Arcs and Arrows: Finding the Line of Flight

During the week I was fortunate enough to spot a Chambers Dictionary in a charity shop.  I seem to have forfeited every dictionary I owned with the collapse of significant relationships, so the opportunity to acquire one was welcome.  I prefer Chambers because I like to play Scrabble.  In a perfect world I guess I would have the Complete Oxford, but at £250 for the CD edition it is beyond my means.  One day perhaps their word of the day will coincide with the one I want, if it ever happens I'll feel just like I won the lottery!  Below I reproduce the definition from Chambers and after it the reason I featured it.

Gaudy - see under Gaud

Gaud - n. a.a large ornamental bead on a rosary (obs): a prank (obs); an ornament; a piece of finery; showy ceremony; festivity (obs), - vi (obs) to make merry, - vi to adorn with gauds (obs); to paint (eg the cheeks (obs; Shakespeare) -

n gaudeamus L. (in Scotland let us be glad, opening word of a students' song) a joyful celebration among student. -

n gaudery finery -

adv. gaudily - n gaudiness - n gaudy an entertainment or feast, esp. in certain English colleges. - adj. showy; merry; gay; vulgarly bright. -

gaudy-day, gaudy-night [In part appar from OFr "gaudir", from L. "gaudere" to be glad , or "gaudium" joy; in part directly from L.]

I found it really interesting how this has been corrupted or adapted from the original Latin.  As a boy I remember the family had an urn on which was painted "Edamus, Bibame, Gaudeamusque!" which translates as "Eat, Drink, and make merry!".  If I remember rightly it may have had "Hic, Haec, Hoc!" on the other side, which was intended as a joke I guess.  Last weekend at meeting I saw the childrens' group had made an artwork about self-discovery which had the words "Open" and "Closed" as counterpoints and the same circle showed "Simple" and "Gaudy" also counterbalancing.  I am not sure the word "gaudy" was well chosen, it puzzled me at the time prompting my enquiry.  No doubt "Complicated" might work better, at least for me, because one of the Quaker values is indeed simplicity, but if this is to be in rejection of all that is "gaudy" it conjures up all sorts of visions of puritans rather than Quakers.

Tonight is also the 250th Burns Night and in honour of [[Robert Burns]] I reproduce a song he wrote as a young man which uses the word gaudy well enough.

Handsome Nell

Tune - "I am a Man Unmarried."

O', once I lov'd a bonie lass,
 Ay, and I love her still;
And whilst that virtue warms my breast,
 I'll love my handsome Nell.

As bonie lasses I hae seen,
 And monie full as braw;
But, for a modest gracefu' mein,
 The like I never saw.

A bonie lass, I will confess,
 Is pleasant to the e'e;
But, without some better qualities,
 She's no a lass for me.

But Nelly's looks are blythe and sweet,
 And what is best of a',
Her reputation is complete,
 And fair without a flaw.

She dresses aye sae clean and neat,
 Baith decent and genteel;
And then there's something in her gait
 Gars ony dress look weel.

A gaudy dress and gentle air
 May slightly touch the heart;
But it's innocence and modesty
 That polishes the dart.

'Tis this in Nelly pleases me,
 'Tis this enchants my soul!
For absolutely in my breast
 She reigns without control.

1771-1779

by Robert Burns
(1759-1796)

and on that note I shall close, but in parting let me mention that my plan is to stick with the Scots theme for the next post, which is intended to feature [[Hamish Henderson]], [[P.G. Woodhouse]], and [[Raymond Chandler]] with some kind of prize for anyone that can find the connection (they have one thing in common!).  Imay also add an audio clip from another Hamish, wait and see!

This is a poem I wrote many years ago.  It appears in a published work of my father's called "lie Lines".

Paul Wrighton (when young enough)

The post was inspired by the recent discovery by my sister of a listing on Amazon for the book, which appears to have appreciated since publication in 1996, when the cover price was "One pint or six mars bars"!

Part I - The Curse

He is an ancient smoker, he stoppeth 'neath a tree

With thy long black pipe and glittering eye,

"Wherefore though stoppeth thee?"

The Public Bar is open wide, within a merry din,

The youth accosts the ancient soul "Thou can'st not go within!"

"I have the curse", the old man sighed

"Bin coming here for years,

My pipe and baccy both are banned",

The old man glared, the old man spake,

"Yet I will go within!

By God I'll fight for my right!"

"A pint", he quoth and settled in his place

The taproom glowed, the good beer flowed

Joy shone in his face, the din did grow

The banter flew, he joined that merry crew.

He struck his match, he puffed his pipe

The smoke was thick and strong

The banter dropped, the door flew wide,

A curse came from the throng

The barmaid shrieked, the landlord cried

"Thou can'st not do that 'ere!"

The banter stopped, the silence grew,

His curse was in his hand;

Now 'twas an angry crew

"Be gone!  Get out!  You're banned!

God save the Ancient Smoker

From the curse that plagues thee thus";

Sadly he slipped his moorings and crept into the night

The laughter grew the jibes flew too

He was a sorry sight

Part II - The Return of the Ancient Smoker

When he joins the Nick O' Tyne Line

Her masts the finest briars

See, she is Rizla rigged

Her crew all true born liars.

She sailed across the harbour bar

And nestled by the quay

He leapt aboard her crying

"I'm going back to sea!

Far from this land

Where smoking's banned

I'll smoke my pipe as is my right!"

They cast off and sailed away

Not to come back for many a day

To do their duty, not to pay it.

Part III - The Voyage of the Good Ship Nic O' Tyne

A fair wind blew, o'er the waves they flew

Leaving the land behind, they gave a cheer

He lit his pipe and drawing deep

He took a swig of beer

The silver moon sailed in the sky

Softly she was going up

And a star or two besides

His lips were wet, his throat was cold,

His garments all were dank

He was drinking as he slept

And still his body drank.

The helmsman steered, the ship moved on,

A steady breeze still blew,

The mariners all gan work the ropes

As they were wont to do

They were a merry crew.

Like a flying horse they flew

Acorss the boundless Ocean

The sun shone bright, a fair wind blew,

They smoked and drank all day.

They drifted o'er the harbour bar

The rock shone bright, the kirk no less

That stands above the rock

The Harbour Bay was clear as glass

So smoothly was it strewn

In the bay all was dark

in the shadow of the moon

thus they quietly slipped ashore

Stowing their goods in a safe place

Crept out and locked the door

To Follow; Part IV - The return of the Happy Smoker

John Charles Wrighton, 2008.

(He only gave me the text thus far, having mislaid further pages, which he might post me at some future date!)

the Christmas dinner shift went well - I shall write about it in more detail when my memories, like the food, have been digested!

I shall try to write also about how it only feels like Christmas if family is subtracted. And how rare happy Christmas memories are for me.

Anyone out there who survived it or accumulated happy memories - well done!

With the New year will come the new blog - and this and the previous post be amalgamated and rewritten…. one other highlight to come in the new blog is hopefully I shall link and post to a homeless person with a blog, if they come and comment here… Now THAT impressed me!

I know it has been a while without a post.  I have not been entirely idle so far as blogging goes though, I have taken a copy of my blog and upgraded it to Chyrp RC3.  However there are a few things I still need to get fixed and working (like all the old post tags).  I am persevering with that and I expect I shall get some support from the Chyrp community and overcome eventually.  You will be sure to notice just as soon as I do, because then I shall move my changes over here to “go live” and the blog will be all shiny newness.

One of the things I am hoping to change is to allow anonymous comments from guests (I was getting too many spam comments this way before).  There should also be a blog search function.  And generally a new look all round - I’ll probably review the sidebar too (though I intend to keep my blogroll and the books I am reading).

At the same time as reviewing the technology I use I have also been mulling over that the blog does not have a coherent focus and wondering if I should reconsider that.  One possibility would be to make this blog very specifically for my writing and about writers concerns and issues.  Another possibility would be to spin that off to a separateblog and keep this one somewhat “personal”.  I am aware from the blogs that I choose to read myself (see blogroll) that any “personal” blogs tend to make for the most awfully boring reading though.  And I confess that, now I have been blogging for perhaps three months, I have developed an appetite for growing my audience and getting more lively comments…. Any suggestions as to specialisations or blog “causes” most welcome!

Last night I learned that it was not just any full moon on my birthday, but a rather special one.

Unfortunately the weather did not play along with this and permit me to witness the event, there was unbroken cloud throughout the hours of darkness and some pretty awful weather to boot.

Despite the weather I'm having a fine old time, it was worth making the effort to drive over to Redditch and stay with my friend.  I brought all my discarded computer components in varying states of disrepair and by combining these with those he may have available the hope is that we come up with a working machine to take home for my daughter as a sort of Christmas present from him (he is her Godfather too).  No doubt there may also be an excursion to te cinema tomorrow, I am hoping to escape "High School Musical 3" in favour of "Madagascar 2" or even "Desperaux", we shall see.

Although I did not blog about it at the time I have been Carol singing for charity a couple of times with the Lewisham Choral Society.  I have also shown Robert, and will share here, something which myself and other "Friends" composed for a bit of fun that I shall be helping sing as entertainment at the Christmas lunch on Sunday afternoon, to be sung to the tune of "Christmas Wonderland":-

QUAKER WONDERLAND

1.         Sleigh-bells ring, are you listening?

In the road all is glistening.

We cheerfully walk but in Meeting don’t talk,

Walking in a Quaker wonderland.

2.         Be patterns, be examples

Whilst we’re sewing all our samples,

We stand in the light and try not to fight,

Walking in a Quaker wonderland.

3.         All-age worship we can build a snowman,

And pretend that it’s a metaphor

And if you find you want a new committee

We’ll help you find a reason it is for!

4.         When it works, ain’t it thrilling,

Though your doubts may be chilling.

We frolic and play in a moderate way,

Walking in a Quaker wonderland.

5.         We decide a lot in Local Meeting,

Once we have decided what it’s for.

Everything that’s said will get a minute

Until we haven’t got a minute more!

(Work out how to do a silence here?)

6.         Sleigh-bells ring, are you listening?

In the road all is glistening.

We cheerfully walk but in Meeting don’t talk,

Walking in a Quaker wonderland.

1, 2, 4 and 6 are the chorus tune

3 and 5 are the verse tune.

So, as you see, things are getting remarkably festive already, and I guess that's getting reflected in my blog.

There's this restaurant in Primrose Hill and it is called "Manna".  When I was a young boy I had to eat there a LOT.  My abiding memory is of the glazed earthenware plates and the macrobiotic (IE unhusked) brown rice.  I was totally convinced that the plates were chipping and I was eating the glaze along with the rice!  It was a co-operative restaurant run largely by a hippy group of women so far as I could tell, but my father did spells as a "chef" there, hence the frequent occasions when I had to eat there.

I think it left me with a prejudice against vegetarian food that I have only recently shed!

There are good memories of those times too though and they all came flooding back when I had to traipse along Upper Street for a day of induction to the Christmas voluntary work I am doing with Quaker Homeless Action at the Union Chapel.  I got talking with a colleague who lived in Camden also back in those days (they were in a squat, more recently than my forty odd years ago! But they had no awareness of the rehabilitation of the Roundhouse).  I reassured them that Marine ices were still going strong though.

Anyway, coming back to Manna, as you can see from the website I linked, they are a million light years from the co-operative venture that enables them to bill themselves as "London's oldest Vegetarian restaurant".  The establishment is EXTREMELY posh and upmarket now, far from the rattan mats and pine furniture it sported when it opened.  I found a trip back there some eight years ago very depressing and sad.  No-one was interested in the fact I had dined there and my father was once a chef either.  So big thumbs down from me!

One thing though - I have a great memory of the condiment they placed on the tables in lieu of salt - it was the only thing I could use to make the rice edible and to this day I would like to know WHAT it was!  If anyone can help then please do comment - it seemed like orange flakes that one would sprinkle fairly liberally according to taste and I have not seen it since! 

Well, with November drawing to a close it seems I can indeed manage to write a work of literature that runs over fifty thousand words in a month.  I am not going to pretend it is easy.  I am definitely not entirely happy with the literary standard I have set (and what I have written is a rough first draft, not a polished text).  BUT I seem to have very nearly done it.

I'll admit to being a tiny bit proud of that.

The about nanowrimo link on the right will take you to a site where the entire work is hosted, or you can click here if you wish.

There are no comments allowed directly to the text there - so if you would like to say anything about it then please do feel free to comment on this post.  I'm very open to any comments or criticism.

Well good folks, something I did not tell you about earlier is one of Lithuania’s more renowned citizens.  This was a man who made his mark in history, a man whom I feel commands respect, whose name lives on and probably inspires respect or even perhaps fear to this day.

Who do I speak of?  None other than Mikhail Kalashnikov, creator of the infamous AK-47 assault rifle, probably the most renowned firearm in the world today!

I happen to regard it as part of a modern man’s “armoury” (pardon the pun) that he should have the skill of shooting.  Naturally I long ago mastered the English shotgun, and many a fine pheasant I have enjoyed as a result.  But the AK-47 is quite a different beast.  I must admit to a certain fascination and I have hopes I shall lay my hands on one soon and experiment with my abilities and the weapon.

Please do not misunderstand, I am a peaceful man and a gentleman.  But I admire the machinery and functionality of the Kalashnikov.  Who can doubt that to be a crack shot is an asset for any man?  But one can never know what the future holds, and if I were called to arms I should like to be able to defend myself in some style..

So it is that I and some friends are planning to embark on a trip.  I'll keep this post brief, and so you can read all about it here.  So soon enough I shall be leaving these shores for a suitable venue to practice with the weapon that has become synonymous with modern day combat.  Doing so in the place where the weapon originated is an added bonus.

Goodness it is lovely here!  I am really enjoying just the feeling of fresh air - no doubt with the excitement of the concert still to come.  There will likely be libations to the Gods of music and choirs afterwards and that should be fun - I allready have plans to delegat my designated driver status away perhaps.  We shall see what I can arrange.  Over at my Chyrping blog you can see about my wifi troubles!  I shall be returning to this blog post after the concert, sobriety permitting and insomnia facilitating.

I am in a hotel lounge now and there is a conversation going on which I should join in - I shall publish and go and hope I can get some pics tomorrow (Google Arkwright mills and Matlock if you like for images).  Actually i should have mentioned Alison Arkwright because we are staying in Alison House and it is superb!  So beautiful here, like a complete rejujination for the senses.  The venue for our singing was NOT inspiring, but apparently anywhere other than the school gym hall local to the area would have meant we could not fit the orchestra in!  There was one awful moment in the concert when I left a dangling ESSss on a phrase and it was quiet and I am SURE someone MUST have heard me mess up... My current fear is that Stefan Reid will have noticed and mention it at rehearsal on Monday!

Hello World!  I am sure many of you reading this will know me , or know of me.  I am Anton Ferhnzeit and of course with a name like that if you have met me you will not have forgotten me!  But then, you would not forget me anyway, would you?  I have such a lively, engaging, and frankly quite brilliant mind and such charm and wit combined with my devilish good looks.  I know modesty does not become me, you would only detect the false misplaced sentiment behind it if you knew me.

So - to those that know me - "Felicitations! You know what to expect and can enjoy my presence in the Blogosphere just as you have in my more mundane, everyday circles"

And to those that do not "Greetings!  You have come to the right place to be stimulated and amused! I intend to lift the quality of the blogosphere to new heights"

How much further should I introduce myself - well I have given this some thought.  A picture could be misleading and make you judge me to be vain, so you shall find none.  A lengthy description is unlikely to do me justice either.  My reputation precedes me if you know me already, making such a thing unnecessary.  If you do not know me, then with my charming wit and repartée you soon shall and will be a richer person for it!

On to matters more interesting than myself then!  Yes there are some, even to me!  Of course now that I have deployed my not inconsiderable intellect here I need a subject and a blog post to start this blog rolling.  Speaking of which - impress me sufficiently and I shall award you the honour of a space on my blogroll - but for now it is gloriously empty.

The subject of the moment is POSSESSION.  You may find that a little odd for me, you may have noticed my generous nature.  But there is more to possession than that.  For example I possess a great deal of self-composure.  I believe the Devil posesses the souls of those that do not hold on to their own.  And last but not least I have found that when I meet a member of the so called "gentler" sex they invariably seek to "possess" me!  Incidentally there is an excellent book of that name by A.S Byatt.  I commend it to those readers who have not already enjoyed it.

They say that possession is nine tenths of the law, and there's good reason for that.  I say that if we took the observation that "the love of money is the root of all evil" and changed it to the "desire to possess" (for surely if money is anything it is a tool for the purposes of mans' possession?

Of course, myself I am fortunate enough to possess more than ample resources to possess more or less anything I desire (including a member of the fairer sex if I set my mind to it!).  But I may surprise you if I tell you that I aspire to relinquish the DESIRE to possess.  Certain fundaments I insist that I not only possess but have complete dominion over, these include my wits and my sanity!  Certain others I insist upon shunning and have a desire to dispossess, such as trouble and strife (and these are chosen with a view to the Cockney rhyming slang also, since I cherish my bachelor status!).

I must leave you for a moment now - my manservant is drawing me a bath and I do so like it to be at the perfect temperature.  Please could my fledgling audience consider what they possess and what desires possess them - I shall return when bathed and fed to consider further...

Adios!

... Returning to my screen after a splendid repast.  I find my possession of my senses most necessary!  And I am mindful of a poor chap who owes his life to the wonderful RAF emergency service.  I just heard on the wireless that he suffered a stroke mid-air and lost his sight!  Believe it or not he survived despite being alone.  Coming to his senses (sans sight!) the poor chap radioed for help and an RAF crew were scrambled to intercept him at altitude and "talk him down" this they managed to do.  The man was heard to grumble that he was concerned his landing was a little bumpy!  But he did thank them for saving his life!

There is a good tale to end my first blog posting on - so fellow readers of the Blogosphere, retain your senses and relinquish your possessions I say to you!  It is clear which has the more value, to me anyway.

Until tomorrow - Anton.

This post will be brief, because the writing I am excited about is not blog posting, but more a little light coding and then NaNoWriMo (or nano as I sometimes call it for short).

The coding part is putting the finishing touches to this new "blog" site I have set up for my book! (I want to remove or lighten the sidebar for easier reading).

I know one person who will be thrilled to see this appear at least.  But what confuses the bejeezus out of me is why I am excited about it?!  …more

For whatever reason, I had one of those clearing out the loft moments going through ancient boxloads... and I turned up this exercise book that had something in it I wrote years ago intending it to be a childrens story perhaps for my daughter (she was just a babe at the time).  I thought I would type it up as a post. …more

This morning the reason my NaNo word count jumped is I finally managed to thrash out some sort of a plot outline with a few sketchy details.  In the process I realised where I planned to intersperse some of the blog posts that fit into the book.  This is where it gets interesting...

It occured to me that in addition to the main character(s) blogging or emailing I would also involve some comments from the blog.  So dear readers this means that in future you too could become part of my NaNoWriMo novel!  I have not thought it through - perhaps I have to add an "About Nano" page with all sorts of disclaimers that I retain rights to use comments... I am not sure if that is required, have to look into it if I have time.  Of course no comments may come - then I shall have to create my own log ons and make "faked" ones!  Oh what a tangled web we weave!

I had to dash then to practice the Elgar - on returning I descended into many matters geeky (reformatting external Hard Drive, finalising laptop recovery and more which I forget)... Before I know it now it's the wee small hours and I am still awaiting the format of the drive (well, it is 320GB!).

So far as I can see the idea still holds water... I shall make a page and paste the writing I have so far into it - this will have notes so that you can get the gist of it.  Of course i should warn you that if you intended to read whatever I manage to produce then the notes would give you a pretty good idea what is going to happen!

Rather than pages I could put all the writing to another blog at a different domain (effectively using the blog as a publishing engine of sorts).  This idea flies better then pages (although i shall make ONE).  BUT it will take up valuable time to implement and I really need to try to focus myself into my writing far more.  It is bad enough that I have to drive to Derbyshire to sing the Elgar this weekend, though I'll take the laptop and try to snatch what moments I can for writing (and, of course, making a blog post!).

- maybe even make a page for the Nano book - but that would need some sort of "read more" function built in and i am not at allsure that can be done at page level....

OK well, so I sang the Verdi and that was great fun.  The best part is that unlike the first time where I went through months of weekly practices learning the piece and practicing (along with some singing lessons as I was new to singing then) this time it was one rehearsal a week in advance, then a rehearsal in the morning and sing my heart out for the concert in the evening!  What fun!  My stepmother says I am getting a "repertoire" and I tell her that is pretentious nonsense!  But it is lovely to get the chance to sing something you enjoyed again.

That recording is from a personal MP3 player with on board mic that I slipped in my pocket at the last minute - highly experimental and I am amazed I got ANYTHING!  There were mics all over and I'll probably HAVE TO buy a couple of CD's for family and friends (they'd kill me if I didn't).

But all of this is displacement writing!  I am MEANT to be making a start on my novel writing month!  You would not believe the things I have found that I just "have to do" before I sit down with the document open and type!  I have taken the rubbish out (early), done three loads of laundry (one a half load), formatted a laptop for a friend, burnt a knoppix DVD for testing, tidied my cable suitcase and filed a laptop charger...phoned a friend... emailed Quaker friends! All of these things I would normally leave for a more appropriate time or leave until they HAD to be done.

And now I am writing to my blog, because I have the dual excuse that this is also NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month) where I am supposed to post daily for November.  That will not be hard to do (look at the count for October in the Archive!).

Oh yes - I also wasted time changing a poem to "draft status" and seeing if I could install the Chyrp extension so that I could link you guys to a file where I'd put my novel to date - luckily for you that is broken but I may still do it by hand... esp. if there are more than a couple of comments expressing interest in that.

Last but not least at Quaker meeting I was (finally) able to take responsibility for the website! And I even repaired a linkback to it from London Quakers - so some of my displacement activity has been useful.  That site will start to get overhauled as soon as I have come up with content and it has been approved by the elders.

But enough keystrokes blogging - they all need to go to my novel really!  I have a name for the lead character - he is going to be Frederick Allsop, but he will prefer the Pseudonym of Anton Fehrnzeit!  So when things look weird on here with some blog entries if those names feature (or Lydia Dypchyk, the comic love interest!) then you can guess it is a "novel" blog.  I shall tag them all Fehrnzeit - if that helps...

Has it really just been a week since I last made a “religious” post?, It seems so.  This is quite a time of change, and the clocks moving from BST to GMT accentuates that to me.  But I want to share a couple of aphorisms and a context that gives them a more serious context.  So again this will be one of the more (gently) didactic posts. 

=====================================

To start with the light side - two jokes:-

What do you get if you cross a Druid with a Bhuddist?

a. Someone who hugs trees that are not there.

———————————————————————-

There is a Bhuddist monk on vacation in New York,  He goes up to a Hot Dog vendor and says, “Make me one with everything”.

————————————————————————

OK three jokes technically!:-

The hot dog salesman takes the £100 bill the monk offers and passes him the hot dog with all the trimmings.  The monk waits and then says, “Where’s my change?” to which the vendor replies, “The only change can come from within”.

=====================================

Now, I share these not just because I think they are very funny, but to make an observation.  I think I may tell both these jokes to someone next time they ask if I am a Quaker.  If they laugh at neither I shall not try to answer their question, but enquire as to their spiritual progress.  If they laugh at the Druid one only I shall proceed with caution.  If they laugh at both I shall enquire which they prefer, and should it be the Druid one I shall proceed with caution, but if they prefer the Hot Dog joke I shall observe that our humour is as one and they may be closer to Quakerism than they know!

On a seperate subject I apologise for the number of posts which were purely about the site breaking - and I am going to set a lot of them private now - so the detrirus may no longer be visible.

There are also to be some odd posts coming in Movember connected with my NaNoWriMo project, but I have decided to separate these by making them an unusual time - so more than three years away from the here and now, that may confuse you at first, but hopefully shall become clear!

Addendum:- My plan seems flawed in it’s thinking having told the jokes to a number of Quaker acquaintances with varying results now!

Yes, maybe that is a touch tautological, maybe antonymic (bit of a contradiction in terms) but then that depends on where you are coming from spiritually.  For many faiths light and religion go hand in glove anyway.  In any case, it's Sunday and I'd like to try to lift my head above the domestic disharmony that overshadowed the weekend (nothing serious, just seven year old tantrums and stuff) so for better or worse here is my stab at a post aimed in a vaguely spiritual direction.

A little while ago I "dugg" this article which I somehow googled towards (Disclaimer; that is not my newspaper of choice, and I have no recollection how I chanced on the article).  It prompted me to muse a little on human nature and how Religion and society interact.  I'm participating in a series of Sunday sessions entitled "twelve [[Quakers]] and..." which tonight is dealing with "... and God". No doubt that played a part in my looking into the article.  Quakers often have issues with the big G in God and the big R in Religion.  Although Wikipedia defines Quakerism as fundamentally a Christian faith there's actually a bit of a schism over that, with the [[Universalist Quaker Fellowship]] at one end of the spectrum and "evangelical" Quakers at the other.  I'll confess I once made a wiki edit to remove Quakers from the Christian category of religions, but it did not even last 12 hours!  Guess that tells you which end of the spectrum I am at (either that or I'm a bit of an anarchist)!.

Coming back to the article, it seems [[Dorothy Rowe]] has quite a back catalogue of self-help psychology publications, but this is surely a piggie back on the [[Richard Dawkins]] book.  I was most provoked by her assertion that "No religion accepts us as the person we know ourselves to be" because I cannot think of anything that jars more with my Quaker faith!  Of course there does remain the question of how far I "know myself", but setting that to one side I do feel accepted as I am within the Religious Society of Friends.  It is interesting how something has to be provocative to get the thought process going.

I know what she is referring to and I can recognise it in many faiths, particularly fundamentalist ones, but to me this is almost the antithesis of religion.  At the very least it surely shows sloppy thinking on her part?  I do enjoy examining religion from a polytheist or atheist point of view though.  I find it more spiritual and thought provoking than any belief in certainties.

When I tell people I am a Quaker I have to prepare myself for questions like "are you a Christian?" and "what do you believe in?" and "Do you believe in God?" and my responses have evolved and are always changing.  I've never really tried a silent response, the Quaker silence can freak some people out and in this context would be misconstrued.  Early on I might proffer a few Fox quotes like we believe "in that of God in everyone".  I have cited the example of a Quaker who got into a heated parking space dispute before Meeting and when asked - "But how can you fight with me over this space, you're a Quaker?" replied with - "Yes!  That's WHY I'm a Quaker!".  I have tried talking about the sharing of common values (like peace, simplicity, community, discernment, charity).  I have been prepared not to snigger or take offense when people think I am [[Amish]] or that I can be polygamous (both have occured!).  People become confused by our lack of sacraments, it seems they need a certain amount of "smoke and mirrors" before they can regard something as "religious".  I think Quakers hold the totallity of life as their sacrament, and since that makes religion somewhat all-pervasive it becomes hard for others to recognise.  I guess it makes Quakers particularly sensitive to Ellas position rather than Siegfrieds?  But the majority of Quakers are very much empowered and driven to aspire to change things in this life, so I think the comparison with Ella ends there.

I am now considering remembering this quote and citing it as the antithesis of what Quakerism means to me.  Perhaps the approach of telling people what Quakers are NOT, whilst exhausting, might be more productive in the long term than trying to sum up what we ARE?  I already see a pitfall though, because the mis-conception that I find the most irritating about Quakers is the commonly held belief that we are "wishy washy" or somehow will not commit or be pinned down on what we do believe.  This misconception is even harder to correct because, believe it or not, Quakers are highly mistrustful of words when it comes to spiritual matters.  If you look into Quaker history you'll soon see they are people of action not afraid to commit and usually highly principled (EG if called to "take an [[oath]]" in court Quakers would refuse, [[George Fox]] having set a Quaker precedent).

This has probably been one of my longer posts.  I hope it did not seem like a sermon!

I have not adopted one of those blogging "code of ethics"; so I'll say here that any comment other than spam will be allowed to stand.  You can even say "God's a s**t", but that will not be very original in this context!.

You will sometimes find me indulging in a little light word play (as when I began this post).  That is part of the reason I added Wordie to the sidebar.  Similarly the Digg flash widget is partly there so that I can "Digg" things I want to flag as possible future post material.  I would appreciate feedback if anyone finds the site becoming too cluttered - already I think I have reached the limit and possibly exceeded it.  My thinking on that subject is that since many of the extras are there to be handy for me as much as any reader I may have two different sidebars and only load the "bloated" one when someone is logged in - that way first time visitors and casual readers will not be troubled by my twittering or "Digging" etc.  Those that want the extras can log in to get them.

Right - well that will give me some coding to play around with tonight, after me and my Friends have discussed our views on God!  Incidentally God is big enough that we do him for two months in a row!

By the way (if any readers are left!) I'm also aiming to upgrade my Chyrp! Blog software to v2rc2 this week - I'll try to put up a "back soon" page while the work is in progress... But I know I don't have THAT many readers just yet!

The bottle had been on display for a long time.  Before that the bottle had spent even longer languishing in a dark cellar far away, gathering dust and allowing its contents to complete their final fermentation.  Now the bottle was at last selected proudly by the self-styled 'Wine Wizard' and lovingly rolled on the counter, wrapping it within a cocoon of tissue.

"I think you'll be happy with your choice sir", said the Wine Wizard with a satisfied smile.

"I'm sure you're right, after all it is for a special occasion" answered Jeremy, offering his credit card to complete the transaction.  He would not normally be so extravagant, but it was their anniversary and he longed to please Sarah, particularly since she has invited family for dinner this evening.  When he asked for several bottles the Wine Wizards proprietor had assured him it was not pretentious to serve a magnum sized bottle and that in fact it was quite practical since one only had one bottle to open and the table was less cluttered too.

"Let me know how you liked it next time you are in" said the 'Wizard'.

"Oh, I shall", answered Jeremy as he took the proffered bottle and headed for the door.

Arriving home Jeremy placed the bottle on the counter top in the kitchen and unwrapped it.  The label and the opaque gleam gave the bottle an air of authority added to by it's impressive size.  He thought there would be no need for a centrepiece to the table with this in place.  Surveying the table, already laid when he set out for the wine, and savouring the smells of his cooking which were filling the house he felt a welling up of the love he had for his wife of ten years, Sarah.

The bottle was placed in the centre of the table, atop a cork mat with a napkin close by to help with the pouring.  The cork had been removed just beforehand, a long strenuous pull and a satisfying plop as Jeremy eased it out and released the aroma of the wine within.  Six places were laid around the table, and each had both water and wine glasses.  Both Sarah's and Jeremy's parents were seated at the table, happily exchanging stories of their holidays and remarking on how happy their childrens' marriage seemed.

Sarah smiled at Jeremy in the kitchen, watching him busily ferrying the hot food from the oven to the serving bowls.  She was fetching the bread and water, an excuse to check how he was coping.  The kitchen was normally her domain and she found it hard to give up control.  Her smile was slightly forced, she found these family gatherings a strain and would like a glass of wine to settle her nerves.  Every time the parents gathered she was painfully aware that another year had passed and still she could not seem to give them all what she felt they longed for as much as she did; a child.

Settling the last of the dishes on the table, Jeremy reached over the table and picked up the magnum bottle with relish.  It was natural for him to be showing off a little.  Not every day did he get the chance to make the kitchen his own and cook a dinner.  Without asking he poured everyone a glass of the ruby liquid from the bottle.  The heady aroma of hearty red wine was added to the appetizing smell of his cooking.  Sitting at the head of the table he raised his glass and toasted, "To friends and family, present and future!".  He saw the smile freeze on Sarahs lips and knew he had touched a nerve again.  Cursing himself silently he swallowed his wine and carved the meat, filling the plates carefully.

The meal progressed and the conversation flowed more freely as did the wine.  Step by step the bottles contents lowered until finally it was emptied completely, leaving a faint mottled stain of sediment, the mark of a quality wine.  Jeremy and Sarah could not bring themselves to part with the bottle after the meal, when they had seen their parents to the door.  In any case they knew it would not fit in the recycling bin, which only had an opening for regular sized bottles.  That night their passion seemed almost fuelled to new heights by the wine, which had been both better and more plentiful than they were used to.  Perhaps it was that, perhaps it was because they forgot they were "trying for a baby", or perhaps it was blind luck, but that night Sarah conceived.

Two years later the bottle is still a treasured object in the household - though it is now placed high on the mantel to be safe from the explorations of the young Phillip.  He seems to get everywhere now he was just started walking, but the gleaming bottle on the mantel shelf will always hold a special place in the house, though it is unlikely Phillip shall ever learn why it is quite so special for his mother and father.