This Post Could Not Be Completed as Dialed.

Tea: Mandarin Green

Music: Electric Light Orchestra, "Mr. Blue Sky"

Time: Almost midnight.

There's a saying: "If you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans."

I'd planned a longish bit of musing on the question of whether it's acceptable to give less than full effort on anything. Is phoning it in a needful survival mechanism, to keep one's brain from exploding from constant effort? Or is it a sin -- in the strictest sense of the word -- not to do one's best in everything, as though doing it for God?

So, of course, my browser went blooey for several hours, and I find myself choosing between trying to recreate the full mental text -- which included the names "Jackson Pollock" and "Pele" -- or leaving it for another day.

Would that count as phoning in this post? Or does being tired entitle me to say I gave it what I had, when I had it?

I don't know. But if I don't get to bed soon, I'll be sleeping by half measures.

So, I think, I'm going to hit my pillow with everything I have. After I put my phone on to recharge, of course.

Finally ...

Tea: Christmas

Music: Yes, "Hearts"

Time: Night

Got a new Internet provider today. Apparently Blogspot likes it better than it liked my last one. I'll give it a go for a couple of days, see how things go. I'd love to not have to export the archives to another host, y'know?

Anyway ... I've got some catching up to do. I'm not even going to attempt to reconstitute my days since the last post, but I'll do my best in subsequent days to recapture whatever insights came to me over that span.

Today, I got word that a former sports editor of my hometown paper -- a job I also held for a while -- died last weekend of cancer. He was my first real writing mentor, and beyond that he was (although we didn't always get along) my friend.

It's knocked a lot out of my head, save one thought that stays with me:

When I die, will anyone remember me as a mentor -- and of what?

Too much for me to think about now. I'm going to take a deep sniff of something that smells really good, just to remind myself how good it feels to be alive and have all my senses.

The catching-up starts tomorrow, God and Blogspot willing.

Hello, Hello, Hello, Is There Anybody IN There?

Tea: Golden Monkey with Honey

Music: Too much to list. Make me pick one, and I'll choose a sung section from the Book of Common Prayer.

Time: Night

Okay, so let's see if this works. I've more than a week of posts stashed somewhere, and (grrr) have been unable to actually -- oh, you know -- post them.

So, to recap (I'll catch up later, if this works).

My Hallowe'en costume kicked butt.

I'm in New York right now, for writing (and learning about writing) purposes. Earlier posts dealt (or deal, if I manage to get them up) with the panic (and occasional joys) of preparing for the trip.

The guy playing the title role in "The Screwtape Letters" should insist the director be fired. Oh, wait, he is the director. He still should insist the director be fired. Karen Eleanor Wight, who played Toadpipe? Keep her.

I've found a church home in Brooklyn. It's an Episcopal/Anglican church, sparsely attended, the congregants largely immigrants from the West Indies. I'm a white Baptist from Kansas. Go figure.

Since this was going to be my post for the day, I'll elaborate.

My branch of the Christian tree has lost something by de-emphasizing rite and ritual and concentrating on teaching and personal experience, I believe. There is something -- well, sacred -- about treating a service as something both joyful and solemn.

There was rite this morning, but no rote. The Book of Common Prayer was not script, but a link to other congregations around the world united in the same purpose and intent. And the light that shone from those people's faces ... "divine" is an overused word, but it suits here.

My branch is still my branch. But it's good to know I can light and rest elsewhere. When I come back to Brooklyn, and I will, you'll know where to find me on Sunday mornings.

Now, I'm going to hit the "publish" button and see if this works.