The decision has been made, and I no longer have to wonder about how to manage not getting coronavirus while on a plane. Today I logged onto the website of my travel agent where I saw this message: Owing to the evolving COVID-19 situation and government travel advisories and restrictions, Trafalgar, Insight Vacations, Costsaver, Brendan… Read More Out of my hands
Whether it’s picking the Grammy or the Oscar award winners, or even guessing how many jelly beans are in a bowl, some people have all the luck in knowing which movie is going to get Best Picture, or guessing the correct number on “The Price is Right” in order to win a dream vacation. You… Read More Picking the winners
In yesterday’s edition of the New York Times, there was a very interesting article by Julie Bosman and Mitch Smith about how coronavirus is changing church practices, “Worship in the Age of Coronavirus: Prayer, Elbow Bumps, Hand Sanitizer:” Fear of the coronavirus has rippled across the country and directly into places of worship. Religious leaders,… Read More Coronavirus and church culture, part two
For the last two weeks, I’ve been working on getting “my ducks in a row,” that is, taking care of my duties and responsibilities, and organizing my affairs… just in case. From the Grammarist: Get one’s ducks in a row and have one’s ducks in a row are American idioms, the origin of these phrases is murky. One… Read More Getting one’s ducks in a row
When I retired from my position as organist at the Lutheran Church of Honolulu at the end of 2012, I thought that for the first time since I was 15 (!) that I would have my Thursday nights back. You see, it was our good friend and business partner, Peter Hallock, who said, “God made… Read More A new generation
Seems like all we hear on the news is about COVID-19, the coronavirus which is spreading like wildfire and has affected over 80,000 people to date. Just yesterday, which was Ash Wednesday, I read Sarah Pulliam Bailey’s article on the Washington Post, “Sip from the common cup? On Ash Wednesday, coronavirus and the flu have… Read More Church culture and coronavirus
Lately it seems that my life is nothing but hosting one houseguest after another—my niece and nephew from Virginia are with me this weekend to attend a wedding in Honolulu. Already they represent (can you believe it!) my fourth set of houseguests since the 15th of January, and in a couple of weeks I’ll welcome… Read More Monica Czausz, concert organist
I’m going to be playing in the next First Mondays concert, March 2, at 7:00 pm at the Lutheran Church of Honolulu, titled “The Court of Weissenfels,” which will feature music of the composers who worked there: Bach, Handel and Johann Philip Krieger (1649-1725). As you can see, the concert has an all-Star cast: I’m… Read More A day in Weissenfels
One of my tasks this weekend is to compile a list of all the foreign countries I’ve visited in the last ten years—it’s one of the questions on a visa application I’m filling out, in addition to answering whether I’ve ever been afflicted with a dangerous mental disorder, arrested or convicted for any offense, or… Read More Next stop, Russia!
”You mean, you would play your concert for only one or two people?” Indeed we would, and in fact, Jieun Kim Newland and I actually gave the Dueling Bach concert a total of five times (!) and luckily it has gotten easier each time. We did two run-throughs (in front of a few people) before… Read More Bach—the second time around