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A cloudy day, but slightly warmer than previous days. Awake for only an hour and a half out of nine in bed I slept well and my head was fairly clear as a result though my concentration and alertness was variable, making me feel as if I was unstable, even if I wasn't.

Pancakes for breakfast, lovingly cooked by Clare, who was awake well before I got up. For no apparent reason, while I was editing a reflection after breakfast, I dozed off in my armchair and slept for another hour. Yesterday I walked more than my daily step goal. Did it lead to added sleepiness? Clare had cooked lunch by the time I came around. I did the washing up, then walked in Llandaff Fields. It started drizzling after I'd walked for an hour, so I arrived home wet and annoyed that I had to cut short my exercise time. I had another exchange of emails with Roy today about the portrayal of the antichrist in the book of Revelations which he's studying at the moment.

Clare was out shopping when I got back. With the house to myself, I recorded Daily Prayer the week after next. I need to get ahead as we'll be away in Tenby for two weeks, with no guarantee of working internet to use. I edited the audio after supper.

Rachel called and we had a chat about her experimental YouTube song launch. I left comments about the Kintsugi song, and so did Clare. We both found it rather difficult to post comments from the phone app as the user interface isn't friendly. It's too crowded and full of distraction. Not good for anyone with mental fatigue. The laptop version is much easier to use.

By the time the audio edit was finished, it was time to bring this damp day to a conclusion and escape into sleep.

Diabolical

A return to overcast sky and occasional showers today. Despite getting to bed earlier I still lost three hours' sleep out of ten in bed, making it harder to get started. Eventually, I started preparing veg for lunch and realised we were out of carrots, so I went to the Jason's greengrocer's to buy some, and met Clare on her way home from shopping elsewhere. I cooked when I returned. For the first time in ages I hoovered the carpets. I was a bit nervous about using an unwieldy weighty machine, given changes in coordination and variability in muscle flexibility. Although I'm still strong enough, I need to be extra cautious to avoid the risk of over reaching myself and having an accident.

I had an email from Roy in Madrid asked me about John the Seer's letter to the church in Philadelphia in Revelations 6.8 and the idea of the anti-christ in the New Testament. This gave me something interesting to examine and explain, given the current US war with Iran and Trump's behaviour as a war leader.

When I was out walking in the park at tea time, I sat on a bench to listen to Rachel on YouTube, launching a new song, recorded when she was playing to a live audience - a beautiful song immaculately performed and produced called Kintsugi, named after the Japanese art of repairing broken pots using lacquer mixed with powdered gold to highlight rather than hide the damage, revealing the random beauty in the repaired cracks. The song reflects on ageing and how there's beauty in the life of a worn and broken person. Publicising the song launch as widely as possible and soliciting positive responses aims to influence the algorithm that recommends viewing to other YouTubers, boosting popularity and hopefully sales. I hope so. Rachel deserves artistic recognition. She's such an excellent musician and performer.

At supper time, we were nearly out of fresh fruit so I went to the Coop to re-stock the fruit bowl before settling down for the evening.

Lots to think about today. Following anti-semitic attacks on synagogues and in the Golders Green area, a surge of anger and fear is being expressed by Jewish community members. It's understandable given the long history of persecution and intolerance experienced by Jews in 'Christian' countries.

Legislation against hate speech doesn't prevent people from thinking racist thoughts or propagating their ideas and plans on encrypted social media. Sick angry people can easily be motivated to violent actions, alone or conspiring with others. No matter how effective police extremist and anti-terrorist surveillance may be, no matter how alert Jewish security intelligence gathering teams may be, there's an element of randomness about when and where violence may break out and who the perpetrators may be. Freedom, openness, a high degree of social responsibility and participation as British citizens, are vital expressions of Jewish faith and values. A defiant bright light in the long dark shadow cast by Nazi persecution and the Holocaust. It's not just up to the police and security agencies to protect Jews and Jewish community institutions, all citizens of good will must be ready to denounce and resist the toxic rhetoric of extremist racist violence tolerated under the disguise of free speech today. 

An interview with Archbishop Rowan appeared on the 'Unherd' news website in which he reflects on the 'diabolical' nature of contemporary political discourse, taking aim at Trump's contemptuous foul mouthed,  often inaccurate misleading language, aiming to sow chaos and divide people. The word diabolical from the Greek means forcing division. 

In an interview given 30 years ago, Comedian John Cleese speaks about why extremism feels good for all the wrong reasons and is so tempting: it hands you a list of enemies, and a feeling of righteousness to go with it. Suddenly every frustration has a target and every harsh word feels justified. But when we sort the world into heroes and villains we lose something important: the ability to grapple with complex issues. I wonder how far Trump and his associates really understand this? His coercive war strategy is driving the global economy into recession with fertilizer shortages ending up reducing food supplies which will hit poor countries hardest, including America's poor. The Middle East war will only move out of crippling deadlock by diplomatic dialogue and negotiation. Trump's coercive tactics have failed and dangerously so. 

I had a nice chat with Rachel just before bed time, discussing her music promotion campaign. It's too soon for the results to indicate success. It a matter of wait and see, and learn from the experience.

 

Learning to be a digital consumer

Owain had gone out to do a gig on Friday evening, as he arrived home before I did last night, but we had the pleasure of his company over a late brunch this morning before he returned to Bristol. In the last ten days he's had three job interviews, and is still waiting to hear from the first one, which he'd most like to win. It's hard to get enthusiastic about further applications when you're uncertain in this way. I so feel for him.

We walked across into Bute Park and had a light lunch in the restaurant of the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. The weather was bright and sunny, but a bitter cold wind made walking a ordeal. We continued into town, toured a few shops, had tea in House of Frazer's Cafe Zest and caught the bus home. A teenage couple standing on the bus chatting animatedly in sign language caught my eye, as their faces shone and their hands moved about eloquently. A moment of enchantment in an otherwise dreary journey in a bus full of dreary countenances.

With jobs done and nothing better to do while waiting for this week's delightful episode of 'Young Montalbano', I watched a YouTube video of a talk Clare wanted me to hear, then tried out some of the live and catchup TV apps for tablet available, to supplement YouView on our TV digital box, which can't be watched on two channels at the same time if there's a schedule clash. A second telly would a waste of space, when tablet media consumption can be continued, doing other things if needs be. It's not so often 'must watch' programmes are on at the same time, and more often that telly gets bypassed for jobs in need of completion. The secret is not to watch too much, or too late, and not to watch for the sake of watching, which I confess I've done a lot of when I've been on my own in Spain. I promise myself I'll make better use of my time, next time around.

  

Editing, uploading and seriously good cooking

By yesterday morning I'd volunteered and been accepted to take charge of Mary Lewis' funeral, spoken to the funeral directors, to Phil the church administrator, and prepared the order of service based around her wish that it should be like her late husband's. 

Following recent conversations about my unpublished book with St Mike's Principal Peter Sedgwick, I gave him a copy to read and received invaluable critical feedback. After receiving his positive comment on my re-writing of the book's preface, I now feel confident about re-writing and updating the rest. It got me out of bed early after a late night to work on revising the first chapter.

Following this, I had a frustrating afternoon in the office, trying to upload the eurythmy performance videos to You Tube using the faster connection available to us there, as I worked on other things. I found  I had to to downsize the clips, was there was no need to show them at HD resolution. It took far too long to do it conveniently. After too much messing around and not concentrating on other jobs in hand, I realised I couldn't achieve with Windows Movie Maker for Vista what I'd been able to do previously with the Windows Seven version of the program. In the end, I had to do the job on Clare's laptop when I got home, the only PC I have with the capacity to do this. I was astounded at how long it takes to down-size and upload a fifteen minute video. It seemed to slow up the entire home network and kept me up late.

This morning I finished uploading the video clips, then went out and met Rufus for coffee at Cafe Castan on Llandaff Fields. We sat enjoying the sunshine as we chatted about his first three weeks in parish ministry. Such a pleasure to share his adventure in ministry. I learned from him that 'Becca in my tutorial group for the past two years had just announced her engagement. A pleasant surprise.

After another afternoon in the office, I returned early as I'd been asked to celebrate the evening Mass at St Luke's as Fr Mark is still on leave. Clare came with me and read the lesson, which was a pleasure, as we don't often get to share worship the way we used to do, with me travelling from place to place on locum duties as often as I do. Afterwards we had supper at the Cardamom Banlgadeshi restaurant across the road from the church - an enjoyable end to the working week with seriously good cooking, and not our own for once.