Mike's musings

Helsinki 1

# posted by MikeCamel @ 8:34 pm 3 comments

Off to Helsinki (Sennon!)

• Carolyn, Jo's nanny, had a hospital appointment in the afternoon
• Moo had a meeting in London
• the latest flight I could find to Helsinki that would get my to my morning meeting tomorrow was 1955.

I had Jo from 1230 or so, which was tricky, as a number of calls came in, but I managed it all. Over lunchtime, I took her for a walk, and we popped in to see Claudia and Stella. They're both well, and harvest proceeding to plan, if a little slowly (given the weird weather we've been having).

So I dropped Jo off at Victoria's, and was off by around 1537 (what a relief, given how hard it was to get Jo sorted and in the car). Got to Stansted at 1605 for a 1955 flight. And it was pretty quiet. I spent half and hour taking calls, managed to check in early at a deserted checkin, and took almost exactly 8 minutes to go through security. Yes, 8 minutes. 4 hours really _was_ overkill. Still, did some duty-free shopping - finally bought myself an mp3/ogg player (Samsung YP-U2, 1GB), got a shirt from Austin Reid (non-iron: they're brilliant for business trips), some aftershave and a bottle of Caol Ila 12 year old (bliss!) - had some food, and basically took things nice and easy.

Got to Helsinki around 0050 local. Bed by 0130/0200 or so.

# posted by MikeCamel @ 8:09 pm 0 comments

Reflections on summer school

Pastoral. Musical.

My God. My friends.

Laughter. Crying.

Homesickness. Touching.

The centre cannot hold. The centre cannot but hold.

You just need to play it right.

# posted by MikeCamel @ 9:30 pm 2 comments

Back at work

Helsinki tomorrow.

# posted by MikeCamel @ 9:26 pm 0 comments

Friends for lunch

We had a lovely time with Victoria and Grenville (et al.). Charles is a great lad - about to turn 12 - and Jo and Sennon get on brilliantly, playing very sweetly indeed. He even fed her the end of his blackberry and apple crumble while she sat on my knee next to his high chair, which, to be honest, I'm not sure I would have done even as her father (the crumble, like the lamb casserole, was excellent).

# posted by MikeCamel @ 7:39 pm 0 comments

Church

Off to the Crazy Boar for lunch, back home, slept for an hour, then play with Jo. Compared to yesterday, she went down amazingly quickly - under 4 minutes, even given the fact that someone phoned us about a minute in.

# posted by MikeCamel @ 8:49 pm 0 comments

Home at last

It was so good to see Jo. She was really pleased, and I got home around 1500, which meant that I got to spend a good amount of time with her. It was lovely to see Moo, of course, and after I _finally_ got Jo down (it took around an hour and a half), I got to spend some time with Moo. We had some fairly fraught discussions about attitudes to women's ordination. Not so much about my attitudes, but about compromise, and when (definitely if, in the case of Moo ("I wouldn't have described the conversation like that at all")) it can be appropriate and/or acceptable. Not easy, but we have a strong, frank relationship, and we both think it's really important to have these things out.

# posted by MikeCamel @ 9:01 pm 1 comments

Reading, and revue

The rest of the day was around preaching practice. The course is trying to set up groups of 2nd and final year students to go and listen to each other preach. The plan was to start by preparing a short sermon each and criticising it, and then, over the year, to visit each others' churches to hear sermons in situ. I've got Richard, Peter (as above) and Iain: all good men and true. We went off to have tea/coffee in Bungay (_not_ the most salubrious place in the world), and had some good chats. We then still had a good session where we could prepare the sermons. I knew exactly what I'd be preaching on, and didn't expect it to take long. God had different views. I prepared the initial sermon notes (on justification by faith alone in the Epistle of James), and then decided I ought to read a bit of context around the pericope. Of course, there was a verse a little on which directly contradicted the point that I'd decided to make. So, went to the library, had a chat with Richard (a course tutor), read some concordances and a couple of commentaries, scoured through some Greek, and changed my views, my theology and my sermon significantly. Yes, my theology.

The last evening worship of the course was when my vocal group were down to sing the Henry Ley piece. We had a little rehearsal beforehand, which was OK, but far from brilliant, but when the time came, they did a fantastic job. I was so proud - even had a little cry afterwards. I love the English choral tradition - it's really where I get my kicks.

Stayed up till 0100 or so, should have gone in a little earlier, but I was far from being the last.

# posted by MikeCamel @ 9:26 pm 0 comments

Outcome from last night

Good sessions on sermons, including watching Rowan Williams preach very well (and carefully) at NEAC (National Evangelical Anglican something beginning with a C). Also a good session on personal safety in ministry by and ex-Met officer, who I wouldn't have let into my home, but...

Nothing like yesterday, but how could it be?

# posted by MikeCamel @ 9:21 pm 1 comments

God be thanked

During the afternoon, I read more of "Indecent Theology" by Marcella Althaus-Reid, and listened to some music. This was partly due to a discussion I had a with Helen last night about music. It started with a conversation about placements. I'm planning one in mental health - probably a mental health chaplaincy - and one in a more busy parish than I'm used to: Long Melford looks possible. We then moved onto other issues: the possibility of meeting Mother Joanna for a session to discuss Orthodox spirituality; how surprised she'd been that the Vaughan-Williams last night had not been a "performance", but a giving; "Indecent Theology" - would I consider reviewing Althaus-Reid's lastest book? (yes); and music. It's no secret that I don't always do very well in conversation in groups: I tend to talk over people, maybe be too quick to come up with my thoughts, rather than listening to others: things like that. Helen wondered whether thinking about music - and listening to more music - might help that.

So, moving back to what I was doing that afternoon. I sat down in the library and listened to some music from the album "Cloudburst and other choral works" by Stephen Layton. And read Indecent Theology. I'd just moved to "X grass" from the album "Bluegrass 2001", and was reading a section of the book about modelling Jesus' resurrection of Lazarus as the return of a gay lover after a break-up (really), when it all came together.

I was touched by God. The phrase "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me" was what it felt like. It felt like the time, a three Easters ago now, when I was in a service and the call to the priesthood came. I realised that it was all there, and that the spark is in all of us. The music was it - the different strands are us, and all we need to do is play it right: that's all that God needs, and all that we need. The phrase "the centre cannot hold" (where's this from?) kept running round my head with the phrase "the centre cannot but hold". And I realised that the Trinity is/are there, right in front of us, all the time - and all you need to do is reach out and touch it/her/them. And play the music right. Bernard of Clairvaux was right, and so was Julian of Norwich. God's just there. All the time.

I smiled like a mad thing through most of the rest of the afternoon. The session on leading public worship felt so obvious - and too simple - and our group's worship was also obvious. We were praying for a change to the unjust structures of society, and you wouldn't have thought I'd smile through it, but I just wanted to start shouting "the Kingdom of God's here - it's in each of us now, and all we need to do is play the music right".

I hope that I can feel this again, but I know it'll always be there. I just need to remember how obvious it is, and to listen to the music.

And that evening, after a few beers, I had one of the most difficult evenings I've ever had. God gave me the strength, and I wasn't expecting the pastoral side to fall to me, but it did. God help us all.

(just play the music right...)

# posted by MikeCamel @ 8:50 pm 2 comments

New students

I'd volunteered (being a good boy) to welcome the new students. I was put on one of the gates - one clearly marked "no entry" - and saw very little of any of the new students. Ran up to one of the other gates to see if my first aid (sorry "Emergency First Responder") skills were needed after a minor car accident, but they weren't (the new student following was a GP), and had a good chat with Peter (another student), and read some more "Indecent Theology", a book about which I'll be speaking more after I've finished it.

Got to meet the new students in our group this evening - a very pleasant time, and then we headed off to the bar for a few drinks. (Note - this happens most evenings during summer school, though I _tend_ to get to bed before, say, 0130.

# posted by MikeCamel @ 7:54 pm 0 comments

New students

I'd volunteered (being a good boy) to welcome the new students. I was put on one of the gates - one clearly marked "no entry" - and saw very little of any of the new students. Ran up to one of the other gates to see if my first aid (sorry "Emergency First Responder") skills were needed after a minor car accident, but they weren't (the new student following was a GP), and had a good chat with Peter (another student), and read some more "Indecent Theology", a book about which I'll be speaking more after I've finished it.

Got to meet the new students in our group this evening - a very pleasant time, and then we headed off to the bar for a few drinks. (Note - this happens most evenings during summer school, though I _tend_ to get to bed before, say, 0130.

# posted by MikeCamel @ 7:54 pm 0 comments

Love bade me welcome - and Orthodoxy

I trusted to God, and he pulled me through. Although I've sung better, there was only one slightly iffy phrase, and I really felt that I'd given my all to God. Many people said how much they'd enjoyed it, and I know that Lizzie, who played the piano, really got a lot out of it. She did a much better job of it than me, too!

Mother Joanna Burton is an orthodox religious based at the Orthodox training college which is part of the Cambridge Theological Federation. I know very little about Orthodox theology - let alone how it relates to mission - and her hour and a half session was fantastic, and really opened up some new avenues for me to explore. Of which more in a later post.

The last session of the day was very difficult for me. We watched The Mission, a fascinating and thought-provoking film which ends in an orgy of violence against the native South American Indians who are central to the film. I found it too much - much too much - and I stormed out in tears and made sure that I drank enough that I couldn't drive home that night. What finished me off was when children started dying in the film. I'd been missing Jo (and, in a different way, Moo) so, so much, and was in real danger of just driving home. My initial reaction was anger that they'd made us watch such a film, but on reflection and a few beers, I decided that the problem was more about me than the film.

# posted by MikeCamel @ 7:26 pm 0 comments

Rehearsals, more study

Helen's session on Ecology and Mission was particularly interesting, but so was the session on the history of mission: she did a talk on Bartolom&ecute; de las Casas (a fascinating priest who stood up for the rights of native South Americans early in the colonial period), and Richard talked about missions to China, an area about which I knew very little.

# posted by MikeCamel @ 7:15 pm 0 comments

Study

Edward, one of the staff, is taking a service on Monday morning, to lead into the morning of silence. We'd been talking about George Herbert poems, and he'd been on the brink of asking me whether I'd read "Love Bade Me Welcome" when I offered to sing the Vaughan-Williams version. He took me up on it, so I'm looking forward to it.

# posted by MikeCamel @ 7:12 pm 0 comments

Off to ERMC

Got to Ditchingham on time, and was really quite stressed to discover that I had a big room with 3 beds. Unlike other years, the course had said that we weren't allowed to bring families to stay, and although Moo wouldn't have come with Jo for the entire 8 days, she would almost certainly have come for a day or two, and I was very aware that it's going to be the longest I've ever been away from Jo. Started the day with sherry, then supper, Bible study with the rest of Group D, then night prayer with them.

I was in charge of night prayer, and did a cut down BCP choral evensong. I chose the Nunc Dimittis from Gibbons' Short Service, and Bainton "And I saw a New Heaven" (which we had at our wedding, and is therefore very special to me. It went very well, and I was touched that a number of people asked more about it, and how it fits into my tradition.

After that, to the bar for the first of many late nights. In bed by 0130 or so, I think...

# posted by MikeCamel @ 8:35 pm 0 comments

Watch

# posted by MikeCamel @ 8:33 pm 2 comments

5 and a quarter hours in the car

Caught choral evensong on Radio 3: I used to enjoy singing Kelly in C as a treble, but I'm not sure it's high art... On Friday, I have to lead evening worship for our group of 12 or so, and intend to do a cut-down choral evensong with some really good music on CD. I've yet to decide what.

# posted by MikeCamel @ 9:17 pm 1 comments

Installation

Finished a coding project today, and I'm well chuffed with myself. It's an implementation of a protocol I designed for work, and although I'm not sure if they'll be interested in it, it was good practice and really got me working with the Java crypto classes at a fairly deep level.

# posted by MikeCamel @ 9:48 pm 5 comments

Defending the Transcendental Model

• translation (decide on the "core" message of Christianity, "tranlate" it to the local culture)
• praxis (live your theology, make sure it's informed by considered action - e.g. liberation theology feminist theology)
• countercultural (culture's pretty much a bad thing - it always need reform)
• anthropological (culture's good, and we need to read scripture and understand tradition as informed by culture)
• transcendental (my experience of revelation is relevant to others in my community)
• synthetic (let's talk to everyone and pick the best bits from everything, including revelation, scripture and tradition)

I have a suspicious relationship with revelation, as I have suspicions about "personal relationships with Jesus", but have to admit to revelatory experiences of my own: I'm very much able to relate that to my understanding of tradition and scripture, though, so that's why I'm happy to defend this model. It's also why I think that Gary's defense of the Translational model actually betrays a possible transcendental bent. Sorry for having painted him as a possible counterculturalist before!

# posted by MikeCamel @ 10:29 pm 2 comments

Problems with the countercultural model

"Interesting Mike so come on explain a little more your thinking regarding the countercultural model- do you have a specific problem with this model of does it simply go against the grain?"

1. I think there's a huge danger that the countercultural model requires you to choose one theology and say "all the others are wrong: this is how we have to live". If you think about the Nigerian Anglican church's reaction to the liberal side of the US and UK (and other) Anglican churches, you see an extreme example. I'm not happy with being dictated to by a model which can be used as a condemnatory, rather than redemptive, force.
2. following on from that, I think there's a very big danger that the conservative voices will be the strongest, and will win the day. Who's to say this is right?
3. I worry that voices will be shouted down, and that really concerns me.
4. I believe, very, very strongly, that the Holy Spirit talks to us through the lives and culture of those around us. I believe that She is at work in non-Christians, and in the culture around us. There are things we can learn, and if we decide that we can draw a line in the sand, and say "we know everything there is to know about the world, and you're all wrong", then we'll keep slavery and child labour and burning witches and the ptolemaic solar system and the belief that the ruling monarch can cure a variety of nasty skin complaints. You'll note that some of those were from the "hard" sciences, and some weren't. That was deliberate.
5. my view of the coming of the Kingdom of God is that we should work to shape our culture(s), and not set ourselves apart. I know Christians like that, and they worry me. They worried me at school, they worried me at university, and although there's a place for lots of different ways of being a Christian in the world, when God spoke to me a few years ago and I finally got the message that he wanted me to pursue an ordained ministry, the two big things he left me with were:
   • a statement: "if you really believe in this Church, now's the time to step up and do something about it";
   • a question: "would you be happy being part of the church if you were you, now, and not in it?"
   Both of these are ongoing issues, and I suspect that the countercultural model won't help me much with the second.

# posted by MikeCamel @ 9:56 pm 1 comments

Poetry for today

Breakfast - Wilfred Gibson

We ate our breakfast lying on our backs,
Because the shells were screeching overhead.
I bet a rasher to a loaf of bread
That Hull United would beat Halifax
When Jimmy Strainthorpe played full-back instead
Of Billy Bradford. Ginger raised his head
And cursed, and took the bet; and dropt back dead.
We ate our breakfast lying on our backs,
Because the shells were screeching overhead.

The Dawning - George Herbert

AWAKE, sad heart, whom sorrow ever drowns ;
Take up thine eyes, which feed on earth ;
Unfold thy forehead, gathered into frowns ;
    Thy Saviour comes, and with Him mirth :
                                            Awake, awake,
And with a thankful heart His comforts take.
    But thou dost still lament, and pine, and cry,
    And feel His death, but not His victory.

Arise, sad heart ; if thou dost not withstand,
    Christ's resurrection thine may be ;
Do not by hanging down break from the hand
    Which, as it riseth, raiseth thee :
                                            Arise, Arise;
    And with His burial linen drie thine eyes.
Christ left His grave-clothes, that we might, when grief
Draws tears or blood, not want a handkerchief.

# posted by MikeCamel @ 7:22 pm 0 comments

Contextual Theology

# posted by MikeCamel @ 7:18 pm 3 comments

A post for Sally

Psalm of anger - Nicola Slee

Rage ricochets off the empty cloister walls,
anger erupts at the altar.
The silence palls.
My serene piety falters and crumbles.
My lips mouth the prayers
but my heart lurches and stumbles
on the edge of this gaping pit
into which my cries have fallen.

I will storm this silence
not with praise but with venom.
I will blast this emptiness
not with patience but with anger.
My mantra is not "mercy"
but a cacophany of curses
hurled headlong at your distance,
spat in the face of your absence.

Show yourself!
Answer me!

I am sick of your silence,
I have had my fill of you hiddenness,
I am faint with the worry of waiting
on your word which never comes.
Have you not seen my pain?
Have you not heard
the anguish of my heart?
How can you stand far off
and watch me writhing and straining for you
with my bleary, tear-filled eyes,
crying for you with my dry and weary throat?

Why do you gloat from afar?
Will you not come?
Will you not show yourself?
Answer me!

(Note - reproduced without permission from Praying Like a Woman, Nicola Slee (SPCK, 2004))

# posted by MikeCamel @ 1:29 pm 4 comments

Loving our children

One of the things that I've had to come to terms with about being a father is not only that I can't control what Josephine will do with her life, but that I should not - I _must_ not. It's possible that some of the choices that Jo will make will hurt me, and that some of those choices will hurt her, as well. But I will have to let her make her own choices, in the end, even if that hurts me to the bone. That's something that Mary had to face at the foot of the cross, and in the end, that's what God the Father had to accept, too. I don't believe that God the Son was "sent" by God the Father to die for our sins. I believe that God the Son, as a separate man/person/entity/part of the Trinity, made that decision for himself, and even given his plea that the cup should pass him by if it was God the Father's will, he accepted and chose the decision to die painfully and slowly on a humiliating instrument of torture, taking the sins of the entire world on his shoulders. If she decides to sacrifice herself, for herself, for others, or even for nothing, there's only so much I can do. In some ways, the best thing I may be able to do for her is to accept and support her decision. I don't know if I'll be able to empty myself up that much for her. Kenosis is difficult - and I don't know if I can serve Josephine - and God's will - that much. I pray that I never have to make those sorts of decisions. But loving Josephine means that I may have to. God give me strength. God the Father, who suffered watching his Son, God the Son, who suffered on our cross for us - on my cross for me - and God the Spirit, who feels our suffering and touches us whenever we hurt, whenever we cry, and whenever we smile, and whenever we laugh. God be thanked.

# posted by MikeCamel @ 8:37 pm 1 comments

Bluetooth on Windows

On another techie note, I was having problems getting some of the crypto stuff done that I wanted, then realised that although I was using a Java 1.4 JVM, I only had a book on the 1.3. Lots of crypto changes in 1.4, so I've ordered up the latest version of the marvellous "Java in a Nutshell" (we love O'Reilly).

We interviewed a possible nanny today - we liked her, and hopefully she liked us. We're seeing someone else tomorrow, so we've got an option even if she doesn't work out. Jo said "Willum" today, so she can now name both cats. Useful, I guess, though she mainly says "no!" to them. Particularly Willum.

Still enjoying the Bevans book - looks like I might be lending it to Gary soon.

Oh, and it's my birthday!

Moo and I went to Dick's Caf&ecute; in Halstead and had a lovely lunch: just the two of us. It was fantastic to spend some time together on our own.

# posted by MikeCamel @ 8:18 pm 2 comments

Old tomorrow

We've just booked a holiday for next year, which is astonishingly early for us. Sophie and Steve are getting married in Padstow in July next year, so we've booked a cottage from Rural Retreats, a perennial favourite company for us since we stayed in one of their cottages over our honeymoon.

I'm sorry that Sally's feeling overwhelmed by paperwork. Books and theology and discussion should be about giving us ways to think anew, and discuss and cross-fertilise with other Christians and non-Christians. Having said that, it's very easy to become bogged down, and I'm sorry that's happened. I hope that the summer school helps - I think it's her (your) first one, so we'll see how it goes. God is the logos - the word read, the word thought, the word held, the word acted, the word unspoken and the word spoken.

# posted by MikeCamel @ 8:48 pm 2 comments

Muppetry and book tagging

The muppet's 25th anniversary album arrived today. Quite appropriate, because I was a bit of a muppet today. New laptop arrived, and after lots of setting up, I couldn't get it to connect to Wifi. I reinstalled ubuntu, in the end, and it still didn't work. Took me a while to work out it was because of MAC filtering. D'oh.

Jo loves the muppet album. Lots of good dancing music ("mee-mic!"). She also loves her car.

Book tagged

• One book that changed your life: Stranger in a Strange Land, by Robert A. Heinlein. Read it when I was 15 or 16, and it got me thinking very hard. I've recently reread it, and it's disappointing, but it made me realise that you could question pretty much everything (it's a critique of, among other things, organised religion).
• One book that you've read more than once: SnowCrash, by Neal Stephenson. Fantastic cyberpunk, and I made Moo read it on our honeymoon. She nearly divorced me over it: she couldn't see any value to it at all.
• One book you'd want on a desert Island: the Bible, probably. Maybe the complete Shakespeare.
• One book that made you laugh: Night of the Avenging Blowfish: A Novel of Covert Operations, Love, and Luncheon Meat, by John Welter. It's as weird and funny as the title suggests.
• One book that made you cry: Antony and Cleopatra, by William Shakespeare. Not officially a book, but I first read it in book form in my upper sixth year, and sobbed my way through the last scene of two.
• One book that you wish had been written: so many stories of so many illiterate or just inarticulate people. Margery Kempe's story is an eye-opener into what we've missed from so many people down the ages.
• One book you are currently reading: Models of Contextual Theology, by Bevans and Schreiter. For ERMC, of course, but it's really good.
• One book you wish had never been written: I'm not sure I wish that about any book. Some books do damage, but I can't think of a book that had never been written. Hvaing said that, if Far from the Madding Crowd, by Thomas Hardy had never been written, then I'd have suffered less at O level (and this has got to wind up Gary).
• One book you've been meaning to read: The Dream of the Rood, by an anonymous mediaeval poet.

Tony Blair

It taken me a long time, and I'd hoped at some point that there would be changes, but the lack of condemnation of what Israel is doing it too much.

# posted by MikeCamel @ 9:40 pm 1 comments

Meeting friends

Didn't go to church today - thought we'd have a family day of it, and we did. Just bits and pieces, bought some second-hand toys for Jo, including a car she can sit in: and which she has. A lot. Also a bed guard, so we can metamorphose her cot into a bed. We've tried it tonight, and we'll see how it goes. Also, a loo insert so that Jo can go to use grown-up loos, which she's decided she like to do. Working well so far.

Still enjoying the Bevans and Schreiter book: very good in my view.

# posted by MikeCamel @ 9:21 pm 1 comments

Faith

Also took Jo for a walk this afternoon before taking her to bed, and we saw ducks ("ducks, quack, quack!"), a rat in the same stream ("rabbit", "no, rat", "rap! NO! NO!"), and, as we came back, a grass snake ("'nake, ssssssss!") on the road. He was alive, just basking, so I moved him off, just in case he was in danger from a car. It was beautiful - I loved snakes, and felt so privileged to have seen him (or her!) and shown him to Jo. As I mentioned yesterday, I don't think she sees the wondrous as special yet: for her, everything is wondrous.

Read Richard's paper. Didn't do much for me, either. Not helped, bizarrely, by the fact that it was in Arial (rather than a serif-ed font) and left (rather than fully) justified. But it didn't really hold together, at least till the later parts. Maybe there's a danger when you try to do systematic theology that you can't say antyhing until you've said something of everything.

Started reading Models of Contextual Theology by Bevans and Schreiter. This is, so far, very good indeed, and on the basis of what it talks about, I talked to Moo a little more about her and faith. She wouldn't call herself a Christian at the moment, partly because she's unhappy about the God that she finds in the Bible, partly because she doesn't feel she needs the kind of certainty she had when she did have a faith, partly because that certainty's not available to her any more, and partly because the Church she sees around her - the Anglican church, at least - is too full of contradictions for her to be able to relate to it, certainly in the local context in which we find ourselves at the moment.

Oh, and Sally, we need to talk. I think it's worth understanding that ordination isn't just about your relationship to other people, but also about their relationship to you, and the role you'd be undertaking. People have needs as to how they relate to their pastors and ministers. Let's talk.

# posted by MikeCamel @ 9:28 pm 4 comments

No laptop

On a better note, the cooling fan arrived for my graphics card. I was right: it _was_ overheating. Now, however, I can run it at 1600x1200 and it works like a dream. No problems at all. Quake3 Arena and Civilisation:Call to Power both play very nicely, thank you.

I also spent some time today playing with Eclipse. The last time I used an IDE (not counting the marvellous emacs, of course), it was Visual Studio, about 6 years ago, and I hated it. And it was by Micro$oft. So, when I heard about Eclipse, which is a graphical IDE aimed at Java development, and also open source, I thought I'd give it a go. I've been rather impressed so far, but the best feature (which was hardly a surprise, given the people using and developing it) is that you can use emacs keybindings for the editor. I may have to do the odd bit of Java coding here and there for PoCs, example integrations and the like, so I thought it was worth a shot. New tools usually slow productivity down for a while, but this has already increased mine, so I'm pleased.

A few weeks ago, I got my parents set up with Skype video, and today, we tried it for the first time. Jo thought it was excellent - the most interesting thing is how little she's fazed by it. I think that if you're presented with things when you're young enough, they don't seem wondrous: just part of everyday life. We hope to use it quite often from now on, to keep in touch with them.

Ordered some books for ERMC last night, which should arrive in the next few days, so it's going to be back to the grindstone pretty soon. I've started to miss it, actually, so it's no bad thing. On a relevant note, I've volunteered to do our group worship on the Friday of the summer school, so I need to put some things together. I'm planning on a cut-down BCP evensong, with some good music to go with it.

# posted by MikeCamel @ 7:50 pm 3 comments

What happened today?

# posted by MikeCamel @ 7:59 pm 2 comments

Not feeling very well

# posted by MikeCamel @ 8:02 pm 1 comments

Out for a posh dinner!

Around 1800, Moo and I head upstairs to get changed, and by 1825 we're done, so Carolyn takes Jo upstairs for a bath and bed. She didn't seem to want a long bath, so after a quick one, Carolyn put her down. And it took about 30 seconds. We don't know how she does it, but on being given a kiss night-night and being put down in her cot, Jo just settles. So, after 50+ minutes last night, it took (it felt, at least) less than 1 tonight. Grrr. Not that we're bitter, oh no.

Taxi didn't arrive on time, and when I phoned 5 minutes later, it appeared that they'd not made the booking after all, so we arrived a little late, but only about 10 seconds after the Plants, so no problem. We had a fantastic meal at Chimneys in Long Melford. It was very quiet (well, it was a Tuesday), with only 5 other diners, and we had a great time. Talked about all the usual, and had a blast. They're excellent friends, and it's really good to see them.

# posted by MikeCamel @ 9:47 am 2 comments