Convent of St. Bridget

Trolling for pics on line, as I often do, this "Pirita Klooster" popped up for Bridget. It's wonderful, as you can see, and in Estonia. Anyone who travels there must report back forthwith. The language looks alot like Finnish, which is reasonable given the nearness to Finland. Let me know who's going; I'll make you a sandwich.

Blogspot Link

Map of Tallinn

Try to imagine what I had for dinner last night. . . and Whole Foods chocolate sandwich cookies. I'll be hungry again by Sunday - and fat.

Homer Mensch Memorial Concert

Homer Mensch

November 14, 1914-December 9, 2006

Monday, January 29th 7:30PM - 9:00PM

Paul Hall at the Juilliard School of Music, NYC

WikiHomer

New York Times

Connie

Here's a story from Our Anne

A female CNN journalist heard about a very old Jewish man who had been going to the Western Wall to pray, twice a day, every day, for a long, long time. So she went to check it out.

She went to the Western Wall and there he was walking slowly up to the holy site. She watched him pray and after about 45 minutes, when he turned to leave, using a cane in a very slow fashion , she
approached him for an interview.

"I'm Rebecca Smith from CNN. Sir, how long have you been coming to the Western Wall and praying?"

For about 60 years."

60 years! That's amazing! What do you pray for?"
I pray for peace between the Christians, Jews and the Muslims. I pray for all the hatred to stop and I pray for all our children to grow up in safety and friendship."

"How do you feel after doing this for 60 years?"
"Like I'm talking to a fuckin' wall.

Picture by Charles Fazzino

We were NOT violent in the 14th Century! Well, maybe . . . .

But you take that back, dammit. On a moderate note, Beirut-based Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah, one of the world's top Shi'ite Muslim clerics said, "we call for Muslim-Christian relations based on an in-depth scientific understanding of the mutual points of view, leaving aside sensational words."

Say what?

The Pope remains baffled.

Picture & quote from Thanhmien News

Say what?

I really really like this blogging thing. I just can't think of a damn thing to say. Gee whiz . . . somebody is reading my blog:

Dissuade-Yourself-from-Becoming-a-Blogger

9/11 - The Televsion Special

"We are safer but we are not yet safe," advises George Bush. Are we a nation of six-year-olds? How will we know when we're finally safe? and from what? and does more safety include health insurance? I couldn't watch the commerative not-celebration of that terrible day. With the construction plans still the stuff of argument and anguish after five years . . . . and we are safer, but not yet safe. Stay awake until everything is quiet. Read about revolution in Cuba; dream of les cyprès in Aix. Tomorrow is
September 12.

Picture by Lyndon Wong

Che Babies

Somebody's parents should read from my bookpile. What do they want these little ones to do? and will they tell them to do their homework? and cross at the light and pick up their toys? and will they ground them for infractions? We should check back later. Even Che wasn't raised to be Che.



Bedside bookpile:
Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life (Jon Lee Anderson, 1997)
Che Guevara: Compañero (Jorge G. Castañeda, 1997)
Chasing Che: A Motorcycle Journey in Search of the Guevara Legend (Patrick Symmes, 2000)
The Land of Miracles: A Journey Through Modern Cuba (Stephen Smith, 1998)
La cliente (Pierre Assouline, 1998)

Garan's Great Adventure

This is the picture that almost got Julie's camera seized by JFK Security. . . and no wonder. yeesh.




Garan is off to Korea to teach English and music, Juilliard and Indiana degrees in hand. He and Julie took pictures of each other after he'd gone through Security and mounted the escalator to the ticketed-only area. They both almost had their cameras confiscated for photographing said Security area between them. You'd think one of us would have thought that taking those pics might not be a good idea. His punishment? A 13+ hour trip to Japan, then a short flight to Seoul. According to the Tokyo Narita Airport website, the commuter flights to Seoul are on little pink planes with heart-shaped windows. The pics are from Julie's camera.