More life

[ironphoenix]

First off, it was great to see so many of you at Pride last week!

My mother-in-law has been in town for a while, and we went up to Quebec City Monday and Tuesday for a whirlwind tour: we mainly hit the Old City, Aquarium, and Montmorency Falls. There's a lot of good food to be had in that town, too!

Work has been crazy busy this week; I think I have to give up these mini-vacations as a failed experiment, since they are just too short for people to feel the need to deal with anything in my absence, so stuff just piles up and rots for the couple of days I'm away. Henceforth, I think that I'll generally take a week or more at a time, so that people know that they can't just let everything wait for my return.

Today and tomorrow, I'm participating in a kenjutsu seminar. A teacher of a style even older than the one I practice is visiting town, and offered to teach a seminar for folks with some sword experience. The schedule is a bit odd, with a late-evening session tonight (see previous post) and a midday session tomorrow, each running 3 hours. I'm looking forward to it: this is the oldest martial art with a continuous lineage in Japan, and was the art studied by the founder of the style I study.

I'm also looking forward to some quiet time with soul_diaspora tomorrow evening and Monday, after all this excitement!

Comments

[khall.livejournal.com]

Haven't read this yet, but saw it and thought of you.

http://www.nbcnews.com/science/cut-above-19th-century-used-train-samurais-deciphered-8C11040945

K.

[ironphoenix.livejournal.com]

Neat article; thanks!

I wish people would still follow the rule "Do not tell bad things about other schools!"

The practice of secrecy is fading, but only slowly in the older traditions.

[khall.livejournal.com]

"Do not tell bad things about other schools!" or other people. Especially on the internet.:P

90% of martial arts world drama would be stopped cold.

K.

[pezchica.livejournal.com]

Hey! This is cool.

Would you say your church is inclusive of queer people? As in, they can fully participate in everything. If so, can you send me a message reminding me where it is. I've been collecting information on queer-inclusive churches (rather than tolerant) so I can refer youth!

[ironphoenix.livejournal.com]

I believe it is: queer folks are welcome to attend, receive sacraments, participate in ministries, hold leadership positions, and be employees of the parish. (E.g., or most recent chairperson of pastoral council was an openly gay man; his partner is also involved in ministries there.) Ordination (i.e. becoming a priest) is not something the parish controls (that takes a bishop), so that's not likely yet (heck, same goes for women on that score!). Also, while the parish as a community is welcoming, individual attitudes vary as they do in any community, so some people are still uncomfortable with queer folks.

The church is St. Joseph's Parish, located near Ottawa U. between Laurier and Wilbrod, along Cumberland. Youth may be interested in the "University Mass", held Sunday evenings during the school year, which fits many students' schedules better than Saturday 5 p.m. or Sunday morning. Referrals welcome; thanks!