Event: I support the Chicago 2016 Olympic Bid.

At the end of the day, this is a great city, and it is events like these that make cities great. In the late 1800s Chicago suffered a devastating fire that tore it to its foundations, and less than twenty years later, it dreamed up the skyscraper, gave the lake to the public, and invited the world in for the Columbian Exposition.

There is much that is wrong with Chicago, naturally; that is true for all cities. But I think that the world and Chicago itself will learn and benefit from this choice. It is, after all, "the city on the lake where the embers never fade." The logo itself suggests embers to me.

Body: Today is Michaelmas.

It is also the feast of the three Archangels Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael.

You can read more about it here.

One of the wonderful ambiguities of religious tradition is the way that what may seem from the outside to be a simple "symbolic" allegory is, in fact, multivalent and complementary. Michael is most popularly considered as a warrior and in a military light. He led the angels against Satan and threw him from heaven. Yet earlier traditions associate Michael with curative powers and healing, and to this day he is the patron saint of the sick. This is conflated with the role of Raphael, whose name means "God has healed," and who is cited in the book of Tobit which features miraculous healing. In that same book, Raphael accompanies Tobias on a great journey, which has caused him to be associated with travel and critical junctures. We might think that these qualities would be better suited to Gabriel, who is the messenger and angel of the Annunciation, who first proclaimed: "Hail Mary, full of grace..." But while Gabriel is both a traveler and a messenger, his own work does not stop there. Gabriel's own name means "strength of the lord" and he has been associated with the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.

It would seem, then, that the qualities and roles of these three angels are somewhat mingled, and I believe that this is a reflection of the interaction of their themes in the real world. You cannot really separate testimony from struggle and from healing. They all combine and take each other on.

To step for a moment into a "political" issue, I want to consider the current health care debate here. It is political but it also touches on religion and spirituality. The Health Care debate might fall under the province of Michael, since it is a question of healing. But healing itself is a fight and a struggle; the body fights off infection. Right now we are in the midst of a great fight for the health of our nation, and too many Christians (and too many Catholics) are looking at the issue within the closely inscribed boundaries of their own self-interest. They may sincerely ascribe their views to concerns over abortion or patient rights, but these issues have been resolved for the discerning witness and listener. And isn't that our responsibility? Isn't that an aspect of the faith we are called to observe? To be a discerning witness?

So I call on my fellow Christians to consider the sharing of roles and responsibilities of these three angels, and to take a stand for the public option in today's debate. This is a case where our faith must enter into the realm of politics, but the argument that faith should make, based on both tradition and scripture, is solidly on the side of robust reform.

CONCEPT: I'm back.

I was a good, consistent blogger from 2002 to 2007. But ever since I moved back to Chicago, I've been more unreliable about it. I'm hoping to return to the blog soon, and I will shortly be making changes to the appearance and content. In addition to more frequent updates, the blog will be:

- More professionally oriented.
- More streamlined.
- More navigable and straightforward.

That said, I'm going to continue the admixture of the political and the artistic, the esoteric and the routine, that has made this fun to work on for the last seven years. I hope you'll be a frequent guest, and if you have any suggestions for the update (which should start to nose its way in later this week), please let me know.

Diary: Things to Inspect and Consider, 2009-2010

These links are for my own use and convenience.
However, you are welcome to use them too, if you like.

EVENTIME

USNO: Complete Sun and Moon Data for One Day. BSF:ET - Resource
Sapphire Moon: Solstice and Equinox Finder. BSF:ET - Resource

GODTIME

EXERCISE: Society of Jesus: Oregon Province: The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. = starting mid-September - Resource

CALENDARTIME

ALMANAC

LOOK UP: SPACE.com: Night Sky Highlights in 2009. ~M
LOOK UP: AccuWeather.com: Chicago, IL Weather Forecast. =
LOOK OUT: Phenology ~W
LOOK OUT: Chicago Reader. ~H
LOOK OUT: Wikitravel: Chicago. y6
LOOK OUT: Gardening Plan. y3
LOOK OUT: Camping Plan. y3
LOOK OUT: Fishing Plan. y3
LOOK OUT: Frugal Village y9
LOOK OUT: Chicago Urban Exploring. y9
LOOK OUT: Benjamin Franklin y12
LOOK IN: Time. BSF: ET, y12
LOOK IN: The Eightfold Path. y1
LOOK DOWN: St. Boniface Cemetery. y12

HEALTH

United States Department of Agriculture: MyPyramid.gov. BSF:ET

BLOG and NEWS
New York Times. =
Chicago Sun-Times. ~T
Detroit Free Press. ~F
Flint Broadside. ~H
Flint Journal. =
Andy Heller. =
Detroit Free Press: The Detroit Tigers. ~M
Detroit Free Press: Detroit Pistons. ~T
Detroit Free Press: Detroit Red Wings. ~W
Detroit Free PresS: U of M Wolverines. ~H
Detroit Free Press: MSU Spartans. ~F
USA Gymnastics. ~F

Proceed to blog. *

Year 31: The Year of Somewhere Something.

Navel Gazing:

This has been the fifth cycle of four years since I started giving years names. High school and college made firm the pattern of lumping them into four years (maybe each year approximates a season?) but life events have, for the most part, had an odd way of conforming more or less closely with this. The first cycle was maybe the strongest exception. I started out in one city and ended in another. I started out having been home schooled for over four years and ended by going into the third school building (after elementary school and junior high) in three years. But the second cycle of years conformed neatly to high school and the third to college. The fourth cycle was marked by low-paying temp work, a lack of career focus, and the frustrating shuttling back-and-forth between Michigan and Illinois. The one steady stream throughout the whole thing was my girlfriend who, appropriately enough, I married at the end. We didn't plan our wedding with this in mind; it just fell out that way. After Belize and a trip to New York the next cycle started; early marriage. My wife and me against the world, so we divided that time between Chicago and New York, and I got my MFA and she got her own degree and now we're expecting to add another human being to our family. Again, we didn't plan the timing this way... this "major event" once every four years. But here I am and things are just heating up as another cycle of four begins. When the sixth cycle ends, my child will be four. And I wonder what I would have thought as a child, as a fourteen year old who decided to give each year a name, if I had know what those names would be and what they would portend.

Year 12 (when I was 11) was the year of Stellar Fire.
Year 13 was the year of Summereve (whch I did not know was the name for a feminine hygiene product).
Year 14 was the year of the Trampoline.
Year 15 was the year of the Mask.

Year 16 was the year of the Storyteller.
Year 17 was the year of the Broken Mirror.
Year 18 was the year of the Counterflood.
Year 19 was the year of the Agit.

Year 20 was the year of the Power Sack.
Year 21 was the year of the Hunter Divides.
Year 22 was the year of Delving.
Year 23 was the year of Conjunctisylphistry.

Year 24 was the year of the Horizon Divides.
Year 25 was the year of the Bossy Big Toe.
Year 26 was the year of the Synchopated Sailor.
Year 27 was the year of Deep Wells.

Year 28 was the year of the Shark's Lullaby.
Year 29 was the year of the Hidden Rain.
and year 30 was the year of the Magnet Castles.

The year that has just passed (mid-June 2008 until tomorrow) is officially named:

THE YEAR OF SOMEWHERE SOMETHING

1. RADIOHEAD - MY IRON LUNG
2. MOBY - EVERLOVING
3. WALL-E - DOWN TO EARTH
4. ELISABETH BLAIR - DUCK DUCK GOOSE
5. TING-TINGS - WE WALK
6. NINE INCH NAILS - THE GREAT DESTROYER
7. THE GO! TEAM - LADYFLASH
8. SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES - ENDING THEME
9. WEST SIDE STORY - SOMEWHERE
10. JOHN CAGE - 4'33"
11. THE SMASHING PUMPKINS - G.L.O.W.
12. THE WHO - WON'T GET FOOLED AGAIN
13. THE SWANS - LOVE WILL TEAR US APART
14. CANNIBAL CORPSE - I WILL KILL YOU
15. THE PRODIGY - VOODOO PEOPLE
16. PAPA WEMBA - YOLELE
17. SUFJAN STEVENS - STAR OF WONDER
18. LOUIS ARMSTRONG - WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD
19. THE BEATLES - DEAR PRUDENCE
20. PRINCE - COMPUTER BLUE
21. KATE BUSH - CLOUDBUSTING
22. SPARKS AND SPOOLS - GARDEN
23. LOU REED - WALK ON THE WILD SIDE
24. THE LEMON PIPERS - GREEN TAMBOURINE
25. PATTI SMITH - BREAK IT UP
26. THE UTAH SAINTS - SOMETHING GOOD
27. LAURIE ANDERSON - O SUPERMAN (FOR MASSENET)
28. AIR - RUN
29. BJORK - EARTH INTRUDERS
30. BJORK - DECLARE INDEPENDENCE
31. WILL SMITH - MIAMI
32. EMINEM - SAME SONG AND DANCE
33. APHEX TWIN - AGEISPOLIS
34. RICHARD WHALING - THEME FROM "PAINT SMASH"
35. LADYTRON - DEEP BLUE
36. PEARL JAM - OCEANS
37. MADONNA - SKY FITS HEAVEN

Event: My New Letter to Congresswoman Schakowsky.

My renewal of support.

Dear Ms. Schakowsky,

In the last election I voted against you because I didn't think you had taken as strenuous a stand against funding the war in Iraq as I thought was possible, given the level of support (and strong, progressive support) you've enjoyed here in Chicago. I was also disappointed by your support of TARP, given the lack of oversight involved (and how it has contributed to a deficit that is a sticking point in the present health care debate). That said, I am very proud to be represented by you these days; for my whole life affordable health care was always one of the most important political issues for me. On a day when most lawmakers (including strong Democrats) appear to be wavering and equivocating on the centrally important and essential "public option" I am very, very, very happy that you have been such a staunch and emphatic supporter. I realize that my vote in the last election wasn't strategic (if it was I would have supported you in spite of my misgivings), but I anticipate being able to offer more unequivocal support in the upcoming election. Please let me know how I can help promote the public option in the upcoming health care reform.

Sincerely, Connor Coyne
Uptown, Chicago