Daily Entries for the week of
Sunday, September 12, 2021
through
Saturday, September 18, 2021
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It’s Saturday, September 18, 2021
Welcome to the 1,224th consecutive post to the blog,
existentialautotrip.com
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Lead Picture*
SpaceX Inspiration4
When SpaceX launches four non-professional private astronauts eka USA citizens on the Inspiration4 spaceflight mission, they are going to have the ultimate window, a glass dome termed as a SpaceX Crew Dragon's Cupola offering panoramic views of Earth from space. While SpaceX's Crew Dragon Resilience spacecraft for the mission is already equipped with flat windows, the Inspiration4 mission, which is set to launch later this year with billionaire Jared Isaacman, who booked the flight with SpaceX, will have this unique domed window Situated inside the nosecone of Crew Dragon, allowing crew members to get a 360-degree view of their surroundings. That new window, and the Inspiration4 mission's full crew will fly to Space on a three Day orbital Trip on 15 September 2021. The extra space is possible for the domed window because unlike most SpaceX capsules, which dock at the International Space Station, there is no need for a docking hatch. The design appears almost similar to the Cupola window that is present in the International Space Station (ISS). The Cupola window flew to the orbiting space Station with space shuttle mission STS-130 in February 2010. it allows astronauts to perform Earth observation for science experiments or spare time from an altitude of roughly 250 mi (400 km).
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Commentary
More and more people are seeking to work for companies that are mission oriented.
A new Suntory ad I saw today proves that.
The ad is totally given over to their mission statement: Sustainability, water and forests.
Couple that with companies mandating vaccinations and perhaps we may deduce that the world is changing for the better.
I lost my laptop.
I discovered the loss while en route to Boston by train.
I lost my laptop setting my backpack down without completely zipping up. The backpack must have tipped over and the device slipped out.
It’s not as devastating as it might have been. The device is theft protected and will shut down after 7 or 8 attempts to open with the wrong password.
Getting a replacement laptop not terrible since I had already scheduled a new laptop in the next 3 months.
Thanks to friends, I have access to a loaner until the model I want becomes clearer to me.
And since I do all my work on the cloud, setting up the substitute device to my predilections is pretty easy.
Technology. You gotta learn it.
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Reading and Writing
The loss of my laptop slowed my writing, but my reading increased.
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Chuckles and Thoughts
Merv was in a terrible accident at work. He fell through a floor tile and ripped off both of his ears. Since he was permanently disfigured, he settled with the company for a rather large sum of money and went on his way.
One day, Merv decided to invest his money in a small, but growing telecom business called Plexus Communications. After weeks of negotiations, he bought the company outright. But, after signing on the doted line he realized that he knew nothing about running such a business and quickly set out to hire someone who could do that for him.
The next day he had set up three interviews. The first guy was great. He knew everything he needed to and was very interesting. At the end of the interview, Merv asked him, "Do you notice anything different about me?" And the gentleman answered, "Why yes, I couldn't help but notice you have no ears."
Merv got very angry and threw him out.
The second interview was with a woman, and she was even better than the first guy. He asked her the same question, "Do you notice anything different about me?" and she replied: "Well, you have no ears."
Merv again was upset and tossed her out.
The third and last interview was the best of all three. It was with a very young man who was fresh out of college. He was smart. He was handsome and he seemed to be a better businessman than the first two put together. Merv was anxious, but went ahead and asked the young man the same question:
"Do you notice anything different about me?" And to his surprise, the young man answered: "Yes. You wear contact lenses." Merv was shocked, and said, "What an incredibly observant young man. How in the world did you know that?"
"Well, it's pretty damn hard to wear glasses with no ears!"
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Mail and other Conversation
We love getting mail, email, or texts.
Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com
or text to 617.852.7192
This from Gary B, founder of Echobatix, a post to linked in
Here’s the direct link to my LinkedIn post about you:
Here is what the link says:
"Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to call Dom about this sea of troubles,
And by discussing end them?"
Dom Capossela is a steady hand guiding Echobatix--and me--onto a steady path through the highs and the lows that a startup faces. Dom gently encourages the right course, drawing from his experience as a restaurateur, a lawyer, a story teller, and a father.
People throughout Boston are warmed by Dom's greeting of "Hello, my friend." How could he possibly mean it every time?!? Well, you have to be Dom to pull it off.
And, as can be attested by my family and by Lindsay Yazzolino, Dom is a fantastic cook! His home is stocked with good food, racks of wine, and shelves of books: life lived well. He leads by example.
Thank you, Dom, for being my friend and for being an Echobatix advisor!
Gary
Blog meister responds: Totally exaggerated but sweet. Thank you, Gary.
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Dinner/Food/Recipes
Wednesday afternoon I had dinner at the Palm with friend Tucker.
The food may have been the best of the ten or so visits there in the last year and a half.
We had their three-course power lunch [29.00] and paid $10.00 more for their 8oz filet.
The medium-rare filets were cooked perfectly and were delicious. The mushroom chunks that ringed the steak were also nicely done. The brown sauce was a kitchen standard, nothing wrong with it but nothing to distinguish it.
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Pictures with Captions from our community**
Daughter Kat in her new apartment in NYC’s Upper West Side. A great neighborhood, just a block from Central Park and 5 minutes from the Met. Kat and boyfriend William are very proud as well they should be.
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Short Essay*
Inspiration4 (stylized as Inspirati④n) is an ongoing human spaceflight mission, operated by SpaceX on behalf of Shift4 Payments CEO Jared Isaacman. The mission launched on 16 September 2021, at 00:02:56 UTC [a] from the Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39A atop a twice-flown Falcon 9 launch vehicle, injecting the Dragon capsule into low Earth orbit.
The mission aims to complete the first orbital spaceflight with only private citizens aboard, as part of an effort to raise awareness for the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. Four crew members; Hayley Arceneaux, Christopher Sembroski, Sian Proctor, and Isaacman himself will spend three days in orbit aboard Crew Dragon Resilience, which was outfitted with a cupola unique to this flight in place of a docking hatch. The flight is in orbit at an altitude of 585 km (364 mi), a height that has not been achieved since STS-125 in 2009.
* The Blog Meister selects the topics for the Lead Picture and the Short Essay and then leans heavily or exclusively on Wikipedia to provide the content. The Blog Meister usually edits the entries.
**Pictures with Captions from our community are photos sent in by our blog followers. Feel free to send in yours to domcapossela@hotmail.com
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It’s Friday, September 17, 2021
Welcome to the 1,223rd consecutive post to the blog,
existentialautotrip.com
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Lead Picture*
The Good Samaritan
By Jacob Jordaens, c. 1616
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Commentary
The Colson Whitehead reading and author’s comments went very well. He is low key and humorous. I asked what motivates his writing and his bottom-line answer was his love for the written word; for the creation of a piece out of mind.
Why we chose to publish the parable of the Good Samaritan:
I walked through Central Park on my way to the Metropolitan Museum. Coming upon the sculpture of Alice in Wonderland, I pulled my cell to take some pictures. In the excitement, I also pulled my omnipresent notebook which I carry so I don’t forget things. The notebook dropped noiselessly, and I went on with my photographs and walk, realizing too late what had happened. I retraced my steps: no notebook.
Two hours later I get a call from a young woman who had picked it up. She spent an hour, at least, in NYC traffic delivering the notebook to me, with the advisory, not all New Yorkers are bad.
Thank you Katie.
Thanks to a friend who reminded me that the cookware I was referring to in my piece about sear and broil, the cookware I called a baker’s plate, is everywhere else called a sizzle platter.
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Reading and Writing
I wrote a lot during these two days of travel. Four hours each way on the train provided great opportunity for uninterrupted writing.
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Chuckles and Thoughts
“Nay, Nay! Try thou not.
But do thou or do thou not,
For there is no "try.”
~Ian Doesche
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Mail and other Conversation
We love getting mail, email, or texts.
Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com
or text to 617.852.7192
Katie: I found your notebook.
Dom: Wow!
Katie: Want to return it to you.
Dom: That’s a lot of time and effort. Thank you. Why?
Katie: So you’ll know that not all New Yorkers are bad.
Blog meister responds: We outsiders don’t think they’re bad. Rude, perhaps. Definitely not bad.
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Dinner/Food/Recipes
My granddaughter Fran had to bail so my daughter Kat and I had dinner at Amelie’s on the Upper West side. It is a Guide Michelin rated ‘Bib Gourmand.’
According to Michelin: A Bib Gourmand rating means the restaurant is an inspector's favorite for good value. For $40 or less, you can enjoy two courses and a glass of wine or dessert (not including tax and gratuity).
Amelie’s is a bistro, comparable to Rochambeau, Ma Maison, or La Voile in Boston. It is perhaps a small tick higher in price, but a large tic better in execution.
We enjoyed Mussels in a wine sauce, Shrimp and Scallop seviche, Escargot served in a vol-au-vent, a small round case of puff pastry filled with the snails in a savory mix with a richly flavored sauce, a baked haddock, and a Chocolate Mousse. The food was terrific, as was the service.
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Pictures with Captions from our community**
One of the most popular artworks in Central Park is Alice in Wonderland. The large bronze sculpture is located in a terrace at the northern end of Conservatory Water. The figure of Alice and her kitten, Dinah, sit atop a giant mushroom, surrounded by her Wonderland friends: the Cheshire Cat, Mad Hatter, Dormouse, and the White Rabbit.
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Short Essay*
The parable of the Good Samaritan is told by Jesus in the Gospel of Luke. [Lk 10:25–37] It is about a traveler who is stripped of clothing, beaten, and left half dead alongside the road. First a Jewish priest and then a Levite comes by, but both avoid the man. Finally, a Samaritan happens upon the traveler. Although Samaritans and Jews despised each other, the Samaritan helps the injured man. Jesus is described as telling the parable in response to the question from a lawyer, "And who is my neighbor?" The conclusion is that the neighbor figure in the parable is the one who shows mercy to the injured fellow man—that is, the Samaritan.
Some Christians, such as Augustine, have interpreted the parable allegorically, with the Samaritan representing Jesus Christ, who saves the sinful soul. Others, however, discount this allegory as unrelated to the parable's original meaning and see the parable as exemplifying the ethics of Jesus.
The parable has inspired painting, sculpture, satire, poetry, photography, and film. The phrase "Good Samaritan", meaning someone who helps a stranger, derives from this parable, and many hospitals and charitable organizations are named after the Good Samaritan.
* The Blog Meister selects the topics for the Lead Picture and the Short Essay and then leans heavily or exclusively on Wikipedia to provide the content. The Blog Meister usually edits the entries.
**Pictures with Captions from our community are photos sent in by our blog followers. Feel free to send in yours to domcapossela@hotmail.com
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It’s Thursday, September 16, 2021
Welcome to the 1,222nd consecutive post to the blog,
existentialautotrip.com
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Lead Picture*
Roman Emperor Domitian
White marble bust
I, Sailko
Bust of roman emperor Domitianus. Antique head, body added in the 18th century. Musée du Louvre (Ma 1264), Paris. Formerly in the Albani Collection in Rome.
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Commentary
My flirtation with the 16/8 diet is not going well. But I got a reminder on how to fix it.
On Monday afternoon I was at the Blue Bottle writing, as I do everyday, when my new friend Wenyi made a surprise appearance, joining me for the next 90 minutes of work. When it was time for her to eat, she pulled out a tub of nicely sliced fresh peppers and carrots. That’s what I need to adopt. A more abstemious lunch. It will save me time, as well as cut my calories. Okay, when I get back from NYC on Wednesday afternoon I will try that.
My train just left the station. As simple as that, no taxiing, no waiting in line for permission to go. Just go.
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Reading and Writing
I am boarding my train to NYC and I hope the hours of travel are productive.
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Chuckles and Thoughts
“So Shakespeare stole;
but he did wonderful things with his plunder.
He's like somebody who nicks your old socks and then darns them.”
~Mark Forsyth
The Elements of Eloquence: How to Turn the Perfect English Phrase
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Mail and other Conversation
We love getting mail, email, or texts.
Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com
or text to 617.852.7192
Dear Dom,
With regards to your having two desserts this past weekend, I should inform you of my great-aunt Eva, a delightfully zany individual who lived until a few months short of 100 years of age, whose motto was, “Always eat dessert first. You never know when you’re going to die.”
😊
Sally
Blog meister responds: Dear Sally, I am a sucker for old stories, but this one pre-dates 100-year-old aunt Eva.
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Dinner/Food/Recipes
Monday night I enjoyed food from Douzo in the Back Bay. I got their Chirashi lunch for under $20.00. It included an excellent selection of fish, not the ubiquitous Tuna and Salmon offered everywhere else. I also got a soup, not included with lunch, plus a fatty tuna and a sea urchin. It was a lot of food but I had it for dinner.
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Pictures with Captions from our community**
Greenway summer in full
As I walked to the bus, I noted how full the Greenway is. It’s the prelude to the fall. Thinking squirrels must be at their fattest to get them through the fall and the long, cold winter.
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Short Essay*
Domitian (24 October 51 – 18 September 96) was Roman emperor from 81 to 96. He was the son of Vespasian and the younger brother of Titus, his two predecessors on the throne, and the last member of the Flavian dynasty. During his reign, the authoritarian nature of his rule put him at sharp odds with the Senate, whose powers he drastically curtailed.
Domitian had a minor and largely ceremonial role during the reigns of his father and brother. After the death of his brother, Domitian was declared emperor by the Praetorian Guard. His 15-year reign was the longest since that of Tiberius. As emperor, Domitian strengthened the economy by revaluing the Roman coinage, expanded the border defenses of the empire, and initiated a massive building program to restore the damaged city of Rome. Significant wars were fought in Britain, where his general Agricola attempted to conquer Caledonia (Scotland), and in Dacia, where Domitian was unable to procure a decisive victory against King Decebalus. Domitian's government exhibited strong authoritarian characteristics. Religious, military, and cultural propaganda fostered a cult of personality, and by nominating himself perpetual censor, he sought to control public and private morals. As a consequence, Domitian was popular with the people and army, but considered a tyrant by members of the Roman Senate.
Domitian's reign came to an end in 96 when he was assassinated by court officials. He was succeeded the same day by his advisor Nerva. After his death, Domitian's memory was condemned to oblivion by the Senate, while senatorial authors such as Tacitus, Pliny the Younger, and Suetonius propagated the view of Domitian as a cruel and paranoid tyrant. Modern revisionists instead have characterized Domitian as a ruthless but efficient autocrat whose cultural, economic, and political programs provided the foundation of the peaceful second century.
* The Blog Meister selects the topics for the Lead Picture and the Short Essay and then leans heavily or exclusively on Wikipedia to provide the content. The Blog Meister usually edits the entries.
**Pictures with Captions from our community are photos sent in by our blog followers. Feel free to send in yours to domcapossela@hotmail.com
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It’s Wednesday, September 15, 2021
Welcome to the 1,221st consecutive post to the blog,
existentialautotrip.com
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Lead Picture*
Rod Laver
Laver reaches to hit a return to Jovanović during their singles semifinal match in the 1962 Italian Open.
AP Photo - Arianna Cavallo (August 9, 2013). L'incredibile anno di Rod Laver (in italian). ilpost.it.
Rome (Italy), May 13, 1962. Australia's Rod Laver reaches to hit a return to Yugoslavia's Boro Jovanović during their men's singles semi-final match in the XIX Italian International Tennis Championship; Laver won 7-5, 9-7, 6-1.
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Commentary
These next two weeks promise to make up for the uneventful summer I had. Especially if you throw in the two days in Philly with my three sons, daughter, granddaughter, and two daughters-in-law. Tuesday and Wednesday I’ll be in New York visiting with my daughter and my oldest granddaughter, Francesca, whose online book club I attend every other week. This weekend hanging with a new friend at the MFA, and the weekend following, spending time with my sons around the Rod Laver Tennis tournament.
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Reading and Writing
My writing is going well: am spending enough time on the manuscript to satisfy my great need to write.
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Chuckles and Thoughts
“There is no God but God,
and his name is William Shakespeare.”
~Harold Bloom
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Mail and other Conversation
We love getting mail, email, or texts.
Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com
or text to 617.852.7192
Two of my sons are independently flying into Boston to view the Rod Laver Cup tennis matches and to catch up with buddies. I am invited by each to join them for this or that event.
Blog meister responds: Here’s one guy who’s a guaranteed winner.
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Dinner/Food/Recipes
Sunday night I ate a veal chop from Eataly. I simply slow-cooked it for thirty minutes @ 200* and then heated up a baker’s plate close to the broiler flame for 5 minutes. I brushed on a little olive oil, set the chop on the thick heavy plate and shoved it under the broiler for 4 minutes. It seared on the bottom from the hot plate and broiled close to the flame on the top.
I put a pat on cold butter on top, some salt and freshly-ground pepper, and loved every expensive biteful.
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Pictures with Captions from our community**
Outdoor dining. Don’t you just love it
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Short Essay*
Rodney George Laver AC MBE (born 9 August 1938) is an Australian former tennis player. Laver was ranked world No. 1 in nine different years, which is an all-time record in tennis. He was the No. 1 ranked professional from 1964 to 1970, spanning four years before and three years after the start of the Open Era in 1968. He also was the No. 1 ranked amateur in 1961–62.
Laver's 198 singles titles are the most in tennis history. This included his all-time men's record of 10 or more titles per year for seven consecutive years (1964–70). He excelled on all of the court surfaces of his time: grass, clay, hard, carpet, and wood.
Laver won 11 Grand Slam singles titles, though he was banned from playing those tournaments for the five years prior to the Open Era. Laver is the only player, male or female, to win all four Grand Slam singles titles in the same calendar year twice, in 1962 and 1969, the latter remains the only time a man has done so in the Open Era. He is second of three male players to win each major title twice (preceded by Roy Emerson and followed by Novak Djokovic). Laver also won eight Pro Slam titles, including the "pro Grand Slam" in 1967, and he contributed to five Davis Cup titles for Australia during an age when the Davis Cup was deemed as significant as the four majors.
The Laver Cup tournament and the Rod Laver Arena are named after him.
* The Blog Meister selects the topics for the Lead Picture and the Short Essay and then leans heavily or exclusively on Wikipedia to provide the content. The Blog Meister usually edits the entries.
**Pictures with Captions from our community are photos sent in by our blog followers. Feel free to send in yours to domcapossela@hotmail.com
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It’s Tuesday, September 14, 2021
Welcome to the 1,220th consecutive post to the blog,
existentialautotrip.co
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Lead Picture*
Emma Raducanu
Raducanu WMQ18 (16)
si.robi - Raducanu WMQ18 (16)
CC BY-SA 2.0
File:Raducanu WMQ18 (16) (42834286534).jpg
Created: 26 June 2018
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Commentary
Summary of symptoms since 3rd Pfizer booster shot from CVS:
Day 1: Dart in the eye and a good headache; both of them 6 on a pain chart, 1 to 10. Greatly impeded work on computer. Prescription strength ibuprofen worked very well, very quickly. Note that I have a history of occasional (3times a year) similar eye attacks, none as dramatic.
Day 2: Second headache, low grade, a 3 on the pain scale. Took 2 aspirin. Worked fine.
Third day: No symptoms. End reporting.
Am staying with the 16/8 diet: go 16 hours without eating or snacking, and then eat well during the next 8 hours. I violated that rhythm by having a breakfast within those 16 hours. Having coffee does not violate those rules. For three days I saw no effect. Then I decided to drop the egg from my breakfast, thinking that while my body would quickly digest the muffin and could then return to burning fat, and it seems to be working. Here are the results of the first three days.
Day 1: Stopped gaining. Most important first step.
Day 2: Saturday: lost ½ lb even though I ate badly: too much food (like 2 desserts).
Day 3: Sunday morning weight: lost another ½ lb.
This will be a life enhancer for me if it is successful because it seems to follow most of my natural rhythm.
So, I eat an early, delicious, and full dinner, finishing at 6pm. I don’t get hungry at night. I wake at 5.00am. That gets me a ‘free’ eleven hours of the sixteen. At 5.00am I have my coffee and my cheat ½ muffin. Call that 12 hours in.
So at 10.00am I may eat reasonably. For me, it’s a terrific although modest lunch: 2 half-ounces of cheese, a half fruit, a small green salad with seeds and nuts, ceci beans, pickled beets, and whatever. Sometimes tuna fish. Today for lunch I had 3oz of pasta with the last of a meat sauce I had in the freezer. And 2oz of white wine.
At 5.00pm I have my main course, tonight a Veal Chop w green beans and mashed potatoes.
I bought the veal chop at Eataly and it was terrific: Slow-roasted then Broiled on top while being seared on the bottom.
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Reading and Writing
My reading of the Goldfinch is steady and my writing of the manuscript is gliding along and the blog is looking pretty good.
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Chuckles and Thoughts
“Shakespeare was not a genius.
He was, without the distant shadow of doubt, the most wonderful writer who ever breathed.
But not a genius.
No angels handed him his lines, no fairies proofread for him.
Instead, he learnt techniques, he learnt tricks, and he learnt them well.”
~Mark Forsyth
The Elements of Eloquence: How to Turn the Perfect English Phrase
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Mail and other Conversation
We love getting mail, email, or texts.
Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com
or text to 617.852.7192
On Saturday I met a young woman from China at the Blue Bottle cafe.
We had a terrific discussion about college and music, she a grad student studying music theory.
We made plans for a visit to the MFA, perhaps to the Chinese wing. Perhaps to the musical instrument room.
Blog meister responds: All fun.
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Dinner/Food/Recipes
Saturday night I ate a cold cut sandwich.
Occasionally I desire this sandwich.
But it has too many calories for an off-meal so I must have it as my main course.
In any case, it was delicious and satisfying.
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Pictures with Captions from our community**
North End Lines all over on a Saturday night.
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Short Essay*
Emma Raducanu (born 13 November 2002) is a British professional tennis player. She is the reigning US Open champion, has a career-high singles ranking of world No. 23 (achieved on 13 September 2021), and is the current British No. 1.
Ranked No. 338 in the world, she reached the fourth round on her major debut with a wildcard into the main draw for the 2021 Wimbledon Championships. This helped her to access the qualifying competition for the 2021 US Open in August and after qualifying for the main draw, she went on to become the first qualifier, male or female, to reach and win a major singles final, for women's singles. In the final she defeated a Canadian player of a similar age, Leylah Fernandez – winning the title without losing a set throughout the tournament. Raducanu became the first British woman to win a major singles title since Virginia Wade at Wimbledon 1977.
* The Blog Meister selects the topics for the Lead Picture and the Short Essay and then leans heavily or exclusively on Wikipedia to provide the content. The Blog Meister usually edits the entries.
**Pictures with Captions from our community are photos sent in by our blog followers. Feel free to send in yours to domcapossela@hotmail.com
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It’s Monday, September 13, 2021
Welcome to the 1,219th consecutive post to the blog,
existentialautotrip.com
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Lead Picture*
Giovanni Grassi
Unknown author - Georgetown University Archives (archived here)
Portrait of Rev. Giovanni Antonio Grassi, president of Georgetown University
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Commentary
Am staying with a more pristine 16/8 diet, violating the pact of no-food for 16 hours daily, with a half muffin at breakfast to accompany two 6oz cups of half-decaf coffee. Butter on the muffin. So a bit of better butter with a half-muffin tides me over until I reach the eight hours during which I am allowed to eat well. The results of the first two days:
Day 1: Stopped gaining.
Day 2: Saturday: lost ½ lb even though I ate badly.
While my weights have slacked off by about 15%, I take comfort in that I am consistent, appearing three times a week at the club for my workout.
I should note that my walking is also about 15% off. Probably because of my aging.
C’est la vie. I have my manuscript to keep me warm.
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Reading and Writing
Am on a tear.
The prescription strength ibuprofen I took to alleviate the pain in my eye worked and I am writing up a storm.
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Chuckles and Thoughts
“I want to have a romance so grand,
it would have made Shakespeare fumble for words.”
~Sanober Khan
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Mail and other Conversation
We love getting mail, email, or texts.
Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com
or text to 617.852.7192
Had coffee with friend Jim and talked about our manuscripts.
What I’ve always admired about Jim was the unique, fascinating way his mind works, and the resulting surprises in his writings. His daughter has started at Boston U where Jim is a teacher.
Blog meister responds: My daughter has just started her independent living.
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Dinner/Food/Recipes
Friday night’s dinner was not terribly successful, causing me to overeat to get enough oral satisfaction from the meal. It was a leftover compilation of some chicken soup (that was very good) and the carcass from the roasted duck I made last week. That was tired and dispirited.
So I heated a slice of pizza but didn’t enjoy worrying about the extravagance of calories at one sitting.
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Pictures with Captions from our community**
Provisions Restaurant on a busy day in early September, 2021
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Short Essay*
Giovanni Antonio Grassi SJ (anglicized as John Anthony Grassi; 10 September 1775 – 12 December 1849) was an Italian Catholic priest and Jesuit who led many academic and religious institutions in Europe and the United States, including Georgetown College in Washington, D.C. as well as the Pontificio Collegio Urbano de Propaganda Fide in Rome.
Born in the Republic of Venice, Grassi was a promising student of mathematics and the natural sciences, especially astronomy. He completed his studies at the Jesuit College in Polotsk, in the Russian Empire, in 1804 and was appointed rector of the Institute for Nobles. The following year, he was ordered to replace the last remaining Jesuit missionary in China; this began a five-year journey across Europe in which he was ultimately unable to secure passage to the distant country. He instead began teaching at Stonyhurst College in England.
Grassi was sent to the United States in 1810, where he became the superior of the Jesuits' Maryland Mission and the president of Georgetown College. For significantly improving its curriculum and public reputation, as well as obtaining its congressional charter, Grassi became known as Georgetown's "second founder". He returned to Rome in 1817 as Archbishop Leonard Neale's representative before the Congregation de Propaganda Fide. He later became the rector of the College of Nobles in Turin and provincial superior of the Jesuits' Turin Province. Grassi became a close confidant of King Charles Felix of Sardinia and spent time in Naples as confessor to Charles Felix's widow, Queen Maria Cristina. He also intervened on behalf of Charles Albert to allow him to succeed Charles Felix on the throne. In 1835, Grassi moved to Rome as the rector of the Pontificio Collegio Urbano de Propaganda Fide, a school for missionaries, and was later named the Jesuit Superior General's assistant for Italy.
* The Blog Meister selects the topics for the Lead Picture and the Short Essay and then leans heavily or exclusively on Wikipedia to provide the content. The Blog Meister usually edits the entries.
**Pictures with Captions from our community are photos sent in by our blog followers. Feel free to send in yours to domcapossela@hotmail.com
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It’s Sunday, September 12, 2021
Welcome to the 1,218th consecutive post to the blog,
existentialautotrip.com
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Lead Picture*
Billy Joel
Joel at Madison Square Garden, circa 1995
Drivera99 - Own work
Playing, "Piano Man" at Madison Square Garden on Christmas, circa 1995.
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Commentary
Twenty-four hours after my third shot, my booster shot, I was attacked by a sharp pain in my left eye, accompanied by left eye tearing and a running left nostril. The pain probably a 6, enough to make it very difficult to complete yesterday’s blog or work on manuscript. Difficult but not impossible.
I occasionally get such an attack, say, every four months, but not as severe.
Fortunately I had some of Katherine’s leftover prescription-strength Ibuprofen. After several hours of working through the pain I took one. Relief came in 15 minutes. An hour later I took a regular ibuprofen and that sealed the deal. Felt much better.
I’ve decided to ramp up my diet to a stricter adherence to the 16 hours of fast and 8 hours of eating a rational amount. I am loathe to surrender my ½ breakfast roll so I am giving up my soft-boiled egg. Hoping that will be enough to control my weight.
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Reading and Writing
Three years ago I started a daily technology tutorial that lasted two years, ending when Microsoft decided to close its stores. The good thing about it is that I appreciated what I had took full opportunity and showed my appreciation in a variety of ways.
This past year, with the revitalization of my interest in recasting my manuscript in the hope of getting it published, I’ve had the opportunity to work with someone whom I believe to be one of the great editors in the country. I daily appreciate the opportunity this collaboration has afforded me. He has elicited from me the best that I’ve got.
Oh! What a lucky man I am.
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Chuckles and Thoughts
“How would it alter Juliet’s love perception to learn the sea is but a rounded jug of water?
Would her sensuous analogy turned simple simile unveil to her the limits of herself?
Or would she forget the ocean, that deplorable casket, and turn on the true bottomless tumbler, the only running tap: the sky?
It may have lost the title ‘heavens’ when its gods were dethroned, but its infinity reigns.
So long as you walk, it reigns.
So long as I talk and you listen, there’s a voice and ears to keep it active, moving, and reason to say: look! infinity lives.
And when we and the other consciousnesses pass, though it in part dies with us, still it reigns.
It will, in a sense, plod on, like a lifeless coffin through its own space, sails set for nothing, unstoppable when trailing its fabric.”
~ Richard Ronald Allan
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Mail and other Conversation
We love getting mail, email, or texts.
Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com
or text to 617.852.7192
This from Jim P:
Dom,
This might be something to blog about, totally non-political, if you find it appealing. It is the music of contemporary Japanese composer, Takashi Yoshimatsu. His sister died at a young age, and among her last words to him was her wish to be reborn as a bird. You can hear this in his music and titles.
‘Ode to Birds and Rainbows’: https://youtu.be/GRwcfFs_Sdk
Symphony #5, Mvt. III, ‘Andante Lamentoso’: https://youtu.be/G3Wbfnw_60I
‘And the Birds are Still’: https://youtu.be/1tyB7s8TrqE
Symphony #6 ‘Birds and Angels’: https://youtu.be/EieAuBQMEdM
This music forms the basis of the story I am writing.
Be well,
Jim
Blog meister responds: Delighted in the arts link. Thanks, Jim. Can hardly wait to read the story. Best of luck from all of us.
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Community Photos**
9 11 public garden 2021
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Dinner/Food/Recipes
Thursday night I had a dry-aged prime rib of beef with store bought green beans and garlic.
I defrosted the beef gravy in my freezer, took out a portion and enhanced that with hot peppers and red wine which I boiled down to 50% by volume.
It was delicious.
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Short Essay*
William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American musician, singer-songwriter, and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Piano Man" after his first major hit and signature song of the same name as well as the similarly named 1973 album, he has led a commercially successful career as a solo artist since the 1970s, having released 12 studio albums from 1971 to 1993 as well as one studio album in 2001. He is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, as well as the seventh-best-selling recording artist and the fourth-best-selling solo artist in the United States,[6] with over 150 million records sold worldwide. His 1985 compilation album, Greatest Hits Vol. 1 & 2, is one of the best-selling albums in the United States.
Joel was born in 1949 in the Bronx, New York, and grew up in Long Island, both places that influenced his music. Growing up, he took piano lessons at his mother's insistence. After dropping out of high school to pursue a musical career, Joel took part in two short-lived bands, The Hassles and Attila, before signing a record deal with Family Productions and kicking off a solo career in 1971 with his first release Cold Spring Harbor. In 1972, Joel caught the attention of Columbia Records after a live radio performance of the song "Captain Jack" became popular in Philadelphia, prompting him to sign a new record deal with the company and release his second album, Piano Man, in 1973. After releasing the albums Streetlife Serenade and Turnstiles in 1974 and 1976 respectively, Joel released his critical and commercial breakthrough album, The Stranger, in 1977. This album became Columbia's best-selling release, selling over 10 million copies and spawning several hit singles, including "Just the Way You Are", "Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)", "Only the Good Die Young", and "She's Always a Woman"; another song on this album, "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant", is Joel's favorite of his own songs and has become a staple of his live shows.
Joel's next album, 52nd Street, was released in 1978 and became his first album to peak at No.1 on the Billboard 200 chart. Joel released his seventh studio album, Glass Houses, in 1980 in an attempt to further establish himself as a rock artist; this release featured "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me" (Joel's first single to top the Billboard Hot 100 chart), "You May Be Right", "Don't Ask Me Why", and "Sometimes a Fantasy". His next album, The Nylon Curtain, was released in 1982, and stemmed from a desire from Joel to create more lyrically and melodically ambitious music. An Innocent Man, released in 1983, served as an homage to genres of music which Joel had grown up with in the 1950s, such as rhythm and blues and doo-wop; this release featured "Uptown Girl" and "The Longest Time", two of his best-known songs. After releasing the albums The Bridge and Storm Front in 1986 and 1989 respectively, Joel released his twelfth studio album, River of Dreams, in 1993. He went on to release Fantasies and Delusions, a 2001 album featuring classical compositions composed by Joel and performed by British-Korean pianist Richard Hyung-ki Joo. Joel provided voiceover work in 1988 for the Disney animated film Oliver & Company, in which he played the character Dodger with his song, "Why Should I Worry?", and contributed to the soundtracks to several different films, including Easy Money, Ruthless People, and Honeymoon in Vegas.
Across the 20 years of his solo career, Joel produced 33 top 40 hits in the U.S., all of which he wrote himself,[9] and three of which ("It's Still Rock and Roll to Me", "Tell Her About It", and "We Didn't Start the Fire") peaked at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 charts. Joel has been nominated for 23 Grammy Awards, winning five of them, including Album of the Year for 52nd Street. Joel was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame (1992), the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1999),[10] and the Long Island Music Hall of Fame (2006). In 2001, Joel received the Johnny Mercer Award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame.[11] In 2013, Joel received the Kennedy Center Honors for influencing American culture through the arts. Since the advent of his solo career, Joel has held a successful touring career, holding live performances across the globe in which he sings several of his written songs. In 1987, he became one of the first artists to hold a rock tour in the Soviet Union following the country's alleviation of the ban on rock music. Despite largely retiring from writing and releasing pop music following the release of River of Dreams, he continues to tour; he frequently performs at Madison Square Garden.
*The Blog Meister selects the topics for the Lead Picture and the Short Essay and then leans heavily or exclusively on Wikipedia to provide the content. The Blog Meister usually edits the entries.
**Community Pictures with Captions are sent in by our followers. Feel free to send in yours to domcapossela@hotmail.com
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