Sumner is this really mysterious co-counselor who technically has been a part of my weekly class since last Spring, but who, in reality hasn't been attending all that often. Until now ( Read more... )

This has been a week - nay, a season - for micro-aggressions, both personal and in the news. First the personal one. While the three of us were sitting and sipping our beers last Sunday evening, Tiger noticed that some of the patrons were eating popcorn. He wondered aloud whether it had been freshly popped on the premises (unlikely) or whether "I'm ( Read more... )

I am probably the worst wing man in G-d's Creation. When I go out with someone I want all the attention on me, not on every good looking stranger who walks into a bar. That's probably true regardless of the friend's sexual persuasion; my usual stance is that no one is good enough for them anyway. I suppose, that's one reason I don't go out all that ( Read more... )

Crosby is due back from a short vacation at Bingland, in California. I think he will find St. Michael's a changed place in his almost a month away. August is the traditional high point of informality in the morning Eucharistic Mass. The doors to the outside are thrown open and the sounds and odors of the street are allowed to seep in during the ( Read more... )

Back in the beginning part of May, when Huggy Bear and I first started to panic over the loss of so many members of the Young Adults Group http://johnwesley73.livejournal.com/483225.html, Tiger was not on either of our radars. The first mention of him in this blog dates only a few weeks ( Read more... )

The Rector's pre-party began to wind down with the crab cakes. There was a brief round of toasts with Johnny Apple making suitably droll remarks. But, by 7:00 Tiger and I were pretty much the only guests left. It was fun being back in the old house, scene of so many RSVP parties thrown by The Rector's predecessor. And, so many Bible studies classes ( Read more... )

There was an invitation-only "pre-party" in just a few more hours, scheduled at the Rectory. The members of the Vestry were on the list as were the members of the search committee who helped select the new Rector. Huggy Bear had never seen the inside before so I initially invited him to come along. But, then The Rector pulled the rug out from under ( Read more... )

The trip back to Manhattan was a disaster. I waited an hour to catch a bus from the nursing home to Flushing, something I haven't had to do since the last time we had a blizzard. At the rate I was going, I would almost certainly miss Intersection. I thought about the lovely morning service and how pretty everyone looked in their duds. I really wasn ( Read more... )