Take Five - The Dave Brubeck Quartet
Awhile back, I wrote about seeing Dave Brubeck perform in Ann Arbor. Just for fun, here's a clip, courtesy YouTube, of the classic line-up playing their signature tune, Take Five, on television in 1961.
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September 16, 2006
Should the Pope Apologize?
Pope Benedict XVI says he regrets that Muslims were offended by his recent remarks, but he stops short of apologizing for the remarks.
Would it have helped if the offended parties had read the entire speech, rather than taking a few sentences out of context? It seems that the violent reaction among some Muslims, including the firebombing of churches, only serves to reinforce the Pope's point - that faith without reason is trouble.
September 12, 2006
My Story: A New Life - Part VI
Continued from A New Life - Part V
The Salvation Army Adult Rehabilitation Center (ARC) provided me with just the right amount of structure necessary in those early days of recovery. It helped that I was at an above-average ARC (the relatively new facility in Romulus, MI - pictured at right) which was under especially good management at the time.
The ARC program is six months long. There is no charge for services; funding is provided through donations and sales of items in the thrift stores. There is also a lot of free labor in the ARC - residents are required to complete 40 hours of Work Therapy per week, in various positions related to donated items (e.g. receiving, processing, and merchandising), or doing janitorial or kitchen work in the ARC itself. When not doing Work Therapy, residents participate in individual and group counseling sessions, as well as other didactic programming, chapel services, and Bible study.
There is plenty of free time as well, in the evening and on weekends. We had a ping-pong table, a pool table, a library with computers (plenty of software, but no Internet), and four TV rooms, not including the big-screen TV in the main recreation area. In good weather we also had a basketball court, volleyball, and a small driving range with donated golf clubs and balls.
The second floor included bedrooms and showers. It was here that the country club vibe gave way to more of a military feel. Each bedroom housed five or six men. Every man had a cot, a night stand with two drawers, and a locker. Upon intake to the facility, everyone received a voucher for clothing to be obtained at the adjacent thrift store, including a suit of spiffy Sunday-go-to-meeting clothes for chapel. In addition to our "new" garb, we were given a shaving kit and a pocket-size, paperback New Testament. Then we were sent off to shave, shower, and make ourselves look presentable for a change. I had already been sober for about five weeks, so I came in clean as a whistle, but the majority of new recruits were a bit grungy.
We were required to keep our hair short enough that it didn't touch our shirt collars. That's another thing - all of our shirts had to have collars and be tucked into our pants. And forget about facial hair, except a well-trimmed mustache.
Work Therapy assignments began the first full day of the program, i.e. the day following intake. I lucked out and got assigned to a Stores position. These thrift store jobs were highly desired. The work involved sweeping and mopping the sales floor, arranging furniture and other merchandise, and occasionally assisting customers. It was far easier than working in the warehouse.
The massive warehouse was behind the thrift store, and provided Work Therapy assignments for around 70% of the ARC residents, including most newbies. Donations were picked up from homes and other drop-off locations by drivers, some of whom were residents, and brought to the warehouse for processing. The majority of most truckloads consisted of clothing donations, which were processed on a conveyor belt. At the beginning of the line was the Bag-Buster. He tore open the garbage bag, often dusty from months of sitting in someone's musty garage, and scattered the clothes on the belt. Beside the dust and smell of unwashed clothing, there were sometimes bugs, and occasionallyaccidently donated lawn clippings. Next came a long line of Sorters, who picked out garments deemed resellable. Whatever clothing didn't make the cut ended up in a huge bailing machine, where it was compacted into half-ton cubes and, as I recall, sold to some other company which picked it up and trucked it down to Mexico.
My adjustment to the ARC program was made a good deal easier by the spiritual awakening I experienced shortly after my arrival, which I outlined in the previous My Story installment. The experience produced such an upheaval that much of my worldview was turned around 180 degrees in a matter of days. As I began to look at life through the eyes of faith, I had to discard many long-held opinions for new ones. But despite the dramatic changes taking place, I felt a profound sense of peace and joy.
I now felt I had a much stronger armor to defend me against the slings and arrows of early recovery. And I would need all the help I could get - the next year would bring some of the biggest challenges of my life.
September 08, 2006
What I'm Watching (Movies)
While you're all on the edge of your seats in anticipation of the latest fun-filled installment of My Story, let me hip you to some of the better films I've seen lately.
Now, when I say lately, I mean the last year or so, since we only rent or go a movie every three weeks or so.
I tend to prefer small comedy-dramas to epic, action-packed, spectacles. With that in mind, here are some favorite rentals of recent months: