My cellist told my wife I should publish this piece. Hah. As usual, I remain unconvinced of my commercial potential but not of the worth of doing what I do.  Quite the contrary. I like my stuff and I like doing it. I dread marketing or convincing others of the worth of it.

I have been reading in the Readings for the Daily Office from the Early Church recently and posting anything interesting on the Facebook Grace Music Ministry page.

I used to pray the office daily.

I used to have a lot more religion. I don’t think I had a lot of religion just more than I have now.

As I told Henry Idema, I don’t have the “gift of faith.”

Other gifts, sure. Just not that one.

I don’t mean I feel “gifted.” I mean that I have some things in my life that have been given to me to enjoy and do well. Just not faith.

Another poem by Ginsberg came blasting into my head this morning.

I recommend reading it because it is truly prophecy as well as poetry:

Death to Van Gogh’s Ear! by Allen Ginsberg

I like the ending. It gives you a flavor of the poem.

Money! Money! Money! shrieking mad celestial money of     illusion! Money made of nothing, starvation, suicide! Money of failure! Money of death!

Money against Eternity! and eternity’s strong mills grind out vast paper of Illusion!

Anyway, I like the poem.

Today I want to pick organ music for this weekend. Last weekend was a big effort with all the Mozart and original composition. This weekend it’s my intention to choose music that wont require tons of prep.

I continue to play through the Shostakovitch Preludes and Fugues.

I found an interesting YouTube channel yesterday which specializes in recordings of composers playing their works.

20th Century Composers play their own Work – YouTube

I notice there are a couple of Shostakovitch playing from his Preludes and Fugues. I haven’t listened to them yet, but plan to.

I also found a new collection of illustrations of Grimm Fairy tales.

It’s not very expensive ($23.99 on Amazon). It looks excellent.

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The Mother Courage of Rock by Luc Sante | The New York Review of Books

Article on Patti Smith’s works. My daughter Elizabeth has been reading her and went to see her recently.

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Shadow and Smoke by Charles Wright | The New York Review of Books

Nice little poem by Charles Wright.

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The New World of William Carlos Williams by Adam Kirsch | The New York Review of Books

Found an essay about WCW yesterday.

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Independence for Scotland? – NYTimes.com

This article elucidates some of the intricacies and history of the British Isles I didn’t know.

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At San Francisco State, a Split Over Its High-Tech Library – NYTimes.com

High tech hits the liberry. Bout time.

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When Truisms Are True – NYTimes.com

The context (such as physically sitting in or out of a box) turns out to be important to thinking processes. Makes sense actually. Sort of a liturgical idea being shaped by immediate experience of environment.

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The Greatness of Ike – NYTimes.com

Can you spot the inaccuracies and  logical fallacies in this article? Nothing against Ike, just the columnist.

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Media’s Weird Ethics: Pretending to Be Someone Else Is Worse Than Facilitating Global Catastrophe

History is a motherfucker. Turns out under cover journalism is not new or even necessarily unethical. Never mind.

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