Home again home again, clippedy clop. Back from 10 days in New York and Scranton, PA. NYC to spend time with Arthur Whitney and talk to K and Q programmers for Vector; Scranton to spend time with Paul Mansour and start writing MailTrain 2.0.
Expert frisbee-ers Devon, Lisa & Meia McCormick, Bob Armstrong and Kate Ronan joined me for my annual Midsummer Night Picnic, this year small but perfectly formed in the Sheep Meadow in Central Park. I’ll have pictures posted here shortly. Notably missing: Doug Yeager, whom I got a few hours with before he flew to Latvia for a movie project.
Discoveries this trip: renting a small midtown apartment from Fred & Vladia Kunzmann cost less than a hotel and was hugely more comfortable. Eating at the Colonial Café on Houston; at the Café Gitane on Mott St and at Le Bateau d’Îvre on E 51st St. Summer comfort in elegant Indian shirts from Kinnu on Spring St.
Thanks to Devon for pointing me at Strand Books at 12th and Broadway: 18 miles of used books. Scouring NY bookstores netted me a Neil Gaiman novel and poetry collections from Marilyn Hacker and Maxine Kumin. But even stores with good collections, like St Marks (9th St & 3rd Ave) carry nothing by Robert Bringhurst or Carl Rakosi, and little enough by August Kleinzahler.
Also got to visit Vera Zachariassen, centre manager of the Suhn Ki Energy Center in New York; Chun Do Sun Bup as was. She had encouraging news; I must block out time to write “Cooking for the Dead”.
MailTrain 2 is off to a strong start after talks with Paul. It has a pure object-oriented design, is simpler, lighter and more flexible than MT 1 and I expect to have it ready for the release of Dyalog APL Version 11 at the October conference in Denmark. I shall write more about this in the Vector Forum.
Learn from dogs Tom Guthrie in NSW sends some advice.
When loved ones come home, always run to greet them.
Never pass up the opportunity to go for a joyride.
Allow the experience of fresh air and the wind in your face to be pure ecstasy.
When it’s in your best interest, practice obedience.
Let others know when they’ve invaded your territory.
Take naps.
Stretch before rising.
Run, romp, and play daily.
Thrive on attention and let people touch you.
Avoid biting when a simple growl will do.
On warm days, stop to lie on your back on the grass.
On hot days, drink lots of water and lie under a shady tree.
When you’re happy, dance around and wag your entire body.
No matter how often you’re scolded, don’t buy into the guilt thing and pout! Run right back and make friends.
Delight in the simple joy of a long walk.
Eat with gusto and enthusiasm. Stop when you have had enough.
Be loyal. Never pretend to be something you’re not.
If what you want lies buried, dig until you find it.
When someone is having a bad day, be silent, sit close by and nuzzle them gently.
Clerical error Thank God for church ladies with typewriters. These sentences actually appeared in church bulletins or were announced in church services:
Bertha Belch, a missionary from Africa, will be speaking tonight at Calvary Methodist. Come hear Bertha Belch all the way from Africa.
The Fasting & Prayer Conference includes meals.
The sermon this morning: “Jesus Walks on the Water”. The sermon for tonight: “Searching for Jesus”.
Our youth basketball team is back in action Wednesday at 8pm in the recreation hall. Come out and watch us kill Christ the King.
Ladies, don’t forget the rummage sale. It’s a chance to get rid of those things not worth keeping around the house. Don’t forget your husbands.
The peacemaking meeting scheduled for today has been cancelled due to a conflict.
Remember in prayer the many who are sick of our community. Smile at someone who is hard to love. Say “Hell” to someone who doesn’t care much about you.
Don’t let worry kill you off… let the Church help.
Miss Charlene Mason sang “I will not pass this way again”, giving obvious pleasure to the congregation.
For those of you who have children and don’t know it, we have a nursery downstairs.
Next Thursday there will be tryouts for the choir. They need all the help they can get.
Barbara remains in the hospital and needs blood donors for more transfusions. She is also having trouble sleeping and requests tapes of Pastor Jack’s sermons.
The Rector will preach his farewell message after which the choir will sing: “Break Forth Into Joy”.
Irving Benson and Jessie Carter were married on October 24 in the church. So ends a friendship that began in their school days.
At the evening services tonight, the sermon topic will be “What Is Hell?” Come early and listen to our choir practice.
Eight new choir robes are currently needed due to the addition of several new members and to the deterioration of some older ones.
Scouts are saving aluminum cans, bottles and other items to be recycled. Proceeds will be used to cripple children.
Please place your donation in the envelope along with the deceased person you want remembered.
Attend and you will hear an excellent speaker and heave a healthy lunch.
The church will host an evening of fine dining, super entertainment and gracious hostility.
Potluck supper Sunday at 5pm. Prayer and medication to follow.
The ladies of the Church have cast off clothing of every kind. They may be seen in the basement on Friday afternoon.
This evening at 7 PM there will be a hymn singing in the park across from the Church. Bring a blanket and be prepared to sin.
Ladies Bible Study will be held Thursday morning at 10am. All ladies are invited to lunch in the Fellowship Hall after the B.S. is done.
The pastor would appreciate it if the ladies of the congregation would lend him their electric girdles for the pancake breakfast next Sunday.
Low Self Esteem Support Group will meet Thursday at 7pm. Please use the back door.
The eighth-graders will be presenting Shakespeare’s Hamlet in the Church basement Friday at 7 PM. The congregation is invited to attend this tragedy.
Weight Watchers will meet at 7pm at the First Presbyterian Church. Please use large double door at the side entrance.
The Associate Minister unveiled the church’s new tithing campaign slogan last Sunday: “I Upped My Pledge &mdash Up Yours”.
Thanks to Sue Ormrod in Perth for these.
Wind, fields and gliders To Buckinghamshire yesterday to fill our eyes with rolling hills and the view over the Oxfordshire plain from the western escarpment of the Chiltern Hills. Tramped up from Aldbury to Ivinghoe Beacon, wearing off an excellent lunch at the Greyhound Inn. Home again, home again, clippety clop.
Bush strategy lacks clarity asserts a report from the US Army War College , reviewed in the Boston Globe on Saturday.
Picnic in the Park On the shortest night of the year I picnic in the dusk with friends. (See a search of this site.) This year the solstice is at 06:45 GMT 21 June and the picnic will be on Mon 20 June in New York’s Central Park. If you didn’t receive an invitation, email me for details.