Sentential Links #97

Ninety-seven. That’s the frequency — well, 96.9 — of a Buffalo radio station. Other than that, I’m not sure what ninety-seven signifies. So on with the links.

:: If you’re in a team of hundreds of people building a skyscraper, you can probably sneak off for a nap and let everyone else pick up your slack. But if you’re the only bricklayer working on a particular house then goofing off is just self-defeating. The carpenter isn’t going to start laying bricks when he sees you dozing.

:: Now only a sucker would let themselves get hooked on a Fox show early on: chances are if it’s good, they’ll can it.

:: I don’t sense a sense of panic, or even a feeling of fear, amongst the Buffalo faithful. The general feeling of those I have talked to is simple: the Rangers needed double-overtime at home to pull out a win in a must-win game. (Well, some people I talk too sound a bit jittery, so can anyone confirm for me what a friend told me this morning: No NHL team has ever run the table in the playoffs, going 16-0 on their way to the Cup?)

:: I’m all for hugs, but I’m just not sold on this angle, is what I’m saying. (What is it about Family Circus that demands that I read it?!)

:: Remember that others quite different from you are also looking for a place of love and shelter behind a hedge guarding them from a hostile world. (Link to this blog originally via David Trowbridge. I find the Quaker faith enormously appealing on a number of levels, although I haven’t as yet done any exploration of it at all. But one of my favorite spiritual vignettes comes from Quakerism: Someone walks into a Quaker church and asks a Quaker, “When does the service begin?” And the Quaker responds: “When the worship ends.” I love the sentiment there.)

:: While I was upset at losing the little one that I saw on those ultrasounds, it did not feel even 1/100th of how I’d have felt if we’d lost my then 17 month old daughter. Not even close.

:: And I tell him, “I want you to remember that a liberal atheist has forgiven you today. I don’t want you to ever forget that, as long as you live, do not forget what happened here. I don’t have God behind me, but I speak for myself, and I forgive you for myself, and for you. Never forget this.” (Actually, read this post first for the whole story. If you watch the YouTube clip, be aware that were this a film, the rating would be R.

:: And now I am nearly forty-three, and it feels as young as dandelions and unopened presents and a new straw hat. (Happy birthday to one of my unfailing daily reads — “unfailing” in that I never fail to read her, and she never fails to make me either smile, think, or want to step away from the computer and pick up a book.)

:: In other news, Kelly and I are expecting our first baby, and the new arrival should be here around Thanksgiving. (I just hope he doesn’t get confused at grilling time…new babies and big hunks of brisket look disturbingly similar….)

All for this week. Keep the faith, or something like that….

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