Seven Quick Takes Friday, April 24

As hosted by Conversion Diary. Note: this post was planned before Rachelle's comment. :)

1. John C. Wright, sci-fi writer and recent convert from atheism, has had two marvelous posts about science fiction, C.S. Lewis, and Gnosticism in Clarke's Childhood's End. Highly recommended.

2. I went to Alaska last weekend for a homeschool conference. It was a wonderful trip: the scenery is stunning, the conference was well-attended (for Alaska), and the people were very friendly (which is the norm for homeschool conferences). I flew in to Anchorage and drove up the bay for about an hour to Wasilla (yes, the hometown of the famous governor. No, I didn't see her). To the left of the highway was a beautiful river, and to the right were snow-tipped mountains. Absolutely stunning. I felt like I was driving through a fantasy world. I am happy to report that Wasilla has at least two good restaurants, one Mexican and one Indian, both of which I patronized. It also has a Wal-Mart, which I patronized for breakfast (actually, the McDonald's in the Wal-Mart. Is there anything more American?)

3. Since the flight to Alaska is loooong, I brought along several books to read. Turn Coat by Jim Butcher was good, but not as interesting as his previous one, Small Favor.* Dragon in Chains was boring. However, I reread Henryk Sienkiewicz’s Teutonic Knights, and that book is awesome. The story of a young knight growing up, learning to harness his power and his emotions, and taking on all sorts of nasty characters, including the eeeevil German Knights. Not surprisingly, the book was written at a time when Polish nationalism was at its height. I'd recommend it for everyone! Be aware, though, it's pretty long. 800 pages, in my copy.

4. Last night, Joel Klampert ** and I hosted a chat session with webcams to discuss leading worship music in our churches, both of which are in the Charismatic Episcopal Church. Only one other person showed up, but we're hoping to make this a regular feature. Anyone out there who has any interest in worship music is welcome to participate in the next one, currently scheduled for May 20 at 9 p.m. EDT. Please let me know if you're interested!

5. French fried onions make a great snack. Until you eat too many and regret it.

6. A CD recommendation: Danielle Rose's*** "Mysteries." It's a 2-CD set of songs connected with the life of Christ, all in different styles. Some of my favorites are "Let It Be Done Unto Me," a musical setting of the Annunciation seen from Gabriel's perspective, and "Crucify Him," a rock meditation (yes, there is such a thing) on Pilate's judgment of Jesus.

7. I've been listening to several Modern Scholar classes on CD by professor Thomas Madden, and I've learned a lot. He's a medieval scholar who teaches at St. Louis University. So far, I've listened to classes on the medieval Church, the Inquisition, and the Protestant Reformation. Very cool for history buffs.

* Any book that stars an archangel disguised as a janitor is pretty cool, in my estimation.

** Joel is a constant encouragement to me to not be afraid of doing new music. Like, Really New music.

*** Actually, she now goes by Sister Rose Therese, DLJC. She became a nun in 2007.

--DJ