dual personalities

December 6, 2014

Everyone is Seymour’s Fat Lady

by chuckofish

“If God had wanted somebody with St. Francis’s consistently winning personality for the job in the New Testament, he’d’ve picked him, you can be sure. As it was, he picked the best, the smartest, the most loving, the least sentimental the most unimitative master he could possibly have picked. And when you miss seeing that, I swear to you, you’re missing the whole point of the Jesus Prayer [“Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a miserable sinner”]. The Jesus Prayer has one aim, and one aim only. To endow the person who says it with Christ-consciousness. Not to set up some little cozy, holier-than-thou trysting place with some sticky, adorable divine personage who’ll take you in his arms and relieve you of all your duties and make all your nasty weltschmerzen and Professor Tuppers go away and never come back. And by God, if you have intelligence enough to see that–and you do–and yet you refuse to see it, then you’re misusing the prayer, you’re using it to ask for a world full of dolls and saints and no Professor Tuppers.”
― J.D. Salinger, Franny and Zooey

What better to help us prepare for the madcap rush of the holidays than a quote from J.D. Salinger’s incomparable Franny an Zooey? Balm for the overwrought American soul. Re-read the book and fortify yourself for the onslaught of the pre-Christmas rush. Whatever you choose to read, find time in your busy schedule to enjoy it properly — quietly, in solitude, and without distractions.

Have a great weekend!

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December 5, 2014

Yet what I can, I give Him

by chuckofish

Today we celebrate the birthday of Christina Rosetti (December 5, 1830 – December 29, 1894), a 19th century English poet and devout Anglican. She wrote the poem that was set to music and is one of my favorite Christmas carols, In the Bleak Midwinter.

In the bleak mid-winter
Frosty wind made moan,
Earth stood hard as iron,
Water like a stone;
Snow had fallen, snow on snow,
Snow on snow,
In the bleak mid-winter
Long ago.

Our God, Heaven cannot hold Him
Nor earth sustain;
Heaven and earth shall flee away
When He comes to reign:
In the bleak mid-winter
A stable-place sufficed
The Lord God Almighty,
Jesus Christ.

Enough for Him, whom cherubim
Worship night and day,
A breastful of milk,
And a mangerful of hay;
Enough for Him, whom angels
Fall down before,
The ox and ass and camel
Which adore.

Angels and archangels
May have gathered there,
Cherubim and seraphim
Thronged the air –
But only His mother
In her maiden bliss
Worshipped the Beloved
With a kiss.

What can I give Him,
Poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd
I would bring a lamb;
If I were a wise man
I would do my part;
Yet what I can, I give Him –
Give my heart.

Here is a lovely rendition of this beautiful carol:

This may get you headed in the right direction–that is, not toward the mall, but to wherever you go to listen to that still, small voice in your heart.

Have a great weekend and enjoy Advent II.

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December 4, 2014

Way back Wednesday

by chuckofish

This must have been the year our mother was in a rush to get everything done and so she didn’t have time to dress us up in going-to-visit-Santa finery. Don’t I look special though?

And by special I mean “special.”

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December 3, 2014

“Who Sir? Me sir?”*

by chuckofish

I have been very busy at work since Thanksgiving and yesterday I had an allergy attack that sent me into a tailspin of sneezing and nose-blowing. Zut alors! And I had two meetings off-campus. It was not pretty.

So, as you may have noticed, my blogposts are somewhat lacking in content this week. Today I will just note that the TCM star of the month is Cary Grant! So go crazy setting your DVR in December.

They will be showing a few of my favorites: Gunga Din (1939), The Awful Truth (1937), The Philadelphia Story (1940) and Houseboat (1958).

I’m not sure why they don’t seem to be showing one of the best Christmas movies ever, which also happens to star old Cary Grant: The Bishop’s Wife (1947)–but you can be sure I’ll be watching it sometime this month.

What is your favorite Cary Grant movie?

*Cary Grant in Houseboat

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December 2, 2014

I couldn’t agree more

by chuckofish

“My love for the Prayer Book began in very early childhood, before I could read – when I could only listen to it. Of course, it was the only book used then. Later, when I could read, during long, boring sermons I would read it and specially loved the instructions – for instance, those to priests for giving holy communion in time of pestilence. That conjured up pictures in my childish mind of the priest walking with the sacred vessels through the almost deserted village, almost certainly to become ill himself; or the prayers for when in danger on the sea, knowing that they would have been read by everyone on board, and the ship would almost certainly founder.

“There is so much history, romance, and great beauty in it. And the prayers like the General Thanksgiving and the prayers after communion are so superb that they meet my need in praying much better than my own words do, and I still use them in private prayer.

“I enjoy services in other denominations, like those of the Reformed Church, or going to a Roman Catholic mass with a friend – but what is essential to me is an atmosphere of devotion and concentration on God. If there’s a great deal of happy-clappy singing and announcements of birthdays, and so on, I can see that it binds people together, but I don’t personally find it’s useful to me. I want silence, so I can concentrate on God – not just talking to him and giving him a list of my requirements.”

–Baroness P.D. James, who died last week, quoted in the Church Times, 2009

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December 1, 2014

“‘Sleepers, wake!’ A voice astounds us”*

by chuckofish

I had a lovely long holiday weekend. How about you?

I ate a delicious Thanksgiving meal and celebrated the boy’s birthday the next day with tortellini and salad and leftover pie.

I watched 22 Jump Street, Planes, Trains and Automobiles, The Wizard of Oz, La Belle et La Bête (1946) and Miracle on 34th Street (1947)–all of which I enjoyed immensely.

I went to church twice on Sunday. I debated going to the morning service, knowing that I would be going back at 4:00 p.m. for Advent Lessons & Carols, but I thought I should go because it was the first Sunday in Advent and that means Rite I! As you know, I am one of the few people who still enjoys saying “And with thy spirit” instead of “And also with you”–so I went and I’m glad I did.

The service started off with The Great Litany (BCP p. 148-153) with all the great “Good Lord, deliver us” stuff, i.e. “From all inordinate and sinful affections; and from all the deceits of the world, the flesh, and the devil” and also “From all false doctrine, heresy, and schism; from hardness of heart, and contempt of thy Word and commandment.” It is so easy nowadays to forget about “the crafts and assaults of the devil,” isn’t it? Well, Good Lord, deliver me!

Our rector gave his usual nonsensical sermon, full of misquoting and mispronouncing, but I must say, that listening to him week after week has taught me a lesson in humility. While I am listening (and wincing), I inevitably come away with something. He is a brave soul to get up every week and try. He is no Phillips Brooks–although he attempted to quote him–and that’s okay.

After church I prevailed upon the OM to assist me in hanging the outside Christmas lights on our humble abode. The boy usually does this for us, but he was working on Sunday, and as the temperate weather was forecasted to end, I thought we better get to it. Of course, it was much more complicated without the nimble and manly boy, who executed this job previously with nary a grumble. It took us twice as long and the OM blurted out quite a few goddammits while breaking more than a few light bulbs and bumping his head. Anyway, the lights are up.

Advent Lessons & Carols was lovely too. We sang all the good Advent hymns we didn’t sing in the morning. I got to read the second lesson–Isaiah 40:1-8 which is “Comfort, O comfort my people…”. The best (or at least most adorable) reader was a little third grader who read Zechariah 2:10-13 with a lisp right out of central casting. “For lo, I will come and dwell in your midst…”–she had a little trouble with “midst” (and who doesn’t)–but so cute.

Photo from the Grace Church Facebook page.

Afterwards we had the annual Advent dinner and “craft”. I passed on the craft. I got hugs from the boy’s old friends, Michael visiting from NYC and Weezer visiting from L.A. It was a win-win.

Have a great week!

*Hymn 61, The Hymnal 1982

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November 29, 2014

For Studies and Other Honest Pursuits (Studiis et Rebus Honestis)*

by chuckofish

My grandfathers both grew up in Burlington, Vermont and several of their family members attended UVM. Recently perusing their online archives, I discovered some wonderful information about my great aunt Carly (Carolyn) and her brother, Guy, both of whom had very active college careers. I even found their yearbook pages. Here’s Carly’s (note the misspelled middle name. It should be Hendren).

Carly was a tri-Delt, the vice-president of her class and won prizes in economics and reading, but I especially like that she exhibited the family trait, an acerbic wit. After graduation, she appeared frequently in the alumni magazine — at that time a weekly that published social announcements, including notice of her wedding to Raymond Briggs.

The wedding must have been a somber affair, for Guy had been a fellow student and was, of course, her beloved baby brother. Their graduation photos were on the same page. I have divided them so that you can read them more clearly.

The school published several stories about Guy’s death, including the following:

and

Note that his commanding officer was George S. Patton. You’ll notice some discrepancies between the two stories. The official report says he died instantly (probably true); the other has him shot through the mouth, but still able to utter some last words (probably not true). Who knows? Clearly, Guy’s family felt the need to share these stories with the community. His death certainly convulsed their world: his wife, Dorothy, showed up out of the blue to meet the family; his mother died within months, and his brother (our grandfather), a veteran with a wife and child, never recovered his pre-war joie de vivre. After his mother died, I’m not sure he ever went back to Burlington again. Only the two daughters, Ethel and Carly (but especially Carly), kept the memory of family alive. She must have been the one who sent the stories into the alumni magazine. I wish I could have known them all.

I realize that the quality of these isn’t the best because they’re trimmed out of a scanned in yearbook page and enlarged, but I like these two pictures a lot.

Isn’t the internet a wonderful thing? Stay tuned next week for UVM news about the distaff side of the family!

*the University of Vermont motto. All photos and documents uploaded here are from their archive web page. See link above.

6 Comments

November 28, 2014

Friday’s child, joyeux anniversaire!

by chuckofish

Today the boy turns 28 on the 28th! We wish him a glorious birthday. He was actually born on the day after Thanksgiving, shortly before midnight.

And now a this-is-how-my-mind-works side-note. Recently I watched The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) on TCM and the host noted that Errol Flynn was 28 years old when he made this film seventy-six years ago. I paid attention, because I was thinking about the boy turning 28. Errol, of course, is at the top of his game at age 28–handsome, athletic, smart–before he started that early slide precipitated by drugs and alcohol and a reckless lifestyle. Sadly, there has never been anyone quite like Errol Flynn in the movies since.

Anyway, I highly recommend watching this great film tonight. I really think it is one of the all-time best movies ever made and one of my top-five favorites.

The cast is perfect.

Melville Cooper, Basil Rathbone and Claude Rains

Herbert Mundin, Errol Flynn and Alan Hale

Cooper, Rathbone, Olivia de Havilland, Rains, and Flynn.

The script is tip-top–so witty and sophisticated, yet action-packed. The sets and costumes are un-paralleled and designed for technicolor which is–and so early in the game–vibrant and dazzling. The music by Erich Wolfgang Korngold is terrific and oft-copied. At the time, it was the most expensive movie ever made, and it shows. The studio’s money (for once) was not wasted. The director Michael Curtiz (one of my favorites) is the best.

It won Oscars for Art Direction, Editing and Score, but lost the Best Picture Award to You Can’t Take It With You. Please. You’ve got to be kidding.

It really is perfect on every level. I should also note that this movie boasts one of the all-time great female characters–Lady Marian Fitzwalter.

As portrayed by Olivia de Havilland, Maid Marian is beautiful, smart, brave, and chaste. Buttoned up in high-necked gowns at all times, she is also undeniably sexy. She stands up bravely to the villains in the film and does not run off with Robin when things start to get dangerous. No, she stays in the castle where she can do the most good spying for the good guys. She is wonderful. Please note: this is a type of woman Hollywood is completely unable to get right anymore.

So happy birthday to the boy

Robin and Marian circa 1991

and have a great weekend!

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November 27, 2014

Count your blessings or “Are you saying I could be stuck in Wichita?”

by chuckofish

N.C. Wyeth

Whether you are entertaining a large group or a very small one like me, enjoy the day.

We’ll miss daughters #1 and #2 who are staying put this holiday.

We’ll miss you! Can’t wait ’til Christmas!

In the meantime we’ll raise a glass (or two) to absent friends and loved ones! And then we’ll watch our favorite Thanksgiving movie starring these two guys:

I mean what would Thanksgiving be without Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987)? Meanwhile, I’m still a million bucks shy of bein’ a millionaire…

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November 26, 2014

Come, ye thankful people, come

by chuckofish

Raise the song of harvest home!

I am working a half day today. Then I will get ready for tomorrow’s feast.

I have already started to set the table.

I like to mix up my china, using some of my own fine china pattern (Autumn) and some of my mother’s pattern (Nydia)–both Lenox. And I love this vintage Vera tablecloth! So autumnal.

And what would a holiday table be without these guys? Of course.

Have a good day and don’t work too hard.

For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food,
For love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends.

– Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

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