Saying goodbye all too soon

Yesterday, my friend Cindy told me about the untimely passing of a mutual friend of ours, David Hockenberger. He died suddenly last Friday, doing what he loved (bicycling). He was only 55 years old.

David, Cindy, and I were part of the Music Ministry at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in Durham. David and I were in the bell choir, and I had also sung in the choir when Richard Townley was the organist/choir director.

I had moved on to another music program in the area, and David eventually moved away from the Triangle area. I didn't see him again until last February at Holy Comforter in Burlington. My friend, Colin, was ordained a Transitional Deacon, and David was singing in the choir. He had recognised me and approached me after the service. We chatted for a little bit. It was great catching up with him.

Last Saturday, my friend Laurie, who is the organist/choirmaster at Holy Comforter, posted a note asking our prayers for one of her choir members, David H. It didn't register to me that I knew who that was until I talked to Cindy yesterday evening. And then it hit me—this was someone I knew, someone whose company I had enjoyed, someone who was a devoted father to his two children and husband to his wife of 30+ years, and this someone is no longer with us. His funeral was earlier this afternoon, and according to friends who went, it was a good celebration of his life.

Please pray for the family David leaves behind: his wife, Beverly, and his children, Evan and Kaitlyn. Requiem aeternam dona ei, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat ei. Requiescat in pace. Amen.

Here is a link to David's obituary. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made in David's name to Hospice and Palliative Care Center of Alamance-Caswell, 914 Chapel Hill Road, Burlington, NC 27215.

More Maui Vacation

Taken on our way to Hana. From left to right: Hermie, Richie, Josie, Ella, me, and Jacob.

Aloha Mabuhay from Kihei, Maui, in the beautiful state of Hawaii! We've been enjoying ourselves, having visited the Maui Tropical Plantation, the Iao Valley State Park (and seeing the very prominent Iao Needle), and shopping (and shave ice!) at the Kihei Kalama Village on Monday, and taking the road to Hana and then taking the (very winding and in some places unpaved) road that goes around the periphery of the eastern and southern parts of the island on Tuesday. I think we'll be visiting a beach or two today and then watching the sunrise from the Haleakala Crater on Thursday. We'll also be enjoying a luau during our trip here.

If you're Facebook friends with my sister-in-law, Grace, and my mother, Josie, you can see some of our pictures. I'll post mine eventually to my Facebook page (and place a link here) but that may not happen until I return to the mainland.

I really like Maui. Such a pretty place, and in our drive yesterday, we were able to see the vast contrasts in the terrain (and the weather patterns!) here.

More later! Mahalo!

FranFam in Maui!

Greetings, friends! It has been a very long time since I last made a post on this blog. As you can see by the picture, I'm not in North Carolina at the moment. I'm in Kihei, a city on the southwest shore of Maui. I'm here with my parents and my brother, sister-in-law, and their three children. We started our trip early this morning, and we shared the plane with the men's and women's soccer team from Notre Dame de Namur University in the San Francisco area. A very nice soccer player named Kim W. was my seatmate for the flight. They're scheduled to play 3 matches whilst in Hawaii, and I wish them all the luck.

We landed in Honolulu around the noon hour and went straight to our connecting flight to Maui. We were a tired bunch, but after a good rest, we'll be ready to start our Maui adventure. Stay tuned! I may or may not record brief soundseeing tours on AudioBoo... if I do, I'll post the links here (they will automagically cross-post to my Twitter and Facebook pages. (I might even post it on my very neglected Google+ page.)

Aloha!!!

Past AGO Conventions, Revisited

As I mentioned in my previous post, I'll use this post to collect links to the posts I made during the 2010 AGO National Convention in Washington, DC, as well as the Audioboos I recorded during the 2011 AGO Region IV Convention in Greensboro, NC.



2010 AGO National Convention in Washington, DC

• Travelling to Washington, DC
• AGO Convention, Day Two
• AGO Convention, Day Three—I Has a Squeeeeee!!!
• AGO Convention, Day Four—Heat Exhaustion
• AGO Convention—The Grand Conclusion

2011 AGO Region IV Convention in Greensboro, NC

listen to ‘Day 1—2011 AGO Region IV Convention’ on Audioboo

listen to ‘AGO Region IV Convention, Day 2’ on Audioboo

listen to ‘Region IV AGO Convention—Day 3’ on Audioboo

listen to ‘Last day of 2011 AGO Region IV Convention’ on Audioboo

Catching Up Yet Again with the Organ-ic Chemist

I'm back after a long time of not blogging. I could tell that I haven't been blogging much when my blogging partner, Tyler, notices that I haven't been blogging much lately! Well, my globetrotting friend, here is an entry. Just for you.

I've been trying to find more time for myself. Of late, I've been bouncing from one thing to the other, keeping so busy that by the time I get home, all I want to do is flop into the bed and close my eyes. I'm trying to organise my time more wisely. Using tools like Workflowy helps immensely. There's nothing more satisfying than clicking on a task and marking it complete.

The picture above depicts one of the activities I'm trying to do more of: yarn work. I've been knitting and crocheting more. Two pieces I completed recently were prayer shawls for friends who were recently ordained a deacon and a priest, and now I'm working on a couple of other super-secret pieces that I can't say yet what they are until the recipient receives them. The piece pictured above will be a multi-coloured afghan using the diamond shell stitch. I'll admit that it took me several tries before I worked out what I was doing wrong. It looks like it will work up pretty quickly.

I'll be heading off to Nashville, TN to the 2012 American Guild of Organists Convention this coming Sunday. I'm looking forward to it. As my friend Kathy says, we'll be there with 4,000 organists. There will be lots of organ recitals, plenty of workshops, lots of trade shows, and networking to look forward to. I'll do my level best to keep up with posts here. In the meantime, you can have a look at my posts about the 2010 National Conference in Washington, DC on this site, as well as listen to my AudioBoos about the 2011 Region IV Conference in Greensboro, NC. I'll collect those links in a subsequent post.

In the meantime, I've been asked to join the Webshoo network, which is comprised of a group of people who blog about anything and everything under the sun. In addition to my posts here, I also contribute to the Secrets of Harry Potter podcast and website, and I still have a presence on LiveJournal, which is targetted towards my activities in the Harry Potter fandom. Of course, I can also be found on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+.

See you around the interwebs!

James Garfield Richardson (1964–2012)

Last Thursday, we gathered in the garden behind the Parish House at St. Joseph's Episcopal Church for a Memorial Service for James. The decision was made to have it in the garden because James loved being outdoors, and he was particularly fond of the church's community garden. It was a hot late afternoon, but the skies were clear.

After the service was over, a dogwood tree was planted in James' memory. It's a fitting tribute to a man who was always greeting people with a smile and telling them to "stay blessed."

Almighty God, we remember before you today your faithful servant James; and we pray that, having opened to him the gates of larger life, you will receive him more and more into your joyful service, that, with all who have faithfully served you in the past, he may share in the eternal victory of Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

---

James Garfield Richardson, son of J.W. and Clara Hall Richardson, was born on January 31, 1964 in Johnston County, North Carolina, and on April 25, 2012, he departed this life at Duke Medical Center.

Garfield, as he was called by his family and friends, was educated in the Public Schools of Wake County. He was a hard worker and a kind-hearted man who loved his family and his friends.

He leaves to cherish his memories his loving and devoted mother, Clara, and father, J.W. Richardson of Raleigh; sisters Sherri Richardson and Teresa Richardson of Raleigh; brother Gregory Richardson (Betty) of Raleigh; two nieces, eight nephews, aunts, uncles, cousins, and other relatives and friends.

(And also a community of friends and neighbours in the Old West Durham neighbourhood. James, you touched more people than you'll ever know. Stay blessed, my friend.)

Questioning Why and Finding Comfort

I found out the news that a person whose athletic (and academic) successes I had heard of since high school, and who grew up to be a legend in the National Football League had passed away today. Junior Seau was a standout student-athlete at Oceanside High School, and he had graduated the same year as I did.

When I had heard the news, I was immediately taken back to 1986. Both the newspaper and yearbook staffs from my high school were in Anaheim, CA for competitions that included high school newspaper and yearbook staffs from all over California. I was serving as the sport editor for the paper and competing in the sport-writing competition. The person we interviewed: Junior Seau, then a standout athlete who lettered in four sports and was also an honor student at Oceanside High. I didn't remember much about the interview... just that we had a limited amount of time to ask him questions, and then we had a limited amount of time to write a 750-word story.

There isn't much I remembered about that day, except that I was struck by how well articulate and poised this guy from Oceanside was and that he seemed to be destined for greatness. He would eventually go on to USC and then play professional football with the San Diego Chargers, the Miami Dolphins, and the New England Patriots.

The news of Junior's death had spread through Facebook and Twitter. I had friends who not only knew Junior, but was also friends with him. One of my friends was in anguish. He kept on asking "why?" Why did he have to do this; why couldn't he have talked to someone; why couldn't he have turned to family and friends to ease his burden and his pain? "It's frustrating when people who need help, who really need help, don't turn to their family and friends. This is happening too often! For the record, I have a shoulder for you to lean on, I'll listen as long as you care to share your thoughts! Reach out for help!!!"

We don't know what was in his heart and in his mind. It seems rather uncharitable towards him and towards his family (his poor anguished mother and his three teen-aged children, amongst others) to speculate what that may have been or to even link previous accidents and incidents to the final, fatal action he did earlier this morning. All we could do is offer prayers to the family and friends Junior left behind and to offer comfort to those who knew and loved him.

Speaking of offering comfort... in late March, a fellow NC Filipino Choir member had lost a relatively young relative (36-years old) to a brain aneurysm. He left behind a wife and a young (7-year-old) daughter. I was asked at the last minute to play the organ for his funeral. Following the funeral was a Rosary said as part of a nine-day Novena following this person's passing. Somehow, in the repetition of the prayers and the Tagalog songs to Mary sung in between each decade, I found comfort. I didn't know Roderick well... I saw him at various Fil-Am gatherings, especially those in which the choir had also sung... but despite that, I still found comfort in the Rosary, in the songs, and being with others lifting their voices and their hearts in prayer together. I kept thinking that despite the sad occasion for everyone gathering, it is comforting to know that they were there and praying, specifically, those prayers, and then those litanies, all for the repose of the soul of Roderick. Perhaps it's morbid of me to think this, but I think it would give me comfort to think that someday, when it is time for me to be called from this earthly life, that someone would want to do the same for me and find comfort from it. I know when we said those prayers for my Tito El, we had been comforted by them. I remembered people coming to the apartment in Makati every day for nine days after he had passed away, and we had prayed, talked, eaten, reminisced.

I end this rather rambling post with a YouTube video by USC Athletics that was made in memory of Junior Seau. Neighbours had known him to sit in his balcony facing the Pacific Ocean and play his ukelele and sing songs. For Junior and for Roderick: Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis. Requiescant in pace. Amen.

Reflections on a Friday afternoon

On this day 15 years ago, I received the news that my Lola Ina (Ceferina Sablan Yalong) had passed away. I remember thinking it was rather unexpected. She always seemed so healthy and so active. I remember my parents were visiting the Philippines... my mum really missed celebrating Holy Week and Easter in the Philippines (and in Baliuag, Bulacan in particular). I remembered that upon her return, she expressed a lot of concern for my grandmum (her mother). She said Lola had caught "a cold" and was slow in recovering from it. My parents were to have left Manila the day after Easter, I think... and my mum said she wanted to stay. My Lola told her to go back to the US where she had her work and her family to take care of and that she would be fine.

Little did they know that about a week or so later, my parents would be flying back to Manila to be with my Lola in her final hours.

Even though I was born and grew up an ocean and a continent away, Lola Ina was special in my heart. She always encouraged me to do my best in everything I did. She didn't speak much English—she maybe knew a few words here and there—but at least I understand Tagalog, so she was able to speak to me, even though I might not have been able to communicate back to her.

When I was still in graduate school, I was home in San Diego visiting for the holidays. We rang up relatives in Makati (where a good number of the Yalongs were living at the time) to wish them a Happy New Year. (The Philippines was 16 hours head of San Diego.) My Lola told my mother she wanted to speak specifically to me. Mum said that I might not be able to respond much back since my "box of Tagalog was very small," but Lola said she still wanted to speak to me.

So I took the phone, wished her in Tagalog Happy New Year and that I loved her. She responded back in kind, and then she proceeded to give me a rather long lecture. She emphasized to me that I must finish my education first before I even think about settling down with a boy and having a family. I didn't want to end up like some cousins and other relatives who "made the mistake" of having a family first before finishing up the education. (I rather suspect things were a bit different in the Philippines back in the mid-1990s; nowadays, you see many women go back to school for a degree. Many of my students when I taught Chemistry at Campbell University did that. Even my own mother did that. Even though she had a B.Ed. from Far Eastern University, she went back to school when I was about 9 or 10 and completed a nursing degree. But I digress.)

What could I say? I kept on saying, "Opo. Opo. Opo." (That means "yes" in Tagalog.) Even my mom was looking rather frantic, urging me to say something. But how could I interrupt when Lola was in the middle of a lecture?

A few years later, as I was writing my Ph.D. dissertation, I remembered what she told me. I had already moved to Durham, NC, having left Clark University as an A.B.D. student ("all but dissertation"), due to graduate in the spring. I ended up dedicating my thesis to Lola Ina, and I had my mom and Tita Edith help me write the dedication in Tagalog to her.

I kept my promise to Lola Ina. I finished my education and then settled down. (Still single, though.)

In other news... one of the guys from the hill, who lived in a tent in the woods, and who St. Joseph's Episcopal Church had befriended, died the other day. J. had cancer in the leg, and he couldn't live out in the woods anymore, so St. Joe's took him in and tried to make arrangements to make his final days as comfortable as possible. I remember that an ambulance had taken him to Duke Hospital shortly before my choir rehearsal last week, and the next day, parishioners received a message that J.'s condition was serious and to pray for him. He passed away last Tuesday. I remembered that he'd always be around, smiling at you and telling you to "stay blessed" as his way of saying goodbye. Well, J., you have touched the lives of many here. Stay blessed and pray for those of us left behind. Requiem aeternam dona ei, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat ei. Requiescat in pace. Amen.

John Scott, organ

By request, I am actually hopping onto the blog and doing a blog post. Surprised?

Once you've inhaled your smelling salts, have a look at this wonderful program John Scott played at St. Michael's Episcopal Church last night. It's one of the recitals celebrating their new Nichols & Simpson organ that was formally dedicated with a Choral Evensong and Organ Dedication last January 29.

I had posted pictures of the organ on my Facebook page, which you may see by clicking here.

Here is his program.

John Scott, organ
Friday, April 20, 2012

Veni Creator Spiritus
Eugenio Maria Fagiani (b. 1972)

Est-ce Mars?
Jan Pieter Sweelinck (1562–1621)

Concerto in F, Op. 4, No. 5
Larghetto
Allegro
Alla Siciliana
Presto
George Frideric Handel (1685–1759)

Prelude and Fugue in E-flat, BWV 552
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750)

March on a theme of Handel
Alexandre Guilmant (1837–1911)

Cantabile
César Franck (1822–1890)

Prélude et Fugue sur le nom d'Alain
Maurice Duruflé (1902–1986)

Miroir
Ad Wammes (b. 1953)

Chorale
Recessional
William Mathias (1934–1992)

Encore:
Tuba Tune
Norman Cocker (1889–1953)

Lyn's Once in a Blue Moon Post

So much for making 2012 my Year for Blogging. This is, what, my second post for 2012? Call me a slacker!

Actually, you're probably more likely to see my posts over at SQPN's Secrets of Harry Potter. Feel free to pop over there and have a look. :)

I've had this pervasive earworm in my head for the past couple of days. It's not a bad one, actually. A friend of mine, who is now based in Norway, had asked me to send her some music for "Filipino Praise Songs" that can be sung in church. I gave her what I had on hand that I thought might be popular amongst members of the very diverse Filipino Diaspora. I think the two songs she and the members of the Filipino choir she's conducting settled on two songs: Fr. Manoling Francisco's "Tanging Yaman" and Raymund Rema's "Tanging Alay Ko", also known as "Salamat Sa Iyo". It's the latter that's been the earworm, and for as many years as this song has been around, it's really nice that the person who composed it has come forward and recorded himself playing and singing it.

Here is a YouTube video of Mr. Rema playing and singing his song, "Tanging Alay Ko."

Where has the month gone?

It has been a long time since I last posted to this blog. In fact, the very last post I made was my New Year's Eve post. Maybe I need to keep signing up monthly for NaBloPoMo to ensure I keep posting...

Admittedly, this month has been a blur. I managed to pick up the flu virus, and it completely knocked me out for essentially a week. Even now, I'm still suffering from vestiges of the cold, and my singing voice is still not quite there, but it is returning, slowly but surely. (I should be able to sing on Sunday. Hopefully.)

If I feel up to it, I'll post my music lists and backdate them. In the meantime, there is a brand new month to look forward to. My parents will be celebrating their birthdays (Dad's is tomorrow, Mom's will be on Saturday), my nephew will be enjoying being First Chair (trumpet) with the East County Youth Symphony Concert Band)... oh, and I've agreed to perform in the Durham-Chapel Hill AGO's Member's Recital on Monday, February 13 at Watts Street Baptist Church in Durham. Members who will be playing are encouraged to play music composed by African-American composers in honour of Black History Month. There are at least six organists playing, and there is always room for more.

I can't make any promises that I'll be more regular in posting here... but at least I will try. Hopefully, I won't catch any more evil little germs or viruses anymore this season.

New Year Traditions

We are approaching the end of 2011 as I type this. Of course, most of my friends have already marked 2012, and those keeping Mountain Time has just passed midnight.

I started thinking of traditions my family has done when the clock turns to midnight, marking the coming of the new year. In the days leading up to it, my mum would start gathering 13 round fruits to place in a bowl at the dining room table. Why thirteen and why round?

This is a tradition that came from the Chinese. The fruits need to be round because they signify coins, which signify wealth and prosperity. As for the 13, I've heard many different reasons, but the explanation my mum gave makes sense: she merely pointed at the tapestry of the Last Supper on the wall when I had asked her about it. It, of course, depicts Jesus and His 12 apostles, hence 13 fruits. It's a perfect explanation, especially considering that the majority of Filipinos are Catholic and/or Christian.

Of course, another explanation is that the number is lucky, so having 13 round fruits should bring about luck and prosperity for the new year.

Here's another thing: some say the number should actually be 8 because to the Chinese, it sounds similar to the word for wealth or to prosper. So whether one does 8 or 13 round fruits, the effect is still the same: it's done to bring about good luck and prosperity for the new year.

More traditions: My mum hangs green grapes at the kitchen window. She'll put a fresh bunch on a hook on New Year's Eve, where it will hang for the entire year. She said it signifies money and prosperity.

As the clock turns to midnight, you would be wearing polka-dots, and you should have some money in your pocket, which will also signify prosperity in the new year. Essentially, if you wear anything round (there's the round thing again), it resembles coins, which signifies wealth and prosperity in the coming year.

If you're a kid, you would jump up and down in hopes that you would grow taller. Even if you're not a kid, you'd still jump up and down anyway. :)

We also turn on every single light in the house. It's said that your coming year will be filled with light if you do that. In addition, all the doors and windows would be open, which means all the grace would be flowing in for the new year.

In the Philippines, it's very common to set off fireworks as the clock goes past midnight. One would set them off to give off light to greet the new year.

Filipinos have a tendency to celebrate "Media Noche", which is the counterpart to "Noche Buena" which one does after Midnight Mass. The Media Noche would be a meal to honour Mary, especially since January 1 marks the Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God, in addition to being for 2012 the Octave Day of the Nativity of the Lord. The food on the table: in addition to all the round fruits, one would have noodle dishes. My friend, Jared, said he had spaghetti after midnight struck in the Philippines. We made sotanghon ("glass" noodles made from mung beans). The symbolism is that the long noodles signify long life.

There would also be an abundance of food in the house.

What traditions do you observe as the new year dawns?

Feeling Crafty, Part II

In this post, I had mentioned that I was working on some booties for my mother. I finished the project, and I'm working on writing down what I did. I'll probably post it over on Ravelry.com... eventually...

Here are pictures of the finished product. :)

Feeling Crafty

Warning: This post will be image-heavy.

Those of you who have been following me through my attemtped NaBloPoMo postings know that I like to knit and crochet. I had mentioned in this post that I had made an afghan for a friend's baby. Since she received it, I can finally post the picture. Here is a yellow afghan, made with Caron's bamboo/acrylic blend yarn. It was done with the garter stitch, so it was a good, 'mindless' project when I needed good stress relief. The colour is 'soft sunshine'.

I'm working on another couple of projects as well. One is a knit project, but I won't reveal what it is until the recipient (who doesn't know it's coming or that it even exists) receives it. The other is a crochet project I'm doing for my mum. She was the one who taught me how to crochet when I was 8 years old. Unfortunately for her, carpal tunnel syndrome prevents her from doing anymore crochet, so I told her I'd give this project a go. It will be a couple pairs of booties when I'm done with them. Here are a couple of pictures of this project in progress.

This was crocheted in the round, using Red Heart Yarn's "Super Saver" yarn in country blue. I'm using a size J / 6.00 MM hook.

We're still deciding what the second colour will be. We'd welcome suggestions, although I suspect we'll be running off to the store after we eat lunch in search of yarn.

For those of you who knit and/or crochet: what projects are you currently working on?

And yes, I'm on Ravelry.com, but I'll admit to not visiting the site as often as I'd like. Feel free to friend me there. I'm 'cartilagineol'.

Merry Christmas from the Franciscos, Yalongs, Asanas, and Cabrera Families

24 December - Christmas Eve

First of all, I would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas.

I'm posting these a couple of days later, but better late than never, right? Besides, I have a good excuse: I was travelling. :)

I have three lists for your perusal.

Carol Woods. Services there are organised by Chapel of the Cross. This service resembles the 8.00 am summer morning Rite I services at Chapel of the Cross, with a few omissions, depending upon the Presider of the Day. Numbers are out of the Hymnal 1982.

Christmas Eve: Holy Eucharist Rite I
Prelude: O Magnum Mysterium (T.L. de Victoria)
Processional: 83, O come, all ye faithful (ADESTE FIDELES)
Sequence: 87, Hark the herald angels sing (MENDELSSOHN)
Offertory: 115, What child is this (GREENSLEEVES)
Communion: 111, Silent night, holy night (STILLE NACHT)
Recessional: 100, Joy to the World (ANTIOCH)
Postlude: Vom Himmel Hoch (J.G. Walther; F. Zachau)

It is always a pleasure playing for Carol Woods. It's very gratifying to know that what I do at these service makes a difference for the people. It was also very nice to see a lot of people at this service.

---

St. Joseph's Episcopal Church where I played the 5.30 pm Christmas Eve service. The service was preceded by a 20 minute carol service.

Christmas Eve: Holy Eucharist Rite II
A Prelude of Christmas Music:

• Once in royal David's city (IRBY, arr. D. Willcocks)
• Wonder, Love and Praise 724, People, look East. The time is near (BESANÇON CAROL)
• 112, In the bleak mid-winter (CRANHAM)
• Motet: Carol of the Manger (M. Wilson)
• 81, Lo, how a Rose e'er blooming (ES IST EIN ROS)
• 106, Christians, awake, salute the happy morn, vs 1-3 (YORKSHIRE)
• 105, God rest you merry, gentlemen, vs 1, 4 (GOD REST YOU MERRY)

Processional: 83, O come, all ye faithful (ADESTE FIDELES)
Hymn of Praise: 96, Angels we have heard on high (GLORIA)
Psalm: Psalm 96 (Simplified Anglican Chant)
Sequence: 80, From heaven above to earth I come (VOM HIMMEL HOCH)
Offertory: How Sweet is Love (M. Paget)
Sanctus: S-128 (W. Mathias)
Lord's Prayer: chanted (S-119 in Hymnal 1982)
Agnus Dei: S-165 (W. Mathias)
Communion Hymns: 87, Hark the herald angels sing (MENDELSSOHN); 111, Silent night, holy night (STILLE NACHT)
Recessional: 100, Joy to the World (ANTIOCH)
Postlude: Wir Christenleut' (J. G. Walther)

We're doing something different this year: during Christmastide (which will include next week, Feast of the Holy Name), we're doing, in lieu of the Gloria, the carol, Angels we have heard on high. I guess it's not unusual; when I had subbed at St. Philip's on Christmas Day a couple of years ago, they also used this carol in lieu of the Gloria. I guess it's an Episcopal thing.

---

Service #3 was the 11.00 pm Christ Mass at the Chapel of the Cross. As usual - it was a glorious service, a High Mass, complete with smells and bells. Oh, and music. Lots and lots of music.

Christ Mass: Holy Eucharist Rite I
Organ and Choral Voluntaries

• In dulci jubilo (BWV 729; J. S. Bach)
• Nun freut euch, lieben Christen g'mein (most likely BWV 734; Bach)
• Choral Anthem: Ding Dong! Merrily on high (G. R. Woodward/C. Wood)
• Noël, Grand Jeu et Duo (L. C. D'Aquin)
• Choral Anthem: The Infant King (S. Baring-Gould; arr. D. Willcocks)
• La Nativité: La Crèche; Les Anges; Les Bergers; La Sainte Famille (J. Langlais)
• Choral Motet: O magnum mysterium (T. Luis de Victoria)

Processional: 83, O come, all ye faithful (ADESTE FIDELES)
Gloria: S-203 (Missa Marialis; Mode 8, adapted by W. Douglas)
Psalm: Psalm 98 (Ford; Plainchant Mode 7)
Sequence: 91, Break forth, O beauteous heavenly light (ERMUNTRE DICH)
Offertory: Motet: Hodie Christus natus est (F. Poulenc)
Sanctus: S-114 (Missa de Sancta Maria Magdalena; H. Willan)
Lord's Prayer: chanted (S-119 in Hymnal 1982)
Communion Hymns: 79, O little town of Bethlehem (FOREST GREEN); 101, Away in a manger (CRADLE SONG); 96, Angels we have heard on high (GLORIA); 111, Silent night, holy night (STILLE NACHT)
Recessional: 87, Hark the herald angels sing (MENDELSSOHN); 100, Joy to the World (ANTIOCH)
Postlude: Toccata (from Symphonie V; C.-M. Widor)

It was heaps of fun singing with the Senior Choir once again, and it was wonderful being with choristers whom I haven't seen on a regular basis. Considering all that Chapel of the Cross has done for me, I'm more than happy to help out whenever I can.

So again: a very Happy Christmas to everyone.

Getting even closer...

Take a look, beyond the moon you see the stars. And when you look around, you know the room by heart...

—V. Degiorgio, D. Schreurs, J. van Wieringen, "A Night Like This" sung by Caro Emerald

Oh. My. Goodness.

Is it really only three days until Christmas? Really, for me, "D-Day" is December 24. On that day, I should already be packed and ready to step on a plane since I won't have a chance to do any packing once all the services are finished.

Speaking of which... one afternoon Christmas Eve service at Carol Woods, one Carol Service, followed by a Christmas Eve service at St. Joseph's, and then the 11:00 pm Christ Mass at Chapel of the Cross. After that, a nap, and then I step on the plane to fly to San Diego.

(Oh, and for those of you who may question why I use the term "D-Day", may I refer you to this site, where they define "D-Day" as The unnamed day on which a particular operation commences or is to commence. So my "operation" is Christmas Eve.)

There is so much to do, so little time in which to do it. Will I worry if I don't finish everything? No. Life is too short to be stressed.

I actually enjoyed sitting down and practicing tonight, though. I didn't really enjoy all the organising and filing... it took way longer than I expected. I still have more practicing to do, but if I sit down and do it over the next couple of days, I should be fine.

I wonder if it should be strange that I seem to be able to practice much better at night. The focus seems to be better. Once upon a time, I had considered myself a morning person. I was able to wake up early in the morning and be super-productive, getting a lot of work done. Nowadays, I can't seem to wake up early and be functional. Perhaps I've become a night-owl. Not my preference... and admittedly, it would be far safer for me if I could manage to practice the organ when it's still daylight outside. Shy, introverted me does not like nor appreciate being approached by those who call the church grounds "home" when it's very late at night, which is why I have been avoiding doing night practice. Unfortunately, I've noticed that my lack of practice has severely affected my playing, but I seem to be able to focus better when I practice at night....

Yes, you can see my dilemma.

People are asking me if I'm looking forward to going home for the first time in 6 years. To be honest, I haven't even thought that far ahead. Let me get through Christmas Eve first. Then, once the last note of the last service has been sung, will I be able to start looking forward to stepping on that plane and spending time with family and friends.

Winter, really?

Dear Mother Nature,

What happened to winter? I'm walking around central North Carolina in short sleeves three days before Christmas. Temps of 64 F. / 18 C is way too warm for this time of the year. Please may I have winter back?

kthxbai,
Lyn F.

Does travel need to be that traumatic?

Earlier today, I helped a friend do the last of his packing before he was to leave for a 20-day trip out of the country. Since he was going to see relatives in two countries, I was not surprised at what he was packing. (Filipinos, when travelling, have a tendency to pack, in addition to necessities like clothes and toiletries, gifts we call pasalubong for relatives, and those things can range from toys for the kids to candies for the women... and my dad used to get tons of cartons of cigarettes for his brothers who were moderate to heavy smokers.) He had even asked me to do some last-minute shopping for him.

When we finally loaded his suitcase into the car, I had the feeling his suitcase would be grossly overweight. It took two of us to load it into his car.

When we got to the airport, I had dropped him off at the departures area while I went off to park the car. I joined him in the ticketing area and noticed he had his bags opened, and he was taking things out of the very heavy bag and trying to stuff it into the second bag. I couldn't help but smirk. Apparently, no matter if you're travelling domestic or international, you still have the same weight limit for bags: 50 lbs / 23 kg. He had significantly exceeded that. In the end, he chose to pay extra to have up to 70 lbs / 32 kg in the bag. Whatever he couldn't fit in, I ended up taking with me back to his place.

I wonder if his stress could have been reduced had he actually planned what he was going to pack and how in advance. I was shocked when he rang me up last night and said he hadn't started packing yet. How can you not be all packed up and ready to go less than 12 hours before you're scheduled to step on that plane to spend a little over 3 weeks abroad?

The last time we did this, it was more or less the same process. He really has a tendency to overpack. He ended up leaving me with an entire box of chocolate... which, I'll admit, I still have floating around someplace.

I'll be travelling across the country myself in less than a week. I know I definitely will start packing way earlier than he did. I'll have to. Once I start playing the Christmas Eve services, I should have been packed and ready to go. I know I won't have any time (or energy) to pack after I finish all services. And yes, I'm travelling on Christmas day. At least I'll be home in time for Christmas dinner with the family.

The Commission

If I did the coding right, if you click on the picture, you should see a video of Fr. Roderick opening the parcel I had sent him. (If that doesn't work, try clicking here to watch.)

I had commissioned a drawing of Fr Roderick from my friend, Dave Myers, to commemorate the 15th anniversary of Fr Roderick's ordination to the priesthood. (Click here to visit his blog.) When Dave delivered the drawing to me, I was blown away by it. The way he chose to depict Fr Roderick was so... well, right!

This picture depicts Fr Roderick in St Peter's Square, holding his trusty H2 digital recorder. He got his start in podcasting in St Peter's Square back in 2005, when he was there in the last days of Bl. Pope John Paul II's life. His recordings became the basis of a podcast, Catholic Insider.

Today, Fr Roderick, who is a priest in the Archdiocese of Utrecht in the Netherlands, is the founder and CEO of SQPN.com, the Star Quest Production Network, which is a multimedia organization specializing in the production of audio and video programs faithful to the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. SQPN produces on-demand audio and video programs, also known as podcasts, and offers a portal for a select number of affiliated Catholic podcasters that share the vision and media strategy of SQPN.

(I also happen to be one of SQPN's podcasters, sitting on the panel of Secrets of Harry Potter.)

I was very happy to do this for Fr Roderick, and wish him many blessings upon his ministry.