with some nice Christmas music for bassoon quartet. However, the internet served up a bassoon quartet who play together just for the exuberant joy of playing together. The Boulder Bassoon Quartet tours all over Colorado and even has an album; RantWoman suggests using your search engine of choice for ordering information.
Keep listening for a Contrabassoon quartet and MUCH more irreverent bassoon esoterica.
RantWoman also awards honorable or dishonorable mention for both making rantWoman laugh and going just a little too far for a RantDad remembrance
Rainn Wilson, The Basson King performs on Stven Colbert
Plu, here's a book for the mean-to-read list if only because of all the threads lumped together after the colon in the title
Rainn Wilson's book The Bassoon King: my Life in Art Faith and Idiocy
Sunday, November 27, 2016
Saturday, November 26, 2016
Standing Aside--After the Fact: minutes conniptions.
Bless us oh Lord
This post brought to you by the phrase "standing aside," as offered in an email about minutes and NOT picked up in the resulting minutes.
This post dedicated to Melania Trump, lately enduring slings and arros from the press because her English is less than idiomatic. RantWoman dares any of the people commenting about Melania's English to conduct a whole media event in their second language. Monolingual commenters have NO CALL to comment on Melania's English.
This post further dedicated to a Russian > English interpreter for a Putin press statement as part of the credentials presentation for 19 new ambassadors to Russia. THis event also featured Putin's comments about the US election: he seems pleased. The interpreter's grasp of terminology was excellent; he just made almost every mistake native Russian speakers tend to make about syntax in English
What with the rampages of the new Groper in Chief on the horizon, more torrents seething from her recent "Really, God, Really? " exercise among the blind, and the latest mutations of family medical melodrama. RantWoman's queue of options for conniptions, crankiness, and overly generous irascibility is already too long. RantWoman did not realize until now that it still is not long enough and RantWoman is called to cough up yet further fulmionation, this time in relation to MINUTES and Quakerese, in particular the phrase "Standing Aside."
Did Gawd Herself write the phrase "standing aside" on some Quaker stone tablets somewhere? Will the entire flow of all that is holy grind to a halt if the minutes do not use that exact phrase? Wherein lies the source of RantWoman's call to conniptions? Should RantWoman just chill out, go home, feed the cat and go to bed so shecan come back to other urgent concerns tomorrow?
Apparently not.
The situation as rendered in draft minutes with nom de blog and RantWoman's proposed corrections [in square brackets].
Approval of Monthly Meeting Minutes
The minutes from the September meeting were approved as distributed and modified. Friend who Offers Strong Ministry respectfully expressed his concerns about [ASKED TO BE RECORDED AS STANDING ASIDE FROM] the minute passed [APPROVED] during ninth month regarding the use of the Washington State Parks for Navy SEALs training.
(Editorial comment: the minute under discussion came from another Monthly Meeting. The presentation had overtones of "but of course we all agree..." At least on Planet RantWoman life is more interesting when no, in fact, we do not all automatically agree. )
The longer version, borrowing from the archives of the Still Didn't Get The Memo Committee on Email Immoderation, wherein the Recording Clerk was specifically supplied with the precise intended Quakerese, and in context too.. Readers can you find it?
Dear Friend Who Offers Strong Ministry
Thank you again for asking to be recorded as standing aside from the
minute about training flights from Whidbey Island over state parks. I
am sharing this with Clerk, Recording Clerk, and Clerk of Peace and Social Concerns just to satisfy my process fussiness.
As Clerk said, it is kind of unusual to record something like that
after Meeting has already acted, but in this case, I think it is
entirely appropriate to record that in this month’s minutes.
The next just process point: do you get the bulletin by email? If so
you should also be getting the documents for business meeting. I
personally really appreciate the opportunity to think about things
before Business Meeting. But I also think it’s important to have
complete discussions in business meeting. If someone cannot be at
Business Meeting for something they have concerns about, it is
worthwhile to ask to postpone the item.
For myself. Part of the value of discussions in Business Meeting is
learning the range of people’s views and experiences related to the
military and the Peace Testimony. For example, I understand your
point that if the Navy is going to rely on expensive extremely complex
technology, they need to practice. However, I do not automatically
feel safer if the navy cannot have conversations about carbon
footprint and the ecological impact on wildlife and on people’s
enjoyment of the parks. I consider it my patriotic duty to exercise
the rights I have to question my government. I also think it is good
for the navy to have to work within real life constraints.
Often in Business Meeting hearing the substance of people’s concerns
is only part of the task; the other part of the task is figuring out
what we want to sign onto and what we ask of ourselves as a Meeting.
Sometimes as in this case, if a minute has been written by someone
outside our Meeting, we might or might not want to try to fuss too much with
the wording. Sometimes I like having our Meeting do its own minute that first
mentions the outside minute and what we ask Friends to do with it
(keep studying, unite in agreement…) . I do not remember for this
minute whether we did things like ask the clerk to send copies to our
congressional representatives or publicize on our website.
Anyway, If you want to talk further about this specific topic,
probably more than one person on the To list would be glad to talk
further. But maybe it is also just worth thnking about the process
points as other topics come up in the future.
In the Light.
RantWoman
And since when is standing aside over different understandings of the Peace Testimony a task for "Go Ask your Search Engine?" Of Course! When people rely on the interwebs and accessibility tools rather than Holy writ in print form.
The first definition offered by Google:
stand aside
phrasal verb of stand
1. take no action to prevent, or not involve oneself in, something that is happening.
"the army had stood aside as the monarchy fell"
Some other dictionary references
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/stand-aside
http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/stand+aside
'mkay. Juding by the first page of search results, not a specific Quaker usage, but what about Faith and Practice? What about it. RantWoman generally favors precise terminology and is pretty sure Standing Aside IS mentioned in Faith and Practice, but darned if RantWoman is going to go check just now..
Next conniption topic?
This post brought to you by the phrase "standing aside," as offered in an email about minutes and NOT picked up in the resulting minutes.
This post dedicated to Melania Trump, lately enduring slings and arros from the press because her English is less than idiomatic. RantWoman dares any of the people commenting about Melania's English to conduct a whole media event in their second language. Monolingual commenters have NO CALL to comment on Melania's English.
This post further dedicated to a Russian > English interpreter for a Putin press statement as part of the credentials presentation for 19 new ambassadors to Russia. THis event also featured Putin's comments about the US election: he seems pleased. The interpreter's grasp of terminology was excellent; he just made almost every mistake native Russian speakers tend to make about syntax in English
What with the rampages of the new Groper in Chief on the horizon, more torrents seething from her recent "Really, God, Really? " exercise among the blind, and the latest mutations of family medical melodrama. RantWoman's queue of options for conniptions, crankiness, and overly generous irascibility is already too long. RantWoman did not realize until now that it still is not long enough and RantWoman is called to cough up yet further fulmionation, this time in relation to MINUTES and Quakerese, in particular the phrase "Standing Aside."
Did Gawd Herself write the phrase "standing aside" on some Quaker stone tablets somewhere? Will the entire flow of all that is holy grind to a halt if the minutes do not use that exact phrase? Wherein lies the source of RantWoman's call to conniptions? Should RantWoman just chill out, go home, feed the cat and go to bed so shecan come back to other urgent concerns tomorrow?
Apparently not.
The situation as rendered in draft minutes with nom de blog and RantWoman's proposed corrections [in square brackets].
Approval of Monthly Meeting Minutes
The minutes from the September meeting were approved as distributed and modified. Friend who Offers Strong Ministry respectfully expressed his concerns about [ASKED TO BE RECORDED AS STANDING ASIDE FROM] the minute passed [APPROVED] during ninth month regarding the use of the Washington State Parks for Navy SEALs training.
(Editorial comment: the minute under discussion came from another Monthly Meeting. The presentation had overtones of "but of course we all agree..." At least on Planet RantWoman life is more interesting when no, in fact, we do not all automatically agree. )
The longer version, borrowing from the archives of the Still Didn't Get The Memo Committee on Email Immoderation, wherein the Recording Clerk was specifically supplied with the precise intended Quakerese, and in context too.. Readers can you find it?
Dear Friend Who Offers Strong Ministry
Thank you again for asking to be recorded as standing aside from the
minute about training flights from Whidbey Island over state parks. I
am sharing this with Clerk, Recording Clerk, and Clerk of Peace and Social Concerns just to satisfy my process fussiness.
As Clerk said, it is kind of unusual to record something like that
after Meeting has already acted, but in this case, I think it is
entirely appropriate to record that in this month’s minutes.
The next just process point: do you get the bulletin by email? If so
you should also be getting the documents for business meeting. I
personally really appreciate the opportunity to think about things
before Business Meeting. But I also think it’s important to have
complete discussions in business meeting. If someone cannot be at
Business Meeting for something they have concerns about, it is
worthwhile to ask to postpone the item.
For myself. Part of the value of discussions in Business Meeting is
learning the range of people’s views and experiences related to the
military and the Peace Testimony. For example, I understand your
point that if the Navy is going to rely on expensive extremely complex
technology, they need to practice. However, I do not automatically
feel safer if the navy cannot have conversations about carbon
footprint and the ecological impact on wildlife and on people’s
enjoyment of the parks. I consider it my patriotic duty to exercise
the rights I have to question my government. I also think it is good
for the navy to have to work within real life constraints.
Often in Business Meeting hearing the substance of people’s concerns
is only part of the task; the other part of the task is figuring out
what we want to sign onto and what we ask of ourselves as a Meeting.
Sometimes as in this case, if a minute has been written by someone
outside our Meeting, we might or might not want to try to fuss too much with
the wording. Sometimes I like having our Meeting do its own minute that first
mentions the outside minute and what we ask Friends to do with it
(keep studying, unite in agreement…) . I do not remember for this
minute whether we did things like ask the clerk to send copies to our
congressional representatives or publicize on our website.
Anyway, If you want to talk further about this specific topic,
probably more than one person on the To list would be glad to talk
further. But maybe it is also just worth thnking about the process
points as other topics come up in the future.
In the Light.
RantWoman
And since when is standing aside over different understandings of the Peace Testimony a task for "Go Ask your Search Engine?" Of Course! When people rely on the interwebs and accessibility tools rather than Holy writ in print form.
The first definition offered by Google:
stand aside
phrasal verb of stand
1. take no action to prevent, or not involve oneself in, something that is happening.
"the army had stood aside as the monarchy fell"
Some other dictionary references
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/stand-aside
http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/stand+aside
'mkay. Juding by the first page of search results, not a specific Quaker usage, but what about Faith and Practice? What about it. RantWoman generally favors precise terminology and is pretty sure Standing Aside IS mentioned in Faith and Practice, but darned if RantWoman is going to go check just now..
Next conniption topic?
Tuesday, November 22, 2016
The Worry Sisters League
The Worry Sisters' League is (choose one or more as led):
1. Something that really, really definitely needs to exist even though it does not yet have a formal charter.
2. As with Friends who consistently answer a different but somewhat similar sounding question to the one asked, also symptom of uneven but collective hearing lost, aural befuddlement, the inadequacy of individualized hearing assistance solutions of varying cost and technological sophistication , and a Sign From GAWD Almighty that RantWoman's Meeting maybe should again think about the question of a movable mic system to enrich the community at Adult Religious Education.
3. In context of a presentation about Bayard Rustin, a reference to antimilitarist heroes War Resisters League .
Shameless plug: RantWoman is thrilled to run across may resources she will revisit including some excellent antiwar swag (nothing hivis, sigh). RantWoman will try not to have a temper tantrum about the lack of materials available in electronic format. Instead RantWoman will be very glad to read that training materials have been translated into a number of other languages.
RantWoman will also put on her must-do list to mumble and inquire about whether or not the US ratifying the Marrakech treaty might have anything to do with making materials available in electronic format, but what is a day without something for RantWoman to rant and ramble about.
1. Something that really, really definitely needs to exist even though it does not yet have a formal charter.
2. As with Friends who consistently answer a different but somewhat similar sounding question to the one asked, also symptom of uneven but collective hearing lost, aural befuddlement, the inadequacy of individualized hearing assistance solutions of varying cost and technological sophistication , and a Sign From GAWD Almighty that RantWoman's Meeting maybe should again think about the question of a movable mic system to enrich the community at Adult Religious Education.
3. In context of a presentation about Bayard Rustin, a reference to antimilitarist heroes War Resisters League .
Shameless plug: RantWoman is thrilled to run across may resources she will revisit including some excellent antiwar swag (nothing hivis, sigh). RantWoman will try not to have a temper tantrum about the lack of materials available in electronic format. Instead RantWoman will be very glad to read that training materials have been translated into a number of other languages.
RantWoman will also put on her must-do list to mumble and inquire about whether or not the US ratifying the Marrakech treaty might have anything to do with making materials available in electronic format, but what is a day without something for RantWoman to rant and ramble about.
Monday, November 21, 2016
Film and Facilitated Discussion: Doctrine of Discovery November 23 2016
The Art version, with graphics and everything
The Text Version, more readable for screen readers
Movie
The Text Version, more readable for screen readers
Movie
doctrine of discovery
Unmasking the Domination Code
Initiated as a Papal declaration in 1455, the “Doctrine of Discovery” has been a fundamental moral & legal justification for European colonization for the past 500 years.
Indigenous people have been resisting myriad forms of domination, genocide & resource greed for 500 years, including now at Standing Rock, and elsewhere.
There is a budding movement to have the Catholic Church join some other Christian traditions in repudiating the Doctrine of Discovery as a beginning of atonement & apology to Indigenous peoples.
A facilitated discussion is included
Wednesday November 23, 2016
7:00 pm (Doors open at 6:30 pm) Movie 61 minutes
Limited parting on north side of bldg. and off 40th St. Bike parking avail.
FREE EVENT
Donations to support native communities gratefully accepted
questions, contact
Cosponsored by
All Are Welcome for Thanksgiving Worship and Potluck Feast
Got Plans for Thanksgiving? RantWoman reflexively invites any and all to
Meeting for Worship, 11 am.
Potluck Feast, 12:30 pm
(help with cleanup if your holiday is not complete without some dishwashing around 2:30-3:00)
University Friends Meeting,
4001 9th Avenue NE
Cool things about Thanksgiving at RantWoman's Meeting: First, messages tend to be both very grateful and insightful. Also Thanksgiving way more than Christmas is when there are lots of people who never come the rest of the year and even people who show up for the feast and skip worship.
RantWoman also blesses Meeting's Thanksgiving celebration for satisfying RantMom's need dating from crowded family celebrations for a crowd, and a crowd where the flow is something more than RantMom's dear "I must invite my children over and feed them" holiday reflex. Furthermore, this year RantMom's right arm (she is left-handed but still) is in a sling after some carpal tunnel surgery. At home, RantMom has various adaptations, but BOTH RantSisters this time are able to come over and help. RantWoman for instance went over yesterday to do dishes and leave behind some peeled mandarin oranges.
RantWoman tells the Rant Family, if they want to find RantWoman that is where to look!
Join us!
Meeting for Worship, 11 am.
Potluck Feast, 12:30 pm
(help with cleanup if your holiday is not complete without some dishwashing around 2:30-3:00)
University Friends Meeting,
4001 9th Avenue NE
Cool things about Thanksgiving at RantWoman's Meeting: First, messages tend to be both very grateful and insightful. Also Thanksgiving way more than Christmas is when there are lots of people who never come the rest of the year and even people who show up for the feast and skip worship.
RantWoman also blesses Meeting's Thanksgiving celebration for satisfying RantMom's need dating from crowded family celebrations for a crowd, and a crowd where the flow is something more than RantMom's dear "I must invite my children over and feed them" holiday reflex. Furthermore, this year RantMom's right arm (she is left-handed but still) is in a sling after some carpal tunnel surgery. At home, RantMom has various adaptations, but BOTH RantSisters this time are able to come over and help. RantWoman for instance went over yesterday to do dishes and leave behind some peeled mandarin oranges.
RantWoman tells the Rant Family, if they want to find RantWoman that is where to look!
Join us!
Friday, November 18, 2016
Flavors of Post-Election Spiritual Detox
Note to Self:
When the queue of Things to Rant About is overflowing, consider plan b, items on the mean to read list, a blog post that speaks to my condition and a video which of course RantWoman COULD rant and cavil about but is NOT GOING TO. (such restraint!)
Publishers Weekly list of 6 books for post election spiritual Detox
Faith To Move Mountains: Blog post from long before the election
When the queue of Things to Rant About is overflowing, consider plan b, items on the mean to read list, a blog post that speaks to my condition and a video which of course RantWoman COULD rant and cavil about but is NOT GOING TO. (such restraint!)
Publishers Weekly list of 6 books for post election spiritual Detox
Faith To Move Mountains: Blog post from long before the election
Sunday, November 13, 2016
Unplug from Lunacy; Immerse in Beauty as needed.
Recently RantWoman was asked, basically for good free music options.
One of RantWoman's very favorite options in this vein is the weekly compline service at 9:30 pm every Sunday at St. Mark's (Episcopal) cathedral.on Broadway in Seattle. A capella men's voices, a different set of pieces every week, the serenity of sound resonating in stone, and of course people listening.
The video below explains many things much better than RantWoman can.
RantWoman resolutely offers readers permission they should not need or wait around for to unplug from lunacy and immerse ourselves in beauty as needed.
One of RantWoman's very favorite options in this vein is the weekly compline service at 9:30 pm every Sunday at St. Mark's (Episcopal) cathedral.on Broadway in Seattle. A capella men's voices, a different set of pieces every week, the serenity of sound resonating in stone, and of course people listening.
The video below explains many things much better than RantWoman can.
RantWoman resolutely offers readers permission they should not need or wait around for to unplug from lunacy and immerse ourselves in beauty as needed.
Elections Popcorn Chairs
Planet RantWoman goes to Meeting and Meeting for worship.
Meeting for worship:
The punch line at the end when the Friend who closes Meeting asked does anyone want to offer Joys and Sorrows? The ENTIRE room burst out laughing!
The longer version:
First an opening message from our clerk about offering messages in worship.
Much popcorn regarding the outcome of the elections. Meaningful thoughtful popcorn, popcorn from both newcomers and people on RantWoman's frequent flyer list, just not popcorn that RantWoman fully remembers: a prayer of St. Francis of Assissi and the Gettysburg address from memory! Reflections in more than one voice on fear and struggle and we are all one country.
RantWoman is alas self-absorbed and was darned clear that she had concerns not related only to the elections and that others might too. So RantWoman rose to speak and amazingly something of this whole tangle made it out of RantWoman's mouth.
...we do not usually have an order of services...others share joys and concerns (in time for others to pray about ) ...please hold in the Light...general purpose it's November and...mother having surgery...family birthdays ...death anniversary made more poignant by frequent media mention of both Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen...leading to wear the T-shirt from last week's convention and to tell of repeated dialogues of the form "Really? God, Really? and more messages in the argument..nasty women, bad hombres and the entire basket of deplorables all one country and we need to talk to each other not rely on politicians or the media...new president elect groper in chief...not the first nor probably the last serial groper in the White House..technology execs who undoubtedly all have sexual harassment policies on paper but who are kind of shrugging their shoulders and nodding "whatever" when they could speak out...(what are we carrying forward for our daughters? another digression for another time) ...change.org petition suggesting that electors change their votes: can they do none of the above and draft say Condolezza Rice...?
[NO, RantWoman was NOT disturbed that the children entered while she was speaking! RantWoman went on a long time; RantWoman would usually wait to find a seat until ministry finished if she entered worship while someone was speaking. But these are kids. Plus they wrote GREAT letters tot eh President Elect. Things like "don't start any wars," and "make people be nice to each other."
Meeting closed after the laughter about any more joys and sorrows. Many newcomers. RantWoman neither introduced Ambassador Thwack the anger management consultant masquerading as a white cane nor made an announcement about an out of Meeting event... Oh well. Such forbearance.
Last week RantWoman did a Lift up my eyes to heaven gesture and noticed two bulbs in our overhead lighting that are burned out. RantWoman thought the bulbs had been replaced by Wednesday. RantWoman was WRONG. Oh well. RantWoman still gets to be grateful both to have enough vision to see and to recognize the braille And You pattern in the lights
Adult Religious Education
Awesome session presented by and very meingful for people who have never heard of Bayard Rustin. RantWoman is pleased to collect some book titles and SEE whether some of them are new enough to be available in electronic format or through one of RantWoman's audio book options:
Time on Two Crosses: The collected writings of Bayard Rustin
Lost Prophet: the life and times of Bayard Rustin
Down the Line...Bayard Rustin
Strategies for Freedom: the changing patterns of Black Protest
The Invisible Activist
The chairs plunked so irksomely last week in RantWoman's preferred seating place have been dealt with. These are surplus chairs with no place to be stored, currently all destined to be sold; RantWoman is lobbying to sell fewer of the surplus chairs and make some of them available instead of folding chairs or in addition for the maniacs (and people with sentimental childhood attachment) who prefer the folding chairs.
RantWoman is ANNOYED that the person she spoke to about keeping the chairs flat out dismissed RantWoman's point of view: Actually RantWoman is annoyed with repeated experience with that problem and that person, but this week RantWoman arrived at Meeting well-rested, well-caffeinated and with other annoyances in queue ahead of repeated dismissals. More specifically when RantWoman was compiling her hold in the Light list the phrase "grab the blind person and bless them" came clattering out insistently demanding further attention another time so stay tuned.
Chair seller almost never comes to Adult Ed. RantWoman does come late but does come almost every week to Adult Ed. So the amount of time RantWoman spends being uncomfortable in folding chairs adds up. But Chair seller person so irksomely blew off the cumulative effect that RantWoman slightly despairs that her concern will be remembered when the final decision is made about how many of the extra chairs to sell. However there was good conversation about other chairs, lovely solid chairs with arms recycled to our Meeting when the care facility where a member resided was getting new dining room chairs. Some of the recycled chairs are dingy, though not so RantWoman would notice. Other people do so PERHAPS it might be time to retire some of the orange chairs, EXCEPT that some people really appreciate being able to push against the arms when they rise. So RantWoman recommends keep some of all three: the orange chairs with arms, the upholstered leftover worship room chairs and the folding chairs, some of which date from our current clerk's childhood in our Meeting's first location!
And there is more: homelessness, saved for ....
Meeting for worship:
The punch line at the end when the Friend who closes Meeting asked does anyone want to offer Joys and Sorrows? The ENTIRE room burst out laughing!
The longer version:
First an opening message from our clerk about offering messages in worship.
Much popcorn regarding the outcome of the elections. Meaningful thoughtful popcorn, popcorn from both newcomers and people on RantWoman's frequent flyer list, just not popcorn that RantWoman fully remembers: a prayer of St. Francis of Assissi and the Gettysburg address from memory! Reflections in more than one voice on fear and struggle and we are all one country.
RantWoman is alas self-absorbed and was darned clear that she had concerns not related only to the elections and that others might too. So RantWoman rose to speak and amazingly something of this whole tangle made it out of RantWoman's mouth.
...we do not usually have an order of services...others share joys and concerns (in time for others to pray about ) ...please hold in the Light...general purpose it's November and...mother having surgery...family birthdays ...death anniversary made more poignant by frequent media mention of both Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen...leading to wear the T-shirt from last week's convention and to tell of repeated dialogues of the form "Really? God, Really? and more messages in the argument..nasty women, bad hombres and the entire basket of deplorables all one country and we need to talk to each other not rely on politicians or the media...new president elect groper in chief...not the first nor probably the last serial groper in the White House..technology execs who undoubtedly all have sexual harassment policies on paper but who are kind of shrugging their shoulders and nodding "whatever" when they could speak out...(what are we carrying forward for our daughters? another digression for another time) ...change.org petition suggesting that electors change their votes: can they do none of the above and draft say Condolezza Rice...?
[NO, RantWoman was NOT disturbed that the children entered while she was speaking! RantWoman went on a long time; RantWoman would usually wait to find a seat until ministry finished if she entered worship while someone was speaking. But these are kids. Plus they wrote GREAT letters tot eh President Elect. Things like "don't start any wars," and "make people be nice to each other."
Meeting closed after the laughter about any more joys and sorrows. Many newcomers. RantWoman neither introduced Ambassador Thwack the anger management consultant masquerading as a white cane nor made an announcement about an out of Meeting event... Oh well. Such forbearance.
Last week RantWoman did a Lift up my eyes to heaven gesture and noticed two bulbs in our overhead lighting that are burned out. RantWoman thought the bulbs had been replaced by Wednesday. RantWoman was WRONG. Oh well. RantWoman still gets to be grateful both to have enough vision to see and to recognize the braille And You pattern in the lights
Adult Religious Education
Awesome session presented by and very meingful for people who have never heard of Bayard Rustin. RantWoman is pleased to collect some book titles and SEE whether some of them are new enough to be available in electronic format or through one of RantWoman's audio book options:
Time on Two Crosses: The collected writings of Bayard Rustin
Lost Prophet: the life and times of Bayard Rustin
Down the Line...Bayard Rustin
Strategies for Freedom: the changing patterns of Black Protest
The Invisible Activist
The chairs plunked so irksomely last week in RantWoman's preferred seating place have been dealt with. These are surplus chairs with no place to be stored, currently all destined to be sold; RantWoman is lobbying to sell fewer of the surplus chairs and make some of them available instead of folding chairs or in addition for the maniacs (and people with sentimental childhood attachment) who prefer the folding chairs.
RantWoman is ANNOYED that the person she spoke to about keeping the chairs flat out dismissed RantWoman's point of view: Actually RantWoman is annoyed with repeated experience with that problem and that person, but this week RantWoman arrived at Meeting well-rested, well-caffeinated and with other annoyances in queue ahead of repeated dismissals. More specifically when RantWoman was compiling her hold in the Light list the phrase "grab the blind person and bless them" came clattering out insistently demanding further attention another time so stay tuned.
Chair seller almost never comes to Adult Ed. RantWoman does come late but does come almost every week to Adult Ed. So the amount of time RantWoman spends being uncomfortable in folding chairs adds up. But Chair seller person so irksomely blew off the cumulative effect that RantWoman slightly despairs that her concern will be remembered when the final decision is made about how many of the extra chairs to sell. However there was good conversation about other chairs, lovely solid chairs with arms recycled to our Meeting when the care facility where a member resided was getting new dining room chairs. Some of the recycled chairs are dingy, though not so RantWoman would notice. Other people do so PERHAPS it might be time to retire some of the orange chairs, EXCEPT that some people really appreciate being able to push against the arms when they rise. So RantWoman recommends keep some of all three: the orange chairs with arms, the upholstered leftover worship room chairs and the folding chairs, some of which date from our current clerk's childhood in our Meeting's first location!
And there is more: homelessness, saved for ....
Tuesday, November 8, 2016
Invitation to Worship after Election Day
No matter who wins the election, we are all going to wake up after #electionday needing to be one country together. Many feel particular need for prayer and spiritual renewal in this anxious time.
All are invited to regular Midweek Worship at University Friends Meeting, unprogrammed waiting worship in the manner of Friends with messages arising according to promptings of the Divine.
Wednesday November 9, 6:45-7:45 pm or longer as led, and Wednesdays following
UFM worship Room,
4001 9th Avenue NE,
Seattle WA
All are invited to regular Midweek Worship at University Friends Meeting, unprogrammed waiting worship in the manner of Friends with messages arising according to promptings of the Divine.
Wednesday November 9, 6:45-7:45 pm or longer as led, and Wednesdays following
UFM worship Room,
4001 9th Avenue NE,
Seattle WA
Monday, November 7, 2016
The Carpet Strikes Again
Not really the carpet. Carpet remnants, and surplus chairs and in the social hall not in the worship room.
Today RantWoman entered the worship room, sank her feet into the cushiony softness, and thought about how much harder she would have to work to make a clattery racket than when the floor was bare plywood. RantWoman has mixed feelings about new acoustics; the bare plywood fosters echoes and resonance, but RantWoman is mostly already used to and grateful for new carpet in the worship room. .
Another worshipper equivocates about visuals. He commented about the grain of the wood and occasional imperfections covered by some kind of glue or spackle. RantWoman also acknowledges some interest in, say just finishing the plywood.
But now there is carpet and carpet we will live with and be grateful for--in the Worship Room.
In the social hall, on the other hand carpet remnants linger. along with what some have determined to be an oversupply of upholstered chairs we do not have space to store, or at least an oversupply for all except the largest memorials or weddings. The carpet remnants have landed on one of our wonderful wooden bench / storage areas. Unfortunately, they have landed on the one that is closer to where Adult Religious Education Meets. RantWoman really LIKES sitting on that bench for Adult Ed. RantWoman would like to do this EXCEPT that this week the wooden bench was both covered with rolled up carpet leftovers and blocked by stacks of surplus chairs roped together with caution tape..
And yes, as sometimes occurs, Friends arrive at meeting with their hearts and souls already full and their fuses short about fun new inconveniences! Here almost verbatim is the gentlest email RantWoman can manage about actually solving the problem.
Hi Friends,
Whose idea was it to leave a big ugly unwelcoming row of stacked chairs taped together with caution tape in the middle of the social hall where people sit during Adult Education?.
May we PLEASE as quickly as possible agree to put the carpet remnants
on the other wooden bench and figure out other options for the chairs.
I would be glad to suggest places to put the chairs where I think they
would be out of the way but still usable.
I actually think we should consider keeping SOME of the chairs others
want to give away and I do not even know who to talk to about this.
I really like sitting on the wooden benches. I find the hard seat
and wall comfortable. The looking across the room is easier on my
wonky eyes than sitting in a group. Sitting on the benches means I can
leave space close to speakers for people who have worse hearing issues
than I do and I can still hear from where I sit.
The upholstered chairs are considerably more comfortable than the folding
chairs. Last week the chairs were unbound and about 6 wound up being
used by latecomers to Adult Ed. It was possible to move the carpet
remnants to the other bench so I could sit in my preferred location.
Usually when I sit on that bench by the time Adult Ed ends, other
people are sitting there too. And although the number of latecomers
for the QuEST presentation was greater than usual several latecomers
also usually come.
I have no idea yet who made the decision to stack the chairs the
unwelcoming way they were stacked this week. I have no idea whether
anyone from Adult Religious education committee was consulted about
the chair stacking, and I would like to HOPE that committee members
would be observant enough of people's historical sitting preferences
to suggest alternatives. However,perhaps if we start with the point
that I DO NOT apologize for making an issue of the problem this week,
we can also get to better options quickly.
Thank you all in advance for help about this.
In the Light
(RantWoman)
Today RantWoman entered the worship room, sank her feet into the cushiony softness, and thought about how much harder she would have to work to make a clattery racket than when the floor was bare plywood. RantWoman has mixed feelings about new acoustics; the bare plywood fosters echoes and resonance, but RantWoman is mostly already used to and grateful for new carpet in the worship room. .
Another worshipper equivocates about visuals. He commented about the grain of the wood and occasional imperfections covered by some kind of glue or spackle. RantWoman also acknowledges some interest in, say just finishing the plywood.
But now there is carpet and carpet we will live with and be grateful for--in the Worship Room.
In the social hall, on the other hand carpet remnants linger. along with what some have determined to be an oversupply of upholstered chairs we do not have space to store, or at least an oversupply for all except the largest memorials or weddings. The carpet remnants have landed on one of our wonderful wooden bench / storage areas. Unfortunately, they have landed on the one that is closer to where Adult Religious Education Meets. RantWoman really LIKES sitting on that bench for Adult Ed. RantWoman would like to do this EXCEPT that this week the wooden bench was both covered with rolled up carpet leftovers and blocked by stacks of surplus chairs roped together with caution tape..
And yes, as sometimes occurs, Friends arrive at meeting with their hearts and souls already full and their fuses short about fun new inconveniences! Here almost verbatim is the gentlest email RantWoman can manage about actually solving the problem.
Hi Friends,
Whose idea was it to leave a big ugly unwelcoming row of stacked chairs taped together with caution tape in the middle of the social hall where people sit during Adult Education?.
May we PLEASE as quickly as possible agree to put the carpet remnants
on the other wooden bench and figure out other options for the chairs.
I would be glad to suggest places to put the chairs where I think they
would be out of the way but still usable.
I actually think we should consider keeping SOME of the chairs others
want to give away and I do not even know who to talk to about this.
I really like sitting on the wooden benches. I find the hard seat
and wall comfortable. The looking across the room is easier on my
wonky eyes than sitting in a group. Sitting on the benches means I can
leave space close to speakers for people who have worse hearing issues
than I do and I can still hear from where I sit.
The upholstered chairs are considerably more comfortable than the folding
chairs. Last week the chairs were unbound and about 6 wound up being
used by latecomers to Adult Ed. It was possible to move the carpet
remnants to the other bench so I could sit in my preferred location.
Usually when I sit on that bench by the time Adult Ed ends, other
people are sitting there too. And although the number of latecomers
for the QuEST presentation was greater than usual several latecomers
also usually come.
I have no idea yet who made the decision to stack the chairs the
unwelcoming way they were stacked this week. I have no idea whether
anyone from Adult Religious education committee was consulted about
the chair stacking, and I would like to HOPE that committee members
would be observant enough of people's historical sitting preferences
to suggest alternatives. However,perhaps if we start with the point
that I DO NOT apologize for making an issue of the problem this week,
we can also get to better options quickly.
Thank you all in advance for help about this.
In the Light
(RantWoman)
Friday, November 4, 2016
Hallelujah - Pentatonix Holiday album
RantWoman has a STRICT no Christmas before Halloween rule.
This video and the accompanying Christmas album surfed on RantWoman's e-streams before Halloween but have been held for what RantWoman considers a decent interval.
Note: RantWoman considers use of this tune for a holiday album, um, bold.
This video and the accompanying Christmas album surfed on RantWoman's e-streams before Halloween but have been held for what RantWoman considers a decent interval.
Note: RantWoman considers use of this tune for a holiday album, um, bold.
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