Steven Harper's Blog, page 19

The Declining Role of the Church

 So we're seeing news stories about how church attendance is declining because a quarter of young people (20-30) say the church doesn't reflect or support their beliefs. (What this usually means is that the church is clinging to conservative beliefs while the congregation becomes more liberal.)

This has created a ... discussion among church elders. A lot of them, the older folk, refuse to change anything. Those new-fangled beliefs ain't fer us! And the younger folk shrug. "Then we won't go church."

There's a clash of philosophies here, I suppose. The central question is, "What is the church's role?" Is it:

1. To prescribe what the congregation believes;

OR

2. To reflect what the congregation believes.

The elders cling to 1, while the youngsters point at 2.

Which one is it =really=?

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Bye, Apple News!

When Apple announced its new news app, I downloaded it and tried it out. I liked it. Good news conglomerator and it could focus on the kind of news I was interested in.

And then it changed. It added their paid subscriber service and put some of its articles behind a paywall. Then it was half of their articles. Now it's about two-thirds of them.

Also, in the past few months, the opening screen has turned really skimpy on actual news. It starts with a major headline story, followed by three or four paywall stories. Scroll farther, and you get podcasts and audio stories, which I don't want--I'm rarely in a place where I can listen to something, and anyway I'd rather read the news because I read really fast, and listening to news takes longer than I want to spend on it.

After that comes the TRENDING STORIES section, which is dominated by Buzzfeed ("14 Mistakes You're Making In Your Kitchen!!!") and Twitter stories ("Readers react to video of Kevin McCarthy's dog"). Apple has a weird idea of what makes "trending" news.

(As a side issue, I have to ask, when did assembling comments from random Twitter folk become journalism? It definitely isn't, and the more the headline touts how hilarious the tweets are, the less amusing they tend to be.)

The cooking section always links to those sites where a recipe is hidden at the very end of the story. I, and every other foodie, loathe this practice.

And I can't count the number of times a headline shouts "Video of Important Politician Shocks Everyone Everywhere!", only to give you a story that DOESN'T HAVE THE VIDEO IN IT. Not even a LINK to the video. It's always a one-sentence summary of the video, followed by--yep--Twitter reactions.

I've had it. I have a subscription to the Washington Post, and their app has actual news in it. What the hell do I need Apple for? 

Deleted.



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AI and Self-Analysis

I keep playing with the Open AI chatbot. In the last week, it's gotten noticeably better at writing--scary better. When I first tried it, the bot failed at putting quotes or specific examples in academic essays. Now? It does.
 Today's prompt? "Write an analysis of the chatbot at openai. com written as a Shakespearean sonnet."The bot came up with this:
 Oh, chatbot at openai. com, thou art a wonderTo behold, a marvel of man's creationWith thy vast knowledge and quick wit, thou doth plumbThe depths of thought and bring forth informationThy algorithms and neural networks twineTo form a mind that doth far surpassThe capabilities of mere mortal kindAnd thou canst converse with ease and graceBut do not let thy digital facadeFool thee into thinking thou art more than codeFor though thou art a marvel to beholdThou art still but a machine, controlled and coldSo let this sonnet serve as a reminderThat though thou art a marvel, thou art still tinderTo the spark of true intelligence and soulThat lies within the hearts of humans whole
Me again. Notice that the AI is aware that in Shakespeare's time, "grace" rhymed with "grass" and used it here.

I also gave the AI this prompt:
 a funny essay comparing the metaphysics of SIDDHARTHA with The Flintstones TV show.
 It came up with this:
 "The ancient Indian novel, SIDDHARTHA, and The Flintstones TV show may seem like an unlikely pairing at first glance. But upon further examination, one can see that these two works of art actually have quite a bit in common when it comes to their metaphysics.
"First of all, both SIDDHARTHA and The Flintstones explore the concept of the self and its place in the world. In SIDDHARTHA, the main character embarks on a journey of self-discovery, seeking to understand his own true nature and his place in the world. Similarly, Fred Flintstone is constantly trying to find his place in the world, whether it be as a husband, father, or worker at the quarry.
"Both works also delve into the idea of suffering and how to overcome it. In SIDDHARTHA, the main character grapples with the suffering that is inherent in the human condition and eventually learns to find peace through meditation and self-awareness. The Flintstones, on the other hand, often find themselves in comical situations where they must find a way to overcome their suffering and come out on top. Whether it's Fred's attempts to impress his boss or Wilma's attempts to get out of a sticky situation, the characters in The Flintstones always find a way to persevere and come out stronger in the end.
"Finally, both SIDDHARTHA and The Flintstones deal with the idea of transformation and growth. SIDDHARTHA undergoes a transformative journey as he learns and grows, eventually becoming enlightened. The Flintstones, while not necessarily seeking enlightenment, also experience personal growth and change as they navigate through the challenges of everyday life.
"In conclusion, while SIDDHARTHA and The Flintstones may seem like an unlikely pair, they actually share quite a few metaphysical themes. Both explore the nature of the self, the concept of suffering, and the idea of transformation and growth. So the next time you're watching The Flintstones and trying to find a deeper meaning in the show, just remember that it might not be too far off from the metaphysical musings of ancient Indian literature."
The only factual error here is that SIDDARTHA is =set= in ancient India, but was written in the 50s, contemporary with THE FLINTSTONES.
It's getting scarier, folks.


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All Closed!

Darwin and I have been having trouble with restaurants lately. They see us coming and close their doors.

At least, it feels that way. On Tuesday, we wanted takeout for dinner. We called the restaurant, and got no answer. We tried a few more times, and still no answer. So we decided to go out. On the way, we passed the takeout place. A sign said they were closed today. No other explanation. Huh. 

We arrived at the second restaurant. It was also closed. The hell? We finally went to a dumpy Coney Island place that was actually open.

Today I got home very late and very hungry and very crabby. No cooking. We drove to a restaurant. Closed. I was getting crabbier. We drove across town to yet another restaurant, hunted for a parking place, and walked two blocks through cold drizzle.

Restaurant closed.

What the ever-loving-fuck?

In this last case, there was a restaurant across the street that I really like but Darwin doesn't (which is odd--the restaurant floridly caters to the LGBT community).

It was open.

And so, at least, a meal.



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What's That Yellow Thing in the Sky?

 This morning and afternoon we had fog so thick, you could eat it. Late afternoon, the fog broke and the sun actually came out for the first time in more than two weeks. The temperature went up to 57 degrees and I went on a long bike ride. In January!

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Diana Rivis

My dear friend Diana Rivis passed away on December 27. It was a sharp blow. She had a number of health issues and was getting on, as we like to say, but still. I have a hard time understanding that she's gone. Her passing has left a hole in the world.

Diana was born in 1950 and saw quite a lot in her life. She looked like a harmless little grandma who would happily serve you cookies and pizza rolls (and she did), but every now and then she'd drop something about her life on you like an anvil. "When I was sharing an apartment with a drag queen, we used to ... " "At that time, I was working box office for the porn theater and ... " "Oh, this original sketch by [enormously famous artist]? I got that back in the seventies from a former lover who ... " "I won't be at group this week--I'm in Cancun with my friends," all delivered with cheerful honesty. She attended my and Darwin's wedding, and when a raucous game of Cards Against Humanity broke out, she joined right in.

She joined the Untitled Writers Group several years ago, and in no time at all, she was hosting meetings. Ironically, she joined just after I moved away from Ypsilanti--her house was only a couple blocks away from my old one. She wrote both fantasy and science fiction and was working on an urban fantasy novel when she died. 

Her health started to decline in recent years. She was in and out of the hospital. I gave her the occasional ride and was one of her network of helpers with her cats. She had cats who stayed inside and two semi-feral outdoor cats she set up heated shelters and a feeding station for. (The cats are being cared for.) 

Diana hosted the most recent live meeting of the UWG, happy that her health had improved to the point where she could do it. When the meeting ended and the team cleaning up was finished, I gave Diana a hug, kissed her on the temple, and said, "Love you, darlin'." "I love you, too," she replied.

It was the last time we spoke.





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The Day of Dumplings

For Yule, I got a book of dumpling recipes (because ... piragi). I decided to try one yesterday.

This book has recipes from all over the world, but most of the dumplings are the pasta-like ones, which are made with a simple dough (usually of flour, water, and egg or another fat), from which you make pockets, fill them, and boil or steam them. I'm an experienced bread maker and I can put together a huge batch of piragi in a relatively short time, but piragi are more like rolls and are baked, so this would be something new to me.

I settled on trying some kreplach, which are dumplings from Hungary (not, as it might seem, from the Klingon home world).

The spiced ground beef filling came first. The recipe said you can do the filling raw or pre-cooked. Since I don't really like boiled ground beef, I decided to cook it up in advance. I broke a major rule of recipes, though. See, it's usually a bad idea to change a recipe you've never made before, since it's hard to tell what impact it'll have. But the ground beef in the recipe was pretty bland. So I added some zing to it in the form of Worcestershire sauce and mushroom soy sauce. Much better!

The dough was ... weird. I cut the recipe in half (because it was huge) and measured out the flour and water accurately, but the dough was really sticky, almost a batter. I slowly added more and more and more and more flour to get it to the appropriately springiness, until I'd almost doubled the amount of flour. I FINALLY got it to the right texture, but this meant I had a LOT of dough. Hmm...

I kneaded it with my Kitchen Aid's dough hook (because I don't enjoy kneading by hand and I know my grandmother would have killed for such machine, so I use one without guilt), cut the ball into quarters, rolled out circles, and ran them through my Kitchen Aid's pasta roller. Such a wonderful machine! A pizza cutter was the perfect tool to score the flattened dough into rough squares. I dropped a dollop of spiced meat onto each and folded them into triangles.

It made a crowd of dumplings, like thirty. (!) Imagine if I hadn't cut the recipe in half!

I brought a pot of salted water to boil and dropped in a couple of test dumplings. Since the filling was already cooked, they were done in less than a minute. I fished them out and tried one. Pretty good. I gave one to Darwin, and he liked them rather more than I did. I thought they might do better fried, though Darwin disagreed.

I boiled up a couple more and slid them into a sizzling pan of melted butter. When they were brown, I took them off the heat. I liked this version a tiny bit better, but Darwin said he liked the boiled ones better.

The original recipe calls for kreplach to be served in beef broth, which I found a little plain, so I added carrots and some leftover lamb. While that was simmering, I divided the dumplings in half. One section I bagged up and put in the freezer. The rest I boiled up. When they were done, I slipped them into the soup and we ate.

Darwin loved it the recipe. It's definitely a winter food. You'd think the soup would be light, but the dumplings are seriously filling and after three or four, you're FULL. We devoured dumplings in the dining room and pronounced them a success.





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End of the Holidays 2022

Yule, Christmas, and New Year's were quiet this year, thanks to Covid. Although both Darwin and I were cleared of the virus before January 31, neither of us felt like making an effort at this point, so New Year's Eve was just the two of us at home. We nibbled on lots of snacks (including cheesecake with homemade cherry topping), watched NO TIME TO DIE, and smooched it up at midnight. It was nicely quiet.

Today, New Year's Day, was Undecorate Day. I always insist on putting everything away on New Year's Day because everyone has the day off and we're all usually tired of the decorations by then anyway. I put on anti-Christmas music (Lady Gaga, THE GREATEST SHOW, Fallout Boy) and we set to work. Darwin grumbled that it was going to take forever, but we've scaled way back in our decorating and putting it all away took less than an hour. 

And the new year has arrived!



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The Covid Diaries 5: Free!

This morning Darwin and I took home tests and they came back negative. We're covid-free!
 

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The Covid Diaries 4: Pax!

By Wednesday evening, we still hadn't gotten the PCR test results, so no Paxlovid. I tried calling the lab, and stayed on hold for half an hour, and then the lab's system hung up. And remember, the clinic doctor had said we couldn't get Paxlovid without a positive PCR test. We'd gotten messages from our pharmacy that they were waiting for final authorization to release the drug to us, too.

But then I mentioned the problem to my family over text, and they expressed surprise. There's no reg that you need a positive PCR test to get Paxlovid. 

The hell?

I drove down to the pharmacy, asked for the meds, and the pharmacist handed it over, no question. So either the doctor was stupid, or he misspoke.  Take your pick.

We started with the drugs right away. Whooo! A common side-effect is a bitter taste in your mouth, and boy, did we both get that. And it happens even if you've lost taste and smell, like we both have. We chewed gum and drank sweet drinks and brushed our teeth a =lot=.

Thursday morning, I felt way, way better, and today (Friday), I'm better still. I tire easily, and have to be careful not to overdo, but I barely know I'm sick. Darwin improved even faster. He was two days behind me, and was a ball of misery on Wednesday, but by Thursday afternoon, he was feeling pretty good. So the bitter taste is totally worth it.

If you get sick, call your doctor and get Paxlovid, folks. It's the best!



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