I have contracted Eileen’s cold. It has kept her down for much of the past week or so. I have  a sore throat which is my only symptom so far besides fuzzy thinking and feeling a bit off.

I finished reading Shakespeare’s Henry the Eighth this morning.  It’s a good read and is the source of the famous quote, “Naked to my enemies,” the title of a book about  Cardinal Wolsey.

It’s amusing that Thomas Cranmer the author of much of the first Book of Common Prayer has a big role in the story.

Yesterday my organ practice went exceptionally well. I am feeling more and more confident about the terrifying prospect of performing on a venue with three other professional recitalists.

I have been thinking about how much effort I keep putting into my job. I think it might an inevitable personality trait that I make full time work out of stuff that interests me.

Friday I met with a new parishioner who plays trumpet. I admit I was skeptical but he won me over with his passion for doing music. I have given him some pieces to work on and we will meet again soon, possibly next Friday.

Today I have two church things I am dreading a bit. After church, the silly stewardship skit is meeting for a rehearsal. I have been practicing my Billy Joel “Piano Man,” parody (“I’ll sing you a hymn, I’m the piano man….”).  I got up in the middle of the night last night and gargled Listerine and salt water because my throat hurt so badly. Earlier in the day I sang through the song and managed to make a tune with my croaky voice. Fortunately the performance isn’t until next Sunday.

Also, Eileen and I are attending a soiree with the organ builder and select parishioners and Rev Jen and her partner, Beth, tonight. I am very sorry about this. The only people I am comfortable with are Eileen, Jen, Martin, and probably his wife. The parishioners are a mixed bag. They are probably more typical Episcopalians. I’m not sure what that means except that I feel distant from their concerns about money and education. But what the hell. There’s no way I could turn down attending despite the fact that it is on a Sunday evening when what I really need to do is practice organ and rest.

But church plans for today should go fine. Today and next Sunday I have tried to be easy on myself and schedule things that do not require a great deal of preparation.

I am finding myself doing more and more work at the keyboard and having less time to play through things I love. Fortunately, I do like the two pieces I have scheduled for Wednesday’s recital. My own piece is shaping up not too badly. It’s longer than the Hampton, “The Primitives.”

Rhonda has agreed to listen to me play the two pieces tomorrow.

Craig comes up on Tuesday for lunch and some time at the organ then back to South Bend. I had email from Huw that he can’t access the Grace Church Google Calendar. He said he has some techie people from Hope scheduled to help him on Monday. I sent him (and the others) a link so they could see who is scheduled to have time on the Pasi.  Unsurprisingly, Huw’s email was unclear why he was trying to access the calendar. And after telling me he couldn’t he then ended his email with “In the meanwhile…. ?” I have no idea what that means.

This breaks stereotype, eh?

The Myth of the Spitting Antiwar Protester – The New York Times

I read recently where movie images integrate easily into memory. I think this might have something to do with this myth.

The Playlist: Mavis Staples Warns of Deadly Force, and 9 More New Songs – The New York Times

I love these. I am listening to the Mavis Staples right now.